A Million & One Reasons

Not to get all mushy, but there are so many reasons I love to create art with my stamps & paper crafting supplies from Stampin' Up! So, it was a natural that after over 15 years of being a customer, I finally signed up to be a demonstrator. My one year anniversary of being partnered with the company I love is next month. A little message to Shelli Gardner & Stampin' Up...Fabulous is What You Are! 

For this card, I chose to use one of my favorite retiring stamp sets, Million & One. Seriously, look at the wonderful "loopiness" of the font. Either of the sayings would be great on their own, with no other adornment or design. However,  I wanted an over the top collage look for this card.  All products are Stampin' Up!

See...this stamp set is crazy good. Grab it before it is gone. 

Don't let the collage look intimidate you. For this card, I started with a single layer of watercolor paper. I then applied various layers of ink & water using Pacific Point & Tempting Turquoise inks. I just gave the pad a little squeeze while the lid was still closed. After you do that, it gives you a little paint pallet in the lid of each ink pad. Feel free to dry the paper in between adding the colors if you want more definition between colors. After the background had been watercolored, I randomly stamped the flower & leaf images from the Choose Happiness stamp set using the same colors of ink. 

I used Staz On black ink to stamp a partial image of the Swallowtail, the words from Million & one and the flower from Choose Happiness on a section of Window Sheet cut to exactly match the size of the watercolored layer, then layered it on top of the background. I only used adhesive under the Jute & the flower embellishment. 

There are so many different ways to use the large Swallowtail stamp! It is completely large enough to cover an entire card front. 

I added the flower & the White Jute ribbon at the end. The flower is a combination of watercolor paper (for the texture) and Whisper White cardstock punched using the Fun Flower punch.  The inside part of the flower was made using watercolor paper and the Stampin' Up! Fringe Scissors. After I fringed a small piece of watercolor paper, I dipped the ends in water & ink. After the piece was dry, I glued it to the center of the flower and added tiny stones from the Rhinestone Basics. I punched the leaves out of scrap of watercolor paper using the Build a Bird punch. 

I know there are several stamp sets & punches represented here, but this look can be made using much less inventory. I was just having a hard time deciding which stamp set to use that day, so I used several.  Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Products used:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

LAST CHANCE FOR RETIRING PRODUCTS

It’s almost time to say goodbye to retiring products from the 2014–2015 annual catalog. Before we say goodbye to these amazing products, though, we’re giving everyone an opportunity to order retiring products (some of them at discounts prices up to 50 percent off retail) before they’re gone for good. Retiring products will only be available until June 2 (or while supplies last), so be sure to get your orders in early! Shop now!

As always, I appreciate you taking the time to look at my blog and your comments. Follow me on Pinterest, Facebook & Twitter. (Links on right sidebar)

Artfully Yours,

Kim