4/1 The Open Sea and Pure Gumption with Fan Fair Paper and cool double bow Split Coast Stampers Creative Crew CCREW0413CF

Good Morning Friends!

I hope you all had a blessed holiday surrounded by the people you love.

Today's share is a card I am putting in the mail for a good friend who got a promotion at work.  The amount of time and dedication that this person put into their promotion is amazing and I'm so happy for my friend.  (I don't want to say who the card is for until they get it).

To make the gorgeous double bow, I used my friend Lee Conrey's magic bow maker.  I added two pieces of the Riding Hood Red 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon to the mix of this double bow, and used a few glue dots underneath the bow to hold the folded back pieces in place.  Woot woot!  The pretty Banner across my card front was stamped on Very Vanilla card stock that was about 3/4" thick.  Then I scored it on either side of the sentiment twice.  Once right beside where the words end, and 1/4" over.  Then I just cut the paper to make the banner end and it pops up quite nicely.  I added a single glue dot under the center to get it to arch outward from the middle.  

I also made this card for the design team, the creative crew, over on Split Coast Stampers.  Here are the challenge details:  CCREW0413CF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM--Creative Focus: This month, let's show off our new paper piercing tools! Located on P181 of the main catalog and on P 27 & 36 of the spring catalog, these can add a great accent to any project! Challenge yourself to add piercing to your card in a new way. If you don't have the paper piercing tool, use a pushpin!

I thought it would be fun to use my paper piercing on the scallop of the 2 3/4" scalloped circle punch.  I layered that layer with a 2 1/2" Espresso Colored Circle underneath.  I also added another layer of paper piercing all around the outside my Fan Fair Designer Series Paper and Sponged the layer heavily with Early Espresso ink. 

I love the Open Sea Stamp Set for achievement cards because in my opinion, life is a journey not a race.  Accomplishments along the way should be celebrated.  For me, accomplishments take prayer, dedication, hard work and determination.  The ship is symbolic for the journey for me.  There may be storms along the way, and things may pull you off track, but it's important to keep moving forward.  The sentiment comes from Pure Gumption, which is a set to celebrate Graduations.  I love that it can be used for other things too!

If you have time today, please check out the Creative Crew Gallery for April over on Split Coast to see what my team mates have made!  I love their artwork and promise you will not be disappointed!  Thanks for visiting today.

Love,
Selene Kempton
Stampin' Up! Creative Coach
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