I'm Back!

We had a lovely time in the Gold Coast, but it's great to be back. It felt like a lot longer than just a week. In that time, Stampin' Up! have released the 07-08 Idea Book and Catalogue. You can view it online at www.stampinup.com (click on the Aussie flag), or you might prefer to wait and see it in the flesh at my New Catalogue Launch Party on the 19th April. If you didn't receive an invite and would like to come, send me an email!

This is a card I dragged out of the archives for just such an occasion (ie I've been away for a week and am suffering from stamp-deprivation!!)

The colours are Kraft, Bordering Blue and Sage Shadow. The stamp set is one of the most versatile sets ever "All About U", which I've combined with the set "Simple Sayings II". These 2 sets work together really well, as there are a few "You" phrases in there! I've stamped the background with the All About U flower, and coloured the centre with the white gel pen. Then I've inked only the first part of the greeting, leaving off the word "you", and stamped it in Bordering Blue ink on a strip of Bordering Blue cardstock. The "U" looks a bit like it's been bleached, but it's actually a technique called 'Kissing', except here I'm 'Kissing off'. First ink the U in Sage Shadow. Now take your flower stamp uninked, and press it onto the U (this will remove some ink from the U). Now stamp your flower onto scrap paper several times to clean off the ink, then stamp it onto the U again. Repeat until you have a nice coverage of flowers. Now stamp the U onto whisper white, and trim around it.

A little TIP when you're stamping very bold stamps with a large surface area like the U... when you stamp onto your cardstock, don't lift the stamp straight away. Allow the ink some time to penetrate into the cardstock, and you'll get an clear, even impression. Also, you might like to try stamping on some ordinary cardstock and then ink again and stamp on Whisper White. The difference is amazing.

Phew, this has turned into a very long post! I must be blog-deprived as well as stamp-deprived!! Well done if you've lasted this long!