Sweet Stampin' ~ What's New For You?

Hey crafty friends, I'm back again with my contribution for our first challenge of the year at Sweet Stampin' and as it's just been Christmas and New Year we thought we'd use a 'New' theme, not one we haven't tried before, but one that themed all that was 'New' for us, so this could be New Stash and New Crafty Goodies but could also be any 'New' theme, so 'New Baby', 'New Job', 'New Home' etc, as long as you can link it legitimately to the theme, you're golden.

My two contributions for this challenge were made with my new Betterpress system from Spellbinders, I've wanted to get this since is was first released and since I was first invited to design with Spellbinders products, but pennies just didn't allow and so I dreamed and saved and mused on it a lot. I shared with my lovely Mummy that I had been thinking about getting one and she insisted on helping me, which was a truly wonderful and unexpected Christmas gift. So the card above is made for her in some of her favourite hues. Which is perfect as it's her birthday on Monday! She'll be 81 and has more energy than many half her age, she's amazing!

I did a second card which if you recall the cards from this time last year, is in my Aunt's favourite colours and I thought was a lovely birthday card for the twins. They are both incredibly special people to me and have had really important influence in my life, so it's lovely to give them both this sweet sentiment. I love that the kit came with both a US and UK version in the box. I am always a little disappointed if I buy a set that has words that are uniquely US as it just feels 'misspelt' to me and I'm not keen on giving those to Kiwi or UK friends. So a real delight that they thought to offer both options. I used a pretty Whimsy frame die to add the lovely details to the edges of the card panels and the watercolour paper is such a lovely weight it diecuts with all the details. Both cards were watercoloured and finished with some simple bling. The first card I used watercolour pens, the second I used Distress Inks.

I hope you'll come play along with us for this first challenge of the year, we look forward to seeing what your take on this will be. We have been a 'Just For Fun' challenge for a while which has been working well, so come and just have some fun with us. I will be back again soon with another crafty adventure, but in the meantime wish you a wonderful week with plenty of 'you time'. Hugs, Wends xoxo

I've added three options for sourcing this machine and some of the following product too. I purchased mine here in New Zealand at our wonderful Krafter's Cart store. But it's available directly from Spellbinders in the UK and from both Spellbinders and Scrapbook.com in the US. I have listed NZ, UK and US companies respectively.

(I've added these thumbnails to make your shopping easier if you like any of the elements I've created with. I do use affiliate links where possible, which gives me a tiny commission which costs you no extra whatsoever, but more importantly helps the companies I design for to improve their marketing practice and track my contributions. I am deeply grateful if you use them for these reasons. It helps these companies see where their marketing efforts are most effective. I only design for companies whose products I absolutely love and buy for myself. My opinions are always my own.)

Challenge Entries: