Wedding Bouquet

Hi friends,
I'm back this week with some more fun ideas for you!  It's a little harder to want to craft when there are so many fun things to do outside in the summer, however, when the summer heat gets to being too much, I retreat to the basement where my craft room is and enjoy the cooler air.

As I work my way through the new Annual Catalog, I am trying to prioritize what I purchase, based on what I need, what I like, what is different from anything I already have, etc. One of my favorite purchases continues to be background stamps!  They are subtle in appearance most of the time but sorely missed when you take them away.  One of my favorite new background stamps is "Burlap". I especially loved the frayed edges. Here's a card I recently designed using this stamp:

This is a great example of the background stamp adding some additional interest to this card. It would have had alot of "white space" without it, which is fine if that's what you want, but I love the subtle background. I stamped using Crumb Cake, very lightly.  The rest of the card features  the Beautiful Bouquet set and a small piece of Designer Series Paper from the Delightful Daisy set. I think this design could easily be adapted for an anniversary card or even birthday card by changing the sentiment.  Be sure to check out all the background stamps on pages 164-165 of the annual catalog. Here's my hint/tip for using background stamp. I generally spend the extra money and get a wood mounted stamp because of their size. A clear mount one requires a really large acrylic block to mount and in my experience, they tend to curl a little when not on a block. For stamping, I place the wood block stamp with the wood side down on my table and the rubber side facing up. I ink up the stamp by holding the ink pad in my hand and gently tapping it on the rubber. I then lay my paper on top of the rubber surface and either rub it with my hand or use a brayer to apply some pressure to the paper. It works every time and I haven't accidentally dropped the big wood stamp anywhere because I wasn't able to hold on to it. Hope that helps you with your background stamping!

Now is a great time to purchase some goodies that you've had your eye on. Through July, you will receive a $5 coupon redeemable in August for every $50 you spend. You can submit an order online or get it to me via email or phone and the coupon will be emailed to you directly. Three background stamps alone will get you over the $50 threshold! Take advantage of this special offer before it's gone!

Happy Stampin'!
Sarah