A "blissful" combination!

Of all the Stampin' Up! colours with which I've worked, Summer Starfruit has had the most intense emotional reaction.  People either love it and find it elegant or they detest it (notice I've used a stronger word than merely "hate") and compare it to baby poop.  There are very few reactions that could be considered neutral.  This is a colour that evoked strong reactions from the moment of its introduction.

I am one of the people who considered it elegant, especially when paired with certain colours.  Although it has been retired, Summer Starfruit is still a colour to which I turn for some projects.  The  following special fold card for The Paper Plunge Challenge is one of those projects.  In this case I've paired it with the new Blackberry Bliss.  The result is "blissful".

For the side "wings" I added a layer of Blackberry Bliss and then for my next layer, used some of that wonderful new Sale-a-bration Irresistibly Yours Designer Paper, sponged with the Summer Starfruit.  The sponging really helped the glossy stars to show up.  To dress them up a bit, I used my Confetti Stars Punch to cut some stars from a piece of Blackberry Bliss cardstock and added a few to the white stars by gluing them down uring my Tombo adhesive.

For the centre "diamond" I added a layer of Blackberry Bliss cardstock and then a piece of Whisper White which I first sponged around the perimeter using Summer Starfruit ink and then stamped images and the sentiment from the new Butterfly Basics stamp set with Summer Starfruit ink and Blackberry Bliss ink.

A little vellum butterfly from the Papillon Potpourri stamp set, stamped with Blackberry Bliss ink and coloured with my Summer Starfruit marker finished up the special fold card.

For more special fold cards, check out The Paper Plunge.

The elegance of silver and grey

I love the soft, almost dove-grey of Smoky Slate.  It's a beautiful, subtle grey.  I decided to mix it up with the Basic Grey because the two greys compliment each other so well.  Add in some silver and you have a very elegant, subtle card.  It may not be what some would consider Christmas colours, but as I've said before, I don't believe that Christmas is any set colour.

I used the Smoky Slate as my base and then added a layer of Basic Grey that I embossed using the beautiful Filigree Frame embossing folder.  I added a bit of Encore Silver ink which I sponged over the raised design---not a lot, but enough to pick up the embossing just a bit more.

Inside the embossed frame, I added a piece of the pretty Smoky Slate and white design from last year's Winter Frost Specialty Designer Paper cut with a Deco Collection framelit.  I sponged the perimeter using Basic Grey before adhering it.  I used Dimensionals to adhere the Basic Grey piece cut using my Chalk Talk framelit to the centre of that after heat embossing the bottom with "christmas" in Silver embossing powder.

Then I cut out a piece of Silver Foil using the retired "Merry" thinlit and also heat embossed two copies of the holly from the top of the Christmas Bauble using Silver embossing powder onto a piece of Smoky Slate.  I used Tombo glue to attach the "Merry" and then fussy-cut the holly pieces after colouring the berries with the lightest of my Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities.  I sponged a bit of Encore Silver ink over the leaves and berries to turn the colour into more of a blush and then attached them using Dimensionals.

A scattering of tiny Jewel Basic Rhinestones finished off the card.

The only thing wrong with using silver and subtle colours is that photos are difficult to take.  Without a flash (above), the embossed "christmas" and silver embossing around the holly is difficult to appreciate.  With a flash (below), the colours are slightly "off".  If you can imagine a mix of the two, that would be my card.

For more cards using the elegant greys and silver, check out The Friday Mashup!  I decided to mash my card up by using both heat and regular embossing.

For more cards conveying a feeling of happy or merry, check out the SUO Challenges.

Snowflakes

Sometimes we get so busy with our images that we forget how important the words are that we choose.  Today my card is all about the words.  Yes, there are images.  It would be a bit boring with nothing but the words, but the real emphasis of my card is on the words.

My sentiment is from a Stampendous stamp set that I picked up during the Boxing Day sales last winter.  This will be their first use and I love the way the card has turned out.  I've used one of my favourite blues, Marina Mist for the base and then added a layer of Whisper White and then a layer of patterned paper from the Santa & Co Designer Series Paper.  It's all about snowflakes.  That's what's on the paper and that's what is key in my sentiment.

I used the negative framelit die from the On Film set to frame my sentiment.  It is cut from Whisper White cardstock and centred with a piece of Marina Mist cardstock on which I've heat embossed the words using my White Embossing powder.  Just for fun I cut out two snowflakes from Whisper White cardstock and added them around the frame.  To finish the card off, I added one of those wonderful metal All Is Calm snowflake embellishments to the negative frame using white Baker's Twine.  The added rhinestones sparkle just like the snow does on sunny days.

I think we forget to have simple fun as we get older.  Like the sentiment says:  Take time to chase snowflakes.

For more cards that make you take notice of the words, check out The Paper Plunge.

For more cards all about the weather and with a metal embellishment, check out the Friday Mashup for which I have also included my desire to be on the Design Team.