Welcome to Your Creative Connection; a bi-monthly creative showcase which comes to you on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday/Thursday of each month.  Your Creative Connection came together from a group of eight global friends wanting to give you a worldwide connection to creativity.  We hope to inspire you to connect with us as we share papercraft ideas using Stampin’ Up! products.  Each showcase will have a theme, and we will ‘travel’ around the world to connect with our creative friends.

This week's Your Creative Connection theme is TO BLING OR NOT TO BLING.  My favourite bling to add to any project is a seemingly-random-but-precisely-placed scattering of sequins, gems, rhinestones, or pearls.  Usually three, sometimes five, but always an odd number.  I also love, love, love ribbon!  Okay, so ribbon is not technically bling but is a lovely additional embellishment that will give life to any project.

For this theme, I created two Welcome New Baby Cards, one with and one without...

Stamps: Welcome Easter (cling: 151559).  Ink: Pear Pizzazz (147104), Calypso Coral (147101), Basic Gray (149165).  Stampin' Blends: Smoky Slate (145058), Calypso Coral (144045).  Card/Paper: Whisper White (106549), Whisper White Thick (140490).  Accessories: From My Heart Faceted Gems (151154), Whisper White 1/4" Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon (151326).  Tools: Stamping Sponges (141337), Mini Glue Dots (103683), Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue (110755), Stampin’ Dimensionals (104430).  Other: Post-It Notes.

To create the variegated background, the card fronts were masked with Post-It Notes and then sponged with Pear Pizzazz ink from the bottom blending upwards and Calypso Coral ink from the top down.  After removing the Post-It Note masks, the words and grass were stamped in Pear Pizzazz ink over the sponged area.  To add a cuteness overload, I added to these one-layer cards the bunny from the Welcome Easter stamp set, which is stamped in Basic Gray ink, coloured with Smoky Slate and Calypso Coral Stampin' Blends, fussy-cut out, and added to the card front with Stampin' Dimensionals. 

Welcome Easter (cling: 151559) - $42.00

That card is sooo cute!  However, here's that same card, but this time with bling!  I've added a scattering of three From My Heart Faceted Gems, the lovely white ones with an iridescent finish.  Plus I couldn't resist adding a pretty little bow using the soft Whisper White Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon.

From My Heart Faceted Gems (151154) - $12.50 $10.00
Approximately 180 gems in three sizes: 3mm, 4mm, 6 mm
Flirty Flamingo, Real Red, white

So, what's the verdict?  To bling or not to bling?  I do love the un-blinged card.  However I am a sucker for bling and ribbon, so I might just go back and add them to my first card!

The next stop on the Your Creative Connection tour is Jenn Tinline...

If you get lost in your travels, here's a complete list of everyone on this tour...

Kristine McNickle - New Zealand
Jenn Tinline - Canada
Jennifer Pauli - Germany
Janneke Dijkstra de Jong - Netherlands
Michelle Last - UKClaire Daly - AustraliaDawn Olchefske - USA
- Austria

The cute Welcome Easter stamp set and From My Heart Faceted Gems are both on the Retiring List and will not be continuing into future publications. In fact, some items, like the Faceted Gems are selling at a discount!  Make sure you what you want to from the Retiring List before they sell out or retire on 2 June.

If you live in New Zealand, love what you see, and want to purchase Stampin' Up! products then shop online with me...

GOOD NEWS! Shipping has resumed in New Zealand as of Tuesday, 28 April 2020.  Any orders placed 1 April-27 April 2020 are now on their way to you.  See announcements HERE.