BSU122816

Hello....Welcome to this weeks BSU challenge post. This week our theme is Winter/Snow. Trickier for me because I somehow have no current snowman or penguin stamps. Everything I have is def Christmas and not so much Winter themed. So I had to stretch a bit and come up with this card. 

I used Swirly Bird bundle to create the snowman and the snowflakes falling. The arms and the snow drift were made using the swooshy lines die. I then used a sentiment from Cookie Cutter Christmas stamp set. 

So hopefully this will inspire you to try some out of the box style cards with some sets that can pull extra duty. 

Christmas was ok and somewhat quiet for us here this year since it was just the two of us. Depressing enough there and then to take a turn even more depressing our sweet cat passed away. It's still a bit crazy the way I walk through the house thinking I'll find her at the slider waiting to come in or even someone to talk to when Terry's not here. (yes we carried on quite the interesting conversations her and I). LOL It's just sad. I'm really going to miss her being around. Ok...enough of that....

Now head on over to Terri's Blog HERE and Stace's Blog HERE and see what those wonderful ladies came up with this week. 

Thank You so much for stopping by.....Check back next week as we begin a new year of BSU Challenges. 

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BSU122116

It's almost Christmas...and this is our second to the last BSU post for 2016. Can you believe it? Well this week is our color challenge week. The selected colors are

Chocolate Chip

Crumb Cake

Cherry Cobbler

Vanilla

I chose to go with the Cookie Cutter Christmas Bundle because this is probably the last chance I'll have to use it this year. I also added in the Suite Seasons set for my sentiment. I started with a base of Cherry Cobbler and layered a piece of Chocolate Chip as well as Very Vanilla card stock. I then Stamped the ginger bread man in Crumb Cake ink and punched him out with the coordinated punch. I added the bow tie of Cherry Cobbler stamped with the out line of Choc Chip ink and placed it as his neck tie. I used versamark ink and stamped my sentiment on Cherry Cobbler then sprinkled with the detail white embossing powder and applied heat with my heat gun. I centered it on the Very Vanilla and added in the ginger bread man. I finished off the card with some Jute Twine. That's it....a cute simple wish for the Holiday. Below is a snap of the Items I used.

Wishing all of you a Happy Christmas........now hop on over to Terri's Blog HERE and Stace's Blog HERE to see what they came up with this week.  Thank You so much for stopping by......until next week then.

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BSU121416

Ok this will be quick because things are crazy at my house. This weeks BSU topic is Technique and we thought it would be fun to have us all do a sketch! I used to use sketches all the time but have gotten lazy about using them. I think it's a great way to remind you to make a well rounded layout instead of just slapping an image on the front adding some ribbon or stones and bam...done! (I'm totally guilty of this). It also helps you get out of the same ole same ole. So....here's what I did.....

I started with a base of Marina Mist. Then a layer of Whisper White, added some Pink Pirouette strips in the proper places. I used some framelits to cut my scalloped circle in Marina Mist and then my standard 2.5 circle in Whisper White. I stamped the horse image from Carousel Birthday out of the new and up coming Occassions Catalog...(available Jan 4th) and I colored it in a bit using an aqua painter and real light water....not too wet because I stamped my image in crumb cake and too much water will wipe away the image. So just carefully dab your color in. I finished the coloring with a bit of the clear wink of Stella to give it a bit of shimmering sparkle that the camera just can't pick up. Trust me it's pretty. I did stamp the scroll image on my two small strips to add interest and stuck it all down. I used dimensionals behind my scallop circle layer. I finished off with some rhinestone jewels because bling is ALWAYS better right???

Hope you have enjoyed this weeks card. Try the sketch out and play along with us. Post it to our Facebook page under this weeks date.

Now go see what Terri's been up to HERE and Stace's HERE. Have a great week everyone. MERRY CHRISTMAS, and THANK YOU for stopping by.

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BSU120716

Welcome to this weeks BSU post. This weeks topic is Theme and with that theme we are of course going with Christmas.
I decided to visit the annual catalog and choose most of my products from there instead of the Holiday mini. So many times the annual catalog gets pushed aside this time of year and we tend to forget about the great products featured in there. I chose "This is Christmas" special designer series paper, Perfect Pines stamp set, as well as metallic enamel shapes. So with a base of of Cherry Cobbler I got started. I stamped the tree on a piece of Very Vanilla card stock and layered it with Garden Green Card stock. I made a few banner pieces using the banner triple punch and layered them behind the stamped layer. I took a section of a sentiment from the Candy Cane Christmas stamp set found in the Holiday Mini. I stamped it in Cherry Cobbler on a square of Very Vanilla then popped it up with a dimensional. I finished with the metallic enamel star on top and the dots for ornaments.

Really loving how this card came out. I guess I should practice using sketches more again. LOL

Hope you are all having a wonderful December....now hop on over to Terri's Blog HERE and Stace's Blog HERE and see what they have come up with this week.

Thank you for stopping by.....Merry Christmas

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BSU113016

Hello.....It's BSU time again! This week, because it's a fifth week this month, we are doing an  ABC/3D project. So I decided to make an ornament! It's that time of year right??? LOL Actually I've been needing to do ornaments for my Craft Market and what a great way to merge my two favorite things. Wood Crafting and Rubber Stamping. 

I harvested some old branches off the trees in the back yard earlier this year and once they dried out I had my trusty man slice them for me so I could make lovely little wood slice ornaments and well as many other crafts with them. I actually for once thought ahead a little. Yes I'm patting myself on the back LOL ANYWAY....back to the ornaments. 

