A Touch of Vintage!

Aloha, all!

     Most of you know that "vintage" is not really my strength when it comes to greeting cards.  Scrapbook pages, maybe.  But my brain has trouble wrapping itself around taking beautiful papers and making them look old.  So when Stampin' Up! comes up with some papers that are basically vintage in their style, I can do a bit better with coming up with a more vintage look than I'm used to!

     The brand new Designer Series Paper set, Attic Boutique, is one of those sets.  I have to tell you that my first – yes, even my second – Occasions Mini Catalog order did NOT include this set.  I kind of danced around it until I had no choice but to spring for a set of the papers.  The "no choice" part was that this week at Create with Connie and Mary Occasions Edition was the week for the vintage designs.  That's how they work their subscription programs – every week we designers have a theme with which to work, and Connie and Mary suggest the stamp sets and embellishments we should use.  I loved the project I made for them this week, and I kept the Attic Boutique paper out for this week's sketch challenge, too.  I even used the same stamp set that I used for my Occasions Edition project – Tea Shoppe! 

     That large tea cup on the card is the largest stamp in the Tea Shoppe Set, and I've only used it once before, and that was with a darker color than I used in today's card.  For today, I inked up the stamp with Daffodil Delight, and then used a Blender Pen to wipe the Daffodil Delight ink off the flowers.  Then I used my Pool Party Stampin' Write Marker to color in the flowers on the tea cup, adding in a bit of Soft Suede to accent the flower stems. 

     And I sponged the heck out of everything in the card – every edge got some Soft Suede ink sponged on it!  I may just have to buy more sponges if I'm going to do too much more of this!

     So, yes, I can have fun with the vintage look – and I hope that you can, too.  If you haven't tried it, just pick up some plain card stock and start stamping and sponging on it.  I'll bet you'll have fun with it and may even learn a look you haven't tried before (like I did!)

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     And now for one last pitch for the Create with Connie and Mary Occasions Edition!  The Occasions Mini Catalog still has more than two months to go!  So, even though the Occasions Edition is now officially completed, it's definitely not over!  The projects that we've all designed for this edition are the best ever, and I know you'll love getting the 36 tutorials that are all completed and online – just waiting for you to subscribe!  And even when the Occasions Mini Catalog is finished, the projects are still going to be totally useful because you can use all kinds of stamp sets and papers and fabrics and embellishments for ALL of them!  So, as we get ready for Easter, just hop like a bunny over to Create with Connie and Mary and subscribe today!  It really is worth every single penny!