Aged, faded metal finishes have seen a revival, especially old gold, antique silver, brass and copper - there is something special about these rich, warm-hued metals. Also trending are bright florals. These are the inspiration for the Affectionately Yours Suite on page 44 of the 2016-2017 Annual Catalogue. Bright, whimsical floral designs combined with gorgeous shiny copper make this suite a must on your crafting shelves.

Copper is so prevalent in home décor that I easily found some lovely pieces in the local department stores. To these I added complimentary touches using the Affectionately Yours product suite...

Stamps: Love & Affection (photopolymer: 141545). Ink: Night of Navy (126970), Cucumber Crush (138324), VersaMark (102283). Card/Paper: Mint Macaron (138344), Flirty Flamingo (141421), Night of Navy (106577), Cucumber Crush (138342), Whisper White (106549), Affectionately Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper (141632). Accessories: Affectionately Yours Designer Washi Tape (141635), Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder (141636), Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush (141897). Tools: Triple Banner Punch (138292), Heat Tool (129056), Embossing Buddy (103683), Glue Dots (103683), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430).

For my first piece, I decorated a copper-finished luminary with copper embossed flowers. To get the lovely shiny finish, I stamped flower images from the Love & Affection stamp set in VersaMark on Mint Macaron, Flirty Flamingo and Night of Navy card stock, then added copper embossing powder and heat-set. After cutting out each of the flowers, I brushed them with the Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush before attaching them with Glue Dots.

In addition to a fun home décor piece, the copper frame also nicely showcases some of the gorgeous designs in the Affectionately Your Specialty DSP, especially the ones with the intricate copper foil designs.

I hope this inspires you to "step off the page" and try something different with your paper crafting products. This is, of course, made a whole lot easier by Stampin' Up! with their on-trend, coordinating products.

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