Happy Mother's Day

I based the design & floral embellishments for this card on Try Stampin' on Tuesday's Sketch #607 challenge.

I began by creating the flower layers with an old punch from The Paper Studio. I punched 3 layers for each flower, then glued them together, adding glue just to the centers. I finished them off by adding a gem in the middle of each.

I embossed the panel to go behind the flowers with the "Floral Fantasy" embossing folder from Cuttlebug (discontinued). I matted it with navy cardstock to help it stand out, then adhered that to my white A2 card base.

I cut a strip from an inky background I'd made several months ago. I adhered that to my card, and then glued the flowers over it.

I stamped a greeting from Simon Says Stamp's "All About Mom" stamp set in Lawn Fawn Deep Sea ink. Finally, I die cut a vine using one of the Spellbinder's "Sprigs" dies (discontinued), and glued that next to the greeting.

I'm also entering my card in 613 Avenue Create's May challenge: "Anything Goes" (playing the optional twist of "Say It with Flowers")

Floral Happy Mother's Day

  

I created this card for my brother & sister-in-law to give our mom for Mother's Day. I used Sketch #SC741 at Splitcoaststampers.com for my design.

After I sized it in Photoshop to fit the sketch dimensions, I printed the "Coneflowers and Butterfly" digital stamp from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps onto a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper. I used my watercolors to paint it, following a reference photo for the flowers I found online. I also printed the greeting, from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Mother's Day Sentiments" digital stamp set, onto a strip of white cardstock, & rounded the corners with my 1/8" We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper.

I die cut the image panel with a "Nesting Oval Infinity" die from Hero Arts. I adhered it & the greeting to a panel of blue patterned paper from Die Cuts with a View's "The Citrus Matstack." I added that to an orange panel from the same paper pad, & adhered a strip of an orange dot paper along the right side. That finished this super-easy-to-put-together card. And yes, our mom loved it!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Aud Sentiments Challenge #247: "Flowers + a Sentiment"

613 Avenue Create's May Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Repeat Impressions Theme Challenge #M521: "All About Moms"

Punny Mother's Day Card

 

I have always loved a good pun, & when I saw this card on Pinterest, I thought, I've got to make one myself. I used the "Color Layering Orchid in a Pot" stamps & coordinating dies from Hero Arts (discontinued) for my flower. Because of the relatively large sizes of the various elements, I made my card about 4-1/4x7-1/4"

I found some reference photos for orchids online, & one that had yellow & magenta petals with white centers intrigued me. I began by die cutting the main orchid image, so I could get the flowers & stems placed correctly. I stamped the first flower layer in Hero Arts Lemon Yellow. I used Hero Arts Raspberry Jam for the magenta, & heat embossed the centers with Ranger White Super Fine Detail powder. I stamped the stems with Lawn Fawn's Doe ink; & used Hero Arts Lime Green, Lawn Fawn Freshly Cut Grass, & Hero Arts Pine inks for the leaves. I stamped the dirt with Memento Espresso Truffle ink, & finally the pot with Lawn Fawn Moonstone. I then die cut the pot, leaves, & dirt with the coordinating dies. I used a small strip of lightweight cardstock as a backing piece to glue the pot, dirt, & leaves together, to make them easier to handle & position.

I die cut the letters for "Y'Orchid" with Lawn Fawn's "Quinn's Capital ABCs," pulling in the apostrophe from "Quinn's 123s." Then I stamped them with the coordinating stamps & Raspberry Jam ink. I stamped the first part of the greeting using Papertrey Ink's "Polka Dot Parade" alphabet stamps (discontinued). Initially, I was going to use those for the "Happy Mother's Day" at the bottom as well, but they were too large, so I opted for Lawn Fawn's "Claire's ABCs" instead.

After I stamped the top & bottom portions of the greeting, I glued down the die cut & stamped letters. Finally, I glued on the orchid, letting the very top overlap the "Y'Orchid" word slightly. My mom really got a kick out of this!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Aud Sentiments Challenge #274: "Flowers + a Sentiment"

613 Avenue Create's May Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Repeat Impressions Theme Challenge M521: "All About Moms"

One-of-a-Kind Mom

 

Send a Smile 4 Kids needs Mother's Day cards, so I created this one for them. The theme of Double Trouble's current challenge, "A Magical Day," inspired the imagery & the font for the greeting. I also did the Double Dare for this challenge, by using a "Checkered Frames" die from Impression Obsession. The inspiration for this card came from one I saw on Pinterest.

