Serenade

I got tired of playing with the Equestrian kit so here are some things made with the November Simon Says Stamp kit.  The papers are called Serenade so my brain keeps referring to it as the Serenade kit, but really it has another name.  You couldn't guess it by the cards I have to share today though.

The kit came with a nice stash of 6x6 patterned papers, some great cardstock, a set of clear stamps, some black and white twine, some buttons, a coaster, and some vintage encyclopedia pages. The Simon Says kits always have something interesting in them that I would never use if it hadn't been thrust upon me.  This time it was the coaster.  I know a lot of stampers use them.  Some even talk of their big score as they swipe a whole passel of them from a restaurant or bar, but I've never been that big into them and certainly never used one before. 

I absolutely adored a sample card using the coaster that they shared on their enclosed idea sheet so I copied it as best I could.  I figured they used a die to cut the heart shape into the coaster.  I ran that sucker through my Big Shot over and over but never cut get it to cut all the way through, so I pulled out my Exacto knife to finish off the job.

I swapped out the wooden button they used on their sample card (enclosed in the kit) and used a faux button instead because I felt this card was weighty enough with the coaster.  What is a faux button you ask?  It is 5-7 circle punched pieces of cardstock glued together with holes punched into it and the edges sponged for depth.  It is a little trick I learned at my stamp club.

Did you like that trick?  It is a great way to get lightweight buttons and to get them in colors that match your cardstock (because it is your cardstock).  Here is another trick for you and this one involves the vintage encyclopedia page I got in the kit.  Those vintage pages aren't so hard to come by.  Find yourself a library book sale or even a decent thrift store.  You can find "vintage" encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other interesting books galore and the price is usually right.  I have several vintage reference books from our local library book sales but my best find was a book written in Chinese and it cost me all of 50-cents.

The Fine Print: Stamps by Simon Says Stamp "Music to my Ears" set, papers by Basic Grey "Serenade," cardstock by Bazzil except for the kraft, and twine by Doodlebug.