Stampin Up Grand Vacation Swap Inspiration

I love travelling but really don't like the probability of catching a cold on the plane. Our return flight from the Stampin Up Grand Vacation in Hawaii was very cold and I just knew I'd end up with a cold and sure enough it hit me last night. Feeling a bit under the weather today, but after 3 classes this week I'm not surprised. 

We received a lovely pack of 26 swaps while at the GV and I was taken with the creativity of one that influenced this card that we did at our "Crafty Tuesday" meeting this week. The swap was created by Jackie Ross - thanks for the inspiration Jackie!

And here is my version - I've changed the colours and added a different greeting and a tiny bit of ribbon.

This is a gorgeous card that uses 2 stamp sets - Gorgeous Grunge and Sheltering Tree, from Stampin' Up!  I'm so pleased that both of these sets will carry over to the next catalogue that will be available to purchase from on June 2, 2015.

I used a pallet of the 2014 -2016 In Colors - Blackberry Bliss, Lost Lagoon, Tangelo Twist and Hello Honey, plus Early Espresso for the tree trunk.

 I love how the Gorgeous Grunge set makes a great tree topper - it reminds me of our current Autumn season where the leaves are turning colour and flying off the tree with the wind blowing. I chose the colours to represent Autumn and am very happy with how they combined together.

Stampin' Up is retiring the very cute "Itty Bitty Banner" stamp set and coordinating framelits, that I used for the greeting. You can get this stamp set at a discount on the Retirement List but be quick as it will only be available until June 2nd 2015. 

I added a little bling to the tree canopy by colouring Rhinestone Basic Jewels with my Blendabilities. I'm keeping mine as I love how they work and I really enjoy using them. 

If you would like to re create this card you will need the following supplies. You may purchase them at my on-line store

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Sheltering Tree Emboss Resist Technique

My Sheltering Tree stamp set has been sitting on my desk waiting to be used for a few months now, so with last week's Christmas Card Stamp A Stack, I decided I just had to use it.

I'd read during the week how the new juicier Classic Ink Pads from Stampin' Up! work well with embossing powder, as long as you work quickly, so I thought we should all try that too. Thinking about the infinite array of embossed colours I could now include in my stamping repertoire, I chose Early Espresso for the tree trunks, stamped it and quickly covered the image with Clear Embossing Powder - it worked well! 

The variety of elements in this stamp set enable you to create fun cards or traditional cards, and for this one I erred on the traditional side. The snowflakes and the ground are heat embossed in white and the tree foliage is heat embossed with Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder - just to give a subtle bit of bling to the card.

From there I just sponged on the colours taking care to keep the darker colours to the outside edges of the card. 

I distressed the card edges and wrapped some of the Sale A Bration free product - from the new March brochure - around the lower half. This is the Blackberry Bliss Thick Bakers Twine - Love it!

 

The card looks different depending on your colour choices and you can easily change these to Autumn or Summer colours to make brighter cards

Sponging gives lovely subtle colour changes - you just need to be a little careful when using dark inks. Buff over the top of the embossed images to remove any excess ink from those surfaces.

You'll find a list of the items used in these projects below. Feel free to shop at my on-line store to receive your products delivered to you.

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