Get Well Petals

Happy Friday!  Normally I'd be celebrating the end of another week, but today marks the end of my March Break, so forgive me if I'm a little less enthusiastic than normal ;)
Today I have another project that uses one of my new favourite sets...

Get well card featuring the Painted Petals stamp set, with sentiment from Delightful Dozen (retired)

I hope you're not tired of the Painted Petals set yet...I am just starting to explore its possibilities!  For this card I first stamped the stems and blossoms using Whisper White craft ink on Crumb Cake card stock.  Once that had dried, I stamped right over top of the white images using Old Olive ink for the stems and Rose Red ink for the blossoms.  I then used a blender pen to soften the images and blended them a little with the white ink.  I added some shadows on the stems with a hint of Mossy Meadow ink.  I love the soft, almost pastel-like result!

The rest of the card is pretty straightforward.  I stamped the sentiment, from the long-retired Delightful Dozen stamp set, in Mossy Meadow ink and then punched it with the Artisan Label punch.  I added some white Painted Blooms cotton twine and some little flowers I punched with the Itty Bitty Accents punch pack and embellished with some pearls.  The leaves on the flowers are punched with the Bird Builder punch from Wild Wasabi card stock.  The card is built on a Rose Red card base.

Inside view with sentiment from Thoughts and Prayers.

On the inside of the card I stamped the sentiment from Thoughts and Prayers in Mossy Meadow ink and added another little punched flower.
I have so many friends who are unwell for various reasons...I'm sure this find its way to someone's hands soon!
Have a fabulous weekend!

Thinking of You

I recently learned that one of my team members is dealing with some significant health issues.  They are serious enough that she is unable to attend our monthly meetings and is even having trouble sitting to stamp.  I wanted to send her a card to let her know that I'm thinking about and praying for her, so I pulled out some of my Sale-a-bration sneak peek items...

Thinking of you card featuring the Best of Greetings stamp set.

I used several Sale-a-bration items on this card!  The DSP is from the Sweet Sorbet pack.  The polka dots on the white strip were done with the Decorative Dots TIEF and the cork elements are from the Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack.  The best part?  I got all of those items for FREE!!  Woohoo!  What's not to love about that?!?  Starting January 28th you can get all of these items free too.  Sale-a-bration has so much to love this year...I can't wait!  Let me know if you need a copy of the brochure...I'll send you one on me!

Inside view with image and sentiment from the Thoughts and Prayers stamp set.

If the front of the card is all new product, the inside uses a tried and true stamp set.  Both the sentiment and the image are from the Thoughts and Prayers set, which is one of the first stamp sets I ever bought!  The colours I used were Summer Starfruit and Pistachio Pudding, both of which are in the Sweet Sorbet DSP patterns.
I truly hope this little card brightens this gal's day a little.  She is discouraged and frustrated and I wish there was more I could do to help.  Here's hoping this does the trick!

More Blurred Watercolouring for The Twist

Success!!  12 hours later than I had hoped, here is today's post!

Happy Monday!  The first full work week of 2014 and time for me to head back to school.  We have just three weeks until the start of exams, which means mucho marking for yours truly!  Good thing I managed to get most of this month's classes prepped last week!
Today I have another sample of the Blurred Watercolour technique for this week's challenge over at The Technique Twist.  If you saw my post on Saturday you know we have a Blog Hop happening to celebrate our three new Design Team members.  I'll post the list below in case you missed it on Saturday :)
This project is one of those types of cards that no one likes to make but everyone needs from time to time.  It is a sympathy card that uses the Blurred Watercolouring technique in two different ways...

Sympathy card featuring the Everything Eleanor and Flower Shop stamp sets and using the Blurred Watercolouring technique.  Sentiment is from Best of Greetings.

Here's a quick how-to:

• For the background I first brushed my watercolour paper label with my Aquapainter so that it was damp, but not soaked.  I then stamped the flourish, from the Everything Eleanor stamp set, in Pistachio Pudding ink.  The ink ran slightly on the wet paper.  Once the paper dried I ran it through the Big Shot with the Fancy Fan TIEF.

• The flowers are from the Flower Shop set and are stamped in Crisp Cantaloupe ink on Naturals White card stock.  I brushed over each image with my Aquapainter and then went back and added more colour with my blender pen.  I punched them out using the coordinating Pansy Punch and then added the pearls in the centre of each flower.

• The sentiment is from the Best of Greetings set and is heat embossed in pewter on a label cut from watercolour paper using the Apothecary Accents framelits.

• The DSP background layer is from the Sweet Sorbet DSP pack, available as part of the Sale-a-bration promotion beginning January 28th.

• The sentiment on the inside of the card is from the Thoughts and Prayers stamp set.

Inside view with sentiment from Thoughts and Prayers.

Now, in case you missed it on Saturday, here is the Blog Hop list:

The Technique Twist

Julz

Becky B

Pam

Terria

Leena (You are here!)

Katie Zoey Ha

The Technique Twist

 Be sure to check out our new Design Team members:  Terria, Katie and Becky.  They do amazing work!  in the meantime have a great week!

Another Sketch Challenge!

