New Stamps 11: Watercolor Wishes

Aloha, all!

     I have been waiting for over two months for this stamp set to land in my craft room! The reason is that Watercolor Wishes was not ready for prime time until the 2015-2016 Stampin' Up! Catalog had been live for a month and I'd had that catalog to order from a month before that!  When I first went through the catalog during the preview, I knew that was one stamp set that was definitely going to be on my list!  I also knew there would be a Stampin' Up! Only Challenge Theme in July that would be for us to use our favorite stamp set from the new catalog. So here I am with a sample from the stamp set!

     But there are two "issues" with this stamp set. The first is that, as wonderful as it is, the only way to get it into your hot little hands is to buy a card-making kit called (wait for it) the wonderful Watercolor Wishes Card Kit. That quickly brings us to the second "issue" with this set and its accompanying kit. It's been TOO wonderful – read popular. That means that, by the time you read this, it will likely already have gone into back order status – and may be that way for many weeks. 

     But I have the kit and Nonetheless, I have to share with you the first card that I made from this wonderful kit!

     This is basically one of the cards in the kit.  As with any kit, I find it hard to make the cards just as they are shown in the kit. While you certainly can make the cards as described – and they will be lovely! – it's more fun for me to be a bit creative and do something different.  If you happen to have a Stampin' Up! Catalog, look at page 80, and over to the left in the top photo, you'll see the two layers that I used for this card.  But I changed somethings out:

• I used a different sentiment (from the included stamp set)
• I stamped the sentiment only once
• I added a knot of Watermelon Wonder 1" Dotted Lace Trim (not in the kit)
• I added flowers and leaves from the kit that are different from the planned card (these are in the kit)
• and finally I punched the corners of the card base to coordinate with the rounded corners of the dotted layer. 

     Believe me, there will be enough left in this kit to use everything in it, including the embellishments found in the kit. My plan is to hold classes using this kit after the first of the year. Perhaps by then the excitement of this new find will have worn off a bit, and I can get enough for everyone who signs up for my class!  I hope to make some video class sessions, too. So anyone will be able to get my ideas on using this kit whether they're in my neighborhood or not.  Stay tuned.

     Meanwhile, pick YOUR FAVORITE new stamp set, make a project with it, and head on over to the SUO Challenges Blog to enter it in the challenge! The challenge doesn't close until August 1st! (OMG! Is it August already???? Yikes!)

     Finally this blog post marks the end of my commitment to use all my new stamp sets from the 2015-2015 Stampin' Up! catalog? Oh, there were one or two "other" projects in there. But each was kind of "new" in its own way. So from here on out, I'm not limited to my new stamps or to creating a good excuse not to use them.  But I think I will be using all of them from time to time throughout the rest of the year just because I've come to like them – by using them and not letting them sit around!  I hope you'll try the same with stamp sets you've bought.  If you need ideas, let me know and I'll help you out!