One of the stamp sets on the Retirement List is For The Birds, which is kind of a shame because it’s one of those nice stamp sets, pleasing images, all-occasion greetings and easy to color in.  You can also stamp the image in just one color and leave it plain without coloring it in and make a monochromatic card.

In this card, I used a Mossy Meadow card base and a piece of designer paper from the All Abloom Designer Series Paper Stack for the layer. The image is stamped with Jet Black Stazon Ink on Whisper White.  The wagon, flowers, and bird are colored in with Stampin’ Write Markers and Blender Pens. Isn’t it fun to feel like a little kid again while you sit and color?! For a  little sky color I just sponged on a little blue with a Sponge Dauber in the background.

When I found a little scrap of Real Red that was already embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, I tried it as a layer under my stamped image and thought it worked. This Polka Dot Folder is retiring also!  I use this one a lot so will be sorry to see it go! It’s a good all-purpose/want-a-little-something embossing folder!

For a finishing touch I added a small bow made with the Lost Lagoon 3/8″ Satin Stitched Ribbon.  I thought it finished off the card nicely. When the card was finished, I felt very satisfied with the colors and look of this card! It’s nice when that happens!

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One of everyone’s favorite things about being a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator is receiving the Stampin’ Success Magazine. Inside we will find the latest Stampin’ Up! news and products, stamping tips and ideas, business tips and more.  The part I love, of course, are the pictures of samples of cards and other projects! This thank you card is based on a card I saw in my new magazine, although I changed it up a little. I made a regular size card and used the Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper cut in 3/4″ strips and adhered on a diagonal on Whisper White card stock.  The card base is Daffodil Delight.

To make the card, I just laid out the strips of paper so that they covered the Whisper White down to the bottom.  If you miss a little bit, like I did, just trim it off later. I stamped the greeting from the Fabulous Four Stamp Set, part on the Whisper White and part on the designer paper strip.  I got lucky just eyeballing it, but you could be more precise with the Stamp-a-Ma-Jig. I only put a little bit of adhesive on the back of that first strip until after I did the stamping, so in case I messed up, I wouldn’t be ruining the whole card! But as I said, I got lucky!  The ink is Blackberry Bliss, one of the coordinating colors of the designer paper.

For a little embellishment, I added a bit of Gold Baker’s Twine. You could also use the Painted Blooms Cotton Twine, as I did in another card I made while I had the supplies out.

Here’s how I laid out my strips on the Whisper White layer.  Then I just trimmed off the excess strips. This is easier than trying to measure exactly!

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Want to make an easy and fun card with the Sheltering Tree Stamp Set? Make a lovely pastoral scene with the Sheltering Tree. This stamp set, which is photopolymer, has a lot of little pieces that make it fun to play with!  Since it is photopolymer you can see through the stamp and know that you are placing your stamp where you want it. But you don’t need to use all the pieces if you want to make a simpler card.

The card base is Baked Brown Sugar, layered with Pistachio Pudding and then Whisper White for the stamped layer. I stamped the tree trunk in Early Espresso and the leaves with Pistachio Pudding ink plus other greens markered on with the Stampin’ Write Markers. That didn’t show up that well so probably not worth the trouble, but you could try doing it with a little more contrast. Next I stamped the swaths of grass in Pistachio Pudding and Old Olive for some contrast, you could do just one color easily. Several good greetings come in the stamp set so you can choose the one you like. I stamped mine in Early Espresso.  The rake is also stamped in Early Espresso.  I put the rake in the scene because I raked up some leaves and broken twigs this morning on our sidewalk.  Not one of my usual activities! But I was in the mood!

The little blades of grass are also a stamp in the set.  Kinda fun to stamp those around.  And for a final touch, I sponged some Soft Sky ink around the background for some sky and additional color.

Lots you can do with this set, including making some framed pictures for home decor!

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When I was ready to stamp, I just decided to pull out the For The Birds Stamp Set and ended up with this thinking of you card.  Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason for what I stamp. I might go to the shelf for a certain stamp set and something else will catch my eye. That’s one of the things I love about stamping –  there are so many options and choices and usually you can make any of them work.

These For The Birds stamps all have a saying underneath the image.  Some I like and some I don’t care for that much, but you can avoid using the saying if you don’t want it. Either cover it up with a post-it before you ink up and then remove it, or wipe the ink off, or cut the greeting off after you stamp. On this tag, I just cut off the words underneath the mailbox and made my own greeting with a stamp from Teeny Tiny Wishes. I cut out the greeting with the Bitty Banners Big Shot Die Framelits.

The tag is stamped with Stazon Black Ink and colored in with Stampin’ Write Markers – sort of! With the Blendabiities gone, I ordered some new Blender Pens on my last order. I still have my original set and one other but they are all a little ragged and dry. It was a joy to color with these new pointy Blender Pens!! There are so many options for coloring, but what I did today on this tag was to scribble some marker ink on the stamp case cover, then picked up that ink with a Blender Pen.  You can use the same one over and over and just scribble it on your Grid Paper (backordered right now!) or scrap paper until it is clear again. You can add more ink if you want your coloring darker, although you can’t “work” the coloring too much on just Whisper White paper.  Better to use Watercolor Paper. But I was using Whisper White and I did get it messed up a little bit – but let’s just say it’s an old mail box!! In some places where I wanted it darker, I used the marker directly. Depending on the colors, using markers straight on your image is too dark and heavy often times. That’s why Blender Pens or the Aqua Painter are so useful to have available.

Since the tag was too plain, I added some sponging with the Sponge Daubers, just a little Wild Wasabi and Soft Sky. And a little shadow with the Smokey Slate Marker.  I used the Tag Topper Scalloped Punch and adhered a bow with the Lost Lagoon 3/8″ Silky Taffeta Ribbon (which is on the Clearance Rack as I write this!).

The card base is a 4 1/4″ Whisper White square with a layer of Island Indigo card stock and a pattern from the All Abloom Designer Series Paper Stack.

Go look on your shelf of stamp sets and see which one jumps out at you and create something with it!

Reminder:  Last day for this week’s Weekly Deals!