A few weeks ago I pulled out and old retired favorite Loads of Love....its a cute truck you can dress up for the season......Super Cute set.....sad to see that one go.....But I used it by stamping the trcuk in stazon ink and painting it in on the wood slice. They can out super super cute. Big Hit. But I can't show them here because my trusty fellow BSU girl Terri reminded me we nixed using retired sets.....oh bother. So I came up with this pretty one using a wood slice I painted with acrylic paint. Let dry real good, then stamped my image of a tree from the current Peaceful Pines stamp set with versamark ink and heat embossed it with the beautiful Copper Embossing powder. It has that look of rose gold that is so very popular right now. So because that worked so well I stamped the Tis The Season sentiment on it as well, drilled a hole and strug it with some Candy Cane Lane Baker's Twine. That's all there is to it.  I did also stamp a to/from on the back so they can be used as either gift tags or ornaments or both LOL You can purchase wood slices at the craft store if you are interested in trying this yourself. It really was about a 20 min project. AND they came out so much cuter than I thought so I think I will need to make some more of these and experiment with the wonderous wreath stamp set as well. 

Ok I will close this out by saying to be sure to hop on over to Terri's Blog HERE and Stace's Blog HERE and see what lovely projects they came up with this week. 

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BSU112316

Hello and Happy Holidays everyone. This weeks BSU challenge is using a stamp set Called Petite Petals. Trying to incorporate a flower stamp set into the season was pretty interesting. But I had a fu. Time coming up with this creation. I used a aqua painter brush and watercolored the splash of Emerald Envy ink. I then stamped the flowers in Cherry Cobbler and layered them over the splash with dimensionals I layers that on top of a strip of Cherry Cobbler card stock then layered the whole of it on a base of Emerald Envy. I had fun pulling out my washintape and adding a few strips to the side. I tied on some Whisper White Bakers Twine and added my sentiment from Sheltering Tree stamp set. Finished up with some rhinestones in the center of the flowers.

I saw this as a festive seasonal card that took a moment to say "I'm thinking of you" instead of wishes for the season hahahaha ANYWAY....hope you have an Awesome Thanksgiving. We will be making dinner tomorrow and digging out Christmas trees and decor today! So that we can start the holiday cheer this week. We usually try to put up the tree on the night of Thanksgiving.

Don't forget to hop on over to Terri's blog HERE and Stace's blog HERE and see what my stamping buddies came up with for this week!

Enjoy your holiday and I'll see ya next week.

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BSU111616

Good day everyone....hope all are well. This weeks BSU challenge is COLOR. 

Crushed Curry, Night of Navy, Marina Mist, Old Olive and White. I went for a fun country look. I used the Jar of Love set.  I stamped the jar first in Marina Mist and then filled it in with stems in Old Olive. I topped off the stems using the fun flower verities included in this set using the Marina Mist, Night of Navy and Crushed Curry. I added in the glass balls at the base using Marina Mist stamped off in various degrees. Added the fun string bow stamp at the top of the jar and finished it of with a sentiment also from the same set! I love all that this set has to offer. So many different ways and looks from it.  

I'm neck deep in Holiday Events over the next month so things have been crazy at my house. So crazy Terry had to take up house chores hahahaha Thank You Terry. 

Now head on over to Terri's blog HERE and Stace's blog HERE to see what they came up with for this weeks color combo. 

Have a great week everyone and I certainly hope everyone is getting ready for the Holidays. They are coming fast!!! 

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BSU110916

Okay don't faint.....I'm finally making a BSU post after a month of doing other stuff. Been a busy time for me with all that's going on but I did get in the craft room and found enough room on my table to break out a card!  This weeks BSU theme is a technique and we have chosen Fancy Folds. I believe I have mentioned before that it's not my forte but I elected to do a pleated card because I have yet to try one.  I started out small.  So with a piece of 4x11.5 DSP I made my score lines at 3,4,6,7,9,10. I then maneuvered my DSP it at angle in my paper trimmer to slice an angle to one edge. I then folded my score lines in a fan fold style. I used adhesive to stick down each pleat before layering the whole thing on a card base of Cherry Cobbler. I added a ribbon then stamped my sentiment in versamark ink and used the new copper embossing powder. Rose gold is one of my favorite trends right now and that copper embossing powder really carries that look.  

Hope you've enjoyed this weeks creation. Be sure to hop on over to Terri's blog Here  and Stace's blog Here to see what the other ladies came up with this week. Have a great week everyone.....I'll try harder next week. :) 

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BSU100516

This weeks theme for Broke Stampers Unite Challenge is Fall/HAlloween.....you know I'm going to chose Halloween! I pulled out once again the Cookie Cutter Halloween set. I love this lil mummy. 

Apretty basic card layout. I used a Pumpkin Pie card base and layered it with DSP from the Halloween Night DSP pack. I used the Triple banner punch to make my orange banner layer. I then cut out a cercle and a scallopped circle using the Layering Circles Framelits. I stamped the mummy in Basic Black and punched it out with the Cookie Cutter punch. Using some dimensionals I layered the mummy on the circles and also for the circles onto the banner. I stamped the sentiment from Spooky Fun stamp set in Basic Black. popped that up with some Dimensionals as well. I finished off my card with a lenth of Basic Black bakers twine tied in a bow. 

Sothere's my card for this week. Hope everyone is enjoying fall. I know I'm enjoying these cooler days. All the items mentioned above are available in the Holiday Catalog. If you haven't had a chance to look at it yet I have a link to it on the right. Check it out, there's a bunch of fun Holiday sets and gorgeous DSP's in it. 

If you'd like to play along with us you can visit our Facebook Page... Broke Stampers Unite Challenges HERE . Be sure to head on over to Terri's Blog HERE and Stace's Blog HERE

to see what they came up with this week. 

Have a great week everyone and enjoy this lovely weather.Thank You so much for stopping by and See ya next week. 

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BSU092816

Hello....is time for another BSU Chalenge! This week we are featuring at stamp set. Timeless Textures. Now this set at first caught me as being kind of tricky to showcase. It's a texture....to me background style....But once I started looking around I noticed if you just pair it with a sentiment you have some really great oppurtunities to let this set shine on it's own. This was a very quick and simple card to make. Let me explain what I did.

