Another Fall Birthday Card

You can't say I didn't enjoy my Hero Arts September Monthly Kit.  Here's one last card made with the supplies from that kit.  In this case, the die cut wreath on the front of my card.  I used my Mission Gold watercolors to create some rich watercolo and dropped the paint onto a watercolor card front to get these interesting splotches.  Not a totally fall colored theme, but definitely man worthy card, so I used this for a family birthday wish.  I think it works very well coupled with the sentiment on the inside of the card.  Keeping it simple for the masculine flair.

I find myself behind on my gift making endeavors.  Are you feeling the same?  I hope not.  However, I do have to focus, focus, focus as time before Christmas is running short.  This week marks the end of birthday season with my daughter, Katie's birthday.  I'm saving a photo of her birthday card so she doesn't get a sneak peek.  Moving on from birthday's to Christmas gifts now.

Our Beautiful World - White

I have been out of town for work several times over the past few months.  This past trip I was able to stay a few extra days and see some sights with my brother-in-law, sister-in-law and husband.  We took a day trip to Ashville, North Carolina to see the Biltmore House.  This house is the largest private residence in the US built by the Vanderbilts and it open for public tour.  We decided to visit because the house was decorated for Christmas and there was threat of rain (though you can't tell in my pictures).

They have a beautiful garden which was on the trailing edge of fall, much of it withered.  However, the hothouse contained many exotic plants and so I'm sharing some of these with you today inspired by Our Beautiful World's word prompt which is White.

You must forgive the quality of photos - I only had my cell phone with me.  The white poinsettias were stunning and filled various locations throughout the house.  There were also many Christmas decorations, but I thought I should share this one with white icicles which was way more stunning in person.

If you get a chance, the tour is not inexpensive, but was a wonderful way to spend the day.  Definitely shows you how the other half lives at Christmas time!

Why don't you stop by Our Beautiful World and see what everyone is sharing when prompted by the word White!

A Set of Thank Yous

I had mentioned that I used my Hero Arts September Monthly Kit including the grateful stamp set to create a bunch of card fronts.  I'm stopping in to share the cards made with you.  I used my MISTI to repetitively stamp the images in the wreath shape by creating a template with the first card front.  Then I placed the stamps in the appropriate location using the template and inked and stamped multiple Bristol paper card fronts.  I'm really pleased how these cards turned out - using up various ribbons from the stash.  I can't say as I found a ribbon that I liked best, though the ombre ribbon is probably the most stunning all all the ribbons.

These cards as so pretty and easy to make once the template was made.  I think I ultimately made around 11 - 15 different cards with this design.  There's so many different reasons to give thanks this time of year and I am feeling abundantly blessed, so I couldn't help but give them all away this week.

What are you feeling blessed by?  Have you sent your wishes to them?  In this season of thanksgiving, I'd encourage you to do so.

Fall Thank Yous

Whew!  It has been a busy month - I ended up feeling poorly the first few weeks of the month and then seemed to get better in time to be out of town for business for a week right before the holiday week.  If I've been a bad blog friend, forgive me.  It's been a whirlwind.  I'm stopping in to share a thank you card design that I worked out in the middle of all that busy-ness.  I am still so enamored by the Hero Arts September Monthly Kit including the grateful stamp set.  I decided to break out the MISTI to try my hand at repetitive stamping.  I used the leaf stamps from the set and the inks provided to create these card fronts.  Paired with a simple kraft card and some delightful ombre ribbon, the cards are quite perfect for this season of giving thanks.  Plus, it is birthday season in our house, so these cards are going to be put to very good use.

I've made quite a few more card fronts.  I'm going to go "shopping" in the stash to find various coordinating ribbons.  This is what I tell myself when I'm trying not to rush to the store to pick out a new supply.  I just "shop" the stash and make it work.  Once I've finished up the set, I'll post pictures so you can see how they all turned out.

