blog hop adventure

Welcome to our first ever Watercooler Llama Blog Hop!  I'm so excited, I'm hopping up and down on my computer chair!  There are links at the end of this post to take you to the next llama blog, or back to the main llama page.

We're touring the 2011-2012 Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalog as well as the Holiday Mini, and you've probably just arrived from Jean's blog Rogue Thoughts, where she's featuring stamp sets from the Greetings section of the catalog.  The Greetings section is where my first-ever Stampin' Up! set came from - Sincere Sentiments - I still love it and use it frequently.  I'd like to share with you some things I've made using new sets from that section:

The Perfectly Penned set includes four all-occasion sentiments in this fabulous font - it is fast becoming my most-used and top favorite set!  This is a clean-and-simple layout from a quarter-sheet wonder set of five cards I made using Paisley Petals designer series paper.  Card stock is Tangerine Tango, Soft Suede, and Old Olive; the ink is Soft Suede.

I found this spiral-bound notebook in the $1 section with a little-girl cover design - I think it will be a nice gift for a workshop hostess now that it's a little more grown up:

I recovered both the front and back with Flirtatious designer series paper using our Multipurpose Liquid Glue (nothing is more perfect for a permanent hold with a little "wiggle" time at first, since I can't ever get anything straight the first try).  I cut card stock circles from Concord Crush and Wisteria Wonder and mounted one of the doilies snipped from the "specialty" piece of the Flirtatious dsp.  I stamped this fun sentiment from the cheerful set Pursuit of Happiness with Concord Crush on Wisteria Wonder, punched it out with Curly Label and sponged the edges with Concord Crush and a sponge dauber.  I used Stampin' Dimensionals to make it stand out, so you can see a little more of the doily behind it.  I tied a little bow in the spiral binding using Wisteria Wonder 3/8" Ruffled Ribbon.

You may be starting to think that my stop on the tour spills from the Greetings section right into the Accessories & More section (I am).  Stamps, ink, & paper are essential, but I'd be struggling without our adhesives and other great tools.  I'm still new at using embellishments, but I jumped right into a punch addiction as soon as I became a demonstrator.  I received a card in a punch art swap last year that I just had to recreate:

Isn't that festive?  The sentiment (we are still in the Greetings section, after all) is from the versatile set Delightful Dozen.  If you're new to card making (or need a fresh look) I would recommend this set first - 12 different holidays/occasions, each one different in style, will give a lot of variety to your projects!  The only ink on this card is Cajun Craze.  Card stock is Basic Gray, Night of Navy, Basic Black, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, and Old Olive.  The sentiment is on a Modern Label punch, raised on Stampin' Dimensionals.  Other punches I used are Bird Builder (branches), Owl Builder (owls, ghost, broom), Scallop Oval (ghost), Five Petal Flower and Small Oval (witch hat).

I hope you've enjoyed our tour so far - click on the link below to see Debbie's Clever and Cute blog featuring products from the Holiday Mini!

If you need to return to the main llama page, this link will take you there:

Please leave a  comment if you're inclined - I appreciate them all - and stop back again another day, I'd love to have you.