Stepping it up for August!

That's right - we are stepping things up this month. What does that mean exactly? Well, we decided to really challenge ourselves and do three projects using the same stamp set. But, the twist was to start simple and then get more involved with each consecutive project.

Here's how we described it: " Project one: The simple, “I’m in a hurry” card. Project two: A look at the same card, stepped up a bit, “I have a bit more time to fuss” version. Project three: The same card again but this time totally stepped up, “Let’s see how fancy I can make this card” version."

If you've already visited Marsha's blog, you saw how perfectly she met the criteria.

I chose to use a stamp set in the new Holiday Catalogue that will be going live September 1 - just around the corner! As a Stampin' Up Demonstrator, one of the perks we get is being able to see and order from the new catalogues before they are available to you.

My first card uses 1 stamp set: Father Christmas, 1 cardstock: Very Vanilla, and 1 ink colour: Tip Top Taupe. Oh, and it is also a 1-layer design and has a bit of sponging. Doesn't get much easier than that.

I just love the Father Christmas stamp set. It makes me think of a song on one of Nana Mouskouri's Christmas albums - Old Toy Trains. I used to have several of her albums and have seen her in concert twice.

My next card is still pretty simple using the Father Christmas stamp set again. This time I stamped the images in Almost Artichoke onto Very Vanilla.  In the top right-hand corner I embossed some very fun pine boughs using the aptly-named Pine Bough Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, also from the Holiday Catalogue.

To get the colour on the pine boughs, I used a sponge and Almost Artichoke ink and lightly sponged over the embossed area. The image panel is mounted onto an Always Artichoke card base.

To further step it up, I cut a frame from the oh-so-lovely Copper Foil Sheets, and popped it up on dimensionals.

And for my third and final project, this is Father Christmas all blinged-out!

This stamp set has 6 images in it and I used 4 of them on this card. And the banners at the top and bottom are really sparkly in real life because I used a brand new product from the Holiday Catalogue - Glitter Stampin' Emboss Powder. That's right - embossing powder with glitter in it! And it comes in Real Red and Emerald Envy.

Now, I do have to say I found it a bit tricky to use. It is difficult to tell when it has melted. As you can see in the bottom left hand corner, it was not totally melted and some of it rubbed off when I glued the image panel to the cardstock. But - that just means I need more practice with it, right?

Father Christmas and his bag of gifts were stamped onto Whisper White cardstock using Archival Black ink. I used many, many markers to colour - and there is a lot to colour in these two images! Some clear Wink of Stella makes his beard glisten like there are snow flakes in it, and the trim on his robe is done with a white gel pen.

The bag of toys was fussy-cut and popped up with dimensionals. But, first, I added some extra embellishments to it. I attached a piece of the new Craft Rope Trim around the bag using mini glue dots.

Then I had a brilliant idea! Or so I thought. Another fun new item in the Holiday Catalogue is Mini Jingle Bells in silver and red. Warning: they really are mini! My idea was to use some Copper Metallic Thread to hang them from the Craft Rope Trim. Easier said than done. Took me the better part of half an hour to thread the almost invisible metallic thread through the barely visible hole in the mini jingle bell and tie said almost invisible metallic thread in a knot to hold the very mini jingle bell!

I love the mini jingle bells - but think they will definitely work better in shaker cards. Here's a closeup of the bag of toys - and the jingle bells:

This is a stamp set that will stay in my collection. It is timeless!

I had a lot of fun doing these projects, and I hope you have fun seeing what all of the Watercooler Blog Hoppers have done with our theme this month.

Now it's time to visit Priscilla who has some more amazing projects for you. Just click  on the 'Next' button to continue your journey.