Sale-A-Bration Sunday - Avant Garden

Well would you look at that.  Three days in a row.  I am on a roll!
I made another very quick, very easy card.  And this time it uses a Sale-A-Bration freebie!

Admission time though.  Today I cheated.  This card is so super-quick because I didn't have to prepare ANYTHING!  

I used our Notecards to make this little beauty.  Pre-cut, pre-scored Whisper White cards just waiting to be turned into a work of art.  (I even stamped on the coordinating envelope to complete this classy little number).

The FREE Sale-A-Bration stamp set, Avant Garden, was used for both the sentiment and the floral and background images.  The blooms were coloured really quickly with our new Watercolor Pencils (available in our Occasions catalogue).  And when I say 'quickly', I'm not kidding!  In short, I used the Pacific Point pencil to colour the flower centres and the Bermuda Bay pencil to make a few lines towards the outer edges of the petals....then I used an aquapainter to smudge all of the coloured lines and bleed them together.  I think it took me all of 2 minutes.  Really!

Same for the leaves.  A few strokes of the Old Olive watercolor pencil then the amazing aquapainter to bleed my lines and fill in the foliage.

And the pièces de résistance.....I used Pacific Point and Bermuda Bay inks to randomly stamp the background dots along opposite corners of the card.  Then I used the aquapainter again to smudge some of the colours together.  Our classic ink pads are all water-soluble and I love the effect of the colour wash that I got by bleeding these spot images a bit.  I repeated that smudged effect of the spots background stamp on the back of the envelope.  Squeal.  I love it when I stamp the the cards and envelopes to coordinate!

Did you know that if you purchase the set of Note Cards & Envelopes (this is a set of 20), and the Watercolor Pencils,  plus a Staz-on black ink pad and the aquapainters, you will be eligible to select a FREE Sale-A-Bration item.  So when you choose the Avant Garden set, you have everything you need to create 20 cards PLUS envelopes!!  For $8 more, you can purchase another set of Note cards and make 20 more cards.  What a deal!!

The SAB products that you could earn FREE (one for every $60-worth of product you purchase) are gorgeous.  See them all by clicking HERE.  

Place your orders online by visiting HERE (at check out, please use the hostess code 3M2AGU7N) or contact me to place your order for you.  

And if you want a LOT of stuff ($100 or more), you can save a TON of money - up to $200 - by making your purchase into a fully customizeable Starter Kit purchase.  See the details HERE or contact me to ask how we can save you lots of money while getting you everything you want.

I'll look forward to showing you another super easy card using the FREE Sale-A-Bration Avant Garden set tomorrow!  Until then, enjoy the rest of your weekend and God Bless,      Cynthia   <><   

Product List

Avant Garden Photopolymer Stamp Set [143272]	Watercolor Pencils [141709]	Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes [131527]	Aqua Painters [103954]
Jet Black Stazon Ink Pad [101406]	Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad [126951]	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad [131171]

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Well I have told you all previously that I have the best mother in the world (sorry to disappoint all those out there who thought they had her).  I am here to add to that by telling you that I also have the world''s greatest father.  My cup runneth over and I am truly blessed.

I could wax poetic about my parents - but that's not why you came here   :)
Instead I will show you the card I made for my father - an avid fisherman - and hope that the pictures do it even just a little bit of justice!

I have an old retired Stampin' Up! set called Fishin' that came out in 1996.  This set was just itching to be used for my Dad's card so I stamped the bullrushes and weeds and water splash and fish all using Stazon Black ink, onto Naturals White cardstock.

I used my aquapainter to apply colour to the scene, including the water.  Once the image was coloured, I used a brayer to apply "sunrise" colours to the sky.  The image was cut out using the second largest Labels size of the Framelits, then the entire piece was spritzed liberally with a home-made shimmer mist.  It was mounted on a chocolate chip mat that had been embossed with the Square Lattice embossing folder, then this was adhered to a Naturals White card.  Finally, the fish was covered with Crystal Effects to make him seem wet and slick.  Here is a close-up so you can see the shimmer on the scene, and the wet/slick look of the fish.

On the inside of the card I stamped a few more fish, a fishing pole and a tackle box and traditional fishing hat (think Tilley hat). 

 I really hope my father likes this card.  I tried to get the fish to resemble a rainbow trout (thank you Google Images!).  I am not certain how well I succeeded. But I know my father will appreciate the attempt!

This is a wonderful stamp set and perfect for my fisherman father.  I know it is retired and I really should sell it at my Open House in June but I am undecided so far.  I don't use if often enough to justify keeping it.  But will anyone else love it the way I do?!?!?  Certainly no one loves my father the way I do.  Well...maybe my 8 brothers and sisters (yes - you read that correctly.  I am one of 9 children.  Told you I had the world's greatest mother and father, didn't I?!).

At any rate, to that wonderful father (married to a wonderful woman), I say, "Happy Birthday and lots of love". 

And to the rest of you - enjoy your day.  The weekend is almost here!  God Bless,    ~Cynthia    <><