Kindred Spirts

I wanted to do one more card with Mary Jo's Monday Sketch (see post below for sketch details, and a link to her blog if you want to play along).

I just love butterflies. They can be whimsical or beautiful, depending on what you match them with. I used the Friends Always wheel for my background, and just lucked out that Kindred Spirits and True Friend show up around the butterflies. (love it when that happens)

The butterflies are die cut. I sponged the edges of the largest to "age" it a little. The butterflies are raised with dimensionals as well.

TSSC Monday Sketch Challenge

When I saw Mary Jo's Technostamper Monday Sketch Challenge, I knew there were a lot of things that could be done with it.

What I really wanted though, was something that would POP right out at you. I tend to go for florals, so grabbed my Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set, and stamped the flowers on watercolor paper. I watercolored them with re-inkers, cut them out, and adhered them with dimensionals, so they would really stand out.

I love how this card turned out. It's even better in real life. All Supplies SU:

Set: Fifth Ave. Floral

Carstock: White, Basic Black, Bella Blossom DSP, Watercolor Paper

Ink: Staz-on, Red Riding Hood, Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette

Here's a close up of the flowers:

Sketch Challenge

This was an SCS sketch challenge a while back. You cut out a circle, and then cut it in quarters. You only use 2 of the quarter on the card.

I love these colors together: red riding hood, kiwi kiss and chocolate chip. There is a tad of summer sun in the center of the flowers too.

I stamped the flowers on white and then stamped them again on another piece of paper. I cut out just the blooms and then adhered them to the card with small pieces of dimensionals. It is so much more life like with the raised portion.

The paper is Raspberry Tart which is a current favorite of mine. I say current, because that changes often. There are so many great papers to choose from!

Stamp Set: Le Jardin Botanique

Bloom

I had this flower laying around and knew it was too pretty to throw away, so thus, another card is born :)

Sometimes all a card need is a simple layout to really showcase the stamped image. I tried adding a few other things, and it all looked off. The focal point is so large, that it needed to stand alone, without other embellishments.

The flower is raised, and the center is raised a second time.

All supplies SU:

Set: Fabulous Flowers

Cardstock: Ruby Red, chocolate chip, white, dsp

Ink: rugy red, pumpkin pie, chocolate chip

Celebrate

Kerry's blog challenge this week is : Eat it! (Are you singing Michael Jackson's Beat It now? I am) The card must have some sort of food on it.

I immediately thought of Chef Pierre from Viola. This guy is so fun! You can dress him up any which way and he never complains either :).

I paper pieced his jacket with Bella Rosa DSP, watercolored his pants with Kiwi Kiss and added a little shadowing with Bordering Blue Watercolor.

His neck kerchief and sleeve cuff are raised, as is the cupcake. The candle says "Celebrate." Since I am listing this on my Etsy shop, I didn't want to add any other type of saying, so the buyer can use it for whatever type of Celebration.

Check out Kerry's blog if you want to play along!

Sparkle

Once again I find myself with little flakes of sparkle and shine on my face, hands, shirt, etc. That's what happens when I use glitter. I once heard someone say, that before you add glitter to a card, you should just wipe some on your face and get it over with :)

This layout is the Splitcoast Sketch Challenge for the week. Fun and simple.

The card says "Happy Birthday, Someone like you should be celebrated every day."

I haven't used Pick a Petal in a long time, and had fun with it. It's really an easy set to use. When I was done, I just knew the card needed *something,* and thus the glitter!

All supplies SU:

Sets: Pick a Petal, It's Your Birthday

Cardstock: Gable Green, Tempting Turquoise, White, Rainbow Sherbert DSP

Ink: Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise

Apricot Grosgrain

Manahattan Floral

I bought this texture folder a little while back, but haven't really used it yet. I pulled it out today thinking I would use it as a background piece, but once I saw how pretty it is on it's own, I know I couldn't cover it up with something else.

This was one of the quickest and easiest cards I have done in a long, long time, but really, I think if I added anything else to it, it would take away from the embossed flowers.

The sizzix texture folders are so easy to use, and they give a very deep, crisp image.

All supplies Stampin' Up:

Stamps: Best Yet

Cardstock: Red Riding Hood, White, Black

Ink: Black

Accessories: Red Riding Hood Satin Ribbon, Manhattan Floral Texture Folder