I started with a base of Basic Black card stock....then layered a Whisper White panel on it. With Basic Black ink I stamped the cup ring stamp repeatedly up the left side. I used the fun leafy or fluer style stamp at the bottom. I then took the woodgrain looking stamp and stamped it in Smoky Slate over my already stamped images. I finished with a bunch of the little splatter style stamp all through out until I was happy with the look. I grabbed my sentiment from Suite Seasons stamp set and stamped it in Basic Black. To tip this over the top I added rhinstones to carry over the splattered look. I LOVE black and white on a card....it gives even the most plain images an added pop of elegance. Pair that with rhinestones and you can't go wrong! 

So there you have it.......now go dig out that hidden treasure of a stamp set and try it yourself. BUT FIRST....hop on over to Terri's Blog HERE and Stace's Blog HERE and see what these lovely ladies came up with this week. You can add your creations to our Facebook page Broke Stampers Unite Challenges HERE under the folder for this week BSU092816 

Have a great week everyone! :)

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BSU090716

Welcome to this weeks Broke Stampers Unite challenge. I love this time of year!!! The Holiday catalog is out....be sure to click over there on the right to take a look at it.  So many cute things in there!!! This week is theme ....so we are showcasing the Holiday Catalog as our theme. Anything in the new mini.....so I chose the fun Cookie Cutter Halloween set along with the matching punch. The fun thing about this is there's a super cute Christmas set to also go with this same punch!! I love being able to get multi uses for one item!  Anyway, I snuck in a couple stamps from the Spooky Fun stamp set also.  Those cute pumpkins as well as the sentiment came from that set.  I used the Halloween Night designer series paper pack on a base of Pumpkin Pie card stock. Topped it aall off with a bit of the Halloween Night bakers twine and some Halloween Night enamel dots for the mummy's eyes and with the twine.  So that's my submission for the Holiday Catalog theme. Again if you are looking to get any of these items you can shop the Holiday Catalog over on the right of this post.

Be sure to hop on over to Terri's Blog HERE and Stace's Blog HERE to see what my partners in crime have come up with this week. Have a great week everyone and THANK YOU for stopping by. 

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BSU083116

It's another BSU challenge and this month has a fifth week in it for us so that means we get to showcase a 3D project. I'm not big on 3D projects so when this happens I generally pull out my giftbox punch board. Tada....yup a gift box. I received these lovely products a while back and have just now been able to pull them out and take them for a spin. I don't know what it is about the fruit sets but I always just fall in love with them. This set used today is called Fresh Fruit. 

I started with a peice of 8x8 designer series paper from the fruit stand pack. If you haven't eyed this pack you need to, It's just gorgeous. With my 8x8 peice using the gift box punch board, I punched and scored at the large line all the way around the page. I then fliped the paper and punch the second set of notches. Don't forget to turn the board around and punch your corners to get the hooks to hold your box together. Once I was done with that I pre folded all my score lines and the box just easily folds together. IF YOU DON'T HAVE THIS BOARD.....GET IT! hahaha it makes whipping up a treat box so much easier! I mean look at how adorable this box is and it was literally a 10 min project. Gotta have it! 

I then took a square of Whisper White card stock and stamped my lovely lil peach in none other than Peekaboo Peach and Cucumber Crush inks.  I then stamped my sentiment....also in this same set... across my peach. I hole punched the corner and slipped a length of Whisper White bakers twine through it to tie it onto my bow of Cucumber Crush mini striped ribbon. Then just like that, I have this adorable little gift box. 

Now.....head on over to Terri's Blog HERE and Stace's Blog HERE to see wha these lovely ladies came up with this week. THANK YOU so much for stopping by and remember you can always play along with these challenges on our FB page Here we would love to see your creations. Oh and it doesn't have to be just this weeks projects...you are free to try out ANY of our challenges at any time and then post them in the proper album. Have a great week....

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BSU082416

It's Wednesday so here's a look at this weeks BSU challenge. This weeks theme is Stamp Set. So we have chosen the Work Of Art stamp set. I honest haven't picked this set up in a while and usually when I do decide to focus on a specific set I hop on over to Pinterest and see what others have done with it.  Wow.....just wow. It's been a while lol. I was certainly impressed with the directions that stampers have taken this set. So many great ideas out there.  I was even more impressed with the fact that trying to come up with a unique design was nearly impossible. There's very little that hasn't been done with it.  So I grabbed a concept I liked and put my own twist on it.  Usually when we spotlight a stamp set I try to use just that one set and maybe a sentiment set if it doesn't have any.  In this case, Work Of Art has sentiments also so I was pretty much able to use just the set, but I did throw in a die from swirly Scribbles thinlits. Added with a piece of washing and I came up with a masculine sort of Fall card lol. 

My color pallet is Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie and Always Artichoke. I'm not going to go into the how to of this one because it's pretty well self explanatory.  So....if you don't have this set you need it. There is such a plethora of ideas out there to get a lot of mileage from one set.  Hope you enjoy this weeks submission and now head on over to Terri's blog Here and Stace's blog Here to see what these lovely ladies came up with this week.  Have a great week everyone. Thank you for stopping by.  

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BSU081716

Welcome to this weeks BSU Challenge. I made it....it's been a crazy few days and now due to rain in this ever so dry South Texas town my craziness gets to be prolonged. New windows.......They'll get done eventually. Unfortunately just about every window in my house has a sea of stuff that has to be moved away from it in order for them to do work. Which has made a huge disaster of my set up and normal rutine. Now with it being delayed until next week I still have a mess of misplaced rooms. Ok enough of my whining.....lets get on with it......

This week is our color combination week and the colors we've chosen are...

Pink Pirouette, Crumb Cake, Wisteria Wonder and White

I started with a base of Wisteria Wonder card stock and stamped my cute lil bear from the Baby Bear stamp set in Crumb Cake......Just Crumb Cake. I did this by inking the first of the three layers ink Crumb Cake but stamped it off once before applying to my Whisper White card stock. Then with Layer two of the bear I inked it in Crumb Cake then stamped it off once before applying over the base layer stamp. Doing this made my second image a lil darker than the first even though I stamped them both off once. Then my third layer I inked it in the Crumb Cake but didn't stamp it off. I left it full strength and layered that over the other two. Great effect and great way to get a lot of shades out of one color ink pad. I then used Pink Pirouette on the flower stamp for my sweet background. I pulled that stamp from the Flower Patch set. I finished up my stamping by stamping and cutting out the cute bow that comes with this set using Wisteria Wonder ink. It's a two layer bow so I just stamped both layers at full strength. For my sentiment I punched out a piece of Whisper White using the Tree Builder punch and stamped the Hello Baby greeting in Crumb Cake. I added a small rhinestone to the bow and a bit of White bakers twine for a finishing touch. ( as well as using some dimensionals to pop the sentiment and the bow). 

