Everything...Always

One of the hottest sets from the Spring-Summer 2008 Collection is the set called Always. The set of 11 has really struck a chord with stampers and demonstrators alike, and I decided to see if I could be as convinced as the rest were.

I AM! This set has a very good combination of images and sentiments, especially if you need to make a card that's romantic for that holiday that's coming in just 5 days.

For this card, I knew I wanted to do something different. Different size. Different color scheme. So, I searched my vertical file folder stash of papers for a new combination. The first card stock I came to that I had lots of was Bordering Blue. Okay, that'll by my base, and it's in the Rich Regals family. A quick look see at my ink pads, which are organized by color families, and I knew my options. I grabbed Regal Rose, So Saffron, and Always Artichoke. Lovely.

Next I wanted to try for myself something I'd seen on Fran Sabad's blog, franticstampers (isn't that a great play on her name?). So, I made each of the colors beside the base into 2.5" squares and scored them every .5" to create mini tiles. Stamped the heart image, with its wonderful detail, on each in its own ink color and I had a good design going.

In my perusing of the SCS gallery for this set, I'd seen someone add an arrow to it. The "everything" stamp seemed just the right width and length to serve the purpose. The tip is just free handed. Then for the most challenging part of the entire card: placing the words "you mean" and "to me." I dug out the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, and have to admit there was operator error with my first attempt. So, I went back to eyeballing it and was successful.

Since you've been so good to humor me and read to this point, I'll share the detail I put on the inside of the card. It's a nice unifying feature to repeat the color scheme on the interior of the card, and the little circle flower details worked just great for this. I'm going to be purchasing the .5" circle punch, though, because cutting those little babies out by hand was NOT fun!

I'm cookin' up an opportunity for YOU to get your hands on this set and get a FREE stamp set to boot! Stay tuned...