Mixed Bunch Card

I used several great but easy techniques to create this card with the Mixed Bunch stamp set.  It is a no layer card so that means no extra postage.  I hardly ever do a card without some kind of layer or embelishment, I really don't mind placing an extra stamp on a card after I've spent all that time making it special.  Most of the cards I make go for only 1 stamp though.

I started by placing 4 post-it notes in a square in the corner before stamping the flower.  This is called masking, making it so part of the area where you are stamping doesn't get the ink on it.  I also used the "Rock and Roll" technique on the flower by inking it up with Daffodil Delight ink and then rolling the outer edges of the flower stamp in Pumpkin Pie ink.  This gives it dimension without much trouble at all! 

After I stamped the flower I stamped another flower on another post-it, being sure the edge of the flower was stamped so it would be above the sticky part.  Then I cut it out (actually I only cut half of it out since the other half would be on the other mask and didn't need to be cut) and placed it exactly over the flower image I had stamped on the card.  That is double masking!  With the border mask and the flower mask in place I sponged on some Pacific Point ink lightly in the remaining unmasked area of the card.

It is kind of like magic when you remove all the masks.  This is a fun technique.  After removing the masks I doodled some lines and stamped a greeting with the Thoughts and Prayers set.

I'm thinking about doing some straight line embossing using my Simply Scored tool instead of the doodle lines.  If I get around to it I'll post so you can see the difference.  I think the doodles are easier but I'm always dissatisfied with my doodling and the scored lines would be more "perfect". 

Guess what else I did today - planted more beets and some squash in my garden!  I reckon it doesn't make your day but I'm all excited about it when my garden starts sprouting up in the Spring.  I have lots of spinach and lettuce coming up as well as snow peas, corn, tomatoes and beets.  Oh, and I planted these funny gourds they call snake gourds.  They are supposed to curl around and look a lot like a big ol' snake.  I hope they turn out looking like the picture on the front of the package.  Today I planted 8 hills of yellow squash, 8 hills of zucchini and 6 hills of butternut squash and another row of beets.  Did I mention that I LOVE beets??? 

Fall Cards

  Happy Harvest!  I love Fall.  The only thing I don't like about it is that Winter follows and I don't like the cold weather or the bare trees.  Funny how much I enjoy seeing the leaves change color and watching them fall and I even enjoy raking them but I don't like the bare trees all that leaves behind.  I think I enjoy raking leaves is because we had so much fun with it when we were kids.  Not only did we rake huge piles to jump into and crawl and hide in, we raked piles into our play houses and raked roads from my sister's house to mine and then on to our other sister's "house".  It was great fun and filled many a Fall afternoon.  If you remember the picture I posted of  my house last week, the home I grew up in is just through the woods and also had a large yard with lots of trees so the leaves were ample.   

Anyway, these pretty cards are some of the swap cards I got at either the Birmingham or the Louisville Stampin' Up Regional meetings.  These all use the amazing 2-step set, Gently Falling.  I've seen so many beautiful Fall cards made with this set.  They are all great but I wanted to show a close up of 2 of the cards.  This great Fall card from my talented friend, Mary Robinson features a fun and easy technique where you stamp a background for your stamping with one of the clear blocks.  Just ink up the block without a stamp on it and stamp on your cardstock.  It leaves a nice shadow as a base for your focal image.  I love the Fall colors.  I reckon I might have told yall how much I like Fall, right?

The other card uses the masking technique.  Although it takes a little more time to get ready it is a relatively easy technique.  In this sample it requires a bit of cutting but once you have a mask cut out you can use it quite a few times so it is really worth the time.  This card was made by Janice Jones.  She stamped one of the leaves from the Gently Falling set onto a post-it note and cut it out.  Then she placed it on a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock and sponged over it with Soft Suede and Pool Party ink.  The En Frances background stamp could be stamped before or after the sponging, just do it without the mask.  Layering the artwork on Soft Suede and Pool Party cardstock and tying a bit of torn Spice Cake fabric around it finishes off this card very nicely.  Fabric makes a nice, inexpensive bow on your stamping projects and I love that Stampin' Up has fabric to match some of it's Designer Series Paper.  It's great when they introduce products that makes our stamping easier and more versatile.