Hey everyone!

Today my friend Hilton dropped by with something I needed to borrow and it reminded me today how to be grateful for friends!  Hilton has been like a surrogate grandfather to my daughter ever since she was knee-high to a grasshopper, and he has been selflessly doing wonderful things for us - and we hope we are doing lovely things back.

And being reminded of this simple fact, that friends - true friends - are a blessing, today I am showing a card I made last month. I made it along with a young girl actually, and hers came out just terrific. So its a simple card but the trick is to make it look more sophisticated than it really is - if you want to really impress someone (wink)!

The trick I like to use?  Just one of many, here it was cutting out small bits and layering them on top - like the tiny bird and flowers. It also helps to frame the "greeting" and give it a place of importance.

I knew this card would be multi-coloured because of the 4 seasons represented - so I kept the background colours down to 2 - IN COLORs Soft Suede and Bermuda Bay. And we stamped on the perpetual favourite, Whisper White! :)

I think this would be a super card to give someone!  Imagine how'd they feel unfolding this card from the envelope!  Give it a try!

Stampin' Up! supplies:  Season of Friendship stamp set; cardstocks: Bermuda Bay, Soft Suede, Whisper White; various Classic Ink Pads; Stampin' Dimensionals

How do you make someone's gift feel even more special? You add an authentic one-of-a-kind embellishment!

In my gift set, a perfume set, the packaging was quite plain. However, being plain means the embellishment can be very fanciful.

My decision was to go somewhere in the middle and create a belly band to circle the package, and decorate it to match the accompanying card. I even used the left-over pieces to create a small notecard in case I wanted to break up the perfume set into two smaller gifts - this is why I love stamping and crafting in general - it allows you so much! :)

Now - doesn't this tell someone that you took the time to make it "extra" special just for them!

SUPPLIES

Stamps: Wings of Friendship {Hostess Level 2};

Paper: Rich Razzleberry 115316; Dusty Durango 115321; Crushed Curry 115319 ($7.25);

Ink: Rich Razzleberry 115658; Dusty Durango 115654; Crushed Curry 115659;

Ribbon: 115609 Dusty Durango

Hello fellow crafters!

I've been busy toodling around with my latest stamp sets - how about you? I guess we all luv it when we get new goodies - never gets old! :)

Anyhoo...I am playing at the moment with Stampin' Up!'s Wings of Friendship stamp set - this is a Hostess Level stamp set, so if you'd like one - be a Hostess and earn it free! It's the swirls and especially the bird's pretty wing that won me over! Absolutely lovely.

As well, I am working with the new IN COLORS - as you know the new catalogue came out along with the new line-up of IN COLORS - and I've chosen here to work with the Rich Razzleberry; Crushed Curry and Dusty Durango. Since they are designed to work together - there is simply no guesswork - hurray for that {on some days right?!}

I made two cards - same theme, slight variations. Features: the punched out space for a brad or gem brad. Also using the Scalloped Square punch, I broke up the expression from one stamp and layered it with 2 punches of white cardstock. But the real heart of the card is stamping flourishes everywhere! Luv,luv, luv that look!

Now I want to add some more features to this card set.....Part II coming up!

i TOTALLY stumbled upon Heidi's Crafting Mecca and found that she has posted a great photo showing off the new fabby IN COLORS - so I thought I would share with you ....here are the new ribbons in the new colors! Are they not delicious?

My personal favourite - right off the top - is going to be Melon Mambo but Bermuda Bay and Rich Razzleberry will be right behind!

Anyways - I think that POLKA DOTS RULE - always have - always will! So I couldn't be happier to see polka dot ribbons! Oh I hope they decide to keep more polka dots forever!

Well...I can not wait to see my new supplies come in - and thanks to Heidi for her great pic! Check out her site too, click over her name above.