Annual Inspirations New Product Blog Hop

The 2017-18 Close To My Heart Annual Inspirations because available at the beginning of the month.   (Surely you've seen it by now?!?  If not check it out online HERE.) What is your favorite new product or collection?  You are going to be so inspired by all of the great ideas that you find along this blog hop!  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Darlys's blog.  From here, you'll visit my Heart2Heart teammate Alyson's blog next.)

When I first saw the Thoughtful Bird stamp set, I knew I would be ordering it ASAP!  My card was inspired by the card featured in the Annual Inspirations Idea Book on p. 76.  This page also explains how to use our new three-step images, so I won't go into too much detail here.  I began by stamping the bird base (the solid bird) in Glacier near the bottom left of a 3.5"x4.75" panel of White Daisy card stock.  Next, I stamped the middle bird layer/image in Lagoon.  The next step is to stamp the beak and feet (in Saffron).  The final step is to stamp the top bird layer/image in Peacock.  Our clear blocks make this pretty painless, but I'm not going to lie and say that it didn't take a little practice to get the images just right (or even "just right enough" LOL).

After completing the bird, I stamped the branch in new Toffee ink and the leaves in first and second generation fern.  I stamped the sentiment in Peacock.  To finish making the card, I layered the stamped panel onto our new two-toned cardstock (Lagoon in this case), with the lighter side cut at 3.75"x5" and the regular/darker side at 4"x5.25".  A strip of Peacock ribbon across the top was the final touch.  (This particular ribbon is retired, but the new Peacock ribbon is even prettier!)

Since I love this bird set so much, I couldn't leave well enough alone!  I stamped it again and again in different color combos following the same basic recipe.  The first color is the bird base, the second color is the middle image, the third color is the beak/feet, and the fourth color is the top image & sentiment.  All the cards have a Toffee branch and Fern leaves.

Canary, Canary, Saffron, and Nutmeg (NEW!) with Canary B&T (Whimsy Fundamentals), gold sequins, and white & gold ribbon

Canary, Saffron, Goldrush, Black with Saffron B&T (Enchanted Fundamentals), pearls (NEW!), and black & gold ribbon

Poppy, Cranberry, Saffron, and Black with Cranberry B&T (Adventure Fundamentals) and red shimmer trim

Pebble (NEW!), Pewter (NEW!), Saffron, and Charcoal (NEW!) with Charcoal B&T (Basics Fundamentals, silver sequins, and Whisper twine.

If you're not tired of this bird yet, I have another one that I made for a challenge/blog hop.  It features the same colors as the first card.  If you'd like to know more, you can learn more HERE.

Thanks for flying by!  I would love to know which color combo you prefer and would love suggestions for future attempts.  Be sure to go see the awesome NEW creation Alyson has made!

{Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.}