I love putting grown-up play dates into my calendar! We all need those to relax, be creative, enjoy the company of friends... and sometimes they can even motivate us to get something done that we've meant to do for ourselves, but just haven't made a priority. When I recently got together with Deloris, a favorite play date partner, she asked if I'd design something for us to do together with one of my very favorite new stamp sets in the catalog, World of Dreams. I had recently become intrigued with the combination of Pistachio Pudding and Garden Green, so I decided to incorporate those colors. I'm also a fan of the "Clean & Simple" look, which often utilizes white on white (casting a shadow for additional interest) and black ink for a sharp contrast with a bright color. I decided to vary the formula by substituting Early Espresso for the black.
I stamped the Early Espresso images on scraps of Whisper White, then centered my 1 3/8" square punch over the part I wanted (if you didn't get that punch before it retired, just cut a strip of white that is 1 3/8" wide and center the image, then use your paper trimmer to cut the other two sides of your square). The second layer is 1 1/2", both popped up on dimensionals. By cutting your paper smaller than your stamped image, you make it run off the edges, giving the illusion that you're "zooming in" to see the details, much like the paintings of Georgia O'Keefe.
I hope you're inspired to schedule a play date with a friend, because creating - in some form or other - is a basic human need. If you each come up with a project or two to share, you'll have twice the fun and lots to show for your efforts!
Kathy
