I'm spoiled living in Georgia. We have four seasons, but winter is blissfully short. When February rolls around I am about done with cold (to me) weather and gray skies. I miss the warm sunshine and fully leaved trees and the riot of color in Summer.

I know many readers live in colder climes (and others roast their ways through January and February), so I thought I would create a cool pocket full of warm sunshine to share.  It's a pretty basic card, even though it looks complex. The letters and suns came from my Silhouette die cutter, and patterned paper is Deja Views. The blue papers came from my scrap pile. Cut the blue base to 5"x7" and score 1" from the bottom. This becomes the easel for the card. Cut the patterned paper to 5" x 7" and fold up the two bottom corners to the middle. (Double sided paper makes this really easy.) Add a couple of eyelet for ribbon to hold the pocket closed and adhere to the blue base. Pretty simple, but still special.

And that's what Stamper's Quest brings to you this month: Special Folds and Special Shapes. Look for lots of really cool ways to make your cards stand apart from the rest. Sue will bring another card series beginning this week, and later this month artist and author Sherre Hulbert will begin a color workshop that will run quarterly this year. Of course, our exclusive sketch will thrill you mid-month.

We also have new guides to introduce! It's exciting times, and there is a lot to pack into the shortest month of the year. So, enjoy the sunshine while you can, get inspired and...

Awaken Your Muse!

Stephanie Loomis
Editor-in-Chief