An Improvement on a Good Idea

Sometimes you get a second chance. Today's cards are an example of card grace. I made this first card for my mom, whose birthday was yesterday. I wanted to use the ornament punch to create "pots" for flowers. I used the Garden Silhouettes set. The flowers were colored direct to rubber with Cameo Coral, Ruby Red, and Garden Green Stampin' Write markers. Dusty Durango was used to create the terracotta "pots".

Part of the trouble with this first card was that I didn't have the right base color for it (ended up using Soft Suede), and I wasn't entirely pleased with the scalloped edged strips. But time was of the essence, so in the mail it went.

Here's where the second chance comes in. That card was an original, and I wanted to use the layout and premise of a punch being repurposed for my upcoming Stamp-A-Stack featuring paper punches. So, I had to return to the drawing board and remake the card so my students would have a sample to refer to. Turns out, I like the second chance card better than the original.

Here's a closeup so you can get a better look. I cut the tip off the ornament punch so that the "pot" would have a sturdy base. I used a large tag punch and rounded the edges to make the tall vase. I stamped the flowers, starting with the middle bouquet, and then added the "pots". This focal image is smaller than the other as well, and no greeting is incorporated into it.

I also procured some Cameo Coral to use for my base and folded it as a gate fold for added interest. I placed a mat of Garden Green behind the focal image and still wanted a little more eye candy. I had popped up the middle "pot" on dimensionals, so I threaded some non-SU! ribbon underneath and tied a square knot. Proportionately correct--love it!

For the interior, I stamped the flower image with Versamark on the center panel and mounted some Very Vanilla for the greeting. Since I haven't decided if this is going to be a Mother's Day card or a birthday card, it's blank. My students will have their choice of sentiments. (Double click on the photo to more clearly see the details.)

You haven't heard from me much lately because I've had my nose to the grindstone working on a HUGE project that's due next Friday. I'm making invitations for a fundraising dinner, and one element of the design necessitated adhering 5 layers together 600 times. Yes, I know that I created this situation by designing the invite this way, but I guess I'm a glutton for punishment! I'll post more about these next week. Have a great weekend!

A Flower for Mom

Due to some unforeseen events that took over my life just shortly after I wrote my last blog post, I have been AWOL for 2 weeks. Since 8 of those days (in a row) were spent working at Starbucks, and the following 3 recovering, that means I've really only been gone 3 days--wink wink, nod nod.

So, let's get back to card making! When I was sitting with my feet propped up, browsing the internet in a state of near exhaustion last weekend, I came across Dannie's Designs. I hope you take the time to follow the links I post; you're missing the work of some talented fellow crafters if you don't! Dannie embellished a box she designed with a flower made using the Ornament punch (don't miss the AMAZING basket she made!). Check out this post to see what shape the punch punches.

I used Melon Mambo for my flower, sponging it with Rose Red to create some sense of dimension for the petals. The center is a 1" circle punched from Crushed Curry. The DSP is retired, but I like how it grounds the flower without competing with it for attention. The sentiment is from Well Scripted, and it is stamped with MM ink on a "kiss", a diecut shape currently available in the Occasions Mini for just 8 more days. There's a very thin mat of Whisper White that's mounted on a Crushed Curry base.

The little ladybug was an afterthought. It's a 1/4" circle that's hand-dotted, and the head is a 1/8" circle, attached to the body with a glue dot!

I'll be back tomorrow with another card that celebrates spring and friendship and recycling.

Blame it on my Pants

Okay, this might be TMI, but today's card was inspired by my pants. I'm not sure why Old Navy felt that these tan chinos needed that cute little polka dotted material on the inside of the waistband, but as I looked at it the other day, I thought, "The color of those dots is very similar to Rich Razzleberry...that color combination would make a cute card!" My brain--it's weird. I know. I'm comfortable in my own mind though, so I filed the idea away for later execution.

When I got to my craft room, I remembered that I don't have any stamps that are polka dots (although there's a great small background stamp with dots for sale right now in the Occasions Mini, and I'd contemplated buying it but decided for the solid stripes instead), so I improvised. It's just inspiration, not duplication, right?

I used my RR Stampin' Write Marker to ink the stripes and created my patterned paper. Then I pulled out one of my favorite sets of all time: Wonderful You. I had seen this card by Nina Dee and wanted to CASE it. I don't have the Big Shot die that has this leaf, so I used the leaf image from WY and heat embossed it with White Embossing Powder! Yay!

