New Toys!

Gee, you'd think it was Christmas!  I have a whole pile of new toys to play with (and share--yes,  I CAN share!).  Being a Stampin' UP! demonstrator definitely has its perks, and one of them is that I get to pre-order new stamps, papers and accessories before my customers.

So today, I thought I would share one of the new stamps, Guy Greetings, (#137178, $25.95) from the new Occasions Catalog, going live on January 6th!  This wonderful set will help me with so many of my "guy cards" this year--there are 22 stamps for lots of occasions. 

My hubby's birthday is the day after Christmas!  Can you believe anyone is THAT unlucky?   LOL!
That means that I'm usually not thinking of making a birthday card, but then the night before (yes, Christmas night!) there I am slaving away in my craft cave trying to make myself look good the next day...
This year we were in San Diego for the holiday, and didn't come home until his birthday.  So...(and I should at least get points for this) I actually had a gift AND had made a gift box (using the Gift Box Punch Board (#135863, $19.95), which happily carries over into the new catalog...whew!)  But I had not had time to make a card, so on his birthday, after we drive 10+ hours home (and he's snoring away in bed) I get out some new toys and create this:

Love it!  And to my credit (if anyone is giving that out), the card WAS completed on his birthday--he just didn't see it until he came down for coffee this morning. 

Lots of new goodies here:  first the stamp set:

I took the banner and the shoes and heat-embossed them with Early Espresso embossing powder (#128980, $4.95).  AND fussy-cut them out (yes, I did!).  My Very Vanilla cardstock (#101650, $8.50) was stamped with "husband" in Lost Lagoon (#133644, $5.95), and the sentiment in Early Espresso (#126974, $4.95).  (I also embossed just the top and bottom edges with a vintage Houndstooth Embossing Folder).

New Designer Series Paper:  For the first time ever, Stampin' UP! is offering a 4-1/2" x 6-1/2" paper stack called Adventure Bound (#137780, $6.95), with actual nature photos on one side and designs on the other.  They are so cool!  I chose the Early Espresso Houndstooth pattern (the back side is rope--really neat!) and trimmed it to 4" x 4-3/4".  Then I used the Deco Labels Framelits (#130102, $24.95) to cut out the label in the center.

I also used my Finishing Touches Edgelits (127010, $9.95) to create the sawtooth edges in Early Espresso and adhered the strips to the top and bottom of my DSP.  This was then popped up over the Very Vanilla, using Dimensionals (#104430, $3.95).  And it was all added to an Early Espresso (#119686, $6.95)base.  I also stuck three Early Espresso Candy Dots (130934, $5.95) in the middle to finish it off. 

Letting nothing go to waste, I used the cut out label for the inside of my card, and stamped Happy Birthday in Early Espresso on Very Vanilla; after flagging the ends using the Hexagon punch (#130919, $15.95), I just adhered it with SNAIL (#104332, #6.95) adhesive. 

Finally, an envelope:

Another strip of the DSP with a leftover edge of the edgelit saw-tooth strip was glued to my envelope.  Then I used another new item,  Sophisticated Serifs (#137161, $45.95), (an alphabet stamp with two sizes, perfect for creating monogrammed stationary!) to add his name.

Thanks for swinging by today; I hope you've enjoyed my first (of many) sample using my new toys!  Won't you leave a comment and tell me what you like best? 

What have you created today?