There you have it....this weeks color challange is in the books! Hope you enjoyed this combo....now go make something with it! I want to see what you come up with. You can post it to our facebook page Broke Stampers Unite Challenges we really do love seeing your creations. 

Now....hop on over to Terri's blog Here and Stace's blog Here to see what lovely creations they came up with this week. 

Have a great week everyone.......

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BSU081016

Happy BSU Wednesday Everyone! 

This week we are focusing on Techniques. The one we have chosen is um....does it have a proper name? Hmmm Applying ink to an Embossing Folder before embossing with it. 

So here's what I did...I took the woodland Textured Impressions embossing folder and applied crumb cake ink directly to the folder. I then placed my card stock panel in the folder lining it up on the non inked side until I had it straight. I then closed the folder and ran it through my big shot, pretty cool. I then cut out the swirly thing from the Swirly Scribbles Thinlits in Tip Top Taupe card stock. I used the nest shape as well as the bird and eggs stamped out in Choctlate Chip, Marina Mist and smokey slate. cut them out with scissor....fussy cut...and layered them on the swirly. I grabbed the sentiment from Baby Bear and stamped it in Chocloate Chip ink layered it across the front using dimensionals. I layered all of that on a base of Marina Mist card stock. 

Okay that was it...pretty simple. I had just never tried this but it's been around for a while. Hope you enjoyed my sample.

Now hop on over to Terri's Blog HERE and Stace's Blog HERE to see what they came up with. 

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BSU080316

  

                                                Welcome to this weeks Broke Stamper Unite Challenge! This week we are focusing on a Theme. Anything Butterflies.......so if it has a butterfly if fair game. 

I chose to bring out and dust off my Watercolor Wings stamp set with matching framelits. I was having a great time with this set last year and then put it away for winter and have just FINALLY managed to pull it back out. I used a base of Dapper Denim and layered a swatch of Whisper White.  I stamped the main butterfly base in Dapper Denim, stamped off once and then the second layer also in Dapper Denim at full strength. I used some Flirty Flamingo on the third layer to give it a push. I then used the matching Dapper Denim Ruched Ribbon to create a line in the center of the card. I finished it off with my sentiment stamped also in Dapper Denim ink. To give it some pop I used the matching framelits and cut out a small butterfly in yep....Dapper Denim to layer in the middle of my stamped butterfly. I added a bit of pear accents down the center for a nice touch. 

It felt really good to get back to stamping again. I just got a bunch of new goodies today to try out so I'm sure you will be seeing a lot of stamped stuff in the coming weeks. So now....be sure to head on over to Terri's Blog HERE and Stace's Blog HERE to see what lovely creations they came up with this week. Have a great day and Thank You so much for stopping by. 

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BSU072716

Hello and Welcome to this weeks Broke Stampers Unite Challenge. This week we are featuring a stamp set called Swirly Bird. This has been one of my favorites from the new catalog. I was unable to order the thinlits that go with this lovely set but ..... I hope to be getting it soon. It has been super popular and hard to get.  ANYWAY! I have been out for weeks.....its been a wild summer for me so far but things have started to calm down, quiet down and return to normal. Whatever normal is right?

My BSU sisters have been extremely tolerant of my absence and for that I Thank them both.

So back to the cards.....as well as using the Swirly Bird set I paired it up with the Crazy About You set and thinlits. My first card, the one on the left was the first card I've stamped in weeks and weak I was sorely out of practice so I made the card on the right to make up for it. This set is so sweet and so easy to pair up with any greeting set and made so many different styles of cards. I was feeling the pink so I stuck with Flirty Flamingo, Basic Black, Peekaboo Peach and Whisper White for my color pallet. I threw in some DSP from the 16-18 in colors, as well as a few rhinestones and whisper white bakers twine. I hope you like my submissions for this week. I really need to get back in the swing of stamping.  I've missed it a lot.

Now be sure to hop on over to Terri's Blog HERE and Stce's Blog HERE to see what they have put together for this week. Have a great week everyone. Thank You for stopping by.


--

******Carol*****

marcospolo67.blogspot.com

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BSU060716

Hey Everybody, how are y'all doing?? Welcome to this weeks Broke Stampers Unite challenge. It's technique week so we went with the reflection technique. This was a new try for me. I've seem many cards done with it but had never actually tried it before. Have you? The trick obviously is to make your image look like it's being reflected in the water below.  So let me see if I can explain this without a video. If you need more info there are plenty of YouTubes out there on the subject. 

I started with a layer of Whisper White card stock. I stamped my tree image from Sheltering Tree stamp set, in early espresso once on my whisper white and then again on a scrap piece of acetate. By flipping the image on the acetate over and stamping it down directly to the card stock it gives me a blurry reverse image making it look like its reflecting in the water.  Well not yet I need to make some water. Lol I stamped the grass stamp from this set to give me a bank side look to the card, then took a sponge dauber and rubbed on some Pool Party ink below to make it look like a water body. I added some leaves to the tree above in pear pizazz and lightly stamped off for the reflection tree below. I did the same with the flowers in the grass. I stamped the stems in Old Olive and the petals in Melon Mambo and then lightly stamped off for the reelection in the water. I used the same grass stamp to create my clouds in the sky stamping them in Soft Sky ink repeatedly. I love the way it came out. I think the only thing I would change is the angle on my reflection tree. It probably should have been a little more cantered off to the side instead of so up and down but I'm happy with it.  Hope you enjoyed this weeks submission. Now go give it a try for yourself.