I was going to mount the 1.75" squares in a straight row across the card, but they looked better wonky. Again, I went with the flow! Everything was adhered to a Kraft base and with the addition of a little Hemp Twine, the card is complete. I'm not adding a sentiment at this point, as I don't know who I'm going to use it for. A friend of mine does have a birthday later this week, so that's what it might be used for.

Look around for inspiration...you never know, you might be sitting on it!

New Life

As I've confessed here before, I'm not much of a gardener. The only green thumb I'll ever sport is one smudged with INK. But today is a gorgeous, warm day, and it inspires thoughts of a new season, and the flowers that come with spring, so I thought I'd try my hand at a potted plant card.

These potted lilies are the result of a great tutorial on SCS. My pot is made using Soft Suede and the border is created using the scallop border punch (DUH). I didn't use the Sizzix diecut flowers Stephanie did, but I stamped and heat embossed the lily image from Fifth Ave. Florals to create my bouquet. I colored the stamens using a Stampin' Write Summer Sun Marker.

The most fun part was making leaves. The 2-step Bird Punch has a separate wing for the bird, thus the name. Well, that wing makes a great leaf, I'll tell ya! I used my Designer Label Punch for a little message from Best Yet on the pot's base. The flowers pull out and there's a hidden tab for a message inside. This fits in a standard A2 envelope.

LOVE IT! And no dirt under my fingernails either.

Lots of Hearts with Cool New Punch

When I was blurfing yesterday (blog surfing), I spent some time on Stasia Sloma's blog. The girl's got game! As I scrolled through her archive, I came across this cool tag she made to coordinate with a birthday gift bag. That got me thinking about a new punch I have, and I skipped off to my craft room, inspired once again.

This new punch is one of 7 featured currently in the Spring Occasions Mini Catalog. The cool thing about this punch is not so much that it's a 1/2" heart, but that the punch has a hinge that makes it collapse flat for storage. I took some pictures to help illustrate what I mean.

When laid side by side with a standard SU! punch, a 1/2" circle for comparison sake, you can see that they are similar in size, but not in height. The black one's punch mechanism is handle on the exterior of the design. As you can see in the pictures of the new design (new color too), the locking mechanism on the back allows the punch to store flat when not in use. This also promotes stacking, which you CERTAINLY cannot do with the black ones!

Now on to the card I created with this nifty punch. I love this color combination, which I saw here and knew I had to make over with SU! colors. Crushed Curry and Bermuda Bay from this year's InColor collection were paired with Real Red...something about these colors together is just so cool!

I used smaller circles than Stasia did, since my hearts are smaller than her stars. I also had to make things a little more challenging for myself because I wanted the hearts to be red. I layered them on .75" circles of Whisper White, but they seemed too small on the card base. I wanted more white in the design too, so I got my 1" circle punch out and found the missing piece of the puzzle.

I didn't have the sentiment Stasia used, so I opted to go simple with a tiny "i love you" from Love Matters. This would've been a good card for last month's SAS, but love is not something only to be expressed one day a year!

I'm happy it's Friday, are you? What are your plans? Thanks for stopping by!

Clear Mount Whimsical Words

Hey! Happy Wednesday! It's feeling like Chicago here today and it's all due to the WIND. The temperature is in the 32, but with the wind chill it feels like 21. At least it's sunny!

Speaking of sunny, this bright and cheery card will be on its way next week to my father-in-law. I CASE'd this from Jill Hilliard and added my own little touches.

The base is Bermuda Bay. I'm growing more fond of this color by the day. Such a rich, unique shade of blue! The striped strip is actual Bridal Specialty Paper on which I used a brayer inked with Summer Sun to change the color to match the scheme. The stamps used are from Circle Circus, a go-to set for me. The mat for the main image is Crushed Curry, a very close cousin of SS. I kept this very free of embellishments, since this is a card for a man.

I love love love that I can see EXACTLY where I'm going to place my sentiment with the clear mount stamps! It was straight and positioned where I wanted it the first time. Fantastic!

Anyone? Anyone?

Are you still out there? Has anyone even missed me? Probably not. Well, here's what's been happening. This week my computer and I have had issues. I couldn't get it to recognize the cable that allows me to download pictures from my camera to it, and it wouldn't tell me why it was having this little fit. Today, I tried again, and it was like nothing had ever been amiss. I don't get it. All's well that ends well, and you get to see cards galore over the next few days. Aren't you excited? Hello? Is anyone still out there?

