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May 2021

Inspired Thoughts -- Thinking of You

05/17/2021

Hello!

Here's another card made using the Beauty of the Earth product suite.  This time I'm adding the Inspired Thoughts stamp set.  The Inspired Thoughts stamp set is part of another tree bundle that includes the Inspiring Canopy dies.  The great thing about these two tree bundles is that the Beauty of the Earth Designer Series Paper is so perfect for both of these tree dies.  For me, I could envision lots of creative opportunities with the Beautiful Trees dies versus the Inspiring Canopy dies; however, the more I see card samples using the Inspiring Canopy dies, the more I'm leaning toward those tree dies, too.  For now, though, I only purchased the Inspiring Thoughts stamp set because the sentiments in this stamp set just spoke to me.

InspiredThoughts_ThinkingOfYou

The Beauty of the Earth Designer Series Paper did the bulk of the work for this card.  It's used for the background, the tree leaves, and the ground cover on the front of the card.  In a big departure from my usual designs, I repeated the use of the Designer Series Paper inside the card for the background and the ground cover.  Needless to say, I'll be ordering more of this paper!

This card begins with a panel of sky background paper from the Beauty of the Earth Designer Series Paper adhered at the center of a slightly larger mat of Early Espresso cardstock.  The panels were adhered at the center of the Old Olive card front.

The large tree "skeleton" die was used to cut a piece of Early Espresso cardstock.  The top edge of a strip of ground background paper was torn away and the paper adhered along the bottom edge of the sky background paper with the left, bottom, and right edges of the ground paper flush with the left, bottom, and right edges of the sky paper.  The tree die was adhered to the card front using Multipurpose Liquid Adhesive with the left side of the tree trunk 1-3/8" from the left edge of the sky paper.  The top edges of two more pieces of the ground paper were torn away to create two different levels.  The papers were adhered to the first piece of ground paper with the left, bottom, and right edges of the ground papers flush with each other.  If you look closely, you can see how the middle layer of ground paper rises up above the top level of ground paper below the tree.

Two pieces of multicolored greens, white, and Bumblebee tree patterned papers were die cut with the large leaf die.  The leaf dies were adhered over the tree die using Multipurpose Liquid adhesive.  

The "Thinking of You on your Special day" greeting was stamped on a strip of Basic White cardstock using Early Espresso ink.  The left end of the strip was punched with the flat end slot of the Lovely Labels Pick A Punch.  The right end was left straight.  The label was adhered to the card front with the left end resting on the tree leaves using Multipurpose Liquid adhesive and Mini Glue Dots stacked two high on the right end.  The right end of the label is flush with the right side of the sky paper and the top edge of the label is 1-1/8" below the top edge of the sky paper.

InspiredThoughts_ThinkingOfYou_Inside

Normally, I don't use much Designer Series Paper inside my cards except as a vehicle to continue the color scheme used for the front of the card.  However, I just couldn't seem to find a solution that made me happy for this card.  So I decided to use the sky background paper inside the card and mat it with Early Espresso as I did with the front of the card. 

The small tree image from Beauty of Friendship was stamped along the left side of the sky paper using Early Espresso ink.  The "solid" rounded leaf tree top image was stamped over the tree top using Pear Pizzazz ink.  Old Olive ink was used to stamp the detailed leaf tree top image over the "solid" leaf top image.  A narrow strip of ground paper was adhered along the bottom edge of the sky paper with the left, bottom, and right edges of the ground paper flush with the left, bottom, and right edges of the sky paper.

The "It's your time to be..." sentiment was stamped at the upper right center of the sky paper using Early Espresso ink, but I ended up with a shadow from the edge of the rubber.  So I cleaned the stamp, re-inked it, and stamped the sentiment on Basic White cardstock.  The sentiment was die cut with the notched rectangle die from the Tasteful Labels dies (1-1/2" x 2-1/8") and adhered at the upper center of the sky paper with the top and right edges of the label 5/8" below the top and right edges of the sky paper.