Be sure to hop on over to Stace's blog HERE and Terri's blog HERE to see what my partners in crime have come up with this week. Enjoy your week. I'll be spending mine recovering from a bout of pneumonia. Nasty stuff I tell ya, wouldn't want to wish that on anyone. Lol. But I'm on the mend now so all is well. 

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BSU052516

Hello and welcome to this weeks....slightly tardy post of the Broke Stampers United post. This week we are featuring a stamp set. Flower Shop! One of my favorite sets. I went for a clean crisp look. I used a base of Whisper White and added a splash of Melon Mambo. (another fav) I just did a few random taps of the stamp around the edges and then stamped and punch out (with the coordinating punch) popped them off the page with a bit of dimensionals. I added some candy dots to the centers in Basic Black and Whisper White.  I stamped my sentiment, borrowed from Picture Perfect set, in Basic Black ink.  Love the clean look. 

Be sure to check out what Terri and Stace did with this set. ALSO I must apologize for my tardiness. I was really busy with some other things and forgot it was Wednesday. I would also like to recognize Stace for always being prompt and ready to go and Terri for holding my hands to the fire. . You are really helping me to sit down and stamp when it would be so easy to just let this whole thing float away. Thank You! I really need to get a new catalog order in.....the new one breaks in just a week. Time for some new stampin' toys. 

Have a great week everbody and thank you for stopping by. Would love it if you would leave a quick Hi or encouragement. I really need it. to get me more motivated in the Stampin' World. Besides I'd love to know if you're out there peekin. 

See ya'll next week. 

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BSU051816

Welcome  to this weeks BSU Challenge post. This week we are doing a color challenge. Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Smoky Slate and Very Vanilla. I love the Americana look of this combination. So I had to reach back in the depths of my closet of storage and dig out my old stamp sets. Courage and Honor is the name of the set and I believe it first debuted in 2002. 

I started with a base of Smoky Slate card stock and layered some Night of Navy, followed by some Cherry Cobbler. I then used a layer of Very Vanilla to stamp my image on in Smoky Slate ink. I pulled out a dauber and sponged on some Night of Navy on the edges. I stamped the sentiment in Cherry cobbler and layered that with Night of Navy then added some candy dots to the corners. Fairly basic layout but I love the look. 

Hope you've enjoyed this weeks trip back in time. Be sure to hop on over to Terri's Blog HERE and Stace's Blog HERE and see what they came up with for this week. 

I'd like to Thank You for stopping by, and be sure to stop in next week for the stamp set challenge. 

                                         Have a great week Everybody

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BSU051116

It's time for another Broke Stampers Unite Challenge. This weeks theme is Technique and the chosen technique is heat embossing resist. I chose the Sprinkles Of Life stamp set. I used a versamark ink pad to stamped my image in and clear embossing powder. I then stamped the cone in Sahara Sand and rubbed a lil ink to fill it in using a dauber. Then I used a sponge dauber to apply the inks in Pink Pirouette, Soft Sky, and Chocolate Chip. By doing that it resists the ink where I stamped and embossed leaving the white image. I added a cherry on top in Real Red. Layered the whole thing on Soft Sky with a Real Red card base.  I stamped my sentiment in Real Red and layered a bit of  Pink Pirouette behind it and used some Dimensionals to pop it off the page.  I finished with some candy dots in the before mentioned colors.

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BSU050416

Ok better late than never right?? I must again apologize for my tardiness. Things just got away from me. This weeks Broke Stampers Unite challenge is Theme...Father's Day/Masculine. I have flowers and butterflies......I don't, for some reason, do much in the Masculine sector. So I had to get a lil creative. Maybe a good card for a non family Father's Day wish? 

 I used Vintage Leaves, Crazy About You and Timeless Textures stamp sets. Stamping a boarder and adding a bit of Early Espresso cotton ribbon on Whisper White card stock layered with Wild Wasabi and Mossy Meadow. I stamped my sentiment in Mossy Meadow. 

I think I need to procure a more versatile and manly set to have around something to think about I guess as I get ready to plan my new catalog order. 

So Thank You for stopping by, be sure to hop on over to Terri's Blog HERE as well as Stace's Blog HERE 

Be sure to check out or Facebook Page HERE and play along with the challenges if you like.

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BSU042716

Hello and Welcome to this weeks Broke Stampers Unite challenge. We decided with the upcoming retiring catalog we would focus on a fav retiring set. So I threw together the card above....more as a warm up. I then attempted to move on and do another card I had rolling around up in my lil brain and when it came to heat embossing it with my heat gun I discovered after many many years of faithful service.....my heat gun that I dropped off the table the other day, was no longer able to serve me.  UGH.....Terry will try to operate on it sometime soon but I'm thinking it is time to retire it also and get a new one. So.....I decided to stick with my first attempt. 

I started with a base of Basic Gray....I then stamped a layer of whisper white card stock in Pink Pirouette ink using the Petal Potpourri all over the surface....once I masked off the center strip. I then stamped and punch out the lace flower image on a scrap piece of whisper white with the matching medallion punch. and layered it on the front with a dimensional. So the stamp set is retiring but not the medallion punch. I used a length of smokey slate bakers twine and Stamped the Hello stamp from a sale a bration set from this year called Hello (also retiring) in the center of the card. I added some retiring candy dots from the Neutrals collection. Hope you have enjoyed this weeks submission. 

Don't forget to hop on over to Terri's Blog HERE and Stace's Blog HERE and you can always play along on our facebook group page HERE

Thank You so much for stopping by.....Hope you have a fabulous week. 

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BSU042016

Sorry for the quick post but I'm late and will need to come back and fill in more info later today......Broke Stampers Unite color challenge this week. Can you guess what colors they are??? Lol I'll leave it a mystery until this afternoon.  I even had my card ready early but got involved with the Playoffs for Basketball and forgot to write my post!!! Ugh!

Alright well I have made it to work and back and had some lunch so now for the real post LOL.....

