Back on Track after my trip to the UK

Although I had a wonderful time in the UK, I was happy to get home to my stamps and classes. And to some super SU news: The Occasions Mini Collection catalogue is being extended to June 30, so you (and I) still have time to pick up those stamps and embellishments that have been calling out to us!

AND (drum roll please) As of April 23rd, Stampin' Up! is accepting Visa and Mastercard for part or all of your purchases! Hopefully that will be more convenient for customers.

I'll soon be posting more scrapbook pages, but for now I have three cards I want to show you:

The first is a tribute to spring with the chickadee. The bird stamp is from the "Spring Song" set, and it's sort of a cross between a nuthatch and maybe a wren. (If someone recognizes its breed, please let me know!) As a birdwatcher it was driving me crazy so I made its head a little larger and lengthened its tail so that it could pass as a chickadee. The cardstock used in Old Olive, Real Rust, Basic Black, and Whisper White. I coloured the chickadee using the Watercolor Wonder Crayons and Blender Pens. The sentiment is from 'All Holidays'.

The second card is copied from another demo (thank you for the inspiration!) and uses the delightful 'Tart & Tangy' stamp set, in particular the orange (or it could be a lemon or lime depending on which ink you choose). I used Pumpkin Pie Classic on Whisper White and cut the orange in half. The background cardstock is Wild Wasabi and Pumpkin Pie (stamped with the Canvas background stamp). The circle sentiment is from the 'Circle of Friendship' set, and punched with the 1" circle punch and the scallop punch. I used the white Signo Gel pen for the faux stitching.

I want to use the 'Tart & Tangy' set to make scratch and sniff cards too.

Finally, I used my 'Heartfelt Thanks' set (love it!) to create this Pretty in Pink and Old Olive card. The background is stamped with the single flower from the set, using versamark. Then I embossed it with white embossing powder and stamped them again with the outline stamp using Pretty in Pink Classic ink. The featured flower is also a two step stamp in those same colours, and I used my pastels and the sponge daubers to add more texture. The ribbon is Certainly Celery 1/4" grosgrain.

I'd love to hear what you think of them!

Til next time - Keep Stamping.