Okay, here's the first card. My old boss texted and asked for a baby card in the same design as the one I made in honor of his firstborn. It's a tri-fold shutter card (still don't get why they call it that, but they didn't ask me), and this one was for their friends' new daughter. The nursery is done in pinks and neutrals with jungle animals. Okie-dokie.

And the little girl's name is Lyla, but her mother didn't want to correct my friend's wife when she sent an email and spelled her daughter's name incorrectly (what?!? then why spell her name the way you did and doom your daughter to having her name misspelled for the rest of her life? again, I was not consulted), so the card is created with her name spelled as Lila. I guess it could be chalked up to post-partem distraction.

So, I whipped up this card using some light cardboard, since I needed but did not have any 12"x12" card stock in a neutral color like white or kraft, some left over Pink Pirouette DSP from last year's InColor collection, and my retired Wild About You stamp set featuring jungle animals. The animals were stamped in PP and accented with Old Olive. I used Outline Alphabet (again retired) to craft the sweet baby's name (with an "i" not a "y" like her parents intended--argh!). The mom liked the card, I was told, even if her firstborn's name was not spelled as she intended. It's the thought that counts? She's more easy going than I was as a new mom.

More to come...

Bee Happy

A friend of mine is a preschool teacher and the theme of her classroom is bees. Long before I knew her, though, I did an exchange swap with a blogger friend for some images of these happy bees. Honestly, I can't remember who manufactures them, and I'm not supposed to mention any competing companies to SU! here anyway.

But they're too cute not to profile at all! I just love how cheery they are, and when I came across them again as I was doing a major stamp room clean sweep, I decided to not hoard them any longer, but give them to my friend.

I chose a 4.25" square size, since I didn't want to try to come up with too much to put around the main images, which were only 2" square. I used Crushed Curry and Soft Suede from this year's InColor collection because they reminded me of bees. It was so relaxing to color these little guys with my IC Markers. I added Ruby Red as an accent.

I played around with the layout for awhile, but knew I wanted to do something that would mimic bees' stripes. The striping is more obvious on the cards at the top of this post than in these last two (double click on the top one to see in larger size), and I incorporated some Whisper White on those so that I could place some sentiments from Absolutely Fabulous. This set--sorry, it's retired--is a great font(thank you Kristina Werner for lending your amazing handwriting to a set!) and a perfect size for these smaller cards.

Since I used hearts on all of them, I had a strip of RR that had hearts punched out of it. It became a background border and I am tickled by the look! I left these two with the SS base blank. It's good to have a stash of non-specific cards in hand that you can customize when the need arises.

It's snowing right now here. It's a quiet, soft snowfall--no wind to speak of, so the flakes are just gently drifting toward the ground. It's beautiful to watch, and school was let out early in anticipation of this event. It's supposed to worsen as the evening progresses, so we'll see what that means for me tomorrow morning as I attempt to get to work by 5am! Right now, though, it's a rare site to behold here in GA.

Wedding Medallion

This Medallion background stamp is more and more fun to use each time I play with it! If you haven't seen the first post I did using this stamp, click here. Earlier this week at work, a partner commented that we should have a card for our district manager who is getting remarried this weekend. I told him I'd put one together, and this is the result.

I was influenced heavily in the design by this post by dberry on Splitcoaststampers.com. I really liked how she made the image look like a tile, and so I set out to put my own twist on it. The image is large--4.75" square. I chose Very Vanilla for the card stock and Soft Suede for the ink. I needed to be able to easily divide the VV in thirds, so I made my square 4 7/8". This allowed me to score at 1 5/8" and get the desired look. After I scored the square, I folded it and creased it several times to break down the paper fibers. Then I tore it apart. This left only the outer edges to distress with scissors.

I used some Soft Sky card stock from the InColor collection of 2 years ago (measuring 5 1/8" square) and attached both layers to a 5.25" base of Soft Suede. Old meets new.

Where to put the (from Kind and Caring Thoughts) was the biggest challenge. I thought about splitting it up and putting "Best" in the upper left corner and "Wishes" in the lower right corner, but I determined that keeping it all together was better. I split the message using my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig positioning system.

Most wedding cards feature designs that are feminine, so I'm pleased that this one seems to strike a balance and maybe even lean toward being more masculine.

Can You Finish This Phrase?

Give a hoot, ______ ___________! I'm dating myself by making this mention, but I couldn't ignore what my brain gave me when I started this post. Use it or lose it, they say, and I want to keep my brain active for a long time.

