With Sympathy | ft. Stampin' Up "Birthday Blooms"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Finally got the voice over for this video working, I do apologize for the delay. I hope when you watch you'll find it was worth the wait.

To begin, I stamped the large flower from Stampin' Up "Birthday Blooms" with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic friendly cardstock. I then coloured it with Copic markers and fussy cut it out. The image is actually much larger, but I didn't want all that stuff.

The greeting is from Stampin' Up "Rose Wonder" set, also stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

I prepped a piece of 65lb black cardstock from Recollections with my powder tool and stamped the flourish images from Inkadinkado with VersaMark Ink, then heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

I adhered that panel to the front of a standard A2 sized card base, then added my greeting strip. It was a little harsh, so I used my black gelly roll pen to add some stitching detail.

I popped the flower up on foam tape and placed that on top. To finish off the card I used some clear Wink of Stella over the petals, glossy accents over the centre bits of the flower and some Black Nuvo Crystal drops to add some accents on the background.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar, over on Facebook and now on YouTube! Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Spotlight Stamping | Beautiful Thanks ft. Stampin' Up "Rose Wonder"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Normally I won't post using the same stamp set two days in a row, but the Rose Wonder was still out on my desk and I did say I was going to use it more often and two in a row is better than three in a month right? Maybe not, but I was so in love with how this card turned out that I had to share it right away.

This card could work for Valentine's Day, but I decided to turned it into a Thank You card, though you'll never really know that because I didn't put a greeting on the outside. Just a sentiment of thanks on the inside. Either way, this card can work for any occasion.

To begin, I used the MISTI and stamped the rose with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. I stamped it twice to get a good impression, something I seem to struggle with when using large stamps.

I then used a rectangle die from Spellbinders to cut out the centre. I adhered the centre piece down to a piece of black cardstock, cut slightly larger and used my Copics to colour the smaller panel.

I added a second piece of black cardstock to the front of a standard A2 sized card base and mounted the uncoloured frame to that. I then used some super strong two-way tape to add the smaller panel, making sure that my lines matched up.

To finish off the card I used my clear Spectrum Noir glitter brush pen over the coloured petals. I made sure only to do two passes with the glitter so we don't have issues like we talked about a couple weeks back. I decided it needed just a little something more, so I added a few clear drops from Pretty Pink Posh to look like water drops on a couple of the petals.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar, over on Facebook and now on YouTube! Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Happy Heart Day Series | Window Panel ft. Stampin' Up "Rose Wonder"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Happy Valentine's Day! Today I have the final card in this year's Happy Heart Day series. I've had this Rose Wonder set by Stampin' Up sitting in my craft room forever. Well not really forever, but for a very long time.

For the life of me, I cannot fathom why I don't use it more. The rose is perfect for so many different occasions, not to mention how great it is for practicing shading and colouring in any medium imaginable.

To begin, I used one of my rectangle dies from Spellbinders to cut a window out of the front of a standard A2 sized card base as well as from the piece of glitter paper that is the frame on the front. I used some post-it tape to line the glitter paper with the card base, and hold the die in place to cut them at the same time, this way the window lines up perfectly.

I then trimmed down a piece of acetate to match the size of the outer edge of the frame and stamped the rose with StazOn ink with the MISTI. I had to stamp it a couple of times because my ink pad is on its way out; even then there were a few places that the impression wasn't awesome, so I used a smooth surface black pen to fill in those areas.

I adhered the acetate to the back of the frame then mounted that to the front of the card base, so the entire front of the card is a window.

I stamped the "Love" with CTMH Tulip ink, again using the MISTI as this is a dye ink and doesn't give the best impression the first time around. I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink for the "with".

I wanted to provide a better picture of how this card would look if it were standing partially open, as cards tend to do when we display them.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar, over on Facebook and now on YouTube! Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Monochrome Monday Series | ft. Stampin' Up "Birthday Blooms"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

So maybe it isn't a true monochrome because of the green, but then does gray really count as a colour? I'm counting it. This one is pretty straightforward, so I'll fill in with a little bit of an update.

If you've been reading over the past couple weeks, you'll know that things have not been awesome. My impression as it stands is that things are getting better. But then I thought things were getting better before and boy was I wrong.