I downloaded the unicorn image from Pixabay.com. I opened it in Photoshop, and sized it to fit my panel inside the frame. I used the Springtime Flourish font on my computer for the greeting. I typed each line on a separate layer, and then used the Move tool to position them. After I merged just the greeting layers into one layer, I added a purple-to-pink gradient layer for the unicorn. I created a clipping mask so it would affect just the image. I did the same gradient--reversed--on another layer, for the greeting, & did a clipping mask for that as well. Finally, I printed it onto a piece of white cardstock.

I die cut my frame from a piece of purple "Watercolor" patterned paper from Recollections. I also cut a panel of white cardstock with the same frame die. I adhered the outer white cardstock frame to an A2 size card base, and inlaid the purple frame inside. I saved the squares from the white cardstock I'd die cut, & inlaid each into its place in the purple frame.

I matted my focal panel with some more of the purple "Watercolor" paper, and adhered it to my card base. Finally, I used Ranger Multi Medium Matte to glue on sequins around the unicorn's neck, & added Star Dust Stickles to the horn.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

613 Avenue Create March Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Repeat Impressions "Anything Goes" Challenge ~ M2421

Canine Happy Mother's Day

My brother & sister-in-law's only "children" are their 2 dogs. He asked me to make a Mother's Day card from the dogs to her. I found this card on Pinterest, and liked the overall design of the paw print heart.

I created a blank canvas in Photoshop, sized to 5.75x5.75". After creating guides for 1/4" margins on all sides and adding a couple more horizontal guides where I wanted the text, I drew a heart with the custom shape tool. I initially planned to use this as a mask for the paw prints, but ended up making it just a guide to place them. I then drew a paw print, again using the custom shape tool, inside the heart. From there, I just copied that layer multiple times, resizing as needed, to fill the heart with paw prints. Finally, I turned the visibility of the heart layer off, so it wouldn't print in the end.

To make the paw prints rainbow-colored, I first merged all the paw print layers to make one layer. I then created a blank layer above it, and filled that with a rainbow gradient, going from the top left to the bottom right corners. I clipped the gradient layer to the paw print layer to create a mask, which colored only the paw prints.

I typed the first part of my greeting at the top of the panel. I sized it to fit, and colored the text by sampling the purple from the rainbow paw prints. I did the same for the rest of the greeting, this time making it blue.

I cut a piece of Bazzill Marshmallow cardstock to size, and printed the card front on it. I matted that with a 6x6" piece of navy cardstock, & adhered the card front to a white 6x6" card base. I love how this came out, even though it was rather time consuming copying & positioning all the paw prints! Hopefully my SIL will love it, too.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "For a Special Lady"
Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"
613 Avenue Create #221: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)
Creative Knockouts #297: "Funny Card" (I think it's funny, anyway.)

Mother's Day Butterflies

Mother's Day here in the U.S. is fast approaching! I made this card for my brother & SIL to give to our mom. The sketch at My Favorite Things' Wednesday Sketch Challenge this week inspired the design.

I cut a piece of coral cardstock to 4x5.25", and die cut 3 of the "Flutter of Butterflies - Solid" by My Favorite Things (possibly discontinued) from that. I then stamped the negative piece with the "Romantic Script" background stamp by My Favorite Things. I heat embossed that with Ranger Silver Pearl embossing powder, to give some subtle interest to the background.

For the background panel, I cut a piece of Canson XL Mixed Media paper to 4-1/4x5-1/2". I masked off 1/8" around all 4 sides, and placed my coral panel in the center. I traced the butterfly openings onto the mixed media paper, and mostly erased the lines so they only showed up faintly. I used a makeup blending brush to apply Distress inks in Mustard Seed, Evergreen Bough, & Peacock Feathers to the areas I'd traced, then spritzed the panel lightly with water. I let the colors blend a bit, then dried the paper with my heat tool. I was really glad, when I removed the tape from around the edges, that the ink had not bled under it at all! (I have had that happen a time or two.)

Since I had decided to make a shaker card with one of the die cut windows off the edge of the card, I needed to figure out how to contain the beads I planned to use. My first attempt was using a page protector and my Fuse tool. That didn't work out very well, since when I fused around the (approximate) perimeter of the bottom butterfly, it didn't leave much room within the pouch for the beads to move. So I didn't even bother fusing the other 2 pockets.

