Blogger's Challenge #102 - Summer Theme!

Happy Friday stampers!

For today's post, I created something, fun, fresh and simple! And isn't that what Summer is really all about? Now, I have to say that the Dr. Pepper Jelly Beans came from the store like that - I didn't alter them in any way, but I created this little gift ensemble for friend who recently did something very special for me and she reads my blog all the time. She happens to love Dr. Pepper and I had to include this little treat in her gift!

To create my gift ensemble, I started with some of my favorite Designer Series Paper, Rockabilly (retiring this month!). It is so cool with shiny accents and designs built into the paper. The cherries on these pieces are the shiny parts, so fun! The large candy bar in the front right was simply wrapped with a piece of the DSP and tied up with a piece of the So Saffron Twill Ribbon (also retiring this month!) I added a little tag by stamping the greeting from the A Little Somethin' hostess Stamp set in Basic Black onto Whisper White cardstock. I then used the cherries stamp from the Tart and Tangy stamp set to make the background. Using my Stampin' Write markers, I colored directly on the stamp with Real Red and Old Olive, then stamped off on scrap paper to lighten the intensity of the color. Then I stamped it over the greeting, creating a muted cherry background. I used my Small Tag Punch to punch it out and the punched a piece of the cherry paper which is black with white polka dots on the reverse, with my Large Tag Punch and layered them. I used my Crop-A-Dile to set a Real Red Eyelet in the top and tied the tag to the candy with a piece of Linen Thread.

The little Matchbox to the left was also created with the same paper. I used my super cool new Matchbox Die and my Big Shot to make this adorable box, added a sweet treat to the inside and tied it up with some of that luscious Kiwi Kiss Satin Ribbon! (Yep, it's retiring this month too, sigh!) The tag for this one was made with my Scallop Circle #2 Die and the Big Shot using Basic Black cardstock. I then stamped the cherries again on Whisper White cardstock and added the "friend" from the Really Retro Stamp Set. My White Gel Pen created the little polka dots in the scallops and a piece of Linen Thread was used to tie it on to the ribbon. I really love how easy my Big Shot makes creating fun and cute little gifts like this!

Lastly, the notebook actually came from the store with the cute cherry print on the plastic cover. So, I just added a piece of So Saffron Twill Ribbon wrapped around the cover and secured it with Sticky Strip under the stamped medallion. To create that piece, I again went to my Scallop Circle #2 Die and my Big Shot, rolling out the larger scallop circle in Basic Black Cardstock. More Gel Pen dots in the scallops and then I used my Circles #2 Die to cut out the White cardstock circle. It's stamped as well with the Cherries from Tart and Tangy and I again added the greeting from the Really Retro stamp set.

I had so much fun creating this gift ensemble and I hope my special friend will love it! The cherries just felt so fresh and summery and I thought it would be the perfect idea to share with you all for today's challenge. Be sure to pop by the other Blogger's Challenge players and let their Summer ideas inspire you as well. The links to their blogs are found by clicking on the button in my sidebar.

Tomorrow, be sure to stop back by here and see my 2nd Design Team creation for the new teaching blog, www.stamping411.blogspot.com . I'll have the measurements and instructions posted here for my creation along with the sketch so you can play along too! The be sure to go over to Stamping 411 and see all the other design team members creations as well!

Enjoy your day, everyone!

~~Robin