Happy Canada Day!

Proud Member of the "Eh" Team!

My goodness, where does the time go?!  How can it possibly be almost 2 years since my original blog post?  I wish I could say that I have been busy doing incredibly exciting things, but the reality is I've just been caught up in the regular ol' day-to-day.  No more!  I have set some goals for the next 12 months and plan to get over my fear of technology and really get this blog hopping!

Stampin' Up's new annual catalogue was released last month, and I have finally gotten my fingers inky with some of the new products.  So many great things available, I had a hard time figuring out what to get first!  When push came to shove it I couldn't resist the new "Seasons of Change" bundle.  It has stamps and matching dies to last the whole year long!  I'll be making more projects with this bundle in the coming weeks, but in the meantime I had to use that gorgeous maple leaf to celebrate my country's 150th birthday!

I was a bit of a history geek in high school (still am, truth be told!), and can't let this momentous occasion pass without referencing some of the highlights of this great country!  We are celebrating our sesquicentennial (thank you spell check!) birthday, which is a very upper crust way of saying we are 150 years old.  As countries go, that's pretty young!  Canada was once known as " British North America", but 1867's Confederation saw us establish our own country.  Our red and white flag with the symbolic maple leaf identify Canada around the world.  We wear it proudly everywhere we travel.

As cultural stereotypes go, I'm okay with being known as a polite, laid back, line-loving, "eh" using Canadian!  And I tapped into some of those symbols when creating today's card.

I started with a Real Red card base, and used the Labeler Alphabet stamp set to create my custom EH? sentiment, which I clear embossed randomly over the card base.  The Labeler set is so versatile, with both block letters and a clear background, and I actually used both types on this card.  I then used my versamark ink pad to make a gold embossed background on some Whisper White cardstock with the Diagonal Stripe stamp set.  It's so shiny!

My favourite thing these days are stitched die cuts--I love how homey they look, and they add just a bit of an upgraded look to a plain circle or square.  I used two circles from the Stitched Shapes framelit set, one in Real Red and one in Whisper White.  I also used part of a square from the same set, but I manipulated it so that I just got a stitched line down the edge of the white rectangle I used for my sentiment.  So cool! 

The real highlight of this card is that gorgeous gold foil intricate maple leaf die cut.  The Colorful Seasons stamp set and coordinating thinlit set is full of detailed, fun images that can be used throughout the year.  I stamped the small red maple leaf image onto white cardstock, and then used the matching die to make it a 3D piece, which I adhered to the card with dimensionals.  A little red floss wrapped around the sentiment tied everything together.

I think this card is a fun way to celebrate being Canadian!

Until next time, I'll justBstamping!