I want to be a part of it...

...New York, New York! Here are the cards from last month's Fifth Avenue Floral class. As you'll see, this stamp set totally lends itself to stunning and sophisticated cards with very minimal effort on the part of the crafter.

First, I CASEd this card by Kharmagirl. I love the stark contrast of the basic black, but I didn't have that ribbon, so I subbed Chocolate Chip instead. I meant to add a sentiment to mine, but I ended up adding this card to our repertoire at the last minute, so I didn't get it all together in time.
This wonderfully simple, yet gorgeous card was CASEd from a card submitted to Stampin' Up! by Arleen Fujimoto. You can't tell from the picture, but the Baja Breeze panel is textured CS.

Next I CASEd this card by inglishrea. She used the rose image on her card, but I was trying to allow each flower to be showcased on a card, so for this one it was the lilly's turn. Because I saved the best for last (the rose stamp, a fabulous technique, and this gorgeous card).

Okay, I took the main idea for this card from lORRIETORI's card, except that we created our roses in fairly different ways. She details how she created hers on her blog (which you can link to from her card), so I'll share how we made ours. If you are familiar with the faux suede technique, that is what we used. For those of you who are not familiar, I will do my best to explain. Because of the layers--we had 4--I used two 3x3 squares of Real Red cs. One at a time, you run them through your paper crimper in various directions: vertically, horizontally, diagonally one way, diagonally the other way, then start over. You do this to break the fibers; if you don't own a paper crimper, you can use your bone folder and just "curl" the cardstock over it in all different directions. Even with using the paper crimper, I still ran my cs over my bone folder a few more times for good measure. Then, starting in a corner, you will separate the layers of paper. Pull the front and back away from each other. The inside of the cs looks and feels like suede. Then you can stamp on it and attach it to your project. SUPER COOL!

I will try to make a picture tutorial and get it posted soon, because I'm not even sure if I understand what I just typed. Until then...

Sweet wishes!