HAPPY HALF-CENTURY, MUM AND DAD!

I'd like to share with you today the card I made for my parents, who on the weekend celebrated 50 years of marriage.  What a milestone, hey? 

I have only recently bought Stampin' Up!'s Baroque Motifs stamp set (yes, I do think I'm one of the last demonstrators in the known universe to own it!) .... so I inked that up for this special occasion.  First I stamped, in Crumb Cake ink (stamped off, to give a subtle effect), an En Francais background on Very Vanilla Card.  The Baroque Motifs flourish was stamped over the script, and the whole panel run through the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, before being sponged around the edges.

I love how the Crumb Cake ink on the main sentiment panel co-ordinates so well with Stampin' Up!'s Brushed Gold cardstock.  I used my aquapainter, and Crumb Cake ink refill, to colour the flowers, and the outer frame of the Framelits die cut.

Here's a closer look at the background, which I finished off with some Champagne Mist shimmer spray:

Stamps: Apothecary Art, En Francais, Baroque Motifs, For My Family

Card: Naturals Ivory, Brushed Gold, Very Vanilla

Ink: Versamark inkpad, Crumb Cake and Cherry Cobbler stampin' pads, Crumb Cake ink refill

Other: Gold embossing powder, Labels Collection Framelits die, Basic Pearls, Cherry Cobbler seam binding, aquapainter, stamping sponge, stampin' dimensionals, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Champagne Mist shimmer paint (mixed with Isocol to make shimmer spray), Stamp-a-ma-jig, Timeless Type Junior Alphabet sizzlits dies

STAMPIN' UP!'S APOTHECARY ART IN PINK AND BLUE

As a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I don't really think of colours in terms as simple as "pink and blue", but just used that description to avoid a super-long post heading!

The main colours in the card I have to share with you today are Blushing Bride, and Pool Party - two of Stampin' Up!'s gorgeous "in colors".  Unfortunately we'll be losing Blushing Bride when our new catalogue comes out later in the year.  It's a lovely pink, that I'm really enjoying using at the moment.

My card came about all because I had a 'negative' cut out of a Framelits die, left in a piece of Blushing Bride card.  Rather than throwing it away (which I tend to do ... in an effort to lessen my hoarding!), I decided to use it as a 'window', to show a piece of the gorgeous new Attic Boutique Designer Series Paper.   Using the Apothecary Art stamp set that goes so beautifully with the Framelits dies, I made what I think is a lovely, girly, card.

Stamps: Apothecary Art, Trendy Trees (sentiment)

Card: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Blushing Bride

DSP: Attic Boutique Designer Series Paper

Ink: Blushing Bride and Soft Suede stampin' pads, Pool Party ink refill

Other: Beautiful Wings embosslits die, Labels Collection Framelits dies, Finial Press embossing folder, aquapainter, Basic Pearls, sponge daubers, Victoria Crochet trim, Blushing Bride pleated satin ribbon, stamp-a-ma-jig, Mat Pack and Paper Piercing tool, stampin' dimensionals, sticky strip

JUST ADD INK #116: JUST ADD MOTHER'S DAY

With Mother's Day being celebrated in Australia and New Zealand on 13th May we at Just Add Ink challenge you to create a Mother's Day card or other papercraft item, and share it with us.  Please visit Just Add Ink to see the beautiful work of the Design Team - I'm privileged to be part of an amazingly creative team!

I am a huge fan of red, but haven't been using it a lot on my cards lately, so I decided to make a bold, elegant Mother's Day card, using Stampin' Up!'s beautiful Apothecary Art stamp set.  I used my Stampin' Write markers to colour the image, and combined two sentiments from the fabulous For My Family stamp set, to stamp on the banner. 

Stamps: