Hello Crafty Friend card

Hello. :) I was really lousy at being productive this evening, but I did manage to get this card done. I picked up this Paper Smooches stamp set a couple weekends ago at Happy Paper Pusher when I was taking my Lawn Fawn Class - more on that later.. :) I have desperately delayed buying my first Paper Smooches stamp set for quite some time, because I love Lawn Fawn so much, and definitely DO NOT need to get hooked on another adorable series of images. However, I couldn't resist this set. I have a feeling I'll be experiencing more Paper Smooches in the future. :)

I began by stamping the easel and sentiment in versamark and embossing with black powder using my heat tool. Once it cooled, I fussy-cut out the easel. I colored the wood in with Copics and gave the "canvas" area some shading. I set it aside.

Next, I stamped the easel again, lightly, in the middle of a piece of white cardstock. I stamped the paint splat in rainbow colors all around the easel image until I was satisfied with the mess. :) I adhered the embossed + colored easel down with rolled Glue Dots, directly on top of the second stamped easel. I adhered the white cardstock to some blue scrap to create a card, and finished with some baker's twine secured by notched I punched.

I love love love how colorful and cheerful this card turned out! Thanks so much for reading along with me... Happy crafting. :)

Emily

Materials used:

- I Heart Art stamp set (Paper Smooches)

- Coconut Swirl cardstock (Bazzill)

- Versamark pad, black embossing powder, and heat tool

- Dew Drop Inks: Tangelo, Grape Jelly, Bahama Blue, Pear Tart, Ladybug, Dandelion, Lilac Posies (Memento)

- E15, E37, C1 (Copics)

- Glue Dots

- Blue scrap paper

- Yellow baker's twine (Doodlebug)

Matryoshka Thinking of You

I made this card last night for my Grandma. I had a finished product in mind, and I am really happy with the results. It turned out just how I had hoped. :)

Started with A2 size white card/envelope; 3.75" x 5.25" white mat, distressed.

* I began by stamping 3 matryoshkas (basic grey) and 'thinking of you' (hero arts) in varying sizes onto smooth white cardstock. I stamped them with versamark dazzle champagne, and clear embossed them.

* I blended ink (dusty concord, spiced marmalade, broken china, and worn lipstick) over eat embossed image.

* With a 1.25" square punch, I punched each image out, so that each doll/sentiment would be placed in a different corner (think brady bunch credits). Gasp...Emily working with asymmetry (but still lots of symmetry, too).
* I rounded these with my corner chomper on the 1/4" setting.

* I knew I wanted them to lay perfectly flat, which can be tricky, so I ran them through my xyron create-a-sticker (old faithful!). This worked wonderfully, and they are still adhered wonderfully. (I've learned that it really pays to not only have a large, varying collection of adhesive, but also to take a moment to think about what will work best. With glue dots, or even ATG, I still would have had loose edges. The create-a-sticker was the best choice here.)

* After these were adhered, I cut the size ribbon I would need (american crafts, boutique bleu), and adhered with with ATG to the mat. Then I adhered the entire mat to the card using ATG.

* Finally, I used white enamel accents free-handedly to create a raised texture backgroud. I love how these add a soft, bubbly backdrop to the main image.

Voila!

Thanks for reading. :)

Emily

I was inspired by "Pumpkin Give Thanks Card" from p. 13 of the Winter 2011 Stamp It! magazine.