Monday, July 1, 2019

The Power of a Smile



I am posting today as part of Kylie Bertucci's International Blog Highlights.  There are 2 parts:

2.  The 10 artists who receive the most votes will be participating in a Blog Hop on July 29-30.  With your help by voting for me, I may just get a chance to participate!

Thank you for your support!
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What makes you smile?

I keep a certain mouse pad on my desk at work that makes me smile every time I look at it.  Sometimes when I'm having a frustrating moment, I pull out this pad just to experience the power of a smile.



I have found that a smile, either my own smile or someone else's smaile can boost my spirits, change my perspective, and can connect me with others.  I experienced this when I went to China and taught English for a couple of weeks to Chinese teenagers.  Before I went I was very nervous about how I would communicate with the teens as I didn't know the language and was very unfamiliar with the culture.  A friend who had recently returned from several years of teaching English in China assured me that I would have no problem.  She told me to just smile and my students and I would connect just fine.  The teens in my class all wrote short notes in a book for me before I left, and I think that almost all of my 13 students mentioned something about my smile.



I love the Daisy Lane stamp set in the new 2019-2020 catalog, and one of the reasons is the "Smile" sentiment.  I used the stamp set with the Daisy, the Medium Daisy and the Pretty Label punches to create the card I'm sharing today.  My cardstock base of Terracotta Tile was paired with Sahara Sand and one of the patterned papers from the Woven Threads Designer Series Paper.  The card is accented with the Terracotta Tile Scalloped Linen Ribbon and a couple of 2019-2021 In Color Faceted Dots.




I started by trimming my cardstock base to 8.5" x 5.5" and then adhering a 4" x 5.25" mat of the patterned Designer Series Paper.  My next step was to cut a piece of Sahara Sand cardstock to 3.25 x 4.25".  I added a bit of texture to the Sahara Sand piece by embossing it with the Subtle 3D embossing folder.  I added a length of the Scalloped Linen ribbon cut just a bit longer than the width of my embossed piece and adhered this piece to my card front.

My next step was to stamp two of the large daisies and 2 of the smaller daisies from the Daisy Lane stamp set onto a piece of Sahara Sand cardstock with the Terracotta Tile ink pad, and then punched out the stamped daisies.  I also stamped my "Smile" sentiment on Sahara Sand cardstock and punched it out with the Pretty Label punch.  Using a Sponge Dauber, I inked the edge of the punched sentiment with the Terracotta Tile ink.

A mini glue dot was used to adhere one of the larger and one of the smaller daisies to the other daisy of the same size, offsetting the leaves of the top daisy from the one below it.  
Stampin' Dimensionals and Mini Dimensionals were used to adhere the daisies and the stamped sentiment to the embossed Sahara Sand mat.  I finished my card by accenting the sentiment with 2 of the coordinating Faceted Dots.

I hope you enjoyed reading about this project and experience the power of a smile today!

Products Used:
Daisy Lane Bundle (151118 - Includes Daisy Lane Stamp Set and Medium Daisy Punch)
Daisy Punch (143713)
Pretty Label Punch (143715)
Subtle 3D Embossing Folder (151775)
Terracotta Tile Cardstock (from 2019-2021 In Color Collection -149701)
Sahara Sand Cardstock (121043)
Woven Threads Designer Series Paper (149497)
Terracotta Tile Ink Pad (150086)
Terracotta Tile Scalloped Linen Ribbon (149705)
2019-2021 In Color Faceted Dots (149607)
Snail Adhesive (104332)
Simply Shammy (147042)
Sponge Daubers (133773)
Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)
Mini Dimensionals (144108)
Clear Block Bundle (118491) or Stamparatus (146276)
Mini Glue Dots (103683)
Paper Snips (103579) or Take Your Pick Tool (144107) to place Faceted Dots in position
Bone Folder (102300)

1 comment:

  1. Love the story behind your 'smile card.' The power of a smile, how true! Thanks Kim for being part of my international highlights this month! All the best with the voting.

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