Invitation to a Challenge!

Aloha, all!

     To begin, I hope that you all know that any time there's a challenge at the Stampin' Up! Only Challenge blog site, ANYONE can join in!  You don't have to be a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator or even have a blog.  There's a group called Split Coast Stampers that's a great place for you to post a photo of a card that you've made, and then you can link that photo back to the Challenge blog.  In fact, I think I may just have to write a tutorial on how to do that – just one more thing to add to the list of things on which I'm procrastinating (I don't know if I should be making a smiley face or a frowny face after that statement).

     OK – now here's my card for this week's SU-Only Challenge to make an invitation to a party.  As I said in the SU-Only Challenge blog, it can be any kind of party at all.  Well, one of the parties that I, as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, occasionally have is a "Crop" or "Scrapbooking" party.  What better set to use to advertise such a party than the 2011 Summer Mini Catalog Stamp Set, Travel Log.  This stamp set is the PERFECT scrapbooking stamp set for scrapbooks about trips that we've made.  I wish I'd had more time to scrapbook this summer so I could have done more to demonstrate this set.

     One of the things that I did with one of the stamps is something that I do on occasion – I cut it up into separate stamps.  The three phrase stamps are all part of one stamp, but I cut them up so that I could easily stamp them individually if I wanted.  I was also having difficulty figuring out when I'd want to use the stamp set with all three phrases together.  Usually that would come to my mind immediately after I cut the stamp apart.  But that didn't happen this time, so I guess I'm good with them split up.

     The colors in this card, besides the Whisper White Card Stock, are Cherry Cobbler and Not Quite Navy.  I accented each of the phrases with pennants cut using the Petite Pennants Building Punch.  This is a great punch because you can punch both the straight-edged pennant and the scallop-edged pennant with the same punch! After I layered up the pennants, I tied them all with a bit of the Cherry Cobbler/White Baker's Twine.  This is one of the products from the Summer Mini Catalog that's been carried over into the 2011-2012 Catalog.

     Now I just have to figure out when I'm going to have that scrapbook party so I can make up more invitations!  If you'd like to come, just let me know when.

     And today I have a sketch for this card.  After having had quite a few posts based on the sketches of others, I finally have one of my own that I can share with you!

     I hope you have fun with your stamping this week!  And don't forget to post one of your fab cards on the SU-Only Challenge blog!