My sister's favorite color is blue & her birthday is almost here. That gave me the inspiration for my ITP PTI Birthday Challenge entry. 
I've had Bold Blooms for quite awhile & finally the matching dies were available. I wasn't sure I needed them, but now I'm glad I have them. Love this vase from Vogue Vases & this time I die cut it from PTI dotted paper a friend gave me. I also cut it from thick fun foam to get the look I wanted. The branches were double stamped in Soft Stone & the flowers were stamped in Dark Indigo. The mat is Enchanted Evening & the sentiment is from Simple Stems. Needed a little something more, so I added Star Dust Stickles to the flowers & pearls to the vase. 
I really like how this turned out & think my sister will, too. I'm also entering The Snippets Playground (branches, flowers & mat from scraps) & Virginia's Show & Share.
The current Stay Crafty with Hero challenge theme is critters. I pulled out a 2011 Retailer Teaching Kit which was the prize I won in a HA Scramble. It's a 6x8 stamp set composed of images & sentiments from a variety of stamp sets that were available at that time. Decided to use the adorable reindeer & this sentiment which I thought was perfect for it. 
I put the stamps in my Mini MISTI & stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne. That gave me the option of doing a little watercoloring, but I loved the look as stamped. Clearly, though, that big nose was calling out to be red, right?! That was easily accomplished with Christmas Red Stickles. Then I added Silver Stickles to the snowflakes & dots on the sweater. I debated about coloring the sweater trim, but was afraid I'd ruin it. Instead I just added Frosted Lace Stickles. 
Thought about stamping some background snowflakes, but really don't think they're needed. Only other thing I did was add black Pico Embellisher to the eyes. This will be perfect for my sweet neighbors with 2 young kids. I'm also entering ABNH & SSS Wednesday.
Sometimes you love a product, but end up hardly ever using it. That isn't the case with my SSS Bouquet of Roses stencil. This time I chose Fall colors of DI: aged mahogany, wild honey, peeled paint & forest moss. 
I inked through the stencil with blending sponges & no masking. I didn't care if the greens got onto part of the blooms or the bloom colors got onto the leaves. Then I covered everything with Versamark & heat embossed with HA Sparkle ep. Loved the panel so much I could have just framed that 6x6 piece! Instead I held my breath & added a light watercolor wash of weathered wood & love the change it made. Decided to cut my piece into a 4x4 panel & then into 2 inch squares which I mounted to a navy mat. 
The sentiment from SSS Warm Wishes was embossed in SSS Antique Gold ep on a vellum strip before adding the panel to a Classic Kraft card. I tried various sequins, but didn't like them, so no bling. I'm entering SSS Flickr Challenge 158, Allsorts & WAW.
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