It's a slow and incredibly hard road right now and honestly I have no idea what will happen at the end of it. There are still moments where everything is raw and painful but they're more manageable, they don't hurt less and it's always hovering right at the back of my mind, every now and then they'll resurface and it's hard to breathe.

Card making and art has been a fantastic distraction so at least I'm not running out of things to blog. I would like to thank everyone who has been reading along and all the private well wishes you've sent. They mean the world to me.

To begin, I stamped the large blossom from Stampin' Up "Birthday Blooms" with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. I wanted to go incredibly pale with this one, so I stuck with the lightest of the cool grays and only a touch of green.

I adhered the panel to a slightly larger piece of grey cardstock and then mounted the whole lot to the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

To finish off the card I used some Glossy Accents by Ranger to the centre of the flower and some iridescent sequins across the panel.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Floral Thoughts Series | Wildflower Wishes ft. Stampin' Up "Flowering Fields"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

We say that change is a wonderful thing and maybe it is... later on. It's terrifying and it's saddening and it's stressful. There's a reason it's called a comfort zone. Anything outside that can be so overwhelming we're left paralyzed, we're stuck in one spot as our minds try to catch up with what's happening around us.

Change can be the most terrifying thing, especially when we don't expect it. When we're walking along our carefully planned out lives, then suddenly a tree blocks our way.  We didn't ask for the tree, we didn't ask for a shake up to our routine. Now we have to forge a new path, take a new road fraught with unfamiliarity.

But what if, while we find a way around this obstacle, we find a beautiful new place that we never even knew existed? So while change can be frightening and stressful, there is also a chance that we can find something we never expected to see.

To begin, I stamped the flower images from Stampin' Up "Flowering Fields" with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. I then masked all the images and sponged Peacock Feathers, Tumbled Glass, Spun Sugar and Milled Lavender Distress inks to create the background.

I removed the masked and coloured all the images with Copic markers and stamped the greeting with Memento ink.

I adhered the panel to the front of a standard A2 sized card base. To finish off the card I added clear Wink of Stella over the petals and the butterfly to give it some shimmer. Sadly, the camera just doesn't pick it up as well as I would like.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Inlaid Anniversary | ft. Stampin' Up "Rose Wonder" Dies

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Today I thought I would share a super fun technique where you use both the positive and the negative space of the die cuts to create a beautiful inlay design. I chose this die set because of all the pieces to work with, it's very much like a puzzle and I found it to be quite soothing to put together.

While I created this card with Anniversary in mind, it can easily be used as a shower card, a birthday card, a love card; and it doesn't have to be glitter paper, but really who doesn't want a card that sparkles like crazy in the light??

To begin, I used the large rose die cut from Stampin' Up's "Rose Wonder" set and die cut the flower from three different pieces of glitter cardstock.

I first cut down my panel from the medium pink then die cut the rose to get my base and I adhered the positive panel to a piece of cardstock that was cut down to be the same size.

I then cut the flower again from the darkest piece of glitter cardstock to get my outline. Finally I cut the flower from my lightest piece of glitter cardstock to get all the little pieces to inlay. If you have a package of Stick-It, this would be the time to use it. I did not have any so I went old school and used glue.

Much like a puzzle, I found it most efficient to work with the pieces that were obvious first, then made my way down through the smaller pieces. If you are lucky enough to have the paper stick in your die, it is even easier. I was not so lucky.

Because I didn't have Stick-It at the time, I covered my hidden background panel with wide two-way tape and worked slowly and carefully. The tape is quite strong so once it's down, it's down.

I prepped a strip of vellum with my powder tool and heat embossed the greeting from CTMH "Finding the Words" with white embossing powder and wrapped it around my panel to hide all of the adhesive.

I then mounted the completed panel to the front of a standard A2 sized card base. To finish off the card (because three types of glitter paper just doesn't sparkle enough) I adhered a few sequins across the panel using Aleene's Glass and Bead Adhesive.

Also, because I created this piece from three different card stocks, I can ultimately create three different cards! YAY!!

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Coloured on Kraft Series | Floral Thoughts of You ft. Stampin' Up "Birthday Blooms"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Today I want to share a floral thinking of you card, coloured on kraft cardstock with Prismacolor Premier Coloured Pencils. The more I work with these pencils the more I absolutely love them. I like to look back through my work and see how far my colouring has progressed. As with any other medium the key is practice, practice, practice.

