Lucky Stars

Not a shamrock or leprechaun stamp in the house.  However, I really wanted to make a St. Patty's Day card for my mother.  So I decided to stare at all my stamps until they told me what do (a tad schizophrenic, but on occasion, inspirational).  Finally, I settled on the Tr?s Chic Background, simply because it had the word "lucky" in it.  That wasn't going to cut it solo.  I moved on to some pictures of shamrocks and it dawned on me they were merely 3 hearts stuck together.  Voil?!  Punch time!  I assume this has been discovered many times before.  However, for now, I want to consider it my epiphany.

Last week felt like a holiday when my latest Stampin' Up! order arrived.  As I opened my new Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware (oh, so lovely . . . new from the Stampin' Up! Occasions mini), I first discovered label holders, beautifully matched with Stampin' Up! punches.  Some possess exquisite beaded edges, others smooth and modern.  The flower ribbon slides are divine and the large cast brads have a serious WOW factor.  There are approximately 100 embellishments plus 100 3/16" brads.  If you have considered getting Hodgepodge Hardware, I think this is the "it" set to get!

I began with a textured card stock base in Stampin' Up!'s Wild Wasabi.  Gorgeous.  I next stamped Tr?s Chic in Wild Wasabi on Whisper White. SPOTLIGHT TIP:  I inked up just the "lucky" area of the same stamp in Tempting Turquoise and stamped it on white.  One snap of the Designer Label Punch leads to a custom fit with the coordinating Styled Silver label holder.  TIP:  Adding some dimensionals behind the punched label helps it fit snuggly under the label holder.  A couple 3/16" brads (same set) complete the sentiment.

I sponged the card stock edges (and later all the edges) in Wild Wasabi and attached it to Tempting Turquoise.  A couple fun star brads (also from the Styled collection–gee, I'm obsessed) were a nice touch.  My shamrock is simply 3 Wild Wasabi punches of a Marvy Scalloped Heart Punch (yellow size).  The stem is just a free hand snippet.   A  White Signo Pen adds a dotted accent and the final touch to the shamrock.

The lower panel begins with Tempting Turquoise (edges sponged in Wild Wasabi).  I then grabbed my small star punch and made some stellar magic with Wild Wasabi Designer Paper (exclusive to the Hostess Level I Prints Pack).   TIP:  A dimensional followed by large and small square punches make quick coordinated layers in 3-D.  Using the ticket corner punch, I chomped out the four corners of each square and replaced them with a lovely brad.  I felt lucky indeed to be done with St. Patrick's Day.

Hugs and Pretties . . . . Mary

Stamp Set:  Tr?s Chic Background (109258)
Paper:  Wild Wasabi Textured (108694)and Smooth (108641), Tempting Turquoise (102067), Whisper White (100730)
Ink:  Wild Wasabi (109014), Tempting Turquoise (100814)
Cool Tools:  1 3/8" (103375) and 1 1/4" (104400) Square Punches, Small Star Punch (109045), Designer Label Punch (107590), Ticket Corner Punch (107214), Sponges (101610), Marvy Extra Jumbo Scalloped Heart Punch (available at Create for Less)
The Perfect Touch:  Hodgepodge Hardware (Styled Silver Kit includes Brads, Flower Slides, Label Holders, 111325), White Signo Pen (105021), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)