I've Got a Secret!

Don't you looooooove secrets?

Are you a good secret keeper? I've got to say that I totally am a good secret keeper. If you ever told me a secret, I'd be able to keep my mouth shut for as long as necessary, until it's time for the secret to be revealed!

For the past few weeks, I've been keeping a secret until I my precious little camera was released from the camera hospital. Why? Well, I couldn't really reveal my secret without being able to take some pictures of what it was I was keeping secret! Are you ready??????

I've been asked to join the Stamper's Dream Design Team (wow, that rhymes!)!!!!! That's right, sweet Michelle over at Stamper's Dream emailed me a few weeks ago surprising me with her offer. Lucky me! I think Michelle is one of the sweetest stampers out there in blog world, and that she wanted me to join her already amazing team was an honor indeed. I am joining the amazing Cammie King, Charmaine Ikach, Kurtis Amundson, Laurie Schmidlin, Lynda Benden, and Tosha Leyendekker, all uber talented stampers! Go visit Michelle's blog today to read her announcement!

I am excited to be on board because Michelle carries some fabulous stamps "and stuff" (lots and lots of fun stuff) at her on-line store. I was priviledged recently to see some of the new spring/summer stamps Michelle is going to be carrying in her store really soon and OH MMMMMMMMY, are you going to love them!!!! I've already told Michelle to put some aside so I can buy them before they get sold immediately out from underneath me:)!

The first batch of goodies that Michelle sent me contained a really fun set called Bugs and Blooms from Memory Box. This was the first time I've used Memory Box stamps, and I loved them! They are clear and stamp super nice. You know what I mean, not all clear stamps are created equal, but I must say, Memory Box clear stamps are right up there with the best. I think I'm becoming a clear stamp snob.....I only like stamping with the ones that give me the cleanest, sharpest images ever! My hubby's a coffee snob, I'm a clear stamp snob. There. I've admitted it!

Anyways, the Bugs and Blooms set has a total of 18 stamps in the set, including enough bugs and flowers to keep you busy this summer! Today I'm sharing with you the first card I made using the set. The first thing I did was use one of the smaller flowers in the set to create a background directly onto a piece of Old Olive cardstock. Along the way, this card took on many different formations until I finally settled on covering the whole front with these fabulous flowers.

Actually, this card could technically qualify as a Scrap Stash Saturday card, because I used scraps from at least four different designer papers I had in my scrap drawer! I took the largest blossom stamp available in the set (and it's also my most favorite blossom in the set) and stamped it many times on all of the different pieces of designer paper. I then cut them out and outlined each of the blossoms with my Stardust Gel Pen, although the sparkle from that isn't that evident in the photo. Although I didn't have to, I decided to add a bit more color by using my small circle punch to make centers for each of the blossoms with contrasting designer paper. After I was done cutting out each blossom, I started laying them out on the front of the card making sure the background border was still visible underneath the blossoms.

The hard part of the card was deciding how in the heck I could get a sentiment on the front of it!!! I had to think about it for a little while. Finally, I decided on adding a little ribbon bow and attaching a sentiment to it using a tiny safety pin. I am really happy with how the card turned out!! Sometimes it's so hard coming up with "original", new, innovative ideas for cards, but I'm hoping you find this card to be something you've not seen before and want to try for yourself!
I know that Michelle just got a new batch of the Bugs and Blossoms set into the store, so buzz on over to Stamper's Dream today if you just "have" to have it for your own collection!

Thanks for sharing in my fun news today! I am so excited to be on board with Michelle and her Stamper's Dream Team!!!

Hugs,
Amy