InspiredThoughts_ThinkingOfYou_Envelope

The small tree image from Beauty of Friendship was stamped at the lower left front corner of the Medium Basic White Envelope using Early Espresso ink.  The "solid" rounded leaf tree top image was stamped over the tree top using Pear Pizzazz ink.  Old Olive ink was used to stamp the detailed leaf tree top image over the "solid" leaf top image.  The "Thinking of You..." greeting was stamped to the right of the tree trunk using Early Espresso ink.

A big box of goodies arrived from Stampin' Up! while I was making these last two cards.  Lots more great new stuff from the 2021-2022 Annual Catalog to unbox and play with.  Oh boy!  

Robertssiggy

Card Measurements

Basic White:  1/2" x 2-1/4"; 2" x 2-1/2"; Early Espresso:  2 @ 4" x 5-1/4", 3-1/4" x 4-1/2"; Old Olive:  4-1/4" x 11" scored at 5-1/2" along the 11" length; Beauty of the Earth Designer Series Paper:  2 @ 3-7/8" x 5-1/8" (backgrounds), 2 @ 3" x 3-1/2" (tree leaves), 1-1/2" x 3-7/8" and 2 @ 3/4" x 3-7/8" (grass under tree on front of card), 1/2" x 3-7/8" (grass on inside of card)

Supplies I used to make this card

Stamps:  Beauty of Friendship, Inspired Thoughts; Inks:  Early Espresso, Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz; Cardstock:  Basic White, Early Espresso, Old Olive; Designer Series Paper:  Beauty of the Earth; Tools:  Lovely Labels Pick A Punch, Beautiful Trees dies, Tasteful Labels dies, Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine; Adhesives:  Stampin' Seal, Mini Glue Dots, Multipurpose Liquid; Other:  Medium Basic White Envelope

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Beauty of Friendship -- Thinking of You

05/14/2021

Hi there!

I love looking at trees.  One of the most amazing things about trees is that they can inspire awe in any season.  I have been fortunate to live in or travel to many parts of the USA and traveled to a few foreign countries where I have seen many different types of trees in a variety of seasons.  In every case, I am in awe at their soaring height, vivid colors, leaf shapes, bark textures, and most especially, their amazing colors.  Even when they are bare in the Winter or with boughs sagging with snow or ice, I am amazed.  I think the most amazing tree I ever saw was near the top of Pike's Peak.  I wish I could remember the name of the tree.  It wasn't very tall, but it was more than 200 years old.  It's trunk and bark were thick and tough due to the extreme temperature exposure for so many months of the year; but I was there in the Spring and sure enough there were the soft spring greens for its leaves.  That's endurance.

I'm excited that Stampin' Up! is offering a suite of products devoted to trees -- Beauty of the Earth.

BeautyOfFriendship_ThinkingOfYou

This card begins with a panel of Beauty of the Earth Designer Series Paper adhered at the center of a slightly larger mat of Misty Moonlight cardstock and then adhered at the center of the Merry Merlot card front.  A strip of Misty Moonlight cardstock was randomly stamped with the detailed tree leaves stamp using Misty Moonlight ink.  The strip was adhered across the Designer Series Paper panel with the right and left ends of the strip flush with the right and left sides of the Misty Moonlight mat and the bottom edge of the Misty Moonlight strip 7/8" above the bottom of the Designer Series Paper panel.

The "Thinking of you" greeting was stamped on Basic White cardstock using Merry Merlot ink and die cut with the narrow rectangular die from the Beautiful Trees dies.  The greeting was adhered to the Misty Moonlight strip with the right end of the greeting die cut 1/8" from the right end of the Misty Moonlight strip and the greeting centered between the top and bottom edges of the Misty Moonlight strip.

A piece of Soft Suede cardstock was die cut with the small tree die and adhered to the card front, using cut up Stampin' Dimensionals, with the left side of the tree trunk 1" from the left side of the Designer Series Paper panel and the bottom of the tree trunk 3/8" above the bottom edge of the Designer Series Paper panel.

The narrow tall tree filler image was stamped on Basic White cardstock using Old Olive ink.  The tree was die cut with the corresponding die and adhered over the top of the tree trunk using Stampin' Dimensionals in the top, left, and right corners and Multipurpose Liquid Adhesive at the center.  A piece of Old Olive mottled background paper from the Beauty of the Earth Designer Series Paper was die cut first with the mottled leaves die cut and then with the same tree die cut used for the stamped tree top.  The mottled Designer Series Paper was adhered over the top of the stamped tree top using Multipurpose Liquid Adhesive.  

