A Birthday Card and Gift for My Mom

Stopping by with a quick photo of the card I made for my mom's birthday late last month.  The background stamp is Altenew's Linen background stamp and the flowers and the sentiment are Papertrey Ink's Especially for You stamp and die set.  I colored using my Inktense Watercolor Pencils.  I played a bit with the photo processing trying to get you a view of the sparkle on the flowers.  That messes with the color of the flowers some, but I think you get the drift of the card.

I also created this floral decoration.  The white ceramic planter has hand painted blue flowers (not my work, bought at a local gift shop.  If you can't tell, my mom's favorite color is navy blue.  Navy blue was also her mom, my grandma's, favorite color.  My grandma passed away earlier this year and so this gift and card set was a nod toward and to honor that shared love between the two of them.

I'm entering this card into the SSS Monday Challenge Make Your Own Background since i stamped the background on this card.

Kindness Changes Everything

I picked up a couple of stamp sets during Simon Says Stamp's Stamptember.  I think none are more lovely than the Altenew Dainty Spring stamp and die.  These stamps are no longer available, but I intend to make use of them.  This card set show why.  The beauty is in the design and, thus, is easy to create a beautiful result.  In this case, I stamped on Toner Grey paper using my Distress Oxide inks including Black soot, Hickory Smoke, Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Bundled Sage, Forest Moss, Worn Lipstick, and Picked Raspberry.

The sentiment was stamped onto a piece of Bristol which had been colored with the Black Soot Distress Oxide ink.  White heat embossing the sentiment was a perfect choice - the white stands out from the entire card design and makes the framed white card base a great tie in.  A few clear sequins and some Studio Katia gems on top add a ton of bling to make the card classy.

These will go into the stash to be used as a part of gift sets later this year.  Christmas is coming!

A Fall Thank You Card Set

I'm back with the card set I made using my Hero Arts September 2016 card kit stamp set. This set has some fantastic solid fall leaves which also includes this fantastic acorn stamp.  I paired this up with my Gina K Wreath Builder stamp and templates.  The templates make the stamping super simple when combined with the MISTI (which truly is the Most Important Stamping Tool Invented!). 

I used the inks from the Hero Arts September 2016 stamp set - still juicy after two years!  They look great when paired with an olive green and brown archival ink pad that I had on hand.

A whole set - I intended to give these for a gift.  So pleased with how these turned out.

Happy Halloween!

Stopping in on this Halloween to share a couple of cards Brandy made to celebrate today.  She's set a lovely scene using her Hero Arts and Lawn Fawn Pick of the Patch stamps and dies.  The coloring was done with Prisma colored pencils and the background was accomplished with Distress Ink.

That little ghost is ever so adorable.  My kids are all grown and so we will be staying home tonight to see ghosts and other little goblins.  We'll hope your night is safe and fun.

Andie for

Fall Birthday Cards

'Tis birthday season in my family and friends.  This means that card making season is in full swing as well.  I made this set of cards, inspired by our recent cooler weather.  Arizona doesn't officially have a fall season, so I decided to make my own.

I used my long dormant Distress Stain to create the papers from which I used my Hero Arts September 2016 monthly card kit dies to decorate the die cut wreath.  The Distress Stain that I used included:  Peeled Paint, Seedless Preserves, Wild Honey, Fired Brick, Gathered Twigs and Ripe Persimmons.  I added some Antique Bronze Distress Stain to each which created this fantastic shimmer without being too girly.

I then created the backgrounds for the cards.

The backgrounds were made with varying amounts of Antique Bronze, Wild Honey, and Gathered Twigs Distress Stains.  My fingers were so inky after this - mostly brown - which caused my husband to remark later in the day.  He wondered how I hurt myself... ha.  I stamped the sentiment inside the wreath using brown Archival Ink and clear heat embossed to make it stand out (shiny!).

All that was left was the arranging the tiny images onto the card and adding a little Nuovo glitter drops in copper to the card fronts.  These really made me feel the fall air in our sunny Arizona.  I'm staring at the stamp set from the card kit and thinking I really need to make some good use of this years-old stamp set.  Hopefully I'll be back to share those soon.

Plus, today is my mother's birthday.  I've made a card, but haven't given it to her yet, so I'm holding off the posting until after we've had a chance to surprise her.  Looks like I'll be back soon.