The new "In Colors" from Stampin' Up are just wonderful! I have bought not only both the 8 1/2" x 11" AND 12" x 12" assorted paper packs, but I also have now broken down and bought 8 1/2" x 11" packages of each and every color! I totally love it. I wasn't so sure about the "Pick a Petal" stamp set, either. But, after having played with it, I can see a lot of versatility going on there. Many ideas are floating around in my head. I used my Bashful Blue craft spot to emboss the chipboard flower. I think it matches pretty well.
I also love, love, LOVE the Groovy Guava paper! It goes great with so many things! For this "monkey" card, made with the Zoofari set, I decided to try a buckle card. I was dying to use a "banana" stamp, but since I didn't have one, I improvised and used the leaf from "Watercolor Garden." I thnk it turned out pretty good! I used the slot punch to create the hole in my "belt buckle." If you make one of these, don't forget that you only need to tape down the RIGHT side of the buckle (ask me how I know this!). That way, your "belt" will have an exit point (DUH!!).
I also got some of the Soft Sky designer series paper. For SCS TLC120, I attempted to make a "tiled" card, as suggested. I thought the designr paper would look really old and neat if I did the "cracked glass" technique with it. After apply 3 separate layers of Glassy Glaze embossing powder (stamping each tile in the versamark ink in between), I decided a couple of things. First, I decided that doing a card with 15 individual pieces of "cracked glass" was slightly psycho Second, I also decided that I could have used just plain old Soft Sky cardstock and it would not have made any difference. After adding so many layers, you can hardly see that it is patterned paper. I sponged the cracks with some Blue Bayou ink to make it look antiqued. I like how it came out, even if it was insanely labor intensive! The stamps I used for this card were from "Heartfelt Thanks" and "Small Sayings" which I really, really hope makes the new catalog!