This image from Stampin' Up is perfect for practicing in any medium, and if you don't have it, I highly recommend getting one, or one like it.

To begin, I stamped the floral image from Stampin' Up "Birthday Blooms" and the greeting with VersaMark ink on 65lb kraft cardstock. I chose this particular ink because it doesn't have the harsh lines that stamping in black has, and it is easy to cover up with pencil; creating this beautiful "no-line" look.

I then coloured the blooms with only three shades! All the petals are coloured with PC1032 Pumpkin Orange, PC1002 Yellow Orange and PC915 Lemon Yellow. I start with my medium shade in the areas where I know I want the shadows to be the darkest. I then go to my lightest shade for the for the rest of the petal with an incredibly light hand, finally I add in my darkest shade to deepen those shadows and start to bring out the depth of the flower.

I work back and forth, doing one petal at a time from start to finish until it looks just how I want it to. Each of these petals has 8-10 layers of colour so it is very important that you use a very light hand, as Prismacolor pencils are waxed based there will come a point where you just can't add any more layers because of the waxy build-up. So it will take a while, but with the layers you can get almost any shade between your darkest and lightest pencils.

For the stamen in the centre of the flower I used PC923 and highlighted with the Lemon Yellow.

All of the leaves are coloured with PC988 Marine Green, PC1096 Kelly Green and then PC1089 Pale Sage, working the same as the blossoms, one leaf at a time until it looks just right. Because many of the leaves have texture from the veins, I ignore those until I'm adding the final details, then I gently go over them with the medium and then the darkest shade of green.

I have found that I get the best results from keeping my tip as sharp as possible all the time. This typically means a lot of sharpening, so I use the T'GAAL Multi-Sharpener on setting one to keep a low but sharp point. I can avoid losing a lot of pencil material, because let's face it - coloured pencils aren't cheap.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. If you have any questions or just want to let me know what you think, please drop me a line in the comments section below. I love to hear from you!

Masculine Monotone | ft. Stampin' Up "The Open Sea"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Today, I wanted to share another masculine card that I created. This time using "The Open Sea" stamp set by Stampin' Up. I discovered, once I found the design that I liked, this card is very easy to reproduce and can be done so in any colour palette. It doesn't have to be monochrome, but I think it lends a very classy look to it.

This design could easily be used for any occasion, it all depends on what you put on the inside. I used this one for a birthday card.

To begin, I stamped the ledger image using CTMH Chocolate ink in the upper left corner of my panel, I then stamped it a second time offset down and to the right - without reinking my stamp. I love the way second generation stamping gives that antique faded look.

I then stamped the ship on a scrap of cardstock and cut it out using one of my oval dies from Spellbinder. I cut a cross piece from the same white paper.

I used a very dark brown cardstock to create border layers for all my pieces and then assembled them on the front of my standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Product Review Series | Tonic Nuvo Gilding Flakes

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

I love the look of metallics on my cards; and since I can't seem to get the hang of foiling (no joke) I recently turned to gilding flakes. I've seen several videos about them but never gave them much thought until I wanted to have some shiny bits on my cards. So I thought I would give them a whirl.

Today, I'm going to be doing a fairly in depth product review with my experiences using the Nuvo Gilding Flakes by Tonic Studios. You may remember from last week that I did the Nuvo Embellishment Mousse review, well as it turns out they make way more things. And I gotta say I'm a fan of all that I've tried. So don't be surprised if you see more Nuvo products in the weeks to come.

This is going to be an extensive post, so maybe grab a drink and enjoy!

The gilding flakes come in a pretty big jar: 200ml or 6.8 fluid ounces. I'm thinking they have to measure this by volume because these things are lighter than air and I doubt there is a difference between a full tub and an empty one. The price is quite reasonable (I paid $11.75 CAD at my local scrapbook store in Calgary). They are also widely available online.

Nuvo has released three amazing colours: Silver Bullion, Radiant Gold and Sunkissed Copper, unfortunately they have not released any other colours. I've been looking for a teal and I have had zero luck.

