Thumbs UP for Upsy Daisy and Urban Garden DSP!

I was under the gun last night. I had not come up with a fifth card for SAS that I was just thrilled with, although the other experiments I'd made had turned out fine. I wanted something that was different, unique.

I had all the card stock and ribbon and supplies culled together for the other four cards, so I had dinner with my family and watched the Olympics we have stored on TiVO. (Marvelous invention!) So, now that it was 9:30 pm, I had to get down to business.

I had ordered Upsy Daisy because it coordinates with Inspired by Nature and Pocket Silhouettes, two sets I already own. I ALSO liked it because it has a variety of very useful sentiments. I ALSO liked it because it's on special from now until Sept. 30 at 15% off. Stamps on sale? I'm there.

This flyer has all the details. Click to enlarge and see ALL that's on sale!

The other thing I reached for at the late hour last night (keep in mind I'd been up since 3:30 am to work an 8-hour shift at Starbucks) was a package of Urban Garden Designer Series Paper (DSP). This too has been designed by SU! to coordinate with Upsy Daisy, as well as 4 other stamp sets, ribbon, rub-ons, chipboard, brads, and some accents and elements adhesives. With all that work having been done before I even pick these things out of my pile of goodies, how can I fail?

I CAN'T! This card came together almost by itself. It's so lovely that the only reason I can stand to part with it because I know the person I'm sending it to will love it too. The soothing combination of Basic Gray, Baja Breeze, and Whisper White just puts me in a mellow mood and creates a certain calm, don't you think? It certainly had that effect on me last night. After I'd chosen the color combo, I looked over all the pattern options in the DSP pack and chose a portion of one page as the focal point.

Then I took the main silhouetted image of flowers and inked it with Versamark. I wanted to repeat the floral image that's in the DSP in the background, and so I began stamping and this pattern emerged. Stamping an image UPSIDE-DOWN intentionally is really "coloring outside the lines" thinking for me, but it was late and my creativity took over the rational part of my brain. If this is the result when that happens, conquer away!

The other design tip to share is that I inked the sentiment with my Basic Black Stampin' Write marker and stamped off once to get the "gray" you see. I should also mention that the beautiful ribbon is the new SU! Whisper White taffeta ribbon. So soft and elegant...

I also want to point out, in case you missed it, that the envelope is featured in the picture with the card. Don't forget to do this! It really makes everyone at the post office wonder what's inside, and it alerts the recipient--who's mindlessly thumbing through her junk mail--that she's about to have an encounter with beauty and encouragement because someone cared enough to create for her.

The gals who came for SAS today really enjoyed their time together. At one point, my husband looked at me from the other room and asked, "Are they still here?" They were so happily ensconced in their creating that they didn't need to speak! It was great to be back together. Hope you can join us next month--the date is Sept. 27!