I love Christmas decorations but I always feel that once Christmas is over, I want them all taken down.  Rob always tries to talk me into keeping them until New Year’s Day.  No way.  When I have my way (which is not always) they come down December 26th.  The thing is though, once they are down the house looks so bare, boring and dull.   It is always such a dilemma!

My Stampin’ Up!® goal this year is to use as many of the current products that are possible.  I have so many stamps I haven’t used in a while, along with ribbons, embellishments and Designer Series Paper.  One of the things I have not used in months (probably even years!) are the Stampin’ Up!® Watercolor Pencils.  Stampin’ Up!® actually has two assortments of these pencils that include 23 different colors.  You can use them alone or with Blender Pens or Water Painters.

To make this card I first used the large background stamp called Daisy Garden.  The best way to stamp a large stamp (in my opinion) is to use a Stamparatus.  That way if you don’t get ink over the whole stamp you can just ink it up and stamp it again.  I used Starry Sky ink on a 3.75″ x 5″ piece of Orchid Oasis card stock.  Then I used the Whisper White, Daffodil Delight and Granny Apple Green Watercolor Pencils to color the flowers and leaves in. I used a Blender Pen to smooth out the color.  I stamped the sentiment from the stamp set called Biggest Wish using Starry Sky ink onto a piece of Basic White card stock and cut it out using one of the Stylish Shapes dies.  I cut off one end of the die and adhered it to the card.

Don’t forget that you can earn free merchandise from the Sale-a-bration Catalog with a qualifying order.  There is not limit to how many items you can get for free.  Plus Sale-a-bration is a great time to join Stampin’ Up! In addition to the already excellent value of the Starter Kit, if you decide to sign up as a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator during Sale-A-Bration, you can choose from three incredible options:

• Option 1: The exclusive Boho Blue Mini Machine ($63 value) + your choice of $175* of Stampin’ Up! products for only $129.
• Option 2: The original white Mini Machine ($63 value) + your choice of $175* of Stampin’ Up! products for only $129.
• Option 3: Your choice of $175* of Stampin’ Up! products for only $99.

*That’s $50 more product than the standard Starter Kit offer!

Starry Sky

Daffodil Delight

Granny Apple Green