The birds die was used to cut 2 birds from Merry Merlot cardstock.  The birds were adhered to the tree top using Multipurpose Liquid Adhesive.

BeautyOfFriendship_ThinkingOfYou_Inside

The tree trunk image was stamped at the lower left corner of a panel of Basic White cardstock.  The small rounded tree top filler image was stamped over the tree top using Pear Pizzazz ink.  The mottled leaves image was stamped over the tree top using Old Olive ink.

A narrow strip of Designer Series Paper was adhered along the bottom of the panel with the left edge of the paper flush with the left edge of the panel and the bottom edge of the paper 3/16" above the bottom edge of the panel.  The panel was adhered at the center of the inside sentiment area of the card base.

BeautyOfFriendship_ThinkingOfYou_Envelope

The tree trunk image was stamped at the lower left front corner of a Medium Basic White Envelope.  The small rounded tree top filler image was stamped over the tree top using Pear Pizzazz ink.  The mottled leaves image was stamped over the tree top using Old Olive ink.  The "Thinking of you" greeting was stamped to the right of the tree trunk using Merry Merlot ink.

I really love all the design options for creating trees for every season using a combination of Beauty of Friendship stamp set, Beautiful Trees dies, and Beauty of the Earth Designer Series Paper.  Check it out!

Robertssiggy

Card Measurements

Basic White:  1" x 3", 2-1/2" x 3", 4" x 5-1/4"; Merry Merlot:  2" x 2", 4-1/4" x 11" scored at 5-1/2" along the 11" length; Misty Moonlight:  4" x 5-1/4", 5/8" x 4"; Soft Suede:  2" x 3-1/2"; Beauty of the Earth Designer Series Paper:  3-7/8" x 5-1/8", 2-1/2" x 3", 7/16" x 3-7/8"

Supplies I used to make this card

Stamps:  Beauty of Friendship; Inks:  Merry Merlot, Misty Moonlight, Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Suede; Cardstock:  Basic White, Merry Merlot, Misty Moonlight, Soft Suede; Designer Series Paper:  Beauty of the Earth; Tools:  Beautiful Trees dies, Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine; Adhesives:  Stampin' Seal, Stampin' Dimensionals, Multipurpose Liquid; Other:  Medium Basic White Envelope

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Peaceful Moments -- Thank You

05/12/2021

Hi There!

Still have a bunch of Thank You cards to make and decided to do some coloring with Stampin' Blends Markers and the True Love Designer Series Paper.

PeacefulMoments_ThankYou

This card begins with a panel of striped background paper from the True Love Designer Series Paper.  The Light and Dark Polished Pink Stampin' Blends Markers were used to add color to the thin stripes on the panel.  The panel was adhered at the center of a slightly larger mat of Basic Black cardstock and then adhered at the center of the Polished Pink card base.  

The grouping of three flowers and a flower bud were colored with:  Light and Dark Polished Pink for the flowers and flower bud, Dark Pale Papaya for the flower centers, and Light and Dark Old Olive for the leaf.  The flower grouping was fussy cut with Paper Snips.  A piece of White Crinkled Seam Binding ribbon was adhered diagonally to create a flat bow without the knot with the tails of the bow pointing toward the upper right corner and toward the bottom of the striped panel.  The flower grouping was adhered over the ribbon using Stampin' Dimensionals.

The "Thank You" greeting, from the Peaceful Moments stamp set, was stamped on Basic White cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and die cut with the Stitched Rectangles dies (1" x 2-3/8").  The greeting was adhered near the lower right corner of the striped panel with the bottom edge of the rectangle 1/2" above the bottom edge of the striped panel and the right edge of the rectangle 3/16" from the right edge of the striped panel.

Three large Opal Rounds were adhered to the striped panel to create a visual triangle.

PeacefulMoments_ThankYou_Inside

A thin strip of Basic Black cardstock was adhered behind a strip of the striped background paper (with Light and Dark Polished Pink Stampin' Blends Markers applied to the thin stripes).  The pieces were adhered along the left side of a panel of Basic White cardstock so that the top, left, and bottom edges of the strips are flush with the top, left, and bottom edges of the Basic White panel.

