Wednesday, August 16, 2017

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.}

10 comments:

  1. Love your birds, and I can't wait to play with this stamp set when it arrives. Love the various colors. Great work.

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  2. My Thoughtful Bird stamp set hasn't arrived yet... but I love all of your colour combinations. Being partial to turquoise, I do love that one the most, but the red one is a close second for me. It's amazing how layers of stamping can produce such a realistic image! Terrific work :)

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  3. Beautiful cards...I may need this stamp set ;)

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  4. I am getting ready to pick up this stamp set and I so appreciate you showing different color combinations. Love what you have done with your cards.

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  5. Beautiful cards! This would make a great card set.

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  6. Thank you all for your kind words!

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  7. Gorgeous cards! Love all the different combinations.

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  8. Oh my! Fantastic collection of cards using this stamp set/Thin Cuts bundle. Now I know it has to be in my next order.

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  9. I love the all,but I think the red one is my favorite. It's amazing how different the bird looks with different colors!

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