This weeks post is color challenge and the colors we chose were... Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Blushing Bride and Melon Mango.

I started with a base of crumb cake and layered a piece of Very Vanilla card stock...I then pulled out my trusty Work Of Art stamp set and stamped the three colors, MM, OO, BB using the heart and fussy cut those guys out. I then stamped the three arches in the same colors and added the heart cut outs with some dimensionals. I stamped the sentiment in Crumb Cake and added a (retired) Melon Mambo double loop bow. (it's my new fav way of making bows)

Have to admit these colors were interesting to work with, but really came together nicely.

Now.....hop on over to Terri's Blog HERE and Stace's Blog HERE
Then check our Facebook Page HERE and enter your take on this weeks challenge. We would love to see what you make and please do share!

That's all for this week.....be sure to stop by again next week when we'll be featuring a stamp set......! Have a great week!
--

******Carol*****

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Retiring In-Colors

Just thought I would do some cards with the retiring in-colors before they're gone for good.

in this card I used the 2014-16 colors Blackberry Bliss, Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey, Mossy Meadow and Tangelo Twist.

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BSU041316

Hello.....it's Wednesday!!!! Yaaaaaay. Hope everyone is doing great! This weeks post topic is Technique. How many are familiar with Baby Wipe Technique? I did some research and there are a couple ways to do this. One is where you put drops of ink from your reinker on a baby wipe and then stamp your stamp into it, like you would a stamp pad. This gives you a variegated rainbow look to your stamped image. I tried this with a balloon stamp and well I need more practice. LOL I then noticed that others were folding their baby wipe and then applying a few drops of coordinated inks and then swipe the baby wipe across their card stock multiple times. As you can see above I had better success with that option.  :)   I used pacific point, cherry cobbler and crushed curry reinkers. Remember red and blue make purple lol. I managed to blend my colors together pretty well while trying to perfect this effect. Not on purpose mind you, but this was one of my end results.  The cool thing about this technique is that your results are quite different each time.  So, after I made my background and set it aside for a while to let it dry. I then stamped my tree image from Thoughts and Prayers in basic black over the background. I layered it in island indigo and then onto crushed curry card base.  I added a bit of retired lost lagoon bakers twine to finish it off.

So there ya go....! Now go try this technique yourself if you haven't.  But first hop on over to Terr's Blog HERE and Stace's Blog HERE to see what they came up with this week.  Don't forget to check out our Facebook page at Broke Stampers Unite Challenges

Thanks So Much for visiting.....have a great week.

--

******Carol*****

marcospolo67.blogspot.com

If you want to set up a monthly stamp kit try Paper Pumpkin out for a month or three and see how you can make great projects each month.

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BSU040616

Hello Everybody.....Welcome to this weeks Broke Stampers Unite Challenge. This week were are doing a Theme....and the theme is Mother's Day/Feminine Cards. I went for Feminine....I think! Well it's my interpretation right? I haven't really stretched my wings too much with this fun Rose Wonder set so I decided to use it here. I wish you could see the glitter effects that are on this card. 

 I used the Wink Of Stella pen clear glitter. It makes this card so dazzling in real life....something I wasn't able to catch in the photo.  I started with a base of Garden Green and layered a piece of Daffodil Delight. I used the Rose Garden Thinlits dies and cut my out lines in Basic Black. I then glued the pieces down. Then with my Aqua Painter I painted in the sections using Garden Green and Daffodil Delight ink pads. I love the lightness of the Aqua Painter verses using markers. I think it gives it a softer look. I stamped my sentiments in Garden Green, and used Daffodil Delight for the label outline. I added some dimensionals to pop up the label. Finished the whole card off with a knot of Daffodil Delight cotton ribbon and a few pearls.  

Hope you enjoy this weeks submission. Be sure to hop over to Terri's blog HERE and Stace's Blog HERE  to see what they came up with for this week cards. Thank You so much for stopping by and remeber we'd love it if you'd make a card using this Theme and post it in the proper album on our Facebook page HERE

--

******Carol*****

marcospolo67.blogspot.com

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BSU033016

Welcome to this weeks Brike Stampers Unite Challenge, and because this is the fifth week we are doing an ABC challenge..... anything but a card. 

I elected to do a small 8x8 shadow box frame using the No Bones About It stamp set as well as the School House Designer Series Paper pack. I used garden green, cucumber crush, pacific point, pool party, crumb cake, smokey slate, old olive and soft suede ink pads. I did some layering with Pacific Point and Garden Green card stocks. 

I was really at a loss as to what to do but I knew I wanted to break out this fun stamp set because I haven't had a chance to use it much. The fun thing was how well it matched Rylens favorite Dino blanket. 

Hope you enjoy this weeks challenge. Go make something now that isn't a card and share it with us!! We'd love to see what you come up with. Hope on over to Terri's blog HERE  and Stace's blog HERE  to see what they came up with for this week.  Have a great week everyone and THANK YOU for stopping by. 

--

******Carol*****

marcospolo67.blogspot.com

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BSU032316

Hello Everybody! Welcome to this weeks Broke Stampers Unite Challenge. This week we are featuring a stampset called Flower Patch. This has been one of my favorite stamp sets. It was nice to pull it out and work with it this week. I sort of put it on the shelf last fall and it was getting a bit dusty. What a nice set for spring flowers. 

I used a base of Watermelon Wonder, and i embossed it with the triangles embossing folder. I then added a layer of Watermelon Wonder DSP. I stamped the sentiment in Tip Top Taupe on a peice of Whisper White and used the triple banner punch to get that banner look on the end. I stamped the leaves solid and detail stamps in Mint Macaron. I then stamped the flower in Watermelon Wonder and cut it out with the matching framelits. In the center of the flower I placed one of the white enamel dots and ran a qTip over it with some Mint Macaron. (I still need to updtae my markers) otherwise I would have used that. I stamped the small flower in Tip Top Taupe and finished it all off with a tie of Tip Top Taupe lace ribbon. 

