Animal Outing

Sometimes being creative is about the time you have!  I have had a crazy week with my “real” job.  Most of the time I have the weekends to get a few things together for you guys.  This past weekend did not work out that way, so I have been crunched getting cards made. I started several things to share with you this week .Lots of ideas rolling around in my head. But, none of them ever got finished. (You will be seeing them soon) Work just invaded my creative time.  Last night I was thinking about what I could share with you today.  And Animal Outing came to mind for a quick adorable card.  Seriously, it was already late and I wanted to share with y’all today!!!

Animal Outings Stamp Set

The Animal Outing stamp set is full of sweet sketched animals on an adventure.  There is a rhino, a kangaroo with a little koala bear, a giraffe, and a cute little frog sitting out on a branch.

The new catalog does a amazing job showing off all that you can do with this set!  Animal Outing is available in wood or clear mounts.  I adore wood mount.  But, really it is your choice. They both feature Stampin’ Up! high quality red rubber that just makes stamping fun!

This page in the Annual Catalog just makes me happy!  I really love seeing all the cute animals out enjoying life!!  I should also mention that Animal Outing is available in a bundle with the coordinating dies! This saves you 10%  Yeppie!!!

The Creative Way – A Product Feature

I have already mentioned that time to be creative is key.  I normally do much better at managing my creative time and other responsibilities.  In lots of ways the two over lap. That’s because one of my favorite ways to incorporate creativity is to have a bag that has my Stampin’ Blends, a stamp set, clear block, paper, and ink all ready to go.  I take this bag with me and when I have a moment I color images.  This helps when I get home, I have images ready to make cards with .At that point it is all about the card design.

My second time-saving idea for you is to keep the coloring simple. When you have limited time to create it is important to know that you can make cute/beautiful cards without spending an hour or even 30 min. coloring something. The Stampin’ Blends give you the perfect opportunity to explore simple coloring techniques that leave a wow impact!! One way you can figure out coloring quickly is by doing a Google search of the stamp set and see how others colored it! This saves you time in figuring out colors and exactly where you want shading.  Also, a Google search of the image like flowers or rhino will give you great color inspiration.  One other thing you can do is use the Stamp itself as a shading guide.  Lots of stamp sets are drawn so that the shaded areas are sketched in with lines or dots.  This makes it easy for you to know where to shade an image especially when working with Blends!!  Another great way to use your Stampin’ Blends for quick coloring is to use a limited color.  Pick two or three colors and stick with them. Below the Kangaroo and Koala are both colored with two colors, Crumb Cake and Smoky Slate.  The grass is one color light Old Olive.  You can use the colorless blender to add texture and help blending to white paper

• Very quickly coloring using a limited number of colors
• The kangaroo is mostly light Crumb Cake. With Dark Crumb Cake added where the stamp suggested there should be shading
• The belly and koala bear are light Smoke Slate with light crumb cake added to give it a more French gray look. Aka the new Gray Granite
• The card was finished off with the New Swirly Frames and layers of Soft Suede and Gray Granite

The All New Catalog is available and ready for you to shop from.  You can shop online here

The Creative Way – A Product Highlight, Stampin’ Blends

If you would like to see more about the Stampin’ Up! Blends click here

Day 1

I hope each of you have a great weekend!!! I just finished up at work!  So, I’m ready for a few hours tomorrow to be creative!! Go and live creatively!!!

Peace-