PERKED UP

First of all, I want to mention that this is my 250th post! Yay me!

One of my friends/coworkers retired from her job at the store where I work today. As my fellow employees were coming up with ideas to celebrate her retirement, one of them asked me if I could make an oversized card for the employees to sign for her.

Kathy is a great fan of coffee. So, I immediately decided that I was going to use "coffee" as the theme for her card.

Knowing I didn't have any stamps with a coffee flavor,  I went right to MDS (My Digital Studio) because I KNEW I had a coffee cup image in my MDS stash.

The coffee cup sporting a steamy heart from Patterned Occasions was perfect for the card. I encircled the coffee cup image with concentric circles and dots from Just Add Cake. With my coloring tool, I colored it in the primary colors.

At the store, Kathy was always a whirlwind of activity. So, with that in mind, plus the coffee theme, I created the sentiment in a text box. "Perked up". Get it? 

I rounded the corners of the cut-out sentiment, then attached it to a label made from the Apothecary Accents Framelits set. I dug into my long ago non-Stampin' Up! stash and discovered these darling blue and white polka dotted brads. Aren't they the ideal touch? Especially noticing all the other dots I'd added to the card.

The Pacific Point (blue) piece upon which I adhered the label, was run through the Big Shot inside the Decorative Dots embossing folder.

I used the polka dot stamp that came with my August Paper Pumpkin kit, and added red dots hither and yon all over the card base.

I cut out my focal point with the largest of the circles from the Circles Collection Framelits. I then cut a red circle with the scalloped circle from the same Framelits set. To perpetuate the dot/circle theme, I pierced holes (TINY dots, you know) inside each of the scallops. 

The card was twice the size of a normal greeting card, which is 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". Kathy's perky card measured 5 1/2" x 8 1/2". Large enough for LOTS of signatures.

Here is a photo of Kathy as she's opening her card:

Wishing you happiness, Kathy!

Perky

Smiles.