I love my team of Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators. We always have so much fun when we get together! Each month, we talk about anything new going on at Stampin’ Up!,and then we have a make & take. The past several months, we’ve had shoebox swaps and challenges. For our meeting this month, it’s a triple. We’re doing a shoebox swap and the conditions are that your card has to include at least one retiring In Color and has to be completed in seven minutes or less.

From the comments at the last meeting, I got the impression that no one thought I could meet the seven minute challenge. Game on, Ladies!

One of the stipulations was that you could do some steps ahead of time – like cutting, punching, die-cutting. With that in mind, I created this card, thinking I’d do all the cutting and punching ahead of time. Please note – especially if you’re team members – that this is NOT my card for the shoebox swap. This was my first “hmmm….maybe….” card.

How cute is this? I simply punched four hearts from Pink Pirouette, Blushing Bride, Melon Mambo and Rose Red card stock, and one from the Whisper White layer, using the Itty Bitty Accents heart punch. I stamped the “thanks” from Cottage Greetings in Blackberry Bliss Classic Ink, and punched a Blackberry Bliss heart using the Owl Builder Punch  (yeah – there’s the retiring In Color).

I added a Pink Pirouette layer between the Whisper White layer and the Whisper White Thick Card Stock card base. I really, really liked this card. I showed it to Mike, and he liked it as well. He actually said, “Hey, can I use it tomorrow?” He had a closing and needed a thank you card. And this is where the “hmmmm” comes in.

This is a great card to send a friend or your mom or sister, but a client? The five (really six) hearts make it seem a little needy to me if you’re sending it to a client. So I found another card for Mike to give to his clients. And then I remembered that at least one of my team members doesn’t send thank you cards. (And you know who you are, Ca**l!) I also realized that few of the other Cottage Greetings sentiments would fit well on this card. So this isn’t the card for the meeting. And it wasn’t the card for Mike. But it’s definitely one I’ll use very, very soon! Because, honestly, we make cards to SEND, not just to show, right?

One of the other reasons I didn’t use this card for the challenge was because it didn’t really showcase retiring In Colors. Even though we only have to use a minimum of a blip of the retiring colors for the challenge, I love them all enough that I wanted to give them a little more than just a tiny heart and a short sentiment.

I’m really excited about my card for the challenge. If anyone can’t complete it in seven minutes, well…they’re just trying to make me look bad. 😉

If you’re a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator and live close to Winchester, VA, you’re more than welcome to attend our meetings. Just leave me a comment and I’ll give you details!

Thanks for stopping by Stamping with Buffy.  Have a wonderful day!

Product List

Cottage Greetings Wood-Mount Stamp Set

[138940]

$26.00

Cottage Greetings Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[139962]

$16.00

Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack

[133787]

$17.00

Builder Owl Punch

[118074]

$18.00