Today I'm thrilled to be hopping with 10 other crafters, all winners in Kylie Bertucci's International Blog Highlights contest from earlier this month. Kylie is an extremely talented Stampin' UP! demonstrator, and each month hosts a contest where paper crafters from around the world submit their creations for a blog hop. As noted, I was delighted to have had enough votes on my card to be invited to participate today. The theme of the hop is "Thanks", and here is my card: I rarely have a tendency to use soft, muted colors, but these stamps just call for "soft and pretty". Bloom and Grow is a stamp set of pretty flower arrangements, and the Budding Blooms dies make them easy to cut out. Using my Stamparatus, I stamped the floral design in Crumb Cake ink on Whisper White cardstock, and then stamped it again with Versamark Ink. Using the Stamparatus ensures that my image will be stamped the second time directly on top of my first image. Then I embossed it with Clear Embossing Powder - can you see the shine? It was easy to color within the lines with my Stampin' Blends. Then the image was cut with the dies. Layers, layers, layers...Crumb Cake base, with a skinny Whisper White layer. Then Petal Pink, embossed with the Brick & Mortar folder (I inked the inside of the folder with Crumb Cake ink for a little extra dimension), followed by a strip of Whisper White embossed with the Subtle embossing folder. But wait! Prior to laying down the white strip I ran a ribbon around the card and through a hole on the strip, tying a bow to the left of the greeting. A few extra leaves and some vellum sprigs were added for a little fullness. I think "soft and muted" may be growing on me... Thanks for visiting. Please be sure to follow the link below and see what the other winners have created. Product List Bloom & Grow Photopolymer Stamp Set [149229] $26.00 Timeless Tropical Cling Stamp Set (English) [151497] $23.00 Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [147116] $7.50 Versamark Pad [102283] $9.50 Petal Pink Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack [147272] $9.00 Flirty Flamingo Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack [147278] $9.00 Mint Macaron Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack [147283] $9.00 Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [120953] $8.75 Petal Pink 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146985] $8.75 Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [100730] $9.75 Vellum 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [101856] $10.00 Budding Blooms Dies [149548] $33.00 Bouquet Bunch Dies [143659] $30.00 Subtle Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [143706] $10.00 Brick & Mortar 3D Embossing Folder [149643] $10.00 Petal Pink 5/8" (1.6 Cm) Organdy Striped Ribbon [149441] $8.00 Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $4.00 Share What You Love Artisan Pearls [146927] $6.00