On to Idea #2, which was to use acetate. I cut a piece of Grafix Duralar acetate to 8-1/8x5-1/4". I scored it along the long side at 4" & 4-1/8" to create a 1/8"-wide "spine," and folded along the score lines. I used double-sided tape to adhere one side to the back of my coral panel, making sure the folded edge was on the right side where the die cut opening went over the edge. I then added an insane amount of foam tape, doubling the layers to give my seed beads plenty of room to move. I added cornstarch in the openings with my anti-static powder bag, and wiped it away with a dry cloth. I cleaned any powder residue with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol, then dried the acetate with a paper towel. After I added my beads in each opening, I (carefully!) removed all the foam tape liners. I folded the other half of the acetate over, adhering it to the foam tape. I carefully turned it over and gave it a shake--and it worked!

After I adhered my inked background panel to a white A2-size card base, I added more double-sided tape to the back of my shaker. I mounted that onto my card, and then moved on to the overlay butterflies. I used the corresponding dies from the "Flutter of Butterflies - Lace" set to die cut 3 butterflies from 40 lb. vellum. I also cut the bodies from light grey cardstock. I applied a small piece of 1/8" wide tape to the middle of each butterfly, and adhered them in place over the windows on my card. I glued the bodies on with liquid glue, and bent the wings up to give some added dimension.

For the greeting, I cut a narrow strip from white cardstock. I printed one of the "Mother's Day Sentiments" digital greetings from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps onto it, cut a banner end, and glued it to my card. And that finished it! A lot of work & mental focus, but I so love how it came out in the end!

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"
Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Anything Goes"
613 Avenue Create: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Floral Mother's Day Card

The theme for a2zScrapbooking's April challenge is "Flower Power." It's been quite a while since I've entered one of their challenges, but I decided to have a go at this one. I don't have too many Hero Arts floral stamps, but I did purchase the "Color Layering Hibiscus" set some months ago, and figured I'd use that to make a Mother's Day card for my brother & sister-in-law to give to our mom.

I found this card by Sandy Hancock through Pinterest, and thought it looked like an interesting interactive card. I began by creating the panel of patterned paper for the card front. I didn't feel like taking a lot of time to dig through my--ahem--extensive patterned paper collection for one that would work with the hibiscus flowers. So I figured I'd create my own. I used one of the leaf images from "Color Layering Hibiscus" and Memento Pistachio ink to stamp all over a panel of white cardstock. When I finished, I decided I should have done it on a green cardstock, for a tone-on-tone look. But I wasn't about to start over, so I just used some Shabby Shutters Distress ink on a mini ink blending tool and inked the whole panel. I was careful to use a VERY light hand, to avoid the dreaded foam blotch marks! I honestly think it came out quite well. :)

For the hibiscus flowers themselves, I asked my mom what her 3 favorite colors are. She came back with red, yellow, & blue, or substitute green for blue. So I decided to make red & yellow hibiscus, since I have never seen them in blue. I used Memento Dandelion, Cantaloupe, Hero Arts Butter Bar, and Altenew Ruby Red (for the center) inks for the yellow flowers. For the red, I started with Hero Arts Pale Tomato, then added Memento Lady Bug & Altenew Ruby Red. I initially stamped the center for those with Hero Arts Red Royal ink, but it ended up blending in too much. So I just restamped over the centers with Hero Arts Raspberry Jam. For the leaves, I used Hero Arts Green Hills & Memento Cottage Ivy. Finally, I die cut them with the coordinating dies.

I assembled the card as per the instructions in the tutorial Sandy provided. They seemed difficult to follow at first, but when I was actually making the card while reading them, it wasn't too hard. I didn't have a suitable 2" circle punch like she used, so I used a 2" We R Memory Keepers "Nesting Circles" die instead to cut all the circles.

I didn't have suitable stamps for the greetings, so I found a greeting online for the card front. I created a blank, 2" square canvas in Photoshop, and used the elliptical shape tool to draw a circle. I ended up making the circle a little smaller than my canvas, just to make sure my greetings would show through the die cut windows on my card. I typed the greeting, as well as another one saying just "Happy Mother's Day," in the circles, making the letters green to complement my custom-stamped patterned paper. I printed just the greetings (not the background circles) on a piece of white cardstock that I'd cut to 3.5x5".

View of the card when it's open

I cut the greetings apart, and positioned them behind the window openings. It was not the easiest thing to get them adhered to the back flaps of the card, but I managed! After I adhered them, I glued my flowers & leaves on to the card front, slightly overlapping the circle opening. I didn't like how easy it was for the card to unfold the "wrong" way, so the whole thing opened. It took some doing, and some experimentation, but I finally was able to "close" it to a degree with 2 very thin strips of foam tape along part of the top & bottom of the base. I had also cut about a 1/4" piece from the top & bottom of the narrower greeting piece, so it would slide between the foam tape strips. It is still a little difficult to get it to open, but it does, and I'm happy with it! Hopefully, our mom will love it too.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

613 Avenue Create #208: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)
A Blog Named Hero: "Put a Flower on It"

Two Birthday Cards

This past weekend, my mom turned 81 years young! My brother & SIL were able to come down and help us celebrate. I created these cards for Mama, including one from our 3 cats.

I totally CASEd this card from one that Darlene DeVries did recently for Live Love Cards. In fact, it was seeing her card that made me get the "Owl" die from Taylored Expressions. Mama & I both love owls, so I figured this would be a great card for her!

I die cut the owl pieces from scraps of cardstock. I used "regular" colors for the body, eyes, beaks, & feet; but made their bellies rainbow hues. After cutting all the pieces (and managing not to lose any!), I glued everything together to create 5 owls. A fine-tip applicator bottle & cross-lock tweezers come in VERY handy for operations like this! :)

For the fence, I stamped the Altenew "Wood Pallet Background" onto Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper with Hero Arts Wet Cement ink. I then blended Brushed Corduroy Distress ink over the panel. I also stamped & inked a thin strip for the cross piece, glued it in place, and stamped the nails with Hero Arts Charcoal ink.

I cut another piece of bristol for the sky, and inked with Tumbled Glass & My Favorite Things' "Mini Cloud Edges" stencil. I adhered that & the fence panel to my white A2 card base. Then I glued the owls in place, and stamped the letters to spell "happy" on their bellies with Essentials by Ellen's "Basic Alpha" stamps & Versafine Onyx Black ink. I also glued down a balloon I'd die cut with a Lawn Fawn "Party Balloons" die, tied a thread around the bottom of the balloon, and glued the other end, plus a bow I'd tied with another piece of thread, to the one owl's wing.

Finally, I die cut the "birthday" from My Favorite Things' "Cause for Celebration" set from black cardstock, and glued it in place on the fence. I coated that & the balloon with clear Spectrum Noir shimmer pen, and followed that with Glossy Accents on both pieces.

I got the inspiration for my second card from this one by Amy Yang for My Favorite Things' blog. Because I was using digital images, I began by creating a blank "canvas" in Photoshop. I used that to size several kitty images from Bugaboo Stamps, and then printed them onto white cardstock. I colored them with my Prismacolor pencils, and fussy cut them out.

I used 140 lb. watercolor paper for both my frames & grass panels. I first cut a piece to A2 size, and inked it with Distress inks in Broken China & Peacock Feathers, letting the color fade towards the top of the panel. I spritzed it with water from my Distress Sprayer, let that sit for a few seconds, then blotted it dry. I cut the 3 frames from that panel, going from largest to smallest, with a craft knife & metal ruler. I inked more watercolor paper with Twisted Citron & Mowed Lawn Distress inks, distressed with water, and die cut them with the "Grassy Hillside Borders" from Lawn Fawn. I stamped the "Happy Birthday," from My Favorite Things' "Big Birthday Sentiments" set on the top of the largest frame, with Versafine Onyx Black ink.

To assemble my card, I placed the frames on my card base, one inside the other, to determine where my background panel needed to go. After gluing one of the grass pieces to the background panel, I adhered it to my card base. I glued another grass panel to my innermost frame piece, and popped the whole thing up with one layer of foam tape. I proceeded in this manner for the middle & outer frames, adding another layer of foam tape each time, so that my outer frame has 3 layers.

Inside of cats' card

I used a combination of liquid glue & foam tape to adhere my kitties in place in my little scene. For the inside, I created a 5.25x4" canvas in Photoshop, and positioned "Bosko" from Jane's Doodles in the lower left corner. (Bosko is one of Mama's favorite characters among all my images, so I try to include him on the cats' card to her every birthday!) I created the greeting and signatures, and even drew a little paw print beside each cat's name, using the Custom Shape tool in Photoshop. I printed that out onto white cardstock, & adhered it to the inside of the card. I can easily say, she got a kick out of these cards!

I'm entering these cards in the following challenges:

Dies R Us #82: "Life's Events"

613 Avenue Create: "Anything Goes"

Incy Wincy Designs: "Let's Celebrate"

Happy Mother's Day - Times 3!

Yes, here in the U.S., Mother's Day is this weekend! Even though it's on Sunday, my brother, sister-in-law, & I are celebrating with our mom Saturday, so my brother & his wife can spend Sunday with her parents & grandmother. I made three cards total to give to our mother: one from me, one from my brother & sister-in-law, and one from our 3 cats (I call Mama their Grandma! LOL). This first one is from me.

I got my inspiration from this card that Jennifer McGuire had on her YouTube channel & blog. Debby Hughes' lesson in Online Card Classes' "Sparkle & Shine" class also provided inspiration for the background. I used Simon Says Stamp's "Leaves Background" stamp, Versamark, & Perfect Pearls to stamp the background, then stamped over it with My Favorite Things' "Romantic Script" background stamp. It's very subtle, & doesn't show up well in the photo, but it has a nice shimmer.

I used a Nellie's Choice "Straight Hearts" die to cut the window, and Simon Says Stamp's "Happy" die & Lawn Fawn's "Smitty's ABCs" for the greeting. I also stamped the "Frangipani" from Our Daily Bread Designs on watercolor paper, heat embossed with Ranger Silver Pearl powder, and watercolored the flowers with my Inktense pencils. I fussy cut the image, cutting off the leaves, then inked those with Twisted Citron & Mowed Lawn Distress inks, sprayed them with Perfect Pearls solution, and let them dry. Finally, I glued the leaves to the flower cluster, cut a piece of white cardstock the same shape, glued the flower cluster to the card front, & backed it with the white cardstock piece. I stamped "Mother's Day" in Hero Arts Ultra Pink ink, to play off the flowers, and assembled my tulle shaker card, following Jennifer's instructions.

For my second card, I took the design idea from this post that I found via Pinterest. I stamped multiple flowers & leaves on a piece of white cardstock, using Paper Smooches' "Botanicals 2" stamps & Hero Arts Lemon Yellow, Cornflower, Lime Green & Bubble Gum; and Lawn Fawn Wild Rose & Fresh Lavender inks. I used Colorbox Putty ink to stamp some of the flowers & leaves, just as a "placeholder." After cutting the first part of my greeting with Winnie & Walter's "Happy" die, I applied adhesive with my Zig 2-way glue pen to the Putty-colored images. I let that dry so it was tacky, then foiled them with various colors of Heidi Swapp foil. Again, the photo doesn't do it justice, but it has a nice shine in real life!

After die cutting a frame from an A2 size white cardstock panel with a Taylored Expressions' "Frame in Frame" die, I used my laser printer to print "Mother's Day" on the center portion. I then foiled that with Rose Gold Heidi Swapp foil & my mini Minc machine. I added white craft foam to the back of the "happy" & the frame, then adhered everything to my A2 card base.

This third card is from our cats. I thought the bird patterned paper, from Crate Paper's "Bloom" 6x6" pad was particularly cute for a cat card! I used these instructions to guide me in completing this card. I used 2 of the "Straight Hearts" dies for the window. For the heart on the belly band, I die cut one that was a little smaller than the window, printed "Happy Mother's Day" on it with my laser printer, and foiled it with Heidi Swapp Mint foil & my Minc. I adhered that to a piece of teal cardstock, & used my scissors to cut a small border.

For the card base, I inked a piece of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper with Cracked Pistachio, Evergreen Bough, & Pine Needles Distress inks to create an ombre. Then I stamped My Favorite Things' "Romantic Script" background stamp in Hero Arts Soft Granite ink over both sides. I don't know really why I chose that particular stamp, since this is a not-so-elegant cat card, but I just wanted a little extra visual texture & interest.

I stamped Rubbernecker Stamps' "Cat on Yarn Basket" image onto another panel of bristol paper. I colored it with my Tombow markers, using a water brush to blend the color on the cat & basket. We actually don't currently have a black cat, but I thought that would be a nice compromise, rather than trying to decide which of our cats would be featured. I did go over the eyes & mouth with a black marker, and added white gel pen detailing for the whiskers, just to make them pop more. Then I adhered that inside my card. Finally, I printed my greeting (created in Photoshop) onto a piece of pink cardstock, & adhered it to the bristol panel, so it would be below the window in the card front.

I'm entering my cards in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Work It Wednesday: "April Showers Bring May Flowers" (first card only)
Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes" (cat card only)
Pile It On #130: "Animal" (cat card only)
Die Cut Divas: "May Flowers" (first 2 cards only)

Mom, You're the Best!

The deadline for Mother's Day cards to be at Operation Write Home is March 31. I did make a few of those for them, but also put in a couple of general "mom" cards, including this one, since these have a longer shelf life.

I began by choosing the "Stitched Filmstrip" die from Pretty Pink Posh and Hero Arts' "Antique Butterflies & Flowers" stamp & die set. I thought the smaller butterflies were the perfect size to put in the openings in the die cut. After stamping 2 of the butterflies on white cardstock, using Memento Tuxedo Black dye ink, I colored them in with colored pencils. Because the images are so tiny, I just colored them solidly, with no blending. When I'd finished with that, I die cut them with the coordinating dies, and also die cut the filmstrip from both light and darker blue cardstock.

I glued the light blue filmstrip die cut to a piece of light green cardstock, and cut the excess green, so it just served as a backer piece. Then I trimmed my two larger butterflies so they would fit in the spaces, and glued them and the smaller butterfly in place. I glued the darker blue filmstrip piece to the back, offset slightly to give a shadow effect. This is a tip I picked up from Nichol Magouirk, just to add some visual interest without bulk.

For the background, I cut a piece of patterned paper from Prima's “Botanical Collection” 6x6” pad to 4-1/8x5-3/8". I matted that with another piece of the light blue cardstock I'd used for the filmstrip die cut, which I'd cut to a standard A2 size. For the greeting, I decided on one from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Mother's Day Sentiments," and printed that on a tag I'd die cut with one of Pretty Pink Posh's "Stitched Tags" dies. I die cut another, darker green tag with the same die, and layered that one behind the greeting tag. Again, this gives depth without bulk. I glued the completed filmstrip and greeting in place, and finally adhered the card front to a white A2 card base.

I'm entering this card in a2z Scrapbooking's March Challenge: "Color It In."

Morning Glories for Mom

The deadline for Mother's Day cards to be at Operation Write Home is March 31. That gives them time to get them sent out, so our heroes overseas can get them to their moms by Mother's Day. Cards that don't specifically say "Mother's Day" though, have a longer shelf life, since they can be sent anytime. So, while I am planning to make some Mother's Day cards, I started with just a general one.

I used OWH's Sketch #249 for my design:

I must admit, the small banners along the left side were the hardest to do. Because I wanted to use patterned paper, not only did I need small patterns, I had to hand-cut each 5/8" square banner! Thankfully I was able to find papers with small patterns in my scrap stash, 4 each of green and blue tones.

For the focal panel, I chose the "Morning Glory" and "Mother's Day Sentiments" digital stamps by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. I created a 2x3" digital canvas in Photoshop, and sized the image & greeting to fit. After printing them onto a piece of white cardstock, I colored the morning glories with colored pencils, using Gamsol on a paper stump to blend the colors.

I used one of the papers in graphic45's "Botanical Tea" 6x6" patterned paper pad for the background panel. I felt the flowers in the paper coordinated well with the morning glories. After cutting the banners, I inked around the edges of the green ones with Peeled Paint, and the blue ones with Faded Jeans Distress inks, just to set them off from the background better. I matted the background with a piece of light teal cardstock, and adhered that to a piece of dark green cardstock cut to 4.25x5.5". I used the same green to mat the focal panel. Finally, for the green strip and square, I used another piece from my scraps, that was actually the flip side of one of the banner papers. I punched a heart in that paper, and punched around that with a 1" square punch.

To finish assembling the card, I determined how far from the left side to place the banners, then arranged & glued them in place. I glued the green patterned paper strip next to them, and adhered the focal panel in place. Finally, I glued down the heart-punched square, and adhered the finished card front to an A2-size card base. As an added touch, I applied tiny drops of Glossy Accents to the flowers & leaves in the morning glories, to simulate dew drops.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Operation Write Home's Sketch #249
Simon Says Stamp's Monday "No Rules"
Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes"
Simon Says Stamp's Work It Wednesday: "Spring"

Happy Mother's Day!

I offered to make a card for my brother & his wife to give our mom for Mother's Day, and he jumped at the chance to give an "Andrea La Vigne Original"! So here's my latest.

I took my inspiration from Operation Write Home's Sketch #152, changing the circle & scalloped circle to ovals, and enlarging the measurements to make a 5.5x8" card:

I stamped the "Violet" stamp from Our Daily Bread Designs on watercolor paper and die cut it with a Spellbinders Grand Ovals die. With the paper still in the die, I inked around the panel with Tumbled Glass Distress ink, and colored the violets with Inktense pencils. I did the sentiment in Photoshop, and printed it directly on the panel. Then I matted that with a panel cut with a Spellbinders Grand Scalloped Ovals die.

The green patterned paper is from graphic45's "Botanical Tea" 6x6" paper pad, and the more floral design is from Anna Griffin's "Olivia Collection" 6x6" pad. I used Core'dinations cardstock in 2 shades of purple for the card front and scalloped mat.

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

Our Daily Bread Design's "Spring Colors and ODBD Stamps"
Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes"

Hydrangea for Mother's Day

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps has a challenge at their blog to use an oval. Since I was already on a Mother's Day card kick, I decided to make another one for this challenge.

I chose a hydrangea stamp by Hero Arts for the focal image. I stamped the image on watercolor paper in Archival Jet Black ink, since I knew I wanted to color it with my Inktense pencils and water. Because of the size of the image, I didn't really use a specific sketch.

The largest oval die by Spellbinders that would still fit well on an A2 card was a bit smaller than the image, so I decided to do a technique called "outside the box" die cutting. I positioned the die over the image where I wanted it, and made small pencil marks where the cutting line crossed the lower leaves. Then I took my scissors and cut around the portions of the leaves that would hang outside the oval. I replaced the die, making sure those leaf sections were on top of the die. Then I ran it through my Grand Calibur machine. The die cut everything but the portions of the leaves that were on top, so they hang out beyond the edges of the oval.

To get the coloring right on the flower itself, I looked up images of hydrangeas on Google. I decided on a purple flower, so colored only select areas of the petals with a purple Inktense pencil, to avoid having one solid color. I used 2 different greens on the leaves to add shading & further dimension. I blended the violet & greens with my water brush. Then I mounted the oval on the card front, made using a patterned paper from Teresa Collins "Fabrications--Canvas" 6x6" paper pad, with foam tape.

For the greeting, I printed one from this digital stamp set by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps on a strip of green cardstock. I cut it narrower than the card front, and mounted it on foam tape, to have it the same level as the focal image panel. I then cut small pieces of the same cardstock into banner ends, and tucked them under the ends of the greeting panel, slightly lower, and glued them in place. I think this gives a nice effect. Finally, I adhered the completed card front panel to the card base with my ATG adhesive runner. Another pretty Mother's Day card for one of our heroes overseas to send to his/her mother!

I am entering this in Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' Challenge #5, "Use an Oval."

Mom, You're the Best!

I got the clear stamp I used for the focal image on this card several years ago. I don't remember where, when, or even who did the design! But I must have thought it was cute (I still do), hence the purchase. And I have never used it until now. I was looking for an image for a general "mother"-themed card (not specifically Mother's Day), and came across this stamp. It looked perfect for what I wanted, so I decided it was finally time to get it inky!

I used this Operation Write Home sketch as the basis for my design:

I stamped the image in Jet Black Archival ink on watercolor paper. I then die cut it with a Spellbinders Classic Oval die. For the oval mat, since the next larger die was too large, I traced around the outer edge of the one I used to die cut the image, and cut that out with scissors. Then I colored the image with Inktense pencils, feathering the color out with my water brush to add a "shaded" look.

I embossed the yellow cardstock with the Berry Swirls embossing folder by Sizzix. I matted that on light blue cardstock, so the blue just peeks out above and below the yellow. I used a greeting from this digital stamp set by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, printing it on a scrap of pink cardstock. My initial plan was to pop up the greeting panel on foam tape, then have small banner ends (cut separately) peeking out from under each end. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough room on the card front to do this, so I decided just to round the corners with my We R Memory Keepers 1/8" Corner Chomper and adhere the panel to the card.

I am entering this in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Mother's Day or Special Girl" challenge. (What "girl" is more special than your mother?)