So, that PSA aside, here's another card we're making at this month's Stamp-A-Stack. It features two sets, Season of Friendship and Owl Together Now. I don't own the second set, but my dear friend Lydia sent me some stamped images from this set almost a year ago for a project I was working on, and they've been flittin' around between my desk, storage, and another table in the craft room, and I decided they needed to be used.

I chose a color scheme from the 2009-2010 InColor Collection that has been popular this month--Rich Razzleberry, Dusty Durango, and Soft Suede. It really is a nice combination, and makes me yearn for true autumn, which begins officially in 4 days! It's pretty easy to see which colors were used where, and Very Vanilla is the top layer. I stamped the tree trunk from SoF in Soft Suede. Then I inked up the leaves stamp with DD and stamped it with once and then again after I remoistened it with a huff. I stamped off the RR leaves before placing them on the tree.

Then for the fun part! I used my InColor Stampin' Write Markers in the aforementioned colors to beautify my owl. Those attending Saturday will have two to place in their trees. Then I went to place the sentiment "you're a hoot!" on my card, only to realize that it was stamped on Whisper White card stock. What to do? I pulled out my light table and traced the letters with my SS marker! There's a .25" strip of SS across the bottom to ground the tree, and it looks more natural in real life.

In case you're too young to know, the answer to the fill in the blank question above is "don't pollute!" Have a great Thursday!

Flight of a Three-step Stamped Butterfly

This card was inspired by this one that I saw online at SCS awhile back. I liked the color combination of Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay, and Kraft. I also loved the little border along the bottom that Disneywed created.

This is how I reinterpreted the card. The butterflies abounded, dancing along the upper and lower borders. The Flight of the Butterfly set features 2-step stamping for the 'flies, and this time I combined 3 of the images to create my focal point. The solid image, inked in Sahara Sand (there is no Kraft ink available), was the base. I then stamped the dotted butterfly in CC and topped it with the dotted outlined image in BB. Can you say Stamp-A-Ma-Jig?! I never would have been able to line up those three without that tool.

I really like this whimsical card, and the sentiment from the set is perfect for wishing someone well, be it on their birthday or on some other occasion. You can purchase this set by clicking on my "shop now 24/7" icon in the upper right sidebar of this blog and have butterflies fluttering around your stamp room too!

Mambo, Anyone?

As in Melon Mambo...This is one of the new InColors, and it's growing on me. I'm SO not a pink person, and this color reminds me of my sister's bridesmaids' dresses (as in watermelon), but still. Paired with Chocolate Chip and some retired felt ribbon (with the cream stitching colored MM, thanks to the new InColor Stampin' Write Marker in the same hue), it's stylin'.

I used Circle Circus and the sentiment from Great Friend, as well as the Scallop Circle Punch, the 1 3/8" Circle Punch, and the 1.25" Circle Punch. Alright, that's enough capitalization.

Thanks to Brooke for the inspiration. She's part of a 12-blog tour, all featuring stamps and accessories from the new 2009-2010 Big Idea Book & Catalog. Check it out!

Another Day, Another Card...Don't Fall Over from the Shock!

This is a shameless CASE of a stunning card I saw and fell in love with on SCS. Her color combination just popped off the page; however, I didn't possess enough of said colors to recreate it exactly, so I chose three similar colors from the new InColor collection. These would be Bermuda Bay, Dusty Durango, and Crushed Curry. I added Old Olive for snicks.

The most interesting technique I used was for the "outline" of the butterflies. It's called bouncing, and uses the brush tip of the Stampin' Write Marker, in this case DD, and it is tapped along the edge all the way around the image after it was inked in CC. Such a cool effect and so easy!

I'm off to TN today to attend the fundraiser dinner for Amazima Ministries Int'l (see icon/link in sidebar). The founder's mom ordered an 8"x10" version of the invitation as a keepsake, so that'll be fun to present to her! Perhaps I'll have pics and a report when I return Saturday.

Simple Is Best...and Fast!

Hey all! I'm tuckered out from a 35-hour week at Starbucks. I know; some of you work that plus 5 every week. You do not, most likely, work in the food service industry. It's a WORKOUT! Normally, I work around 25 hours, but with 3 partners out this week, there were more than enough hours to go around! I have a sore knee and I've had to wear my arm brace to combat the inflammation of my cubital tunnel syndrome (carpel tunnel of the elbow, for those who care). But, I survived, and to treat myself, I wanted to stamp!

