It’s Blog Hop time again!  I can’t believe February only has a week left.  I can’t say I’ll be sorry to say goodbye to winter.  I’ve been having so much fun with spring craft projects since December, it will be nice when the weather lines up with my crafting!

You may have gotten here from Linda Wicks’ “Nutty for Stamping” blog.  Isn’t she amazing?  Linda always inspires me, but it’s a little intimidating to follow her in a hop!

One of the fun things about a hop is you can start anywhere and end anywhere – and if you get lost or take a break, you can find your way back fairly easily.  If you click the banner (above) or the “Home” button at the end of this post, you’ll go to our home page that lists all the hop stops so you don’t miss any.

I decided to focus on flowers this time.  Someone once said, “I love flower stamps, but, really, how many flower stamps do you need?”  Answer:  I don’t think you can ever have enough flower stamps.  There are life-like flower stamps, funky flower stamps, happy flowers with faces, solid flowers, two-step flowers, flowers you can watercolor…really, every time I think I have all I could ever need, along comes a new one that I absolutely must have.  Like this one.

I hadn’t planned on getting the Stampin’ Up! Sale-a-bration set “Madison Ave,” but I saw so many cute ideas for it, I had to get it.  And, hey – it was free!    I inked the flower outline with markers, then punched little flower inserts (using the Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack).  I love how Stampin’ Up! coordinates products so they work together.  I used the 1/2″ circle punch, the 1-1/4″ scallop circle punch, and the modern label punch, as well as the Finishing Touches edgelits for the Sizzix Big Shot.  The “Just for You” and label outline stamps are from the Tea Shoppe set in the Stampin’ Up! annual catalog.

I also like making flowers with different media – card stock, fabric, designer series paper.  The creped filter paper in the Stampin’ Up! spring catalog can be used to create gorgeous flowers in a snap!

I spritzed the filter paper with ink refills and rubbing alcohol (Pretty in Pink for the flower and Raspberry Ripple for the “package”).  I cut the flowers with the Floral Frames framelits, stacked them, stapled them in the center and scrunched them up.  Done!  The package part is just a filter paper circle wrapped around a gift card and tied with the very last piece of my Artisan Embellishments kit.  (I can’t believe how many projects that kit made!)  I used the “Just for You” stamp from the Pop-Up Posies Designer Kit from the Spring catalog for the tag and punched it with the modern label punch.

And, finally, some flowers are already created for you.  I love, love, love the 5/8″ flower trim in the spring catalog.  I smooshed it on a Pretty in Pink classic stampin’ pad, then spritzed it with a little water.  When it dried, I attached it to a Rose Red seam binding ribbon bow.  Other products from the spring catalog are the Tea for Two designer series paper, the Primrose Petals core’dinations card stock, the Honeycomb embossing folder, the Stampin’ Distress tool, and the Stampin’ Sanding System.  The “Thanks” stamp is from Kindness Matters and the wreath is from Everything Eleanor (both from the annual catalog).

I hope you enjoyed the bouquet of flowers!  Your next stop is Jackie Susnik’s blog – JackOtter Stamp.  You’re going to love Jackie’s elegant and beautiful projects.

Have a great day – and thanks for stopping by Stamping with Buffy!