A Masculine Birthday Card Set

Popping in to say a quick hello and hoping that January hasn't been too cold or snowy for you this year.  Of course, here in Phoenix we don't have those sorts of complications, so I'll send some sunshine your way.

The card today is a very simple one - made for the gift exchange at Christmas and not shared because of lazy forgetfulness.  These photos were taken back when the Christmas tree filled the front room and all the good light was gone.  Still, one layer cards are always an inspiration.

The tree is stamped in green ink using Darkroom Doors Tree stamp, although any evergreen would do.  The sentiment is from SSS's Handwritten Sentiments stamp set in black Archival Ink.  I simply wiped off the left hand edge of the sentiment to make it fit and simplify the design.

All in all, a nice set for which I think the recipients will find a good use.  How's your crafting in the new year?  Inspired or tired?  I'm enjoying the less hectic pace of crafting - thus how I found these unedited gems.  Trying to stay inspired and engaged in my hobby includes some downtime as well.  Soon we'll be planning a milestone celebration in our family and then a graduation so there is much to craft about.  See you again soon.

A Set of CAS Birthday Cards

Here's another Pinterest inspired card.  This time, it is a mostly literal translation of this pin.  I used my Simon Says Stamp Handwritten Borders stamp for the sentiment and my Avery Elle Ballons die.  I die cut the ballons from a watercolor wash that I'd practiced techiques with.

On the inside is this sentiment stamp in matching Distress ink.  It's a nice off set from that overly CAS card front.

This is another card set that I plan to give some away.  It will be a good idea to remember if I need a birthday card on short notice as this is simple and easy to put together.

Sympathy Card

I had occasion to need a sympathy card recently.  Always tough to create and usually at the last minute.  This card is a simple one layer card, but I hope the care and love spent creating it communicated a message of care and love to the recipient.  I stamped using the branch from my Birds and Blooms stamp using brown Archival ink.  I colored the branches, leaves and flowers using a watercolor brush, water and my Prima Oil Pastels.  I scribbled the color onto a piece of palette paper and lifted it using water and the brush to apply to the stamped image.  When everything was dry (I only used a small amount of water to prevent warping), I dabbed glue onto the flowers and sprinkled some Flower Soft onto them to create a little definition to the petals.  It sorta looked like tears for some reason to me and I thought it fitting.  The sentiment, also stamped in brown Archival Ink, was from my Handwritten Borders set from SSS.  Never any fun, but hopefully a ray of encouragement during a tough time of grief.

I'm going to enter this card into Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: Simon Says Anything Goes,  Word Art Wednesday's Challenge #211 Anything Goes and Simon Says Stamp's Work it Wednesday challenge.

Another Flower Gift Set

I think I'm almost done creating card sets with my Altenew Vintage Flowers stamp set.  This set was made similarly to the previous set, using a prepackaged purple notecard set.  Here I used Close to My Heart Sunset dye ink in both the background the foreground.  The twine is olive green, but the picture doesn't capture that well.  All sentiments were made using my SSS Handwritten Borders stamp set and black Archival Ink.

Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue pigment ink in the background and
CTMH Moonstruck dye ink in the foreground

Brilliance Pearlescent Purple pigment ink in the background and
VersaMagic Purple Hydrangea pigment ink ink in the foreground

All in all, there are eight cards in this set.  I'll probably break that into two sets of 4 cards as gifts for this Christmas.  As you can tell, I just can't say enough about how great the Altenew stamp set is.

A Very Floral Notecard Set

Told you I'd be back with more Altenew Vintage Flowers card sets.  This one was made similarly to the previous set.  Here I paired Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue pigment ink in the background and CTMH Moonstruck dye ink in the foreground.  The twine is dark blue, but the picture doesn't capture that well.  All sentiments were made using my SSS Handwritten Borders stamp set and black Archival Ink.

This flower was made with SSS Smoke hybrid ink in the background and VersaMagic Perfect Plumeria pigment ink.

I made a set of 3 of each color and intend to wrap them up as Christmas gifts.  Now I'm thinking, how to wrap them... hmmmm.  I created all my stamped flowers using my MISTI tool and the Altenew Vintage Flowers stamp set.  I followed the tutorial provided by Jennifer Mcguire's video.  If you haven't tried the MISTI or this stamp set, I'd highly recommend both.

I had so much fun I'm going to link up at Word Art Wednesday's Challenge # 204: Anything Goes.  Come see what people have been doing and/or join the fun!

A Set of Notecards with Vintage Flowers

I'm out of town today and scheduled this post last weekend after completing the post on my Altenew Vintage Flowers stamping session using my MISTI tool.  I'll suggest Jennifer Mcguire's video as it is what I used.  All sentiments were stamped with black Archival Ink using my SSS Handwritten Borders stamps.  I'll try to point out color combinations.  The purple is a Brilliance Pearlescent Purple pigment ink in the background and VersaMagic Purple Hydrangea pigment ink in the foreground.

Notice the difference in these red flowers.  The background ink is SSS Smoke hybrid ink.  The red is Colorbox Magenta pigment ink.  The first card was made with the "outline" layer in Colorbox Frosted White pigment ink.    This next card used another layer of the Magenta pigment ink.  I really like the outline effect of the white pigment ink, don't you?

The yellow is Close to My Heart's Buttercup dye ink and the orange is CTMH's Sunset dye ink.  This is an example of a color combination I was determined to hate and found that I really like the definition provided by these inks.

The background is a Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue pigment ink and the foreground is VersaMagic Aegean Blue pigment ink.  When I first stamped the background, I thought "Ugh!" due to the splotchy nature of the stamp. However, the look is very appealing lending texture to the flower.

The last one is SSS Smoke hybrid ink and CTMH Moonstruck dye ink.  This is another of my favorite combinations.  I like these so well that I intend to make a few more sets as presents.  Look for more pictures and color combinations coming before the holidays!

I'm linking up to the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge Simon Says Die Crazy.  I almost didn't purchase the matching die for the Altenew stamp set.  I'm so happy I did now.

Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge Love This Technique.  I couldn't resist joining this challenge.  I really do love this technique.  The layering stamps really add dimension to the card.

Word Art Wednesday's Challenge #201 Anything Goes.  They lays have such inspiring entries.

Come join the fun!