When Plan A fails . . .

When Plan A fails . . .  Off to Plan B . . .

Prior to the new Stampin Up catalog being released videos on new products popped up on Youtube and stamping blogs were showing new projects made with new stamp sets and dies. I waited for my new SU catalog to be delivered and was happy when it arrived. I had already seen cards made using the new Tranquil Tulip stamp set and had made up my mind that that would be a stamp set I would be buying.

Looked through the catalog -- but nothing really caught my eye other than one or two of the embossing folders. Plan A for me qualifying for a Host stamp set was out the window -- off to Plan B. Checked with Ebay and no one had listed Tranquil Tulips stamp set so what is a stamper to do??? I signed up for a "watch item" on Ebay and waited to get notification when this stamp set was posted for sale. Figured it would take awhile to hear anything -- imagine my surprise two days later this stamp set was posted for sale!

Had not really thought about how much I would pay for this set if and when it was posted but I checked out the Ebay listing. Brand new stamp set not used. This stamp has 22 stamps and I was surprised the seller was asking a low price for the set. Lucky for me it was a "Buy It Now" price and so I did and three days later it arrived. Here is the first card I made using a new favorite stamp set of mine, Tranquil Tulips:

White card stock base is #110 weight from Mikes. Print is from the stash. Used a stitched scallop die to cut out the tulip piece. All inks are from SU. Added clear sequins to the card front:

This next card is has more detail than the first:

Card stock base is #110 weight ivory from Mikes. Print is from the stash. Used cream card stock for the stamped piece from Close To My Heart. For this card I used the tulip stamps, the small flower stamp (Hyacinth?) and a small dots stamp in the set. Added a bow to the front of the stamped piece. For the "hello" stamp I used the Stampin Up Teeny Tiny Wishes and I used the "hello baby" stamp and just inked the "hello". Used a small tag punch to punch that out.

This next card was inspired by this video on Youtube:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdjDTJfxGV4

Card stock base is on ivory #110 weight card stock from Mikes. Used prints from the stash. For this card I used a doily die and cut out a piece of cream card stock from Close To My Heart. With all my pieces of card stock I cut them out, distressed the edges, and I used a dauber and added SU Crumb Cake ink to the edges. Added twine from SU to the front of the stamped piece and added a pearl to the center of the twine. "thinking of you" is a stamp from the new to me stamp set Peaceful Petals. Thanks to Areli for her video for this card filled with tips and tricks. Here is a closer photo of this card:

For the black parts of the tulip - stamens? For the first card I stamped that stamp on the edge of one of the curves of the tulip so you see those clearly. For the other two cards I used a Post It note and placed that even with the curve of the tulip and stamped it so you see them peeking out of the top of the tulip -- here is the Post It note to show I stamped it over the edge:

Tips and tricks I learned using this stamp set for the first time. First I cut my piece I was stamping my tulips on a bit bigger than I was needing. This allowed me space to use a frame die or to trim this piece closer to the stamped image. The first stamp I stamped on this was the stamp with the three stems. Then stamped the tulip stamps. Once those were stamped I added the leaves so that the leaves were not stamped over the tulip flower image.

With both the coral tulips and my pink tulips I stamped the base tulip in a lighter ink, then the detailed tulip stamp in a darker ink, and then stamped that stamp a second time to add colour and depth to the tulip. This stamp set has the look of watercolour stamps so it will seem "splotchy" when you stamp but it is meant to stamp like that.

I used different inks for all my leaves/stems and flowers and each card looks different. This stamp set is a favorite in my stamp room for sure. TFL