Hope you are enjoying our weekly challenges....we are in the planning phase for some upcoming challenges and are open to suggestions on some techniques that maybe you'd like us to feature! There's a post on our Facebook page reguarding this and so please feel free to leave us a suggestion. 

As always you can play along with us by making a card featuring this week stamp set and post it to the proper folder on our BSU facebook page. Be sure to hope on over to Terri's Blog HERE and Stace's Blog HERE

The link to our FB page is HERE

Wishing you all a great week....and a very HAPPY EASTER. See ya next week....

--

******Carol*****

marcospolo67.blogspot.com

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BSU031616

Hello....hope your week was a good one. I did a lot of relaxing. It was Sunday before I started doing some crafting again after working so hard on the Market. It was a nice break but happy to be creating again.
 This weeks BSU challenge is COLOR! Our colors are Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party, Pumpkin Pie, Calypso Coral, and Blushing Bride. Interesting combo. But this lovely card here is what i came up with. I broke out the Watercolor Wings for this week, and added the Perfect Pairings Sale a Bration set as well as the Gorgeous Grunge set. I layered the butterfly using Blushing Bride and di the outer sections of the wings and the body in Pumpkin Pie. I stamped the wing veins in Calypso Coral. I used Wisteria Wonder for the splatters and the sentiment. Layered this all on a base of Pool Party card stock stamped with the small butterfly and the dotted background piece in Pool Party ink. I made a lil bow of Pool Party cotton ribbon and finished with a bling jewel. 

Hope you've enjoyed this lil challenge...be sure to try it out for yourself. Also don't forget to head over to Terri's Blog HERE and Stace's Blog HERE to see what they came up with for this week. Take care and enjoy your week.........

******Carol*****

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BSU030916

Hello and Welcome to this weeks Broke Stampers Unite Challenge. This week is for techniques....so we chose Faux Embossing. I admit this is another one of those where I had to look the "How To" on. There are lots of YouTube videos to guide you in this technique. (thank goodness). I chose a base of Elegant Eggplant and did my faux embossing with Craft Whisper White Pad and Elegant Eggplant. So a quick run down with this......you stamp your image in the craft whisper white, let it dry real good....I used a fan LOL once it's dry you then line up your stamp inked with a bit of the same color as your cardstock...in this case the Elegant Eggplant, I used a stamp a majig to line up my stamp just to the left of my white image....just a smidge to the left, then stamped it. you then let that dry....when you are done your image should look as if you dry embossed it. Like it has a raised texture, when it really is just a flat image. (I freak my man out with that) LOL he thought it was a raised image. I then cut out some flowers using the botanicals thinlits and built the rest of the card.  It sounds way more complicated than it is. Give it a try....look at videos, check it out....then when you're done share your creation with us on our Facebook Page. 

HERE

Also be sure to hop on over to Terri's Blog HERE and Stace's Blog HERE to see what these wonderful ladies came up with this week. Have a great week everyone, Thank You for stopping by and do please come play along with us! 

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BSU022416

Hello and Welcome to this weeks Broke Stampers Unite Challenge. 

I have to say I'm super proud of myself for not only making my post on time...but actually early. Don't faint...I know. I have been playing with wood a lot lately. I got myself a scroll saw. Something I've wanted for years, and so I was having fun creating with it. Making fun wood cut outs and painting them all while teaching myself to do this. Yea.....I'm about 20+ years behind this trend but like I said it's always been something I've wanted to do. So one thing led to another and someone approached me and now I'm finding myself prepping for my first big market booth and it has been pretty much consuming all my spare time. So that means that the stamping has been lacking lately. I'll find a balance once I get through this market and decide if I want to do a monthly booth or not. 

So that is why I have been sporatic. Now back to the post.....

We are featuring the stamp set Rose Wonder. I went with the stamp set and the matching Rose Garden Thinlits. I started with a base of Night of Navy and added a layer of Soft Sky. My top layer is Whisper White. I cut out the rose twice. Once in Garden Green and once in Pacific Point. From the PP cut I trimmed away the leaves and layered the rose section on top of the GG cut. I then used my Aqua painter to color in the images, making them lighter and darker to give it some dimension....(I have to say I'm not good at this part...I don't have the eye for it) But I try lol  I stamped the label in NN and cut it out with the thinlits. I then stamped the sentiment in PP and popped it up on my card with dimensionals. I have discovered a fun lil splatter stamp in the Timeless Textures stamp set and used it to add a lil something around the rose. This could be my next favorite stamp lol 

So this is my card....be sure to hop on over to Terri's Blog and Stace's Blog to see what they have come up with this week. Also please go and check out our Facebook page and if you'd like to play along you can recreate any of the challenges and post them into the albums dated for each one. Love to see your ideas, so come and play with us! Broke Stampers Unite Challenges  Facebook page 

Have a great week.....Thank You for visiting. 

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BSU021716

Hello and welcome to this weeks Broke Stampers Unite challenge. This week we are focusing on Color. Melon Mambo, Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi, Sahara Sand and Very Vanilla. I played around with a few different options, but the card above was the only one I could get to come out to my liking. My stamping Mojo was a bit lacking I guess. I kept making simple stamping mistakes and ruined a few cards. This was the first one I did nd it came out fine so maybe I was trying to hard lol. 

I started out with a piece of Very Vanilla card stock and stamped my flower images from Flowering Fields in Sahara Sand. I then used an aqua painter and colored in the flowers using Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi, and Marina Mist. I stamped the sentiment in Wild Wasabi using the Hello stamp from the Sale A Bration set named Hello. I really like this sentiment stamp. Sad that it was only a short time stamp. Anyway......I layered the Very Vanilla layer onto a piece of Melon Mambo. I finished it off with  few hits with the splatter stamp from Gorgeous Grunge.  

Don't forget you can always join us in these challenges, and post you work on our Facebook group Here  We would love to see lots of participation in these challenges so please join us won't you?

Be sure to hop on over to Terri's blog Here and Stace's Blog Here Have a great week everyone!

