Be somebody who makes everybody feel like a somebody

 Welcome friends! I've been itching to get this new Corner Adorner: June Mini Stamp set inky. I wasn't assigned this particular set for the release, but it has been calling my name! I was also thrilled to combine it with some previously released stamps and dies that I haven't had a chance to use yet.  I have this "new" stamp set basket that I put everything  into that I have recently purchased and then once I feel I have used it enough, it gets cataloged with the rest of my sets. My "new" pile was getting too large and so I took the opportunity to use some and I just love how they look together!

Before I jump into the details of the card, I just want to get a little personal with you all for a minute! I want to share a really great experience I had yesterday evening. A group of my friends got together and put together plates of cookies, wrote our names and numbers inside an assortment of my handmade cards and went out to "meet our neighbors". There are so many houses that I have zero clue who lives there! It is not what a neighborhood should be like, in my opinion! When I made THIS project, there were a few of you who mentioned that you don't know your neighbors and what a good idea it was!  I think in this day and age people just get wrapped up in themselves and we don't reach out like we should! It was SO much fun meeting all of these amazing people that live right by me! We all need each other, we need human connection in this age of texting, emailing, etc. Nothing can replace the one on one connections that we make with people that we can  have a conversation with, see the smile in their eyes or perhaps the hidden sadness! We NEED each other! So....I would like to issue a challenge to you to go and meet (or take cookies and cards) to ONE person in your neighborhood that you don't know TODAY! I promise you won't regret it....I guarantee you that you will want to go out and do it again!  To be honest, I'm not feeling the greatest....sore throat, cough, head congestion, etc. and I could have just skipped it, but guess what? I didn't think about how I felt the entire time. I came away feeling energized and happy...like the real kind of happy...the kind that lasts! As I came back into my neighborhood from picking my daughter up from dance, I saw one of the guys we met tonight and I was so happy to KNOW his name, to be able to say hello and he could say hello back because he knows who I am! Anyway, I'll get off my soap box, but the real reason I make cards is for reasons like this! And before I forget....one of my friends took a hedgehog card I made for the latest SugarPea Designs release that I didn't share because I wasn't happy with it! Guess what? She took it with a plate of cookies to one of her neighbors. He LOVED it and he OWNS a hedgehog! SERIOUSLY???  I was blown away! But...I'll quit for now! LOL! Now...on to the card!!!!

There are quite a few different stamping possibilities with this new Corner Adorner, but I chose to make raspberries. My raspberry plants are just starting to send out tiny little fruit that should be ripe in the next week or two! I can't wait! I wanted to make something fresh and summery for today's card. To begin, I stamped the leaf and vine portion of the image using two different green inks: Green Parakeet and New Leaf. I used my MISTI so that I could lay down the color gradually to get the shading that I wanted. At this point, I used the coordinating Corner Adorner: June die cuts. I wanted to make sure I stamped the flowers and fruit in just the right place and I needed the die cut piece as the guide. Once that was done, I added in the fruit using a combination of Raspberry Fizz and Hibiscus Burst inks. The flowers are stamped in Harvest Gold ink.

One of the new sets that I haven't used yet is the Stitch in Time: Borders stamp set. I thought it would be the perfect companion for these raspberries. I stamped the larger border onto a piece of Spring Rain cardstock using Versamark ink and then used white embossing powder. I used the coordinating Stitch in Time die cuts. I stamped one of the other images in Spring Rain ink onto a piece of white cardstock and used the dies to cut it out. 

The sentiment is also one that I haven't used yet and is from the Kindness Counts set. This is one of those "must have" sets for me and I can't wait to use it even more! It fit perfectly into the space left over from where I placed the corner adorner. I layered everything up onto a piece of Pale Peony Bitty Big pattern paper. I just love the subtle detailing it adds to the card. I love how vintage and sweet this card turned out! 

The finishing touches are a few sequins and some clear Nuvo drops here and there to add some dew to the leaves and berries as well as the centers of the flowers! Thanks for fluttering by!

P.S. If you DO go out and meet a neighbor, I'd love for you to leave a comment letting me know how it went!