Stampin' with Kristin: Mediterranean Achiever's Blog Hop - 2016-2017 Annual Catalog Sneak Peeks

Welcome to the Mediterranean Achievers Blog Hop for May. I love participating with some of the other WORLD'S TOP DEMONSTRATORS! That's right - this hop features Stampin' Up! demonstrators from around the world. All of us have earned a FREE 7-night Mediterranean Cruise for TWO with Stampin' Up! I'm sad to say I chose to "cash out" of the cruise again this time around. But, I'm glad I still get to hop with these wonderful folks! Those who are actually going on the cruise, are either in Europe already or are leaving soon! The trip is next week! And, yes, I'm wondering to myself...why on earth did I cash out?!?!

Today's hop is all about sneak peeks from the 2016-2017 Annual Catalog. I've actually posted quite a few before today. I have them all lumped together here if you'd like to see them!

I decided to use the Oh Happy Day Card Kit to make some "alternate project ideas" for today's post. I know some of you probably consider yourselves creative enough and flip right past the kits. You may think they're just for beginners. I'd like to encourage you to pause and take a look! The day I sat down to design today's projects, I was apparently feeling very creative. I tossed aside the project instructions, dumped the kit contents on my craft table, and just PLAYED! There are some REALLY cool embellishments, accents, and card stock that you can't get anywhere else! I did incorporate some "other" items into my cards. I'm sure you probably have some "other" items laying around your craft space, right?

The first card I'm sharing is the first card I made. I gotta tell you, ever since the February Paper Pumpkin kit arrived, I've been HOPING AND PRAYING for a swirly thinlit. I'm SO glad Stampin' Up! read my mind and introduced the Swirly Scribbles Thinlits. Don't remember the February Paper Pumpkin kit? It was one of my all-time favorites! It contained gold foil swirl stickers. I hated to use them on my cards. WELL, now I can make an endless supply of gold foil swirls! In addition to the gold foil swirl, I also added the Bermuda Bay banner from my scrap bin. The Black and White banner was part of the kit but I wanted another. Did you notice that little glittery star? It's SUPER thick - and it's wood! The kit comes with hearts and stars that are die cut and glittery! The embossed white layer? Yup! It comes in the kit already embossed!

Oh my goodness! I instantly fell in love with the Tangerine Tango polka dot card base! I should say that all of the card bases in today's post are in the kit. The front is the pattern you see. The back is a solid color. And, the inside is plain white - perfect for adding a greeting! This card also has an embossed white layer. Everything on this card is included in the kit - except for the Tangerine Tango ink. Basic Black ink comes in the kit, but I didn't want to use black on this card. Oh, and did you see those little glittery dots? The kit comes with those, too, in three different colors!

The last card is probably my least favorite, but it's not bad. The kit contains several different card sizes. This one is supposed to be a "matchbook fold" card. Well, for blogging sake, a matchbook fold doesn't photograph well. And, I mis-stamped a sentiment on the card base and needed to recover. SO, I chopped off the little tab that makes it a matchbook fold and slapped a doily over the mis-positioned sentiment. You never would have known, would you? There are all sorts of die cut shapes included. You get several of these floral die cuts. The banner is also die-cut. You just punch them out and glue them to your card. None of the words in the included stamp set really fit on the banner. So, I pulled out the Thoughtful Banners stamp set - it contains a TON of little sentiments that fit! And, I used my Tangerine Tango ink again.

If you'd like to see even MORE of the Sneak Peeks that I've posted, click here or use the "More Sneak Peeks" button above to see every project I've posted in the past month containing Sneak Peek Products!!! You're welcome!

Since we're still in the preorder period, I'm unable to link to the products. BUT, I'm still providing a list of the items you'll need to add to your wish list to make the cards above. It's not a very long list! Most of the products were included in the kit. The Oh Happy Day Kit contains a clear block, dimensionals, the stamp set, envelopes, instructions, twine, die-cut accents, and more to make all of the cards. The only thing's you'd really need would be SNAIL Adhesive and scissors - and that's why this kit is a GREAT gift!