Swappin' Christmas in July

Free at last!!!  While I have barely tolerated greatly enjoyed my time working these past few months, all good things must come to an end, and today was my last day at work.  Here I am, doing the happy dance:

Now, mind you, I will miss the income, and I anticipate that in a couple of months, I'll be griping about the bills.  But for now, I feel free as a bird, and I plan to spend some seriously QUALITY time in my stamp cave for the foreseeable future!!!

This card was made for a demo swap over at Stampin' Addicts.  I hope the other swappers like it!  It was a difficult decision on whether to make it elaborate and WOW them, or keep it fairly simple, so they could show their customers a card they could do without too much stamping experience.  It does use a few basic techniques - heat embossing, dry embossing, and sponging.

By the way, here's a helpful hint: The Cherry Cobbler cardstock that was cut for the dry-embossed band was cut the exact length of the white.  After running it through the Big Shot in the embossing folder, it 'shrank' a little bit, due to the peaks and valleys of the embossing.  You might want to cut your CS a bit long to make up for the shrinkage.  *Snerk* I can hear Elaine saying, "It shrinks?!"  (George, "Like a frightened turtle.")  Elaine, "I don't know how you guys walk around with those things."

Stamp: Gifts of Christmas (115372)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler (119685) and Crumb Cake (120953) (why am I hungry all of a sudden?), Whisper White (100730), White Vellum Cardstock (101856)
DSP: Presto Patterns Specialty Designer Series Paper (117175)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler Classic (119669) and Soft Suede Classic (115657), VersaMark (102283), Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Write Marker (119681)
Accessories: Big Shot Die-Cut Machine (113439), Petals-A-Plenty Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (116824), Gold Brads (104337), Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder (109129), Heat Tool (100005), Mini Glue Dots (103683), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

Elemental Birthday

Tonight is the Summer Mini workshop, where I will be demonstrating some of the new products in the Summer Mini Catalog.  The Presto Patterns DSP is so cool!  It's white on white, with a pattern on it that looks heat embossed.  I love how this particular sheet (1 of 6 patterns, 12 sheets total) coordinates perfectly with the new Elements of Style stamp set.  I was inspired to try THIS technique, as seen on Patty Bennett's blog.  You can brayer it, sponge it, use ink and Aqua Painters, or Smooch Spritz to make the pattern pop out!


Here's a close-up, which shows the pattern better, and you can see the shimmer from the Gold Smooch Spritz.  Click on the photo to enlarge it!

Thanks for stopping by!