Free as a Bird

My plan for next week is to highlight some retiring Stampin’ Up!® stamp sets, because it will be your last week to order them! The 2019-2020 Stampin’ Up!® Annual Catalog sales period will begin June 4, so you’ll need to order those things you love that will be retiring from the current 2018-2019 catalog by June 3.

This week, though, I’ve been having a lot of fun playing with some stamp sets from the upcoming catalog. They’re only available to demonstrators right now, so if you want to get your hands on them early, you need to join my team of awesome Stampin’ Up!® demonstrators. We get to preorder selected items from the annual catalogs and everything from seasonal catalogs and other product releases a month early – and we get a 20% minimum discount! As a demonstrator, you do not have to sell anything; you can sign up simply to enjoy the discount on your own purchases. And while it’s nice to have a few customers help you meet your $300 quarterly minimums, your status doesn’t change if you meet that quota by yourself.

One of the products we got to play with and preorder at OnStage in April was the Free as a Bird Stamp Set. True confession: Birds creep me out. I’ve told the story before, but if you’re new, I’ll give the short version. While picking cherries with my little brother one year, a blackbird flew out of the tree right toward my head. Of course, he turned before we collided, but ever since then, I’ve had an aversion to birds. Even so, I have bought a lot of Stampin’ Up!® bird stamp sets, especially cardinals (Virginia’s state bird). And the Free as a Bird birds are so cute. Not at all like the DOBB that flew at my head. (DOBB stands for “damned old blackbird.” That’s what my dad, the farmer, calls any blackbird that tries to steal his harvest.)

Aren’t those birds adorable? This card gives you one more reason to order the Stamparatus and Stampin’ Blends. First, use the largest die in the Stitched Nested Labels Dies to diecut a label from Very Vanilla Cardstock, and place the card stock in the Stamparatus. Then, position the bird where you’d like him to appear on the label (the left bird in this photo). Close the Stamparatus to adhere the stamp to the plate, then ink the stamp with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and stamp the image onto the card stock.

Give the image a few seconds to dry, then place the Silicone Craft Sheet over the card stock in the Stamparatus. Ink the bird image with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink again, then close the plate to stamp the image onto the Silicone Craft Sheet. Now, carefully turn the craft sheet over and place it on the right side of the diecut. Rub well to transfer the image from the craft sheet to the card stock – and voilá – you have two birds chatting with each other! (Other products can also be used for this technique – a window sheet, vellum card stock, a clear cellophane bag – anything non-porous that you can see through. I like the stability of the craft sheet, though.)

Color your birds. I used Crumb Cake, Mango Melody, Mossy Meadow, and Balmy Breeze Stampin’ Blends. Add a little sentiment below the birds (I used a little hello from Itty Bitty Greetings) in Calypso Coral Classic Ink.

Add your bird label to a piece of Designer Series Paper (DSP) using Stampin’ Dimensionals. I’m using up my retiring DSP, so I used a 3-1/2″ x 4-3/4″ piece of Tea Room Specialty DSP. Then I layered to a 4″ x 5-1/4″ Mango Melody Cardstock layer, and finally to a Calypso Coral card base.

To add a little extra touch, I colored some Pearl Basic Jewels with Mango Melody and Calypso Coral Stampin’ Blends (remember, I told you there would be another reason to purchase the Blends), then added them to the card.

Beginning June 4, you can purchase the Free as a Bird Stamp Set and the Stitched Nested Labels Dies. If you bundle them, you can save 10%.

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

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