The first Stampin’ Up! demonstrator to reach the career sales level of $1 million was Mary Polcin. (This was several years ago; since then many have reached that level — and some double that!) In recent years, those achieving this distinction have been given the opportunity to work with SU!’s concept artists to design a stamp set that expresses themselves in some way.
Since Mary’s achievement was reached well before this opportunity was offered, Stampin’ Up! asked her to participate last year. Rustic Retreat (#150285) was the result.
It was wonderful when she presented this set at OnStage in April; it’s great to hear the backstory of the design and share the emotion. (I never attend an OnStage general session without a tissue in hand.) I was particularly pleased that this set is so versatile and appropriate for Christmas, so I used it for the July Jingle Jump:
We masked the chimney smoke and tree tops in order to sponge the light blue sky and used Wink of Stella for the rooftops and snowy ground.
Watercolor Pencils were the best choice for coloring; the sharp points allowed detail and it was easy to layer the color for controlled intensity and shading. Because I so often reach for Stampin’ Blends markers, I forget how pleasurable it is to color with pencils!
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