The card was inspired by this layout at Clean and Simple Stamping. This blog specializes in layouts, and it's great when someone else volunteers to do the thinking for you! Vicki from It's A Stamp Thing made a card using this layout, and attached a link, so thanks, Vicki!

I used the sweet circle flower stamp from Flower Power to create the focal images. I paired Pretty in Pink with Soft Suede. It's a yummy combo! I can't tell you how happy I am that SU! finally manufactured Stampin' Write Markers for the InColor collection! They're fantastic for small images.

The circles are 1" and 1.25". I created a 2.75" x 4" template from cardboard, rounded the corners, and traced around it to create the border. "Best Wishes" is from the Level 3 Hostess Set Kind & Caring Thoughts.

One of my stampers requested birthday cards, so this is for next Sunday's SAS. The little detail in the middle of the center flower is a clear 3/8" button tied with linen thread and mounted with a glue dot. To save time, I think I'll tie these ahead of time for my friends, since some are intimidated by bows--you know who you are! :-)

After the week I've had, I'm going to finish this day reading, relaxng, (okay, doing a little laundry--we have to have clothes!), and letting my dear husband cook. If you don't live local, but would like the cards featured in this month's SAS, I can mail you all the pieces-parts; all you have to provide is the stamps. The cost is $25 for 10 cards/envelopes or $12 for 5 cards/envelopes, plus the cost of postage.

My "I Don't Hate My Scallop Edge Punch Anymore" Card

I've been seeing this layered frame on blog after blog after blog, but every time I would try to make my own, something would go awry. I got so frustrated that I shelved my scallop edge punch, banishing it for making me look bad.

Enter Nancy Riley. Here she comes to save the day! The mystery is solved, and I am no longer punishing said punch. All I have to say is, "Accurate measurements work wonders."

The other stamper I have to thank for this card is Lisa Somerville, of Splendiferous Creations, who showcased a great card using a new color combination: Basic Black, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Going Gray, and Whisper White. I wish I'd come up with such a cool name for my blog. "Splendiferous" is one of my favorite words! It is in the dictionary, in case you were about to challenge my Scrabble triple word score. Sorry, I digressed...I'm a word person, and I'm easily distracted.

So, this is about the loudest card I have ever made, but I think it's pretty classy. In case you're too engrossed in my writing to have followed the above link, the Bermuda Bay frame starts as a piece of 2.75" square card stock and is punched on each side. The procedure is repeated on the CC 2 5/8" square, with the resulting layered look. The Basic Black square in the middle is 1.75" square, and the sentiment square with the cute cupcake from Party Hearty is 1 5/8" square. I'm not sure about this piece of the card--is it too casual for everything else going on?

I struggled with this main focal image for at least 45 min., turning it this way and that, putting layers under it vertically and horizontally. The creative process is WORK, peeps! It finally occurred to me to create the little borders on the top and bottom, using BB and the 3/8" Basic Gray taffeta ribbon. Voila!

If you have been wondering if you should purchase a scallop edge punch, hopefully you have been swayed by this post. If so, your timing is excellentamundo (not a M-W dictionary approved word), as SU! has said punch on sale 30% off until 10am (MT) tomrrow, July 5. Click on my "24 Hour Online Shopping" icon in the upper right and you can have said punch as soon as you can say, "CHARGE IT!" Today's our country's birthday--a little present to yourself would be a way of celebrating, don't you think?

Happy 4th!

A Circle Tagged and Something Scrunchy

If that doesn't make you pop over from your Google Reader or RSS feed, I don't know what will! Yesterday my Stampin' Success magazine came, and it featured a 3" x 3" card using Circle Circus. The unique embellishment, accessory, element, whatever you want to call it that it included was a metal edge circle tag. A light went on in my head--"I have some of those!"

I went to my craft room, played for awhile, and this is the result. I made myself use the new InColors because I knew if I didn't, I probably wouldn't, and I want to like them. I made it easy on myself and chose the three Earth Elements colors of Crushed Curry, Soft Suede, and Dusty Durango. The CC is really good in small doses, I think, because it's a pretty green yellow. The SS is yummy, and also has a bit of a green tinge to it. I think it's my favorite so far. DD looks like Really Rust to me.

I stamped the largest circle with the flowers directly onto the tag, which has a vellum center just for this purpose. It didn't jazz me, though. So I repeated the inking with DD and stamped it on Whisper White card stock this time. Then I stamped the largest flower on the circle again and colored it with CC and colored another flower on the circle in SS. I cut out the CC flower and popped it up on stampin' dimensionals.