A group of two flowers with two leaves was colored with Stampin' Blends Markers:  Light and Dark Polished Pink for the flowers, Dark Pale Papaya for the flower centers, and Light and Dark Old Olive for the leaves.  The flower grouping was fussy cut with Paper Snips and adhered at the upper left corner of the Basic White panel.

The "Life is better with a friend like you." sentiment was stamped at the right center of the panel using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  The Basic White panel was adhered at the center of the inside sentiment area of the card base.

PeacefulMoments_ThankYou_Envelope

Light and Dark Polished Pink Stampin' Blends Markers were used to color the thin stripes on the striped background paper.  The paper was adhered to the envelope flap of a Medium Basic White Envelope and Paper Snips used to trim the excess paper using the edge of the envelope flap as a guide.

You've really gotta love pink to appreciate this card, but the great thing about the True Love Designer Series Paper is that you get to pick the colors you want to use OR not to use any color at all!

Robertssiggy

Card Measurements

Basic Black:  4" x 5-1/4", 3/8" x 4"; Basic White:  1-1/2" x 3", 4" x 5-1/4"; Polished Pink:  5-1/2" x 8-1/2" scored at 4-1/4" along the 8-1/2" length; True Love Designer Series Paper:  3-7/8" x 5-1/8", 5" x 6", 1/2" x 4", 2-1/4" x 6"; White Crinkled Seam Binding ribbon:  14"

Supplies I used to make this card

Stamps:  Peaceful Moments; Inks:  Memento Tuxedo Black; Stampin' Blends Markers:  Old Olive, Polished Pink, Pale Papaya; Cardstock:  Basic Black, Basic White, Polished Pink; Embellishments:  White Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon, Opal Rounds; Tools:  Stitched Rectangles dies, Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine; Adhesives:  Stampin' Seal, Stampin' Dimensionals; Other:  Medium Basic White Envelope

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Art Gallery -- Just Want To Say

05/10/2021

Hello!

The last year or so has been pretty difficult.  To get through, I've consistently tried to find ways to be thankful and be positive.  One of the things I'm most thankful for is my Stampin' Up! customers.  Even though we haven't been able to meet in person for classes, they have still supported my business; allowing me to remain active as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.  Now that the vaccine is available to everyone, I'm getting ready to begin in-person classes again and I'm so excited!  I can't wait to see everyone, hear their stories, and just soak up all the wonderful feelings of being together again.

Today's post is a Thank You card that I made for the great folks who placed orders in the last few months.  This card features elements of the Fine Art Floral Suite from the January - June Mini Catalog:  Art Gallery stamp set and coordinating Floral Gallery dies, Fine Art Floral Designer Series Paper, and Fine Art Floral ribbon.  Fortunately, the Art Gallery stamp set, Floral Gallery dies, and Fine Art ribbon carried over to the 2021-2022 Annual Catalog.  Unfortunately, the bundle savings for purchasing the stamp set and dies will no longer be available.  This means that if you have this stamp set and dies on your Wish List, you'll want to purchase them before the end of June to get the bundle savings.  In addition, the Fine Art Floral Designer Series Paper did not carry over to the new Annual Catalog, so if you have this paper on your Wish List, you'll need to purchase it soon.

ArtGallery_JustWantToSay

This card begins with a panel of Fine Art Floral Designer Series Paper adhered at the center of a slightly larger mat of Pool Party cardstock.  These were then adhered at the center of the Night of Navy card front.

The "just want to say" die was used to die cut three pieces of Night of Navy cardstock with Adhesive Sheets adhered at the back of the cardstock.  The die cut words were adhered one on top of the other to create the dimensional words and the dot above the "j" in "just".  I thought the Night of Navy cardstock was a deep enough color to stand out on the Designer Series Paper, but that wasn't the case.  The colors in the Designer Series Paper are so vivid that the words just blended into the paper.  To resolve this, I used one of the scalloped dies from the Scalloped Contours dies (3-1/8" x 4-7/16") to die cut a piece of Vellum cardstock.

