Stampin! with Jaydee

Hi Everyone.

Happy Wednesday.  Oh yes... Friday is on the way!!!  I'll be so glad when this week is over and I can get back to stamping and doing something creative.  I really get withdrawal symptoms.  For tonight's card I'm using Awash with Flowers - one of the new sets from the 2010/2011 catty.  This is the stamp set that you can earn free as part of the two step into spring promotion.  I love this set and you can see my other example cards here.

The curtain call challenge (a new challenge site I found) has a color challenge - crushed curry, going gray, basic grey and whisper white.  This was a great color challenge.... mmm... gray again!!!!  I loved it with the pop of crushed curry.  It worked so well for my homage to retiring colors theme.  In addition, the talented team across at palspaperarts are running a KISS challenge this week and this works for that, too.  So, pop along to the curtain call challenge site  and palspaperarts sites, as always, I know you will find something to CASE and I always encourage you to participate.

You will notice that this is a very similar layout to last night's card.  It's clean and really allows the focal point to take central stage.    I loved the color scheme and am starting to get a little worried that I am addicted to crushed curry and to gray :-)

I thought showcasing a flower card was a great way to celebrate Earth Day!  So here it is!

Here's how I made the card:

Card size:    A2 - Basic Grey

Layer 1:    Crushed Curry 3 1/4"W x 4 1/4"H

Layer 2:    Going Grey:  3"W x 4"H

Layer 3:    Whisper White 2 3/4"W x 3 3/4"H

I stamped the negative stamp images and then stamped the positive image on a separate piece of paper using Crushed Curry ink.  Once the ink was dry, I spritzed the flowers using the Gold Glow SmoochSpritz to give it a little subtle bling! 

I then cut out the petals and adhered them to the negative image using dimensionals.  I added a small half pearl.  I love putting pearls in this position of this flower.

I stamped the "Happy Birthday" from the Messages for Mom set in Basic Grey

I wrapped Basic Grey satin ribbon around the Whisper White layer and adhered it to the Going Grey layer using dimensionals.  The Going Grey layer was adhered to the Crushed Curry layer, also using dimensionals.  The reason I love dimensionals, as opposed to pop up glue dots for this, is the fact that the dimensionals are not as high as the pop up glue dots.  This allows me to do multiple popped up layers without adding too much height to the card.  However, the popped images, bow and pearl, will definitely mean extra postage on this card.

If you make any cards using the retiring colors, we would love to see them, so please send us a link in a comment so we can all come and visit your blogs.  Heck, link any card you would like us to see - retiring colors or not:-)

I'd like to give a big shout out to Terri tonight.  I received the most gorgeous card in the mail from here.  It was such a pleasure to open up an envelope and find a hand crafted card inside.  I know we all love that!  I can't wait to show you Terri's card.  I will also be showing you the card that Beverly sent me for my birthday.  So two great RAKs to show you this weekend.  Terri, I loved the card!  Thank you.

Earth Day blog candy! 

To celebrate Earth Day, I have a special treat for my loyal commenters this week.  I am putting together a little package of SU goodies to give away to one very lucky person.  What's up for grabs???????  An SU stamp set, a Trendy Trees totally recyclable and totally cool SU drinking bottle; an SU compact mirror, SU nail file, an SU pen and a roll of SU ribbon!  I'll put a photograph up on my blog tomorrow so that you can see what fabulous goodies you will receive.  Almost all of the contents of the grab bag cannot be bought, unless you can get something via a famous on-line auction site!

All comments received starting on Monday April 19 will be entered into the draw.  There's an entry for each comment left.   I know I don't need to bribe you with prizes, but it's a way that I can thank you all for your loyal support and to share a little love.  :-)

The draw will take place on April 30th and, as always, Bilbo Baggins, my very willing 4-legged, purry, furry assistant, will be doing the drawing!  So...look out for a pic of the blog loot tomorrow night.

In honor of Earth Day, my blog will also be going Green.  I will be signing up for Green Certification, which allows me to neutralize my site's carbon footprint with renewable energy and will also provide me with statistics to help me optimize my website to use less energy.  So, check out the new badge my site will get tomorrow. I found about about this on Rach's website! In addition, I will be planting trees through the save the redwoods league - one of the charities that I support every year.

Have a fabulous Thursday everyone.  I hope you have a day filled with nature, love and laughter.  So, go hug a tree - it sounds dorky - but it really is an amazing feeling.  Just don't let the neighbors catch you:-)  Or.... go do a headroll down a hill, make a dandelion necklace, take a rose petal and rub it between your fingers to get that gorgeous smell... do something that you used to do as a child that will reconnect you with this wonderful Earth that we inhabit!

Hugs to you all - and the trees :-)

Jaydee