Mother's Day cards

Now that we're past Mother's Day, I can share the cards I made for my mom and mother-in-law.  I made a few extras, changing the sentiments, so that I could send them for other occasions when the need arose. This stamp set is one of my new favorites, and it was the freebie bonus set that came with the April My Paper Pumpkin kits. The sequins are from my stash (non-SU!).  I chose to use Wild Wasabi, Blushing Bride, Watermelon Wonder and Marina Mist for my colors and I just love how they turned out.  And shhhh!  Don't tell, but these are really easy to make!

STARS Thursday Challenge: Sketch Pad DSC #181

One of the perks of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is that we get to see products over a month before the general public, and start buying them about a month before.  So, needless to say, I was pretty pumped when my UPS package arrived with some hot-off-the-press goodies! I knew immediately I would have to use them in my weekly challenge post.This card incorporates the brand new Love & Affections stamp set. The colors are our tried-and-true friends: Marina Mist, Crumb Cake, Pear Pizzazz, So Saffron, Calypso Coral and Wisteria wonder.  The adhesive pearls used here are returning in the new catalog as well!

I decided to use flowers instead of the circular elements on the sketch.  I tried to keep them roughly on the left half of the card and in a random, sort of diagonal placement.  Rather than using a completely horizontal element, like in the sketch, I decided to incorporate a wider sentiment to draw your eye across the page.

I think it turned out well!

To see how my fellow STARS used this sketch, check out the links below!

• Dawn Olchefske
• Jan Carlson
• Judy Strickling
• Michelle Harrington - you are here
• Angela O'Neill 
• Connie Plaumann
• Sharon Bennett 
• Dawn Thomas  
• Cathy Peck
• Debbie Sollinger  
• Joan Weidling
• Miriam Bollinger

Another Thank You, Watercolor & Sequins

Hello!  I'm glad you've found me!  Today, I chose to participate in the Thursday challenge with my fellow STARS teammates.  Originally, my goal was to watercolor the full face of a card using the reds, pinks, yellows and greens in the image below -- I thought I could use ink refills as watercolors, and use a swirling motion to create pretty rose-like images and then stamp a lovely feminine greeting on it for Mother's Day.  But sometimes, the best laid plans fail.  No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get it look right.  With three attempts now in the trash, I decided to switch modes and use different colors and attempt swirls, rather than roses and I love the affect.  It might be hard to see how I got from the image below to the image above but trust me, it's the evolved result of several trials and errors.  I still want to try for the roses at some point, but I needed to take a break from that endeavor as frustration set in.  As far supplies go, you'll be pleased to know they are probably already in your craft stash, but most are readily available from Stampin' Up! if you find yourself "in need".  I used my Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, and Bermuda Bay ink refills, our Aqua Painters, our watercolor paper and some hoarded sequins (non-SU!).  The sentiment is from the "Another Thank You" set, which is retiring on May 22nd, so you may want to get it now, while you still can.  It comes with several other "thank you" related sentiments, but this bold image is what drew me to this set originally.  Thanks for stopping by!  Please check out the beautiful cards my teammates made by following the links below and have a great day!

• Michelle Harrington - you are here
• Debbie Sollinger  
• Connie Plaumann  
• Joan Weidling
• Angela O'Neill
• Dawn Olchefske
• Miriam Bollinger  
• Judy Strickling
• Sharon Bennett 
• Dawn Thomas
• Jan Carlson