Bearing Gifts

At the end of last week it was my UPS man who was bearing gifts when he delivered my Holiday Catalog order! I always love unpacking a box of Stampin' Up! goodies...it feels just like Christmas! I had a busy weekend, but managed to get in a little play time using some new stuff. Of course I had to try out my absolute  favorites first!

Hands down, my most favorite image in the Holiday catalog is this adorable polar bear with the cute kiddos riding on his back called Bearing Gifts. It's a single stamp with the greeting below the image. For greater flexibility when using this stamp, I cut the sentiment off the bottom and mounted it on the side...so mine is now essentially a two stamp set.

My other new favorites used on this card is my favorite DSP from the Holiday catalog...the beautiful All Is Calm Specialty paper. I couldn't decide on a favorite as far as accessories go, so I used all my favorites!

• All Is Calm Washi Tape - there are 5 different patterns in this set!
• All Is Calm Snowflake Embellishments - metal charms to tie onto your projects with a pretty silver finish
• Lost Lagoon Silky Taffeta Ribbon - just like it's name...very silky and easy to work with.

I had fun using my Blendabilities Markers to color this...but...when I was almost finished, and just about to add just a little more shading with the darkest Coastal Cabana marker, I didn't remember to open my marker away from my artwork. In not doing so, you run the risk of getting splatters of unwanted color on your work if the brush tip hits the side of the cap as you pull it off. Which is what happened to me. Other times when this has happened, I've been lucky and able to use the Color Lifter to remove most of the color to make it virtually unnoticeable, but this time I wasn't so lucky. Can you see where the unwanted Coastal Cabana splatters are?

Hopefully not...because to camouflage them I used dots of Dazzling Details for a sparkly snowfall background. So my mistake turned out to be a good thing.

Check out the new Holiday Catalog...what are your favorites?