Flourishing Phrases

This is another Stamp Club card - one you hope you do not need but you know you will.  I love the combination of Daffodil and Basic Black.  I used the Flourishing Phrases thinlits and stamp set to make this card.  If you haven't looked at this bundle in the Annual Catalog, you need to check it out on page 49.  The stamp set is a really good one when you are looking for sentiments.  Not only does it have some really good sympathy ones, but also many others from "Just a Note" to "I love you."   And the thinlits are so pretty - you get leaves, flowers and borders.

I found that the Die Brush (page 190) really came in handy with getting all the little bits out of the dies.  I have not been a fan of the Die Brush and did not encourage my customers to purchase it but I am changing my tune now!  You can do a Google search and see some tutorials for using the Die Brush.  But basically, you just run your card stock with the die through your Big Shot and when you take it out, put it on a foam mat without removing the piece from the die.  Next  just run the Die Brush back and forth over the top of the die and most of the bits will come out and the die piece will come out of the die easier.  Try it - you'll like it!!

July NC Demos Blog Hop

Welcome to the July NC Demos Blog Hop.  We hold this Blog Hop on the last Sunday of each month so mark your calendars so you don't miss it!!

This month our challenge was to use your favorite consumable product from the Annual Catalog (DSP, embellishments, ribbon, etc.)  I'm afraid I didn't read the directions very well and thought we were to use our favorite new dies - oops!

So my first card does use the White Perfect Accents (which is a consumable) - they aren't new but I like them! For this card, I water colored onto a piece of 3 3/4" x 5" Shimmery White card stock.  I love this card stock and as long as you don't soak your card stock with water, it is great for water coloring.  I used a mixture of Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, Sweet Sugarplum and Crushed Curry, squeezing the ink into the lid of the ink pad and using my Aqua Brush to paint it on.  I die cut the Flourish Thinlit piece from Shimmery White and using the Fine Tip Glue Pin adhered it to the water colored piece.  Believe it or not, but this is the first time I have used the Flourish Thinlits and I have had it for at least a month!  This thinlet is just beautiful!!  The "Hope" thinlit is from one of my favorites from the Annual Catalog, Sunshine Wishes.  I cut one from a piece of water colored Shimmery paper and 2 more from a piece of the cardboard that comes in SU's DSP packets and glued them all together so it would be raised up a bit.

For my next card, I used a favorite consumable - the In Color Paper Stack (pg. 174).  First I embossed the white panel with the Lucky Stars Embossing Folder and adhered the DSP to the top and bottom which I then adhered to the Sweet Sugarplum card.  I punched 2 clouds out of Vellum using the Tree Builder Punch.  I stamped Happy Birthday (Sunshine Sayings) in Sugarplum ink and punched it out with the Duet Banner Punch before adhering it to the raised up arrow tag.  (Sorry but the ribbon I used is retired!)  I die cut "Shine On" from the Sunshine Wishes Thinlits.  I die cut "sunshine" and cut off the "sun" and die cut "congratulations" but only using the "on" part!  It's hard to tell, but the clouds and "shine on" are both painted with the Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Brush and are really sparkly.

I hope you have enjoyed my cards - even if I did not follow the directions closely!  Head on over to the next stop on our hop who is Frances Wagner .  If you get lost along the way, below is a list of all the blogs participating in our Blog Hop.

TAMRA DAVIS
JO ANNE HEWINS 
TRACIE EVANS LANGLEY 
SHARON MARANICH (you are here)

FRANCES WAGNER