Friends Never Fade - Team Weekend Swap

This card is the one that I designed for the Card in A Box swap for the "INKlings" team retreat in August.  It uses a few of the new goodies in the new 2010-11 Idea Book and Catalogue.
I chose the colours from my favourite Designer Series Paper, Elegant Soiree, although it wasn't available to purchase at the time.  The card base is Baja Breeze, back with us for good now that it is a Core Colour!
I ran the card front through the "Vintage Wallpaper" embossing folder in my Big Shot machine, isn't it pretty!!  The next layer is Basic Gray, and I tore the lower half and rolled and distressed the lower edge, and did a bit of sponging also.
The greeting is stamped in Basic Gray ink, using the "Thank you Kindly" stamp set.  The stamped panel is Very Vanilla, and I stamped the gorgeous stylised flower in Soft Suede, Baja Breeze and Sahara Sand.  To add some dimension, I used the lovely new "Beautiful Wings" Embosslit die to make some pretty little butterflies from various colours, this card has a Vanilla and a Basic Gray creature fluttering above the flowers.  I attached them with mini glue dots, and bent the wings up a little.
To finish, I made some paper ribbon.  I cut some 1cm strips of Soft Suede cardstock, and ran them through my crimping tool to soften the paper fibres.  A few goes passing the strips in and out, and the cardstock ends up being soft and flexible, just like real ribbon.  I used Sticky Strip to pleat the paper ribbon across the join, being deliberately messy about it, to echo the torn bottom edge.  All done!  I might try something similar now that we have the Elegant Soiree paper to match the colour

A Father's Day flashback

Another sign that I haven't posted in far too long (and that my Septembers are far too busy!) is that I haven't shown the Father's Day card I made for my dad at the recent Team Weekend away.  It was a quick and easy one, using a set I love but have neglected for quite a while - All in the Family.  My dad has a loving tribe of four dogs, Tully, Wally, Nola and Brownie (shown in this card from left to right).  They follow him everywhere, so the stamped image is pretty much autobiographical.    The nuts and bolts stamp is from the Lots of Bots set, and the oddly unattached hardware at the top is a reference to the numerous bits of metal usually found about Dad's person.  The card base is Old Olive, and the stamped panel is Confetti Cream.  There's a slip of Crumb Cake and Chocolate Chip to bring out the colours in the stamped image, authentically roughed up with some paper piercing and the distressing tool from the Cutter Kit. All done, and he liked it.  Hope you do too!

Gosh, it's been all action around here!

Sorry, sorry!  It's been so long since I last posted here, I've been pretty flat out getting ready for the biggest party of the year!
Saturday was my Stampin' Up! New Catalogue Launch, and it was a great day.  Thanks SO much to my helpers Ryn and Caz, who made this busy day a big success.  There's lots more I have saved up to show you, so I hope to be back tomorrow with some more!  For now, here are some images from the goody bag treats and the action on the day!