New goodies

I had been coveting these Stampin' Up! stamp sets ( Simple Stems and Hardwood) as soon as they started appearing on the US demonstrators blogs.They along with the gorgeous Fresh Prints stack were eagerly purchased when the new catalogue was available here in Australia.

The leaves and stems (Fabulous Phlox and Norrland Flower) are dies from Memory Box available here

With the first card, I stamped Hardwood in Crumb Cake on White, which I think gives the wood a lime washed effect, that I really love.I tried lots of colour combos for the wood but white and Crumb cake are my favourites which ever way round you use them. I stamped the blooms in Real Red and used the Tiny Tags stamp set and punch (both sadly retired)  for the sentiment.

For the second card, I stamped the flower in Coastal Cabana and then highlighted the stamens in red.It looked a bit bare at the bottom of the bloom where there were no stamens, so I added a few extra. Here I have stamped white on Crumb Cake, quite a subtle effect which doesn't detract from the flowers.