New Catalog Goodies

Welcome to the Control Freaks monthly blog tour! This month's theme is new catalog goodies. Oh, my! There is so much goodness in this new catalog, that I can't wait to see what my fellow freaks have created! If you started at the beginning of the tour, you just visited the very talented, LeeAnn Greff. She always has amazing ideas and I find her so inspiring!

I've got so many favorite stamp sets in this new catalog. I just had to pick something and run with it for this hop. This weekend I have been spending time with my oldest and dearest girlfriends….our first girls' trip in 5 years, so I'm feeling a little nostalgic. The stamp set that I chose to feature is Baby Bear because teddy bears also bring back many good memories. I think it's the perfect set for creating baby cards, don't you?

Baby Bear Photopolymer Stamp Set

So, I have a few tips for success with this stamp set. First of all, it's a 3-step stamping set, which means it takes 3 sets to created the final bear image. If you look at the clear image sheet that comes with the set, you'll see small numbers 1, 2, and 3. It's very easy to distinguish the number 1 stamp, but I had a lot of difficulty with differentiating the number 2 and 3 stamps. I took a black sharpie and wrote "2" and "3" on the flat side of the photopolymer stamps.

I also highly recommend you use the Stampin' Pierce Mat to get a good, clean stamped image. Having the padding under your card stock will help the stamp be more even. If you've struggled with this stamp, give it a try.

There are numerous color combinations that you can use to create these adorable bears. Since my cards are so simple in design, I'm sharing the color combos that I used below each sample.

Stamp 1: Soft Sky