mayday! MAY DAY!

this week at shopping our stash we're celebrating the arrival of ♥MAY♥ after a particularly long, cold, winter with a burst of color and enthusiasm! let me give you the official brief:

May 1st is May Day. 

Use something inspired by the May Pole -- can be ribbon, something twisted, rainbow colors, or just something very tall and skinny -- LOTS of options!

there are also a few photos of may poles over at the SOS blog to get you thinking. this is my favorite...

 ...and i think you can see it inspired my card pretty literally:

(tapes... ok, there are LOTS and i know i won't hit them all, but i'll give it a go: my mind's eye, october afternoon, bazzill, hambly, teresa collins, heidi swapp, love my tapes, freckled fawn, recollections, oriental trading and... ok i THINK that's about it, but if there's one you really love, just ask me and i'll try to figure out whence it came, ok? patterned paper: prima; white glossy cardstock: paper accents; ink: colorbox + stewart superior; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

of course, on the card, that's not ribbon, it's tape! i don't know about you, but lately i tend to grab for washi or deco tape in situations that previously would have called for ribbon. don't get me wrong, i still LOVE ribbon; but in a situation where texture isn't terribly important, i find that tape is just sooooooooo much easier to work with. i mean heck, for one thing, it's got it's own adhesive built right in, which is really very helpful! 

i tried to duplicate the color and exuberance of the ribbons on the pole by covering a panel of scrap cardstock with tape. to make sure that none of my selections would try to peel themselves off in future* i wrapped the ends of each tape around the back of the panel, and then i stitched the panel to my 6x6" card. i've got a diecut star raised on a layer of foam tape, and had planned to add a big "WOOHOO"** in black foam thickers, but despite trying a few fonts and a lot of different positionings, it just didn't look awesome; so i moved the sentiment inside the card, instead.

speaking of moving, i heartily recommend you hop over to SOS where there is loads more may day goodness to impress and inspire you! ciao, darlings! 

*because let's face it, not ALL tapes are created equal, and some stick a whoooooole lot better than others, don't they?

**this is a high school graduation card for our nephew andrew, of whom we are very fond and very proud! ♥♥♥