TGI Friday! It’s time for a new product highlight challenge at the TGIF Challenges website!!! Today, we are pulling out our punches! This is a great challenge for beginner stampers, because punches are a lot less costly than die cuts. But it’s also a great challenge for seasoned stampers too, because punches are quick and easy to use. Stampin’ Up! has loads of great punches, and many coordinate with particular stamp sets and can be purchased in a bundle to save 10%
Be sure to click on over to the TGIF Challenges website to see all the designers’ amazing projects. At that site, you can use the link tool at the bottom of the post to enter your “punchy” project for a chance to win. If you’ve never used the link tool and have trouble, send me an email and I’d be glad to walk you through the process.
For my project this week, I used a new punch from the upcoming Holiday catalog! It’s called the Sprig Punch, and rather than using it to make a holiday card, I used it to create an elegant shimmery wreath for my flowers.
When I said “shimmery,” I really meant it. I punched all the sprigs from Shimmery White Cardstock, and then I brushed Frost White Shimmer Paint on the ends for very subtle highlights. I tried really hard to get some good photos, but I’m afraid they just didn’t do this project justice. The shimmer paint is gorgeous in real life! The new Holiday Catalog has shimmer paints in four colors, including Bright Copper, Champagne Mist, Frost White, and Vegas Gold for only $8.00 a bottle. A little goes a long way, and if you’re like me, you may have some old retired shimmer paint in your stash that you can dig up!
Going with the “punchy” theme of this week’s challenge, I used two other punches on my project, including the Four-Petal Flower punch (which coordinates with the Pop of Petals stamp set), and the Classic Label Punch.
I stamped my flowers with Versamark and embossed them in silver, and then I watercolored them with Fresh Fig and Highlander Heather ink. The leaves are also embossed in silver, and then watercolored with Smoky Slate ink. Again, I used Shimmery White Cardstock, as it works very well with watercoloring.
The background is a strip of the gorgeous Petal Promenade Designer Series Paper. I love, love, love that paper!!! There’s also a slightly larger layer of Vellum just behind.
For my sentiment, I borrowed a greeting from the Petal Palette stamp set and stamped it with Fresh Fig ink.
Final details include some pretty Share What You Love Artisan Pearls and frayed Silver Baker’s Twine.
Supplies used on my card:
