I have to admit that I did this card in my true “on the fly” fashion. I had card pieces left over from my class last night and grabbed them to create the card for today’s challenge.
I made the card while my friend was over for an unplanned birthday celebration. She and my husband were chatting and I listened and worked at the same time.
Bordering on the side of rude?
Maybe, if it were with a different visitor, but this friend is also a stamper and a close, long time friend, so I knew that she’d be okay with me sneaking in a few minutes of card-making on the side for my scheduled blog post.
This card shows off the Music From the Heart stamp set, the Tin tile embossing folder, and the Parisian dies.
The Champagne Foil really is gorgeous for die-cut words and colouring the Basic Rhinestones with the Highland Heather Stampin’ Blends Marker makes those rhinestones coordinate so beautifully!
The Rose Metallic Thread isn’t a perfect match with the Purple Posy cardstock and Highland Heather ink, but it works well in the mix and adds just a touch of subtle texture.
I say, “hooray for card scraps!” and give myself a little nod and a congratulatory pat on the back for pulling it together on the fly once again.
Before I discovered card making, I didn’t understand why people bought cards to put with a gift. I didn’t even really understand the point of cards at ALL! Why not just say, “Hey, this gift is from me to you! Happy (insert occasion here)!” And hand them the gift?
But now that I make cards, giving them with a gift (or alone as THE gift) is completely logical. Every card I make has a little bit of me put into it. My hands, my time, and my care and attention are part of that card! A hand made card is like a gift all on it’s own!
I have a quick post today to share this sweet and simple card design for you that uses the Parisian Beauty stamp set. This card looks a bit like a parcel, don’t you think!
The Eiffel Tower and vintage postage images are stamped on Sahara Sand cardstock with Tuxedo Black Momento Ink and Lovely Lipstick ink. I then matted the Sahara Sand piece with Lovely Lipstick Cardstock.
I wrapped the Linen Thread around these two layers vertically and horizontally and adhered it on the back. The sentiment from the Strong and Beautiful stamp set is stamped with Sahara Sand ink on Very Vanilla cardstock. Using a die from the Ornate Frames dies and my die cutting machine, I created the tag.
Through the hole in the tag, I tied some Linen Thread into a bow and used Stampin’ Dimensionals to attach the tag to the card.
The final step was to attach these two layers onto the Blushing Bride card base.
I think it looks like a gift!! Like happy mail tied up with string!!
But, like I said at the beginning of this post, a hand made card is like a gift all on its own.
I know, I know, nobody really takes New Year’s Resolutions seriously these days. The problem is that we are all gungho to make change and be better, but we often don’t have a plan to make those changes stick. I don’t have the answer for that problem. I can barely stick to a plan in a day, let alone stick to one for a year! I keep trying to find that thing that will turn on the part of my brain that gives me discipline and perseverance. I’ll let you know if I ever do.
In the meantime, I feel like we have to keep trying. Where would we be if we just stopped trying to be better. Nobody would invent things, nobody would make new discoveries, and we probably wouldn’t have any stamps!!! It would be disaster!
I don’t have any official New Year’s Resolutions, but I do know that I will continue to push to be healthy, to be more organised, to spend less time on the internet and more time with my kids, to declutter my house, and to share more of my love of stamping. There are a lot of things that I am always working on. I don’t know that I want to focus on just one thing. And it certainly doesn’t have to be decided for my whole year.
Being healthy is important to me and that’s why I’m drawn to the Do the Impossible stamp set in the new catalogue. I also have some athletes in my life that I can make cards for, using this stamp set.
If you were on my blog yesterday, you would have seen this set altered for a card I designed to give to my niece. That card was pretty involved and shows how making your own cards allows you to personalize it to the recipient. I wanted to show you another design with the same stamp that you can easily replicate. (Because not everyone wants to lay down all that extra ink or even knows what cross-country skiing is!)
The fanciest part of this card is the colour wash background behind the joggers. If you want to see that technique in a Facebook Live video by clicking HERE.
If you don’t want to get caught in the Facebook vortex, the technique involves applying ink with Stampin’ Write Markers to an acrylic block, spritzing it with water using your Stampin’ Spritzer, then “stamping” that colour onto your watercolour paper with the block as your stamp. You might need to blot off some excess water to take control of the look you’re going for, then let the colour wash fully dry before carrying on with the rest of your card.
The rest is simple stamping. Here’s the supply list: Sahara Sand cardstock, Peaceful Poppies Designer Series Paper, Whisper White cardstock, Watercolor Paper, Daffodil Delight Stampin’ Write Marker, Crumb Cake Stampin’ Write Marker, Coastal Cabana Stampin’ Write Marker, Stampin’ Spritzer, Clear Block E, Daffodil Delight cardstock, Jet Black Stazon Ink, Do the Impossible stamp set, Black Stampin’ Mini Dimensionals.
Do you have a New Year’s Resolution? I hope it involves stamping. You know that if you’re in Canada, you can order all you stamping and paper crafting supplies from my Online Store, right!? And that there’s a bunch of new products AND it’s time for Sale-a-bration when you get free stuff just by purchasing stuff that you were already going to get anyway!! How awesome is that!! Go to my ONLINE STORE and have a look!