I wanted to include a close up of the flakes. I'm not kidding there is nothing to them. They are the finest, softest, lightest things that I have ever worked with. And that has made this a steep learning curve. Luckily because of how little you need and how many are in a jar I don't really feel all the bad about a few that floated away. Literally.

There are a few other things that you are going to need, depending on what you plan on doing with them. For the purposes of this review I have applied them in a couple different ways and there's a super fun technique that I'm going to touch on at the end. You will need:

• Dry duster cloths. I'm showing the Swiffer brand here, but a box from the dollar store will work just as well. If you cut them in half, they last twice as long.
• A stiff brush - I'm using a stenciling brush that came in a set of Faber-Castell Gelatos. I cut the bristles down by about half so that it would be a bit stiffer.
• VersaMark ink and Sticky embossing powder by Ranger
• Strong two-way tape (not pictured) I used 1/8" Skor tape
• Glue Pen (not pictured) I used a Martha Stewart ballpoint-tip glue pen
• Scrap paper to protect your work surface

So this looks like a hot mess, right? Well, you're right. At this point it is. A messy mess, to be completely honest; but I'll walk you through it.

• For the top portion - I prepped the paper with my powder tool and stamped a pretty intricate snowflake using VersaMark ink. I then heat embossed that with Sticky Embossing Powder from Ranger. The trick here is to remove the heat as soon as the powder melts. You don't want to over-heat it or it won't be sticky any more. I then added the flakes.
• For the middle portion - I added a strip of 1/8" Skor tape across the piece, removed the backing paper and added the flakes
• For the middle portion - I used the glue pen, wrote a word and a little picture. And added the flakes. This one is a bit trickier - it has to be a glue that is permanent when wet but repositionable when dry. And when doing this, curb your enthusiasm because it really does need to dry. You'll see why down below.

Once the foil was covering the sticky stuff for all three sections, I use the stencil brush in an upright position and work in small circles with a light hand to brush away the flakes that are not attached to the glue. As you become more comfortable (which happens fast) you can apply more pressure.

**** Here's where it's messy. If you are one of those people that needs to breathe on a regular basis, do so with care. These flakes are incredibly light and with one sigh, they will go every where. I frequently found myself holding my breath - so maybe work in small batches.****

For each one, I did a different stamped image and drew a different little word. As you can see on the first and second (Copper and Gold) I was too enthusiastic and added flakes before my glue was ready for it. More so with the first but you can see it by the "S" in the second as well.

I chose to do these on black cardstock (65lb by Recollections) so you could really see the detail that you are able to achieve.

It then occurred to me, that I wouldn't just be using the flakes on my cards. I typically add something else to make the card interesting (at least I try). So here, I gilded the snowflake using the Silver Bullion, then I used Distress Ink to colour the background. I was super pleased to see that the flakes completely resisted the colour and more over weren't ruined by the rubbing of the sponge. So YAY!

Finally, as I was playing around I was thinking what other things I could do with them so I could get more out of my supplies. What crafter doesn't like that?

Using my MISTI I stamped this leaf with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock, then coloured it with Copics.

I then put the paper back into the MISTI, prepped it with my powder tool and heat embossed the leaf, in the exact same position with the Sticky embossing powder by Ranger. I then used the Silver Bullion gilding flakes.

This would look absolutely stunning with more leaves in fall colours then gilded with the Sunkissed Copper or even the Radiant Gold. I can't wait to make a fall card like that. (Maybe you'll see one tomorrow.)

A couple of things to note:

• If you have respiratory problems, it may be in your best interest to used one of those dust masks - super inexpensive, you can get them in a dollar store or hardware store. These flakes are tiny and after you use the stencil brush to burnish them away those flakes become dust. Gross as it sounds you'll be blowing gilding flakes out of your nose. Trust me.
• Take your time. You know those sloths in the Zootopia movie, that work at the DMV? That is exactly how I feel when I'm working with these. Every movement seems so exaggerated and deliberate. But what's the alternative? A craft space filled with floating metallic flakes. No thank you.
• Don't feel bad if you can't get them all back in the tub. These seem to puff up a bit when the tub opens, so if you have to toss them. Do it. Otherwise you can always put them in a Ziploc sandwich/freezer bag to use the next time.

Overall, I am in love! Despite my angst over not being able to foil, this fills the gap for me for now. I would love to get more colours but apparently no one wants me to have shiny pretty things unless they are copper, silver or gold. Maybe one day, and on that day I will be the first in line to get new colours. I love love love these.

If you have not tried gilding flakes yet, I highly recommend them and I can say from personal experience that Nuvo makes some excellent ones. There will be cards to come - who doesn't like something shiny on their Christmas card? At such an accessible price point it would be a real shame to pass this up. There are lots of ways to use them. And if you're glue pen is fine enough you can even embellish some things that are already stamped or written out. Maybe even a colouring book page. Just for that something extra.

Thank you for sticking to the end, I hope you enjoyed today's review. If you haven't already please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts or reviews. If you have any questions about today's review or have a suggestion for a future review, please drop me a line in the comments section below. I would love to hear from you.

*disclaimer: I am not sent products to review, nor am I paid to review them. I review/compare the products that I use, that I find interesting and that I have purchased with my very own money. I receive no reward or incentive to review a product. All reviews are based on my personal experience while using the product and are my opinion only.

Autumn Silhouette | ft. Stampin; Up "Lovely as a Tree"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Today, I wanted to share a second card that was made for my Grandfather's birthday. My aunt lives very far away and can't be here for a lot of our family gatherings, so she asks me to create a card for the occasion.

We know it would be simple enough for her to find a card and mail it, but I think it's special (and super supportive) for her to still want a handmade card that the recipient can open during their dinner. He even asked where she was.

To begin, I prepped a piece of 110lb white cardstock with my powder tool and stamped this treeline image from Stampin' Up "Lovely as a Tree" stamp set with VersaMark ink. I then heat embossed it with copper embossing powder from Recollections.

Once that cooled, I sponged Hickory Smoke Distress Ink very lightly over the whole panel, then went over the grassy area with Shabby Shutters and over the sky with Faded Jeans. Once that was dry, the colours were too bright for the look I was going for, so I did one more pass with the Hickory Smoke.

The greeting is stamped from CTMH's "Belated Birthday" using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I mounted that piece to a piece of Kraft cardstock then adhered the whole thing to the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

Crafting with an Attitude Challenge

Anything Goes

Crafting from the Heart

Challenge #178

CAS Poppies | ft. Stampin' Up "Birthday Blossoms"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Ever dig through your stash and find something that you were so excited to get, then completely forgot you had? I know I've mentioned this before, but honestly it never ceases to surprise me. A set that I saw and wanted so badly, then finally got my hands on, then it made its way to the stamp pile just to be lost and forlorn.

I guess we all just get so excited with our new stuff. I mean we can't just order one thing at a time, we'd spend all our lives waiting. Then there it is, sitting there, all shiny and new and just begging to be used.

To begin, I stamped the single poppy and the greeting from Stampin' Up's "Birthday Blossoms" set with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. (Is that even a poppy?)

I then coloured them in with Copic markers, and created a tiny drop shadow with the warm grays.

I mounted the panel on a standard A2 sized card base, and that about wraps this one up. Super fast, super easy, and quite delicate IMO.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me over on the right side bar, if you are viewing this via mobile device, scroll to the bottom and click "View web version" first. You can also follow me over on Facebook. Toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

CAS on Sunday Challenge #115

One Layer Wonder

Addicted to Stamps and More
Challenge #257 - Make Your Mark

Wedding Wishes | Stenciling with Shimmer Paste

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Today I thought I would share something other than a birthday card. It's been a crazy stretch for birthdays and and cute critters, and I thought I'd mix it up a bit. At the same time, I wanted to share the first look at a new (to me) product that I stumbled across. I'm pretty pleased with the results of this structure paste as this is an incredibly detailed stencil and definitely not the easiest test.

To begin, I cut down a piece of 110lb cardstock and prepped it with my powder tool. I stamped the accent frame and the greeting from Stampin' Up's "Rose Wonder" in VersaMark and heat embossed it using ultra fine silver embossing powder.

I then masked the area off, and secured the panel to my non-stick craft mat, I then placed my Damask stencil over top and secured that in place using some painters tape. I wanted to create a tone on tone look with a bit of texture so I used my Mother of Pearl Simply Acrylic structure paste by Daler-Rowney and spread that evenly over the top. This is a new product for me and once I play with it a bit more I'll have a product review for you.

