Happy Weekend to you! Today I have for you a super sweet card that went through stages of OOPS while I was making it (and I will share with you the oops) but in the end turned out to be one sweet card!

When I am typing up my posts and if John is home….he often will ask to see the card that I made. When I showed him this card he smiled and said, “Your Mom would have loved this card” and YEP, he is right as it would have been right up her alley!

I haven’t watercolored lately so today I wanted to share some fun from the Friendships Sweetest Thoughts Stamp Set.When I saw this stamp set in the Occasions Catalog I knew this was coming to Randall Lane for 3 main reasons…

1. I adore the way the artist sketched the stamp images, lines like this make it a cinch to color in all mediums….being watercoloring like I am doing today, using Alcohol Marker/Blends, Colored Pencils or even just our Stampin’ Write Markers….
2. The price – $19.00 is a very good and fair price to invest in
3. The Sentiments/font – I am strange….I like either super clean & simple fonts….or ones that “just catch my eye” and this one does that. You could easily use these sentiments with other floral stamps you have and also with a heart.

For the above reasons, this one was “coming home”! I encourage you to “think about” guidelines that are important to you before you just take a leap and buy. Let’s face it as we all do it – we buy things and simply do not use them.

Here is another little tip-bit for you to think about. Stampin’ Up! will be offering a new catalog in June. I know that seems like a way away…but reality is – it will be here before you know it! Actually in just 28 days (who’s counting…I am excited)

I will have the new catalog in my hands. With that said, this is the time of the year that I challenge myself to use up current DSP as we all know it – when new paper comes out….we will just “have to have it”….that’s why Product Shares are the best!

I chose my color palette today after I picked the DSP I was going to use. I know that it is hard to see but the Berry Burst color is actually a piece from the Naturally Eclectic DSP Pack and I covered the whole front panel of the White A-2 card. I like to do that when I am using watercolor paper as that paper is not as bright of a white.

The DSP paper is one of those that have a gradient look and feel to it and honestly – I have a hard time using them and I am a clean and crisp gal but this is a PERFECT way to use it as the subtleness of the coloring of the DSP lends a perfect backdrop to my focal image! This is the time of the year that I really try to use up current paper as when the new ones come out….they all get cut to 6″ X 6″ squares until I use them up!

When you watercolor make sure that you are using an ink that will not bleed when you color with the aqua painter. I used the Archival Black Ink to stamp the focal image! I was so excited to color (as it has been a while since I have used the aqua painter) that I did not stamp my sentiment…..that is where the BIG OOPS! happened!

I colored away and had fun and then when I stamped the sentiment…..YIKES – it did not stamp well and there was also a blob of black as I rocked the stamp! You see….It happens to me too! PLAN B  – stamp the sentiment on a scrap of watercolor paper and then pop it up as I did!

Things like this used to get me super upset and frustrated but the reality of it is…IT IS JUST PAPER and I like to think that mistakes are a learning factor of life that happen to all of us to bring awareness. It was super easy to cover up my mistake and no one would ever know!

It is so easy to just pull your ink pads out, give them a good squeeze to get the ink on the lids and then go to town with the Aqua Painter. I always like to make sure that I have a folded up piece of a paper towel right by me as I work so I can quickly dab the excess off of the end of the Aqua Painter. Works like a charm every time!

You can see in my coloring that I just kept it super simple…that always seems to make me the happiest when I am creating but I do invite you to look at colors that you have…and sometimes layer them. WHAT DO I MEAN? Well..the area where the green is – I used Pear Pizazz and the Old Olive over top.

For the flowers – I first used Powder Pink and then added some Berry Burst to the inside of the flowers. For the “ground area” – I used Sahara Sand 1st…then went over it with some wisps of Crumb Cake and then the finale was to take my black pen and make some squiggles.

Always try to think of the simple little touches (like my trio of dots) to add your own special touch to your projects. Speaking of extra touches – can you see the centers of the flowers on both the card and the envelope? I add some white Nuvo Drops. I adore the wee little bit of the raised effect it gives.

You can see in that the Nuvo Drops come in a ca-zillion colors and there is no need to go crazy…I say that I use the clear, white and black the most but please make sure that you let them dry completely. I usually add them and then go back the next morning.

Envelope time….because the DSP that I used on the card was so “plain jane” I wanted to do something a bit different. A quick stamp 3 x’s did the trick but the accent of the White Nuvo Drops was the icing on the cake!

I think in the below picture you will see the height/dimension the drops give. Once they are dry (remember, super important) they will not flatten down or be sharp. I know that many of you are thinking if they will fall off in the mail….I have not had any to do that!

WHEW…there you go…..let’s move on!

On Thursday’s post….I threw out a fun puzzle/challenge for some Blog Candy as to how would I pick from the items that I had listed at the end of the blog post….that would end up at $124.50 for the Ultimate Bundle if I were picking for a starter kit.

Well….I am proud to say that dear Georgette won!!!!

There was one little hiccup in her math/choice…..as it is the Thick White Paper…not the Regular White. I think that she had meant to type the thick paper as the regular weight paper would have put her over the $125 target mark!

I had the AMAZING pleasure to meet Georgette last summer when she was in Maryland. She is from Ohio and reached out to me if we could meet. Let me tell you…..we never came up for air and we trurly had the time of our lives….and she is ONE TALENTED person!

WHY would I choose the Thick??? Easy, no-brainer….the thick creates a wonderful sturdy card…..(I actually sometimes think – how in the world did we use the regular weight before) Please do not get me wrong…the regular weight is a must have as well for the insides of cards and die-cutting & coloring…but if I had a choice of one…it would be the thick! Also – I would have picked the neutrals as one of my 4 cardstock packs and that would have had 2 sheets of the regular weight in it!

• Layering Squares – $35.00
• Stampin’ Trimmer – $30.00
• Thick White Card Stock – $7.00
• Pack of White Envelopes – $6.40
• Pack of Dimensionals – $4.00
• Fast Fuse – $10.00
• (4) pack of Cardstock – $32.00

I know that this post is super long but quickly….I made my choices to get (4) packs of the potentially 5 options as with paper….you can ALWAYS have a great foundation. The other items….no brainer – the basics to card making!

The reason that I did not pick the stamp set is…..YOU CAN PICK 2 FREE ONES when you get the ultimate bundle! I had someone last night to be a smart and savvy stamper…..getting the ultimate bundle and I cannot wait to hear what (2) FREEBIE STAMPS she picked!

It really is that is…no strings attached….PERIOD….plus YOU will be able to see the new catalog when I do….in 28 days plus you can PRE-ORDER the new goodies from the new catalog starting in May…all at a 20% discount…..truly a win-win!

I will do another fun “Ultimate Bundle” game next week with more blog candy…it is super fun to think of the things we can throw in the to get to $125!

Enjoy the day….I hope that I inspired you to color and WOOT-WOOT to Georgette…..thanks for spending some time with me!