Inspired by Nature--Fall-Winter 2008 Catalog Preview!

I cannot begin to tell you how excited I was by the new Silhouette Style Watch portion of the new SU! Fall-Winter 2008 Catalog! There is an entire package of new stamp sets, coordinating Designer Series Paper, rub-ons, brads, chipboard, AND accents and elements self-adhesive die cuts designed to complement each other. Now that's what I call a coordinated effort!!

Inspired by Nature is one of 4 FREE sets we were given at convention, and today is finally the day it gets ink! I wanted to do my own take on a demonstration I saw at one of the breakout sessions that used three of the new InColor Collection inks--Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, and Tangerine Tango--and a very easy technique called sponging.

First let me show you a comparison between the SU! reds. The base card is the new RHR, and the piece on the top left is Real Red from the Bold Brights color family. On top right is Ruby Red from the Earth Elements color family. In real life Ruby Red and RHR are almost twins, but RHR is just a smidge darker. It's amazing how broad the color spectrum is within a specific color like red, isn't it?

Now on to the card. I photographed it with the stamp so that you can see that it has this great negative space in the middle of the flowers. No, I didn't cut that out with my craft and rubber scissors, girlfriends! SU!'s new stamps are die cut, so all you have to do is pop them out of the rubber and mount them. It's truly a beautiful thing!

OK, the nitty gritty. I stamped the entire image in Pink Pirouette first, then took out my little sponge daubers and applied TT and RHR selectively over the rest of the image. So quick, so easy, so stunning, don't you agree? The sentiment "live with passion" is also part of this set. To me, flowers are bold examples of God's creativity, and they do live with passion, providing us with an example of bold, passionate, although brief, living OUT LOUD exactly as they are. They also provide us with compassion as they express on our behalf love, concern, happiness, sympathy, and joy when words don't seem to be able to. I think the saying fits the image, and would be an encouragement to someone in need of a lift.

A little inside tip about the ribbon that seems to be floating there in the middle of the card. I used my horizontal slot punch pushed all the way in on the sides of my 3.75" x 5" Whisper White card stock, then threaded the 1/2" striped grosgrain ribbon in Pumpkin Pie up from the back side and tied a simple knot. A nod to Canadian SU! demonstrator Laura Fredrickson who inspired this look!

I have another look I'm going to attempt with this same stamp, so check back for a second post today! I LOVE DAYS OFF WORK!