The sketch challenge over at Stamping 411 this week is a simple one that is easily adapted to just about any occasion.  I chose to showcase one of the hostess sets from the new Summer Mini.  First, though, here is the sketch:

...and here is my version using the Love & Care level two hostess set from the NEW Summer Mini:

Card for SSC201 using Love & Care level two hostess set from the Summer Mini.

I love the watercolour-look this set gives.

Inside of card...sentiment is from the Thoughts and Prayers set.

Isn't this pretty?  I have to admit this set was another one I wasn't too crazy about when I first saw it; but, having worked with it, I really love the soft, watercolour-like images it gives.  Very delicate and pretty.  So...here's how I made this card:

Starting with a 2 1/2" x 5" strip of very vanilla cardstock, I stamped the branch image randomly around the edges in sahara sand ink.  I stamped both full strength and stamped  off once and twice to give it depth.  I then stamped the flower stem image, which I inked with my sahara sand, pretty in pink and rose red markers, several times.  Finally, I stamped the blossom image twice, inking it with my pretty in pink and rose red markers as well.  I then sponged the edges in sahara sand.  Setting that aside, I embossed a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of sahara sand using my Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and sponged the edges in sahara sand ink.  I matted that on a 5 3/8" x 4 1/8" piece of rose red cardstock.  I adhered my stamped piece to the embossed sahara sand layer using SNAIL.  I then stamped the sentiment in rose red on a scrap of very vanilla and punched it out with my large oval punch.  I stamped the branch image, second generation, in sahara sand and sponged the edges of the oval.  I mounted it to my cardfront using the oval frame from the Hodgepodge Hardware, securing it with brads.  I then tied a piece of rose red seam binding ribbon around the bottom of the cardfront, finishing it with a bow.  I adhered the whole cardfront to a sahara sand card base.  The final touch was the addition of three pearls just above the ribbon. 
For the inside of the card, I stamped the flower stem and the branch in the lower right corner in the same manner I had done on the front of the card.  I then stamped the sentiment, from the Thoughts and Prayers set, in rose red ink on very vanilla cardstock and punched it out with my large oval punch.  I gave it the same treatment I did the sentiment on the front of the card and then adhered it to a scalloped oval I punched in rose red.  The sentiment element was then adhered in the lower right corner using dimensionals.  I will likely send this card to a friend who is battling breast cancer, in the hopes it will brighten her day the way making it did mine!

For a Friend...

Last Friday I got word that a customer of mine had a biopsy to check for breast cancer.  She went in for an ultrasound because she'd been having some pain under her arm for several weeks and ended up staying for the biopsy.  This isn't good news because her mother is a breast cancer survivor and we all know, it often runs in families.  She has to wait until the end of this week to get the results and so I made her a card to let her know I'm thinking of her and praying for the best possible outcome:  a clean bill of health!  Here is the card I made:

For this card I used the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder and the Because I Card hostess set.

I added colour to the embossed image by inking it with my Versamarker and then adding chalk from my pastels.  The Versamarker helps the chalk stick to the image and makes the colour more vibrant.

Close up of pierced edges and sentiment from Because I Care set.

Inside of card stamped with floral image from Thought and Prayers set and sentiment from Thanks for Caring set.

To me, this card looks like spring.  I wanted it to be a hopeful card filled with the promise of new life.  I hope my customer feels that when she opens it.  Here is what I did to create it...

I started with a piece of very vanilla cardstock and ran it through my Big Shot with the Elegant Bouquet EF.  I then took my Versarmarker and inked the raised portions and then dabbed colour from my pastels onto the flowers, vines and leaves.  The colours I used were pink pirouette and rose red for the flowers and certainly celery and garden green for the leaves and vine.  I then adhere the embossed piece to a slightly larger piece of blushing bride cardstock.  I cut a smaller strip of blushing bride, punched the edge with my scalloped edge punch and adhered it along the left side of the embossed piece.  I then pierced a double line along the top and right edges using my mat pack and piercing tool.  Then I adhered a piece of pear pizzazz seam binding ribbon to the left side of the cardfront and layered a piece of chantilly crochet trim over top of the seam binding.  I took separate pieces of seam binding and lace, looped them into a bow and secured it with an antique brad.  I then adhered the bow to the cardfront using tombow.  The entire cardfront was then secured to a pear pizzazz card base.  The sentiment, from the Because I Care level one hostess set, was inked with pear pizzazz and blushing bride markers, stamped on a piece of very vanilla scrap and then punched out with my large oval punch.  I layered the sentiment on a scalloped oval in pear pizzazz and adhered it to the card using dimensionals.  The final touch on the front of the card is the tiny pearls I added to the centres of the flowers.

For the inside of the card, I started with another piece of very vanilla cardstock (the same size as the one on the front) and stamped the floral image from the Thoughts and Prayers set which I inked using my pear pizzazz and blushing bride markers.  I then stamped the sentiment from the Thanks for Caring set (Occasions Mini) in pear pizzazz and layered the vanilla piece on a a slightly larger blushing bride piece of cardstock.  I had some scrap bits of seam binding laying around so I added a wee bit to the lower left corner, securing it with glue dots.  I then adhered the whole thing inside the card using SNAIL.

I really love how soft and spring-y this card is...I hope the recipient does too!