Then I looked around my desk for something to coordinate with this focal image. I have some dotted printed window sheets--which are carrying over from the Occasions Mini to the new catalog!--and thought that that would do nicely! The card size is 2 7/8" x 11", so although I could've used an entire sheet, I just didn't want to overwhelm the design with this element. I cut it in half, and that was just the right amount of visual interest that didn't compete with the focal image.

One of the newest fads in ribbon use is a sort of shabby chic look that's a messy pleat that's sewn onto the card. I don't have the InColor ribbon yet--it's a cool thing this time around; dotted on one side and solid on the other!--so I tried my hand at replicating the look using card stock. It was a little trickier than I anticipated and came out looking more scrunchy than pleated, but I'm pleased with how it turned out, and it's fun to look at AND fun to feel! The card stock used was CC, and the strip was just .25" wide. I achieved this look by folding, very randomly and not all that successfully, and then going back and putting mono adhesive on the back to make the pleats stick to each other. I secured the strip with glue dots.

The sentiment is stamped in SS on DD, a second strip only .25" wide. It's from God's Blessings, and I used the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to create the sentence and to selectively edit the original message (to fit the space constraints).

What do you think of these new colors? I know you're probably getting tired of this set, but it's all I have from the new catalog, and I also want you to see how many ways you can make one set work! Am I succeeding? Hope so...

Continuing Creations with Circle Circus

Remember those 6 circles of In Colors that I showed you yesterday? Well, I couldn't just leave them to languish on my desk! I wanted to play with my only set from the forthcoming 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog, so I gathered those circles and began to think.

As I shared, there are a variety of sizes of patterned circles in this set, so I went back to the one I used yesterday. No dice. It doesn't fit inside the dotted circle. The next one I grabbed worked, so I stamped it 6 times and cut it out. The pattern on this stamp reminds me of a pattern in Kristina Werner's now-retired DSP Haiku, and there's a second stamp in the set with this icon in smaller relief.

I thought about creating a background using the second stamp, so that the icon that's in the focal images would be repeated, subtly, on the card base. I seem to be stuck in this mode of wanting to use this set in non-traditional ways! When I finished stamping the base, there were holes, so I cut out four circles and used them as masks to fill in those gaps.

Once that was done, I needed to figure out a sentiment. I inked only a portion of the focal image stamp in Basic Black so that I could fit something in the center. It was too small on its own, so I created a black circle to mimic the others.

The new catalog is coming July 1, and I'm looking for interested hostesses to have classes with friends, neighbors, work colleagues...Be the first to see and use what's new!

Creating with Circles...a Sneak Peek!

I have a thing for circles. I like the patterns they create, and I like combining different sizes of them--just look at my blog header if you need any confirmation of this fact.

So it should be no surprise that I chose a set called Circle Circus from the 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog preorder that was made available to demonstrators on the 1st. The circles above are of the new In Color Collection, and here are the names of the six (from top left): Rich Razzleberry, Bermuda Bay, Soft Suede, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, and Dusty Durango. These will be available, ALONG WITH COORDINATING STAMPIN' WRITE MARKERS, July 1. Woot!

Circle Circus has 10 different circle patterns in a variety of sizes, but there were two I was drawn to immediately. The interlocking circle was the one I inked first; I wanted to see if I could make a pattern with it. It turned out I couldn't--at least not without a lot of work with the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig (SAMJ). I was too antsy to do all that, so I started just stamping and cutting. This one can be punched out with the 1.25" circle punch, and I did that. But I was wanting to see what more this set could offer than strictly circles...and I found a flower among these circles. You'll see it in a minute if you don't already.

This is the other circle I found intriguing. I created a circular background pattern using a Papertrey Ink (PTI) set awhile back, and I wanted to see if I could produce something similar. I did a practice run using retiring Tangerine Tango, and I liked it! So I pulled out my Basic Black classic ink pad and the SAMJ and recreated what I'd just made. I colored the eye-shaped spot created by the intersecting circles with the new markers. What a treat! Such an improvement from reinkers and blender pens.

Combine these two, and this is the result. I love the modern look, and the circle "flowers" really pop when placed with Stampin' Dimensionals. The sentiment is from Flight of the Butterfly.

As fast as this month is going by, July 1 will be here before you know it, and you'll be able to see the whole catalog and its goodies! Let me know what you think of this set and the new colors.