I really liked the way the words were aligned on the die cut and wanted to duplicate that look on the card front.  So I die cut a scrap piece of cardstock on my work table to use for placement of the word dies on the Vellum cardstock.  This also helped me to figure out where to place the adhesive on the back of the vellum so that the die cut words hide the adhesive (because you can see adhesive through Vellum).  I placed the alignment die cut on the front of the vellum and flipped them face down on the work table.  Then I placed adhesive where I can see the die cut words and then adhered the Vellum at the center of the card front.  

ArtGallery_JustWantToSay_Inset

The alignment die cut was placed over the Vellum cardstock and the die cut words were placed in the the die cut openings and pressed into place on the Vellum.  Then the alignment die cut was carefully removed.  Note that the "t" in "just" is 3/8" below the top edge of the Vellum, the outside edge of the loop in the "j" in "just" is resting next to the dotted line along the left side of the Vellum, and the finishing end of the "y" in "say" is resting next to the dotted line along the right side of the Vellum.

The "thank you" sentiment was stamped on a piece of Pool Party cardstock using Night of Navy ink and the sentiment die cut with the smaller of the two postage stamp edged rectangular dies from the Floral Gallery dies.  The right end of a piece of Fine Art Floral ribbon was folded under and adhered with a Mini Glue Dot inside the fold.  The left end of the ribbon was cut in a diagonal.  The ribbon was adhered to the Vellum below the "to say" die cut words with the folded end flush with the right side of the Vellum and the bottom edge of the ribbon 7/8" above the bottom edge of the Vellum.  The "thank you" die cut was adhered to the ribbon using Mini Glue Dots.

ArtGallery_JustWantToSay_Inside

The leaf stem image was stamped at the bottom left corner of a Basic White panel.  The flower image is stamped in three steps:  the first stamping applies Pool Party ink to the "solid" large floral image, stamping the image off on a scrap piece of paper, and then stamping at the top of the leaf stem; the second stamping applies Pool Party ink to the shading image for the large floral image and stamping over the "solid" image; and the third stamping applies Bumblebee ink to the flower center image and stamping at the flower center.  The panel was adhered at the center of the inside sentiment area of the card base.

ArtGallery_JustWantToSay_Envelope

The large floral image was stamped along the left front side of the Medium Basic White Envelope using the same process used for the inside sentiment area of the card.

Now it's time to send off all those Thank You cards!  

Robertssiggy

Card Measurements

Basic White:  4" x 5-1/4"; Night of Navy:  3 @ 3" x 3", 4-1/4" x 11" scored at 5-1/2" along the 11" length; Pool Party:  4" x 5-1/4", 1" x 2-1/4"; Vellum:  3-1/2" x 4-3/4"; Fine Art Floral Designer Series Paper:  3-7/8" x 5-1/8"; Fine Art ribbon:  4"

Supplies I used to make this card

Stamps:  Art Gallery; Inks:  Bumblebee, Night of Navy, Pool Party, Shaded Spruce; Cardstock:  Basic White, Night of Navy, Pool Party, Vellum; Designer Series Paper:  Fine Art Floral; Embellishments:  Fine Art ribbon; Tools:  Floral Gallery dies, Scalloped Contours dies, Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine; Adhesives:  Stampin' Seal, Mini Glue Dots, Adhesive Sheets; Other:  Medium Basic White Envelope

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Color & Contour -- So Very Happy For You

05/05/2021

Hi There!

Yesterday, Stampin' Up! released the 2021-2022 Annual Catalog with a whole boatload of fun product and crafting ideas.  For me, one of the most exciting new items in each new Annual Catalog are the In Colors.  The 2021-2023 In Colors are:  Evening Evergreen, Fresh Freesia, Pale Papaya, Polished Pink, and Soft Succulent.  This card utilizes ALL of the 2021-2023 In Colors in a few different ways:  Ink Pad direct to paper, Generational stamping, and watercoloring with Re-inkers.

Color-Contour_SoVeryHappyForYou

This card begins with a piece of Mint Macaron background stripe from the Hand-Penned Designer Series Paper die cut with one of the tag dies from the Tailor Made Tag dies.  The "So Very Happy For You" greeting was stamped at the lower right corner of the tag using Evening Evergreen ink.

