Stamping for fun!!

I'm usually stamping because I "have to..." I'm often trying to come up with something new for a class or for a swap or to get a card in the mail... Not that it's bad, there's just more pressure! Tonight, I took a couple of hours to stamp just for fun! : ) I was playing with the Happy Harmony Sell-A-Bration stamp set. I did these four cards using the same colours... Sahara Sand, Always Artichoke and Rose Red. I added Mellow Moss to the last one... On all of the cards, the flowers are done using the Rose Red and Always Artichoke Stampin' Write Markers. It's neat to see how things can look so different even though they have the same basic components.

On this first one, I stamped the Rose Red strip with the Linen background stamp to give it a bit of texture. I also used my new favourite punch - the Ticket Corner punch. I like how it creates a little notch that's perfect for a brad in each corner. Here's a little trick... notice how there are two layers of green cardstock under the flowers and the top one is just slightly darker than the bottom? They are both Always Artichoke but on the top one, I sponged Always Artichoke ink on the card stock edges. It makes the card stock a bit darker and gives it some definition when layered on top of another piece of the same colour.

My second card uses two background stamps - Linen on the Rose Red piece again and Weathered on the Always Artichoke piece. This is a simple card with a layout that I've used often - it's great to have a reliable layout that you can adapt with different stamp sets.

I'm not too sure about this third card... it seems a bit unbalanced to me and I will probably end up playing with it some more. You can see that I was trying to use the Ticket Corner punch again. Don't you love the font on the greetings in this set? And I really like this greeting - "It's the little things that make life big." Isn't that true?

Here's the last card... I think it's my favourite. I actually did make four more for a swap that I'm in with some demonstrators in my downline group. Another nice greeting on this one. I managed to work the Ticket Corner punch in on it also and I like the Weathered Background stamped in Always Artichoke onto Mellow Moss card stock...

So, do you have a favourite of the four? Leave a comment and let me know...

Happy stampin'!

Bev.

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