Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper

If I won the lottery I would do three things:

1. Get a live-in cook or at least go out to extravagant restaurants on a regular basis…or both.
2. Hire a personal photographer to document the events in our lives
3. Buy fresh flowers for multiple rooms in my home every week

So, you’d think that if I would do #3, then I must love flowers in paper crafts. Not so. In fact, I cringe at the thought of a flower on my page… even worse a butterfly.

Yet… here I am. The minute I opened my Stampin’ Up! box, I went down in my craft room to see what the Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper what all about.

Maybe it’s because spring is never coming here in Newfoundland.   I am pretty sure we are skipping summer all together. Sure, spring came just last week when it was 2 degrees! Perhaps looking at flowers just made me happy.

My first card is where I started. I was afraid to cut this gorgeous paper up. So, I didn’t reinvent any wheel here. I stamped the sentiment and called it done. Wouldn’t you do the same? You’ve heard it before, but I am going to say it again. Keep it simple, silly.

Wow. I put a butterfly on this card. I am clearly starting to go bananas as I dig out of my igloo.

In actual fact, I was starting to really get giddy at how these cards were coming about. I am starting to think that there is a special place for flowers and butterflies in my little world of paper crafts…

On this third card, I decided to pair up a couple pieces of paper within the same collection. Many people are using thread in their cards and layouts lately. I am asked time and time again how do I make those little nests of thread. It’s very technical as you can imagine… I wrap the thread around my two fingers and lay it down on my page. Then I smash glue in there, cross my fingers and hope for the best. Yip. That’s it. Here’s what mine looked like before I laid the sentiment over top.

After I finished the three cards, I kept touching the first page over and over. I just loved that super simple card. Because of that I stamped the same sentiment on a larger piece of paper and grabbed a frame from my frame collection in my basement… tell me that I am not the only one?! In 5 minutes I had taken a picture down and replaced it with my new creation.

Actually, I placed the picture right next to my display of recent scrapbook pages. I was thinking that Canadian Scrapbooker readers might be interested in this. I found these shadow boxes at Winners one day. The doors open up so that I can easily change the layouts in and out. It’s a great way to display your art and to truly remember and share the special moments.

I really had fun with this collection despite it being a walk on the wild side. Maybe it’s time you tried to do something that’s not your style. Maybe it’s time to be inspired by the beautiful products you have in your hands. Inspiration comes in so many ways if you open your heart to it.

Happy card making and happy spring!

Cathy Caines, Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator  St. John’s, NL

www.inthecatcave.com

Supplies used are Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise stated: Painted Blooms Specialty Designer Series Paper, Artisan Embellishment Kit, momento ink, Kinda Electric stamp set, basic pearls, whisper white cardstock, Simply Wonderful stamp set, Bitty butterfly punch, daffodil delight ink, rose red ink, Sumthin’ Sumthin’ stamp set, scallop edge framelit