Father's Day

The panel with the wrenches was made by heat embossing the stamped image, then painting over it with Stargazers.  The embossing powder resists watercolors.  It's a nice metallic look that goes well with tools.

I didn't have a Father's Day stamp, so I hand wrote the sentiment with a milky gel - frankly, I don't think it diminishes the card one bit to have  handwritten sentiment.  

Challenges:

• Amusing Challenges - Father's Day
• Creative Inspirations Paint - Father's Day
• Dream Valley - for a special guy
• My Sheri Crafts - Father's Day 

butterfly background

I have a lot of butterfly stamps - it is just such an iconic image!  It can be realistic, stylized, cartoonish, elegant, and it can be colored in any color, or none at all.  However, most of my butterflies are large.  The one that comes in the snail&co stamp set is small, a good size to use in this particular background technique.

I started off with a textured purple paper, then clear embossed the butterflies.  Regrettably my Versamark pad is a filthy mess, so my butterflies looked more shadowy than clear.  I decided to emboss some white ones, and I like the result much better.

The sentiment is under a shimmery organdy ribbon; my scanner does capture shimmer very well.  The purple satin flowers match much better in real life.

Challenges:
Crafter's Card Circle - monochromatic
Emergency Crafters - butterflies
Polka Doodles - flowers
Southern Girls - things with wings
Creative Belli - sentiment only (no focal image)

Cheesy cliches

I was looking at a matchbox template, thinking that I had wanted to make one for years, but never had a theme, when I remembered my new snail & co stamp set that I just bought from a•muse studio.  It has a lot of little coordinated stamps!  I dug out a few scraps of cardstock, and quickly whipped up a box - it's really much easier than you would imagine.  I then made a few little cards sized to fit inside, and hand-wrote sayings to go with the images.  I thought it would be a cute little something to tuck into my daughter's purse when she goes back to college.  However, when I finished photographing it, I wasn't quick enough hiding it, because my daughter spotted it where it was laying and looked at it.

"Mom, did you make this little box full of cheesy cliches?"  Uh oh.  Cheesy cliches?  I thought they were very uplifting affirmations.

So, I'm not giving it to my daughter after all.  I am, however, entering it into these challenges:

• Crafty Ann's  - butterflies and flowers  
• Inspired By - Insp photo
• Stampavie - for a girl
• Everybody Art - not a card
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - use a tut

Thank You

A little something for Memorial Day.  Although the people being honored on this holiday are dead, this is for the parents and widows.

This card is done with the Let Freedom Ring stamp set that a•muse studio sells.  This follows the sketch at Blessings Ink and these others:

• Craft your Days away - red white and blue
• Totally Gorjuss - something new (first time I used this stamp set)
• Our Craft Lounge - Memorial Day
• Charisma Cardz - no flowers

   

Paper Tape

I was wandering through Target when I came across this package of paper tape - 9 different rolls, 6 meters per roll, for $6.99.  Good deal, huh?  My first thought was that all the colors would look excellent on Kraft cardstock, so I immediately had to put together a card.

The stamp and sentiment are from the dollar bins at Michaels.  I paper pieced the little duck, and heat embossed the sentiment - I love white on kraft!

Challenges:
Aud Sentiments - any sentiment
Sassy Studio - hat
Paper Pretties - bold bright colors
Ruby's Rainbow - things with wings
TandaStamps - something new (paper tape)

Inchie Card

I have terrible luck with teeny tiny stamps.  I invariably lose them, either by physically misplacing them, or forget where they are.  However, I don't think I will lose these a•muse studio stamps  - they come in a tightly closing case with an index image on the front.  They are perfect for these inchies!

If you are paying close attention, you might notice a little overstamping, but with these flying insects, it looks like fluttering!  I made this card for the color challenge at Blessings Ink and these others:

• Crafty Calendar - things with wings
• CAS-ual Fridays - punch
• Pause Dream Enjoy - bugs
• Delightful Challenges - ribbon

Sympathy wreath

When I got this a•muse stamp, I immediately thought it would fit perfectly inside a punch that I own.  I started stamping bunches of flowers and punching them - it was a very zen process.  After I had them all, they just started arranging themselves into a wreath.

The white text on pastel seems very peaceful to me.

Challenges:
Critter Sketch Challenge - flowers
Hooked on Craft - flowers
Ooh La La Creations - ribbon
Tammy's Scrappin' Corner - flowers
Totally Stampalicious - CAS