It is now June 6th, and six days since I was able to place my order from the new Stampin’ Up! 2017-2018 Catalog. I’ve looked at its 233 pages so many times, it’s practically memorized. (There’s a digital copy on the homepage of my blog, in case you haven’t seen it.) The box arrived earlier in the day than expected, which was a delightful surprise.

One by one, I lifted the contents from the box, and spread them out across the bed in my craft room. I actually made a video describing the contents, and posted it on Facebook to a group who would totally understand my obsession. The quality of the video is poor, because it’s really difficult to hold a phone camera while using both hands at the same time. So, unless you ask for it, you will be spared. I’ve had quite a while to think about the first card I would make with my new goodies. Can you see the Lemon Builder Punch in the lower left-hand corner? That’s it! Page 90! That would be my first project.

This week’s sketch from Global Design Project #090 gave me direction for the lay-out, and I knew I wanted to use the colors of yellow and green.

I began with a card base of Daffodil Delight, and I stamped a lemon from the Lemon Zest stamp set using that same color ink, and punched it out. How fun! The leaves for the lemon were stamped using Old Olive, and punched. I wanted the lemon to have extra body, so I punched a second lemon, and glued the leaves between the two. The sentiments in this set are fantastic, and “Squeeze it for all it’s worth!” fit perfectly on the lemon. “Life’s Short” had to find a place, and it was stamped on a slice of lime. A Layering Circle die was used for cutting to its exact size. As exciting as the fruit is, this new embossing folder, Layered Leaves, might steal the show. Pear Pizazz was chosen as the color to emboss for the art piece, and it rolled out of the Big Shot with the most beautiful impression of leaves. This was layered on Whisper White, and made the perfect background for the citrus fruit.

Before the fruit was popped up on dimensionals, the last detail of the sketch needed to be added. The lemon needed to “hang on by a thread,” Linen Thread, that is!