Hello there, Dearies!! I'm so happy to be chatting with you again today. Bartley and I are home from our romantic London & Paris trip, we've enjoyed a relaxing Memorial Day holiday weekend and now we're settling back into our regular routines around here. It's so wonderful to travel and discover new sights and sounds and foods and.....just to enjoy new experiences as we spend time together. But in the end, there's just no place like home. (And I'm not just saying that because we live in Kansas! Ha.) We're grateful to have gone on such a wonderful trip but we're also extremely grateful to be home.
All that being said, I know that some of you are probably already looking forward to peeking at our trip photos. Let me just tell you that I took just over 600 photos, so it will probably take me a bit to sort thru them all and get them edited and uploaded to share with you here. So bare with me as I work thru that process as time allows. As you know, it's almost time for the Papertrey Countdown to start up again and I've got several work items on the agenda before that begins so we'll just see how fast I can get the pictures ready. Don't you worry though. You can be sure that I'll share them here as soon as I can! I haven't even uploaded them to the computer yet, but honestly, I'm pretty excited to see them again myself! ;)
As for today, it's the first of JUNE! How the heck did that happen? Wasn't it just February the other day?! It's full-on summer here now. I sat outside yesterday to eat my lunch and was HOT by the time I came in. You won't hear me complaining about that heat though -- it was cold and windy a lot of the time we were in London and Paris, so I'm thoroughly enjoying this warm weather! My flip-flopped feet are lovin' life. :)
Along with the first of June, comes the next Senior Design Team Challenge at Papertrey Ink. This month, Nichole has given us another fun challenge.....we're pulling out our Scattered Showers and Scattered Showers Additions stamp sets and having a bit of fun with them again. They've been such popular stamp sets since they were released back in 2009. I had no idea when I designed them, how much you all would grow to love them! It's been wonderful to see you embrace these sets and use them on so many projects of your own! So if you've already got the Scattered Showers sets, then perhaps you'll gain a bit of new inspiration today, to pull them out and use them again. And if you don't have them yet, then maybe you'll decide you need to add them to your wish list! *wink*
For my card today, I decided to go the less obvious route and use one of those umbrellas in a much more unconventional way! Let's get right to the details of the project, shall we?
I started out with an aqua mist card stock base and I used my new Cane Print impression plate on the background. I must say, I'm still loving that impression plate so much! The impressions are deep and clear and the pattern just goes with so darn much!
In the upper right corner of the card, I added a little sentiment strip of rustic cream card stock that was stamped with the, "Cheer up, Buttercup" sentiment from Scattered Showers. I just love that sentiment. Some simple machine stitching added a bit of detail.
Now for the fun focal point. Are you still looking at the card, trying to figure out where the umbrella image is?! It's there....I promise. If you look closely at the red "square" layer in the back, that is actually an umbrella top, stamped four times with the tops facing each other to create a scalloped square. Look at the corners, and you can see where the umbrellas overlap just a bit. Cutting the square out provided the perfect back layer for a fun flower!
Next, I added a raspberry fizz card stock layer that was die cut with a limitless layers: 1 3/4" circle die. After that is a rustic cream scalloped layer that was die cut with a beautiful blooms II die and stamped with the "sun" image from Scattered Showers Additions. I love the detail the sun image provided as the flower's center! Topping it off are a couple of buttons -- one raspberry fizz and one pure poppy, stitched together with a bit of rustic cream button twine. A few kraft leaves are tucked in here and there -- they were die cut with one of the leaf prints dies.
I wanted to further add to the overall sentiment, so I added a strip of rustic cream card stock along the bottom of the card that was stamped with the "this too shall pass" sentiment from Scattered Showers Additions, which works perfectly with the "cheer up" at the top of the card. The cream layer was die cut with an Edgers #3 die. A thin strip of hawaiian shores card stock was stitched just under the flower for a bit of added detail.
I hope you've been inspired to pull out your own Scattered Showers stamp sets and get a bit inky! Be sure to visit Nichole Heady and the Senior Design Team girls today, for lots more inspiration!
Lisa Johnson
Betsy Veldman
Heather Nichols
Mish Wooderson
Thanks for visiting me today. I hope you are having a wonderful week!
much love,
{Cheer up, Buttercup supplies}
Paper: rustic cream, kraft, aqua mist, raspberry fizz, hawaiian shores
Stamps: Scattered Showers, Scattered Showers Additions
Ink: pure poppy, raspberry fizz
Other: Cane Print impression plate, Edgers #3 die, leaf prints die, limitless layers: 1 3/4" circle die, beautiful blooms II die, raspberry fizz & pure poppy buttons, rustic cream button twine, sewing machine/thread
