Eastern Blooms Birthday

I needed a quick birthday card for a male co-worker & I saw this & thought, "perfect!!" It uses the Eastern Blooms stamp set, which I just love & don't use nearly enough. I think it can easily be one of the 'go-to' stamp sets for almost any occasion.

Oh, and I'm not sure if there's a name for the technique I used on this one, but it is WAY awesome. So, I took the stamp & inked it up in my classic Night of Navy inkpad. Then, I took the blender pen & took away the Night of Navy ink from the branches - leaving them essentially un-inked. Then, I took the Close to Cocoa marker & colored in the branches. Gave it a huff w/my warm breath & voila! A beautifully stamped image.

As always, for a closer image, click on the picture.

Love You Much

Stampin' Up has this Valentine's promotion right now (through January 31st) where in the bundle, you get the Love You Much stamp set, Candy Lane Designer Series Paper & the Heart to Heart punch. If purchased individually, it would cost $51.85. The promotion has it on sale for 20% off or $41.48. This is the first card I've made that I've taken a picture of, but let me tell you... I am LOVIN' this set!

My picture turned out a little bit on the dark side, but the colors I used are (retired) Blue Bayou & Wild Wasabi.

Happy New Year!

How cute are these little guys? This is a new stamp set (Just Buzzin' By) that will be in the new catalog. I'm so thrilled that I was able to get it early & start playing with it. My first thought was, "Oh boy! What am I getting myself into with all that needs to be colored?" But, I just used the blender pens & ink pads on regular Very Vanilla cardstock & it was SO easy & it turned out very nice! I tried making like a honeycomb background by using bubblewrap. It didn't turn out quite the way I imagined it would. Overall, I'm very pleased with the way the two cards turned out. Click on the pictures if you'd like a more close up image.