July 24, 2013

POINSETTIA PERFECTION

Hey -- it's STILL July! I think I'm on a Christmas in July kick.

The new and upcoming Stampin' Up! seasonal catalog, Your Guide to Holiday Happiness, which goes live August 1, is a delight to the eyes. You see, Stampin' Up! has revamped their seasonal catalog. The first 17 pages of the 39-page catalog feature projects and samples, and more projects and samples, and more . . . using the goodies that you can purchase throughout the rest of the catalog. Mind boggling, I tell you. The ideas.

About the format of this catalog, I'm not sure I like it. I would love to hear your opinion of this new layout. Samples first, then goodies to buy. Let me know what you think.

Anyway, page 27 holds a great new set, Joyful Christmas. The reason I was drawn to it IMMEDIATELY was the layers! The possibility for paper piecing! And who doesn't love poinsettias??!? As a demonstrator, I was allowed to preorder products from this catalog. This was the only thing I could not wait to get my hands on, so I ordered it as soon as I could.

When the Paper Players introduced their challenge for the week, I had initially intended to head for Blooming With Kindness on page 65 for my take on the challenge. However, on my way to the shelf, Joyful Christmas caught my eye, and shouted, "Pick me! Pick me!" So I did.

Quite a long time later, here is what I had accomplished:


I was in papercrafting heaven! On the same project, I got to do two of my favorite things: paper piecing and cutting, lots of cutting, to create many layers. Ahhh!

The old DSP I chose to use for my flower turned out to be even more perfect than I had originally thought. Once the flower came together, I was astounded to discover that it looked so much like those splotchy pinky-red poinsettias you see at Christmastime. How cool! 


Using black embossing powder made it really easy to cut out the various layers and added a little more dimension and elegance, as embossing always does. Pieces of Stampin' Dimensionals made the layering process easy to accomplish.


This is the sketch from the Paper Players upon which I based my poinsettia card:


I actually wish I had more of this retired DSP to make more of these little beauties.


Ah
Smiles.





16 comments:

  1. Oh my, that IS a gorgeous card! Your poinsettia is PERFECT!

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  2. Oh, and I'm not so fond of the set-up of the new Holiday catalog, either. Love the samples, but I wish they were mixed in with the products so I wouldn't have to flip around so much.

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  3. I love your card and that set is on my list. I was thinking of layering when I saw that set too. The holiday mini is a little hard to get started in. I love all the samples they put in though.

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    1. Thanks, Christina! I like the samples too, but wish they had been incorporated throughout the catalog rather than take up the first whole half! :>)

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  4. Beautiful, Linda! I love how you stamped on the DSP. Popping up the layers is a great idea. Thanks for playing with The Paper Player!

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  5. Beautiful!! Love how the poinsettia just pops out! Thanks for linking up at Romance on a dime!!

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  6. I haven't made a card in quite a while, but you have inspired me - love the depth on this poinsettia

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    1. Thanks, Patti! And I'm glad I inspired you! That's my intent. :>)

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  7. Beautiful. Love that pretty poinsettia with all the layers.

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  8. That is a beautiful poinsettia! I love paper cutting and scrapbooking. I haven't worked on things too much lately, been busy blogging. I will pull out my Cricut(I have two) this fall and get busy. I need to make cards for Christmas.


    http://agutandabutt.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thanks, Betty! Let me know if I can ever be of any help to you in your papercrafting endeavors! I was intrigued by the name of your blog and had to check it out! I should be doing something about my weight too, but too many other life problems are "weighing" on me and pushing me to stress eat. Grrrr. Good luck on your venture! :>)

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