I love this fun flower peeking out of the corner. This stamp set is called Pick a Petal, and comes in different pieces. You can pick which petals, and which center to put together.

I don't know how well it shows up in this picture, but there is a "doodly" (I'm sure that's not a word, but I think you get what I'm saying) swirl in the corners.

A great thank you to send to someone you love, or even just like :).

Mini Thank You Notes

I made these mini thank you's with other Etsy sellers in mind. They are the perfect size to jot a handwritten thank you to customers, and stick it in with their order. Nothing too fancy, or fussy, but still pretty cute, in my opinion :).

One of My Favorites

This is one of my favorite cards. I love the colors (it shows the colors in my house), and the style. It may be too "fussy" for some, but not me.

The focal image is stamped on watercolor paper, and lightly watercolored. Nothing too bold, just a soft glow. The red cardstock behind it has a french script stamped on it, but then it was misted with water to "blur" the image, and "age" the cardstock. The celery card stock was also aged, and almost looks liek a piece of suede.

The chocolate cardstock has 3 seperate background stamps on it: french script, diamonds, and aida cloth (mesh).

Here's a close up:

The only sentiment on the card is "joy," so it would work for many different occasions.

Mini Notes

These mini notes are so much fun to make. They are perfect size for a lunch box note, a small gift note, or thank you card. Each one is covered with patterned paper, and then I add some coordinating felt flowers, and a colored brad. A piece of ribbon finishes it off.

The brown in the photo show darker than it actually is. It's really more of a chocolate brown. I also made a set of these in celery, olive and blue. Both of them are in my Etsy shop.

Batik Snowflakes

I love this vibrant background against the white snowflakes! It reminds me of sitting by a warm fire, with snow gently falling outside the windows.

Since there is a lot of moisture used to produce this background, I used a piece of watercolor paper. That is much thicker than regular cardstock, and much more absorbant.

First, the snowflakes were heat embossed onto the paper, using clear embossing powder. Then I used 4 different hues of blue ink, and added them to the paper with a very wet watercolor brush. They blend together , but the embossed snowflakes repel the ink, so they stand out so well.

Not that I'm ready for snow yet, but I do love the way it looks...on a card. :)

It Looks So Simple

There are times when I finish making a card, and think, how could it have taken me so long to make.

This card is a perfect example. I spent about 45 minutes on it. There is no special technique involved. I didn't have to think about the layout, since I used Mary Jo's Monday Lunchtime Sketch.

What happens is, even though I have a general idea of what I want to card to look like, I end up spending loads of time working out the little details. For example, I stamped a script background on the olive piece, and I tried it both with the writing running straight across, and then overlapping and at an angle. I decided to go with the angle. But then I decided to add the butterflies over the script, so I had to redo stamp it lighter, so the butterflies would show.

You know what though, that is really one of the things I love about making cards...all the time spent on the details. It's what makes each card unique and individual. I never know exactly how the card is going to turn out until I'm finished. So while I look at a card and think, it looks so simple, there is a lot of time and love that goes in to each one. :)

Make sure you check out Mary Jo's blog to see what she's come up with this week. I'm sure it's as wonderful as always!

Fall Leaves

Don't you just love it when you see something, and think,
"I can use that to make (blank-whatever your craft is)!" Maybe I'm in the minority on this, but often I see a pattern on someones clothes, or a picture or something and think..."That would make a great card."

The cards don't always turn out the way I have it visualized, but the process is always fun!

I think you know by now, that I love fall. I love the crips air, the crisp smells, the (usually) beautiful weather, and the wonderful blend of colors!

Walking with the dogs recently, I was enjoying all the beautiful leaves. They are almost at their peak color around here. Reds, oranges, yellows, and touches of green! I love the way some leaves have all of these colors togther too.

So it was the leaves that inspired this cards. This leaf was watercolored on watercolor paper (that's thicker than normal cardstock and can absorb more water). I only taped down the center of the leaf, and lightly curled up the edges so it looks like it's ready to blow away.