The doodle flowers on stem image was stamped on Basic White cardstock using Soft Succulent ink.  The flower filler image was stamped over the flower outlines using Polished Pink ink.  The flowers and stem were die cut using the corresponding die from the Scalloped Contours dies.  The flower die cut was adhered to the tag using Mini Glue Dots.

Color-Contour_SoVeryHappyForYou_WatercolorPanel

A few drops of Fresh Freesia, Pale Papaya, Polished Pink, and Soft Succulent Re-inkers were dropped in their respective ink pad lids and diluted with clear water.  The Fresh Freesia, Pale Papaya, and Polished Pink diluted re-inkers were brushed diagonally across DRY Watercolor Paper using the flat wide Water Painters brush in stripes that flow over each other.  To do this, make sure the brush is very wet with the diluted re-inker and clean the brush when changing colors.  Once the panel dried, the Soft Succulent diluted re-inker was picked up with the brush and the brush was tapped over the panel holding the brush 4-5 inches above the panel.  The brush was cleaned with clear water and then tapped over the top of the panel using the same process used for the Soft Succulent diluted re-inker.  Once the panel dried, the panel was adhered at the center of a slightly larger mat of Evening Evergreen cardstock using Tear & Tape Adhesive.  The panels were then adhered at the center of the Mint Macaron card front.  Tip:  You can speed up the drying process by using a Heat Tool.

A piece of Fine Art Ribbon was adhered in a backwards "Z" pattern across the watercolor panel and then the tag was adhered over the ribbon using Stampin' Dimensionals.  A bow made with Gold Simply Elegant Trim was adhered at the top of the tag using a Mini Glue Dot.

Color-Contour_SoVeryHappyForYou_Inside

The "You're Absolutely Amazing" sentiment was stamped at the upper right center of a Basic White panel using Evening Evergreen ink.  The single doodle flower outline image was stamped three times to the left and above the sentiment using Fresh Freesia, Pale Papaya, and Polished Pink inks (cleaning the stamp between each color).  The single doodle flower filler image was stamped inside each of the single doodle flowers using the same color used for each outline image--stamping off before stamping over the outline image and cleaning the stamp between each color change.  The doodle leaf image was stamped at the edge of the flowers, where there is space available, using Soft Succulent ink  The panel was adhered at the inside sentiment area of the card base.

Color-Contour_SoVeryHappyForYou_Envelope

The doodle flowers on stem image was stamped at the lower left front corner of the Medium Basic White Envelope using Soft Succulent ink.  The flower filler image was stamped over the flower outlines using Polished Pink ink.

I really enjoyed working with the 2021-2023 In Colors for this card and am very pleased with how they complemented each other so beautifully.  Of course, there are other items used for this card that are NEW with the release of the 2021-2022 Annual Catalog:  Color & Contour stamp set with coordinating Scalloped Contours dies (available with Bundle savings), Tailor Made Tags dies, Simply Elegant Trim, and the Hand-Penned Designer Series Paper.  

Robertssiggy

Card Measurements

Basic White:  2" x 4-1/4", 4" x 5-1/4"; Evening Evergreen:  4" x 5-1/4"; Mint Macaron:  4-1/4" x 11" scored at 5-1/2" along the 11" length; Watercolor Paper:  3-7/8" x 5-1/8"; Fine Art Ribbon:  12"; Simply Elegant Trim (Gold):  8"

Supplies I used to make this card

Stamps:  Color & Contour; Inks:  Evening Evergreen, Fresh Freesia, Pale Papaya, Polished Pink, Soft Succulent; Re-inkers:  Fresh Freesia, Pale Papaya, Polished Pink, Soft Succulent; Cardstock:  Basic White, Evening Evergreen, Mint Macaron, Watercolor Paper; Designer Series Paper:  Hand-Penned; Embellishments:  Fine Art Ribbon, Simply Elegant Trim; Tools:  Scalloped Contours dies, Tailor Made Tag dies, Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine, Water Painters; Adhesives:  Stampin' Seal, Tear & Tape, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals; Other:  Medium Basic White Envelope

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