Watercolor Rose - Beautiful!!

I just love the Watercolor Rose technique! It's a whole lot easier to create this effect with my Stampin' Up! products than those college watercolor classes! Here's what I used:

• Base cardstock is Rich Razzleberry, with matching ribbon, and reinker on an old CD


• Accent color is Old Olive, top color Whisper White


• Shimmer cardstock for the rose


• Versmark pad


• White embossing powder and heat gun


• Aquapainter (and a paper towel)


• Big Shot dies - Top Note, Little Leaves, Texture Plate


• Paper Snips, Stampin Dimensionals, SNAIL


• Stamp set - Fifth Avenue Floral

First, stamp the large rose from Fifth Avenue Floral onto the shimmer cardstock using Versamark. Apply white embossing powder to the image and set with the heat gun. Next, moisten the entire image with an Aquapainter. You can get a small amount of the Rich Razzleberry ink on the brush to "pink" the whole image a little." Then, little by little, I added color to the image by picking up reinker with the Aquapainter. If the image has been moistened well, the ink will flow around it. I inked one petal at a time. The embossing will hold the color in each petal. It takes some time to create the final product, but you will love it! You can use the paper towel to wipe off the Aquapainter if you've gotten too much ink on it. Use varying amounts of ink on the Aquapainter for lighter or darker values. Let the image dry (it will take a while).

I used a Texture Plate and Top Note die for the Whisper White paper, then cut out the image with paper snips. You can trim easily around the perforated edge. I adhered my ribbon around this piece, then used SNAIL to attach to a layer of Old Olive behind, which was also cut with the Top Note die. Great layering effect! I adhered this to the card base using SNAIL.

Using the Little Leave embosslit die, cut two sets of leaves from Old Olive cardstock. When your rose is dry, you can attach the leaves to the back using SNAIL. I used Stampin' Dimensionals to attach the rose to the card - really pops it out!

Variations: Use any color you wish! I think an orange and a yellow or pink would look great together! If you have a favorite hybrid tea rose in your garden, choose inks that best match and create your own roses! You could also skip the step of embossing, but I think it really adds a finishing touch to the card. Enjoy!

Sour Cream Container

This sour cream container is a quick, easy way to create a cute little treat holder! It uses Designer Series Paper, and you can get 4 from a 12x12 sheet. The patterned paper is pretty, and saves you the step of decorating it. Here's what you need:

• Lightweight paper, cut 4.25x5.50 inches.


• Sticky strip


• Decorative ribbon or greeting to place on the outside.


• Stampin Dimensionals

Place a piece of Sticky Strip along one entire short side of the paper (on the reverse of the side you want to show). Place another piece of Sticky Strip halfway across a long side, meeting in the corner with the other piece. Finally, place a last piece of Sticky Strip on the opposite long side in the middle, covering about half of that side.

Remove the Sticky Strip's orange plastic liner on the short side and corner only (not the one by itself). Roll the paper into a tube and stick together. Seal one end of the tube by pushing the sticky strip side against the other side of the tube. Fill with treats. Peel the plastic liner from the remaining piece of Sticky Strip, and push to seal. Make sure you turn the tube a half-turn so that it's sealed in the opposite direction of the other end. Use the Crimper to crimp both ends of the tube to make it look "factory" produced. I embellished mine by stamping on Whisper White cardstock and punching it out with the 1 1/4 circle punch. I punched another layer of cardstock using the 1 3/8 circle punch, and another using the Scallop circle punch. Sandwich these together, and adhere to the container using Stampin Dimensionals. I also attached a single-knotted piece of ribbon with a Stampin Dimensional.

This is a quick, easy treat container to create, and oh so cute! You can use any patterned paper, and any color to match the season or person receiving the gift.

Most Demonstratable Card!

At our monthly Taste of Stamping this week, my card was actually voted Most Demonstratable! Other demonstrators (who made cards for our swap) voted this card as the best for showing other people how to create. Thanks, everyone! Here's how I made it:

Base color is Melon Mambo, next layer is Old Olive, Whisper White on top. Stamp set is Simply Said, Big Shot die is Cherry Blossom Embosslit.

• Cut a piece of Old Olive 5.25x4 inches.


• Cut a piece of Whisper White 5x3.75 inches.


• Ink flower image from Simply Said, stamp it off on your grid paper, then stamp on Whisper White cardstock. Clean the stamp before you ink it with Old Olive. Also stamp off the Old Olive. Then, when you ink the coordinating outline flower image, don't stamp it off. It will be a little darker and show up nicely against the solid flower. Stamp the outline flower over top of the solid flower. This gives a "designer series paper" effect.


• I used Old Olive striped ribbon across the card to separate the inked bottom from the top.


• Use the Cherry Blossom die to cut a Melon Mambo and an Old Olive flower.


• I used a Uniball Signo White Gel Pen to color the raised center of the flowers.


• Adhere the flowers to the card using Stampin' Dimensionals.


• Stamp the desired greeting on the card using Melon Mambo Classic Ink.

This is a great way to show a Big Shot die, and a 2-step stamping technique, and is an easy card to create!

Congratulations Rising Star Jessie!

Jessie Benjamin, my upline, was named Rising Star #8 last night! This means she was the #8 New Demonstrator in the whole country this year! That is quite an accomplishment, and I am so proud of her! I was very excited to share the evening with her, Kim Allen (Jessie's upline) and Jessie's sister, Ragan. Thanks Merrie for texting us the details from the annual convention in Salt Lake City, Utah!

Jessie is off to a new beginning in Charlotte. We will miss her in Wake Forest, but I am sure she will do great things in Charlotte!