B is For...

Wouldja believe it's our 490th challenge at Shopping Our Stash?! I didn't join the team until a year or so in, but nevertheless, I love the way we're celebrating: We went back and looked at what we did for our 49th challenge, and it was "Starts with B" and could encompass any image, product or technique which starts with that letter. So for SOS490, we're going BACK to B; which could include plenty of cool things, including (in my case) Blue, (ink) Blending, Beautiful Blossoms, Butterflies, Brads, Birthday (card), Blush (there's some pink in there!)... ok, you get it, right? Find something(s) that start with B and use 'em in your card!

In the spirit of full disclosure, I should confess that I didn't just make the cool ink-blended panel with the stamped collage on top; I actually found it in a box where I keep hand-painted, ink-blended and gel-printed papers. I'm not positive WHEN I made this or WHY I didn't make it into a card at that time, but... when I saw it, I was excited because it's exactly right for my eldest goddaughter's birthday, woohoo! I diecut and stamped the butterflies (the die is ancient Tim Holtz/Sizzix; the texty stamp is equally old Glitz Design) inked them with Wendy Vecchi's Night Sky Archival and attached them with brads of indeterminate origin. The Poppy Stamps whimsical Happy Birthday die is pretty new. I diecut four or five different coordinating colors of sentiment and butterflies before realizing that, on this background, I really needed some white, so in the end I went with a scrap of watercolor paper which happened to be on my work table.

I'd love for you to join us in celebrating SOS490, so I hope you'll start thinking about items from YOUR stash which "Start with B". If you need more inspiration, there's LOTS to be found from the design team... you should probably hop over to Shopping Our Stash and see those right now!