As with all structure and embossing pastes, it is very important that you clean your tools and stencils as soon as possible. While it will come off after it dries, it is far easier to do this while it is still fresh. I removed the stencil and mask and set the panel aside and cleaned up all the tools. I like to use warm water with some baby soap and a extra soft toothbrush to get into all the little nooks and crannies.

Once the panel was dry, I adhered it to a piece of silver glitter paper for a nice sparkling boarder. I then added a 1.8" satin ribbon to the left and a scattering of iridescent sequins. Finally I adhered the whole piece to a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me over on the right side bar so you don't miss any future posts. If you are viewing this via mobile device, scroll to the bottom and click "View web version" first, you can also follow me over on Facebook. Toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Such a Treasure | ft. Lawn Fawn "Ahoy, Matey"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

The moment I saw this set, I knew I had to have it. Not only because it's Lawn Fawn but because I love pirates. Love, love, love them! The ideas and sketches just poured out into my inspiration book. I just couldn't even stop.

The hardest part was deciding which one I wanted to do first.

To begin, I drew out rough shore lines on a piece of Strathmore Bristol Smooth cardstock with a regular pencil, then erased them so that I wouldn't see any pencil lines. I then traced the land side with my light brown Zig Clean Color Real Brush marker. I used my small Prisma Waterbrush pen to pull the colour away and let it fade. Once that was dry, I traced the water side with my Light Blue Zig and pulled it away using my water brush. Then I set the panel aside to completely dry.

I stamped the ship, palm trees and mountains from Lawn Fawn's "Ahoy, Matey" stamp set on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I also stamped the treasure box, both pirates and the loot. I coloured all the images in with Copic markers and fussy cut them out.

It was at this point I realized I had all ready misplaced the directional stamp from this set so I used one from Stampin' Up's "The Open Sea".

I used my fingers to tear away all the edges of the front panel, and used Antique Linen, Tea Dye and Ground Espresso to make the edges look as though they were burnt.

As I was placing the ship, tree and mountains I decided I wanted just a little something else, so I stamped the shark fin from Lawn Fawn's "Duh-Nuh" set and used that as well. For the map line (treasure line? path?) I made dashes with the chisel tip of my R27 Copic marker. Finally, I added foam tape to the back of the map piece and used my fingers to curl up some of the edges of the map. Then I mounted it on a standard A2 sized card base.

For the inside, I used the other pieces I had coloured and cut out to create a sweet little scene inside the card as well. I arranged the chest with the pirates and adhered them together before placing them inside the card.

For the sentiment I stamped the "You're a Treasure" with Lawn Fawn's Black Licorice ink and used my clear Wink of Stella over the diamond and coins.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't all ready, please follow my blog over on the right sidebar so you don't miss any future posts, if you are viewing this via mobile device just scroll to the bottom and tap "view web version". Toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Anything Goes

Sunset Sympathy

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

I was a little bit torn on whether to add this card to the Floral Thoughts mini series or let it stand alone. In the end it seemed more fitting to keep it outside the series.

I wanted to convey a simplistic beauty while maintaining a subtle sadness that generally comes with giving a sympathy card. I saw this colour combination on Pinterest (I wish I had saved the link to share it, she had so many fabulous combinations, it was a joy to read).

I find it somewhat therapeutic to create sympathy cards when I'm missing my Dad; channeling my sorrow into something beautiful that he would have loved. Classic tortured artist, right? Nothing that extreme, I assure you. Just a way to remember him creatively, I suppose.

To begin, I masked off the top and bottom inch of the panel with post-it tape. I then sponged Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Abandoned Coral Distress inks to create the sunset background.

Once that is completely dry, I used my MISTI to stamp the swaying tree from Stampin' Up's Thoughts & Prayers stamp set in CTMH archival black ink. I used the MISTI to ensure that I could stamp image a second time in case it wasn't as dark as I wanted.

I cut the panel down to 4 x 5 1/4" and mounted that on a black panel cut to 4 1/8 x 5 3/8", this creates the tiny black boarder. I then mounted the entire bit on a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own.