I hope your Thanksgiving was joyfilled and your recovery from the festivities is quick.  We're off tomorrow for the Arizona high school football championships.  My daughter, Katie, is marching with the Wolfpack Marching Band to open the game tomorrow night at Cardinals stadium (yep, the home of the NFL team!).  We're so excited and hope that she can claim to have cheered the football team on to victory.  We will do the same.  Have a great weekend.

A Variation

I was so in love with all my WPlus9 Drummer Boy die cuts, I decided to see how it might look on a slightly different background.  In this case, the die cut images were colored the same - using my Inktense watercolor pencils and then blending with water and a brush.  I kept the background wash very light and faint blue using my Mission Gold watercolors, gold embossing the sentiment and star before die cutting the background using my WPlus9 Sunshine Layers die.  I kept the rest of the design the same layering the scene onto some ruby red cardstock.  The baby Jesus is raised a bit with some foam squares to keep him the focal image.

All of these were also a birthday gift for my mom.  I'm thinking she's feeling pressured now to send out a bunch of Christmas cards!  Oh well, she knows the creative freak that I am and that I won't mind if some are saved for next year.  Christmas is coming.  Are you ready?

More Drummer Boy Christmas Cards

So, my mom enjoyed my cards made last year using the WPlus9 Drummer Boy stamp and die set.  Given my playing around that I mentioned in a post late last week, I decided to mix it up a bit and make this set of cards in a landscape orientation.  I am really pleased with how these turned out, liking them a bit more than the portrait version I posted earlier.

I kept the design simple again - not wanting to take away from the lovely scene created on the front of the cards.

Just like the earlier sample, the die cut images are colored with my Inktense watercolor pencils and then blended using water and a brush.  I die cut the images after coloring using the matching dies.  The background wash was created on watercolor paper using my Mission Gold watercolors.  The sentiment and star are gold embossed onto the paper and then the entire background is die cut using my WPlus9 Sunshine Layers die.  To finish the front off, I layered the image onto some ruby red cardstock as a nice frame.  The baby Jesus is raised a bit with some foam squares to keep him the focal image.

I gave these to her as a birthday present.  I'm hoping she puts them to good use and sends them out with well wishes at Christmastime.  What gifts have you been working on?

Christmas Cards with WPlus9

I had mentioned that I had a surprise gift for my mom's birthday and this is the start of that.  I purchased the WPlus9 Drummer Boy stamps and matching dies last year.  I did a few cards that really captured my interest last year and I've been contemplating designs every since.  My mom spoke about how cute they were so I decided to play around with the set as a gift.  The die cut images are colored with my Inktense watercolor pencils and then blended using water and a brush.  I die cut the images after coloring.  The background wash was created onto watercolor paper using my Mission Gold watercolors.  The sentiment and star are gold embossed onto the paper and then die cut using my WPlus9 Sunshine Layers die.  To finish the front off, I layered the image onto some ruby red cardstock as a nice frame.  The baby Jesus is raised a bit with some foam squares to keep him the focal image.

On the inside, a simple sentiment in cranberry red ink.  I thought I could improve a bit on the design so I've made some changes and ultimately a set of cards as the gift.  There are a few photos to edit, so I'll be back when I get them uploaded to share the final product.

Repeating the Floral Theme

So, I made the cards for my mom's birthday and so loved the design and colors I decided to give another try with a different color of MementorLuxe ink.  This time I stamped using my Altenew Peony Bouquet stamp set and MementoLuxe Lilac Posies.  As I mentioned in the previous post, this ink did not go on smoothly, requiring several layers to get the rich and crisp colors that you see.  I, once again, used my MISTI stamping tool to achieve this look along with some masking paper.

These, too, will go in the stash and become a part of a gift to someone.  The Altenew stamp set is simply beautiful and really, takes little effort to look spectacular.  Even when you don't get it exactly right, the colors and the layers are forgiving and the result is stunning.