The Stamp Review Crew: Swirly Bird

Welcome to another Stamp Crew Review Blog Hop!  We share our take on a selected stamp set every first and third Monday.  Today we stamp with another staple set from the main catalog, Swirly Bird and coordinating Swirly Scribbles thinlits.  If you are following the hop in order, you have just arrived from Mike Funke's blog.

Since this set was part of the new catalog preorder back last May, there are MANY samples out there for your viewing pleasure.  Coming up with new ideas is quite the challenge.  I decided to go back to an old favorite for a winter card, that is, a wreath on the door.

Here the winter roses and loose leaves are from the Swirly Bird set.  The Mint Macaron and Pear Pizzazz colors are more subdued in keeping with the winter theme.  Minimizing the embellishments help this card fulfill the "flat and mailable" category.

Stamps: Swirly Bird, Wonderous Wreath; Paper: Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla, Whisper White; Ink: Mint Macaron, Pear Pizzazz, Sahara Sand; Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds, Sponge, Swirly Scribbles Thinlits, Wonderful Wreath Framelits, Big Shot.

For the next card, I tried to focus on the swirl designs and used a couple of different looks for the flowers.

I heat embossed the stamp images and watercolored the flowers.  To complement the matte look of the watercoloring, I then removed the embossed layer from the larger flower with the iron-off embossing technique.  This card was inspired by one by Debby Hughes, which coincidentally follows the Global Design Project sketch #66.

The Seasonal Decorative Masks are part of the Holiday Catalog Retiring List and are available through January 3 - don't miss out!

Stamps: Swirly Bird; Paper: Sahara Sand, Watercolor Paper; Ink: Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Sahara Sand, Versamark; Accessories: Gold Metallic Thread, Brights Enamel Shapes, Metallics Sequin Assortment, Brights Sequin Assortment, Clear Embossing Powder, Watercolor Brush, Seasonal Decorative Masks, Embossing Paste, Swirly Scribbles Thinlits, Sunshine Wishes Dies, Big Shot, Craft Iron.

Hop on over to Nikki Spencer's blog to see what fun projects she has put together with this week's set.