A Floral Birthday Card

I'm stopping in today to share the card that I made for my mom's birthday which she celebrates today.  Pink and navy blue are her favorite colors.  She recently traveled to France, where apparently there is a lot of navy blue wearing going on.  She actually returned, exclaiming - "I found my people!".

Considering my mother's birthday and this recent infusion of navy, I decided to go into the pink realm this year using my Altenew Peony Bouquet stamp set.  I used some masking paper to cover the flowers and leaves in order to layer the images.  The ink I used here is actually MementoLuxe Love Letter, a proposed red ink that actually stamped in this gorgeous shade of pink.  Disappointing when you are trying to get red, but lovely when you are shooting for pink!

I will warn you that the MementoLuxe ink did not go down smoothly.  For all the stamping, I used my MISTI stamping tool and stamped multiple times in order to get the look I achieved.  This sentiment on the inside of the card was stamped easily 4 times.  This is the brilliance of the MISTI, that you can reliably re-stamp in exactly the same location, ensuring perfect stamp success.

Ultimately, I was so enamored by this card that I made a couple more for the stash.  I'll probably gift them to someone as gift giving season is approaching.  I also have a crafty surprise for my mom's gift, but want to hold off sharing with you so that she doesn't get a sneak peek.  Stay tuned.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wendesday Challenge: Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday's Weeks 254 & 255 Anything Goes

Flowery Watercolor Panels

I am sharing with you today a card set that was inspired by this YouTube video. I actually stamped these panels in June and took them with me on a stay-cation here in the valley.  I left my Mission Gold watercolors out on the table with a cup of water and my brush and would stop by to color for short periods between trips to the pool and naps and movie watching at night, etc.

I found varying levels of success in my watercolor technique and if you look close, there's a bit of poor/incomplete stamping.  However, I'm betting that the recipient doesn't notice when met by this happy set of flowers sent to wish them a happy birthday.

I think this purple one is the most stunning in person.  I did add a bit of Wink of Stella to the flowers, it is hard to see on these pictures.  The grey strips are white cardstock smeared with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink.  It is a perfect frame for my panels.

All in all, I'm pleased with this set.  I've a few more stamped, but found myself moving on when I returned home - so much so it took me several months to finish the cards and post this post.  Ah well, progress is progress, yes?!

What projects do you have that are half finished.  See - this is proof they are worth getting out and diving into them to create a final beauty worth sending off to a friend.  I wish you success!

I'm entering these cards in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge Summer Fun and
Word Art Wednesday's Challenge #244/245 Anything Goes

A Very Yellow Hello

I had made up a second yellow flower using my Alteew Peony stamp set when testing out a sympathy card design a couple of weeks ago.  This version did not utilize the no line watercoloring technique, instead being watercolored using my Mission Gold watercolors after stamping the image in Archival black ink.  This version seemed to "harsh" for my sympathy card.  I set this version aside on the craft table (my kitchen table which I've almost completely absconded with since my children are rarely both home for dinner).  I decided to finishe this image into a card and this it the result.  I stamped the diagonal stripes onto a card front in Archival black ink.  There's a slight mismatch on the lower right corner - could have been better, but I think it is't so noticeable.  I used my SSS Stitched Rectangles die to cut the flower out as a top layer mat.  A piece of very light grid patterned paper acts as a nice frame along with some white cardstock smeared with Hicory Smoke Distress Ink which acts as a lovely thin frame.

All in all, a nice notecard to send to brighten someone's day.  I really am enjoying the Altenew stamp set.  If you haven't given them a try, I'd suggest to do so.

An Altenew Sympathy Card

Unfortunately,  I had need of a sympathy card.  These are never easy to make, but in this case I focused on making something that expressed my emotion and meant to be a comfort.

I used my Altenew Peony Bouquet stamp set to stamp the flower in Antique Linen Distress ink onto watercolor paper. My first thought was to attempt a no-line watercoloring technique.   After a few layers of color, I realized that I liked how the Distress Ink framed the flower, so I didn't try to blend it in.

I will tell you that I couldn't get a photo if this card that captures what it looks like in person.  This exposes my limited photography skills!  However, it was difficult to capture the soft colors without washing out the colors.  I finally decided to just go with this photo because you could see the details.  The card is much more subtle in coloring when viewed in person.

My friend needed to see beauty despite her pain and I needed to let her know I loved her and was praying for her. The card served it's purpose and for that, I am grateful.

I'm linking up to the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge Anything Goes

and

Word Art Wednesday's Challenge Week 240/241 Anything Goes

It's an Altenew Peony World

As I mentioned, I'm now playing catch up with taking photos of cards and projects as well as getting them posted.  This is the last of the Mother's Day cards that I made this year.  I used my new Altenew Peony Bouquet stamp set to create these lovelies and couldn't resist sharing with you.  I stamped and die cut a bunch of these and decided to use them to make my cards.

The inks are all Simon Says Stamp's hybrid inks.  I didn't write down the color combinations, but suggest that you play with the stamp pads you have.  No need to go out and buy a bunch of inks for this stamp set!

I kept the design simple to keep these flowers the center of attention.  In the future, I intend to use a second generation stamp for the leaf background portion as I lost a bit of crispness to the image since my green hybrid combination covers some of the detail.  Still, the finished results pleased me and their recipients.

If you haven't tried out the layering stamps, I highly recommend them.  They are fantastic and the result is simply gorgeous.






I'm entering these cards in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge: Monochromatic

Word Art Wednesday's Challenge #232/233: Anything Goes