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BSU021016

Hello and Welcome to this weeks technique challenge for the Broke Stampers Unite weekly challenges. This week was a challenge for me to just get posted lol. I must again apologize for my tardiness. It was my Birthday week and I failed to plan ahead and then on the day I planed to stamp I came down with a terrible bug. I spent most of my birthday on the couch. So that's my excuse. Lol. I went in to work today and found out that I'm not the only one that came down ill we had several that were out because of this nasty lil virus. But enough with my excuses, I'm feeling a lil better now but not %100. So I made sure I made it in here to stamp a fun triple stamp card.  I used Rose Red for my colors of ink and card stock, and stamped the Rose stamp from Birthday Blooms, as well as the sentiment. I chose a monochromatic look for this week. I'm loving the Rose Red color for this time of year! So simple, quick, but still nice looking.  I used a bit of wink of Stella brush pen to add some sparkle that doesn't really transfer with the camera shot but it looks good in real life! 

So that's my card....be sure to check out Terri's Blog and Stace's Blog to see the lovely creations they came up with. Also you can play along and create your own triple stamping card and share it on our Facebook Page here

Thank You for stopping by, enjoy your week. 

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BSU020316

Hi....it's Wednesday and well I'm late. No reason other than I sat down last night after stamping and forgot to actually write the post. I know, I've been distracted. It was nice to spend some time at the stamping desk though. These are the cards I came up with for an Occasions Catty Theme.  The three roses card are from Picture Perfect stamp set. Wisteria Wonder card is from Birthday Blooms water colored with an aqua painter. The Sympathy card is done using the Timeless Textures stamp set as well as the sentiment and label from Rose Wonder. The remaining three cards were done with the Botanical Blooms stamp set and Botanicals Framelits. There are so many great sets in this catalog. It's so hard to really show it all but I at least got a variety in there for you!  Hope you are enjoying these sets and don't forget that sale a bration is in full swing! Every $50 you spend you get a free stamp set out of the sale a bration catalog. All catalogs are posted to the right of this post. Take a look if you haven't yet!  Be sure to hop over to Terr's Blog and Stace's Blog have a great week everyone!! Thank You so much for being patient with. 

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BSU012716

Happy Wednesday......welcome to this weeks Broke Stampers Unite. I made it this time!!! I have to apologize for my neglect in stamping as of late. I have taken on a different venture that has been monopolizing my time. But I made in to stamp last night. This weeks BSU challenge is a stamp set. The Botanicals For You sale a bration set. For my card I chose a base of mossy meadow and a layer of cajun craze. I topped that with whisper white CS and added a strip of DSP from the coordinating paper pack Botanical Gardens then used a bit of whisper white cotton ribbon for an embellishment. I love the bold word stamp in this set! Makes whipping out a bunch of quick and cute cards easy.

Be sure to hop over to Terri's blog and to Stace's blog to see what fun things they did with this set! 

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Rose Wonder group

Here's a grouping of cards using the Rose Wonder stamp set and Thinlits bundle. I just love all the different techniques you can do with this stamp set, and it's always so pretty! 

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Bloomin Love Group

Get ready for some Bloomin Love and Bloomin Heart Thinlit Dies.......Yes I'm in love with this bundle, and YES its a bundle!!!...Get the stamp set and dies for a 15% savings when you bundle them. Bundle Price....35.50 Each stamp set and die set are also available separately too But seriously they just go so great together! 

There some lovely DSP that coordinates too.

The colors I used are Real Red, Rose Red,Blushing Bride inks and Rose Red, Whisper White, and Blushing Bride Card Stock

Bundle code is 140818
If you'd like to order use Hostess code ZNTCA2PD

I'll leave this open until the 15th of February If you place an order you"ll be put in the drawing for the goodies. Sound Good? :) Oh and when you place your order using this code your order will be shipped to you and you don't have to wait until the party closes. 

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A Nice Cuppa Group

Here are a few makes of this lovely stamp set. A Nice Cuppa. It has a great coordinating thinlit set called Cups and Kettles. Again another new bundle in the Occasions catalog. 

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Birthday Blooms

I'd like to start out just sharing some cards I've done recently. I have been terrible about updated my blog besides just the BSU challenges. These cards are made with the Birthday Bloom set that can be found in the Occasions Catalog that is live now. There's a wonderful bundle featured in there with this set so if you haven't already then go check it out. Don't forget that this is also Sale A Bration time so there's a selection of stamps and DSP you can earn free for every $50.00 spent. The links to the catalogs are to the right. 

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BSU 011316

Let me start off by saying.......Yes I know, I'm late lol. Let me also mention how much this technique is sooooo NOT my thing. What technique is it??? Punch Art! :)
It never has been a strong technique for me. When I'm forced....yes Terri, Forced to do this technique I always have trouble thinking outside the box. Not to mention I'm not a big punch user either. Case in point.....These two punches that I used today I have maybe used less than five times each. If you look closely you will see that I utilized the Ever beloved and over used (in my opinion) Owl Punch. LOL Yes I'm being snarky but I think it's because I have punch art envy for you "out of the box" thinkers. ;) I also used the Festive Flower Builder punch to do my leaves on this card. I added my sentiment using the SAB Hello stamp set as well as Crazy About you stampset. Its simple and very basic, but hey I atleast participated all be it late! ....Now don't forget to hop over to Terri's blog and Stace's blog and look at the creative and lovely submissions they came up with. I'm certain they are much more creative than mine this week. LOL Have a great week everyone.....!

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BSU010616

Super quick post.....this weeks theme is Sale A Bration. So I grabbed a couple of the sets offered up this year! I used Flowering Fields and paired it with some sentiment stamps from Perfect Pairings and Hello, as well as using the SAB designer series paper pack called Wildflower Fields. I decided to do a mix of cards so I could show you a sampling of several sets instead of trying to do just one because I couldn't decide lol. Hope you enjoy this weeks offerings. This Flowering Fields set is fun to single color stamp as well as stamping in basic black and water coloring it in. Don't forget you can choose one of these sets for free for every $50.00 in merchandise you order between now and March 31st.

Be sure to hop over to Terri's blog Here and Stace' blog Here

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