Control Freaks Let's Sale-a-Brate! Blog Tour

Welcome... It's time to hop along with the over-the-top fabulous Control Freaks!  This month's theme is Sale-a-Bration!

  ♪ It's sale-a-bration time... ♪  

You know how this goes... for every $50 you spend (US), you get to choose a free Sale-a-Bration item.  This really is the best stampin' time of the year, and not only because it is freakin' cold outside and everyone is hunkered down.  We're focusing on some of the free items you can choose from, so hold onto your hats!

You've probably arrived here from Debbie Henderson's blog.  Her projects are always so gorgeous and creative!

Have you seen the Lotus Blossom set yet?  Oh my, you freakin' NEED this!  It is a 3-step photopolymer set, no alignment tools necessary, and a few short minutes later, you have a gorgeous work of art!  

I used Crumb Cake Blendabilities (alcohol markers) to color the rhinestones, which also happens to be a Sale-a-Bration option.  Wham, bam, card done lickety-split.  This card uses CAS(E) this Sketch #109.

Stamps: Lotus Blossom, And Many More; Paper: Whisper White, Gold Foils sheets, Stacked with Love DSP; Ink: Perfect Plum, Old Olive, Crumb Cake Blendabilities; Accessories: Rhinestone jewels.

I had a fun idea that fellow demonstrators or close followers of Stampin' Up! events might recognize.

How cute is this little bag pocket card?  I created a pull-out notecard to bring in all the fun and happy colors from Sale-a-Bration.

Does it looks like the Leadership conference bag?

Stamps: Best Day Ever; Paper: Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Best Year Ever DSP; Ink: Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry, Memento Tuxedo Black; Accessories: Best Year Ever buttons & ribbon, White baker's twine, Mini stapler, Sewing machine, Thread.

And finally, today is the start of the Chinese New Year.  Tangerines and oranges are one of these auspicious Chinese New Year symbols. Tangerines in Chinese sounds similar to the word "luck" and orange sounds like the Chinese word for "wealth". Through the play of words, the Chinese is associating the gift of orange and tangerine as having an abundance of happiness and prosperity.

Though a clean & simple card, I wanted to show you an alternative to the lemon stamp in A Happy Thing.  Here I used my Basic Black marker to round the end of the image and create an orange.  Fun, huh?

Where did that fruit bowl come from, you ask?  I hand-drew it.  Great when you can easily improvise.

Stamps: A Happy Thing (SAB); Paper: Whisper White, Brushed Gold; Ink: Real Red, Baked Brown Sugar, Memento Tuxedo Black, Basic Black marker, Old Olive & Pumpkin Pie Blendabilities, Color Lifter; Accessories: Sponge, Zig Zag EF, Big Shot.

Jump over to Justin Krieger's super cool blog to check out what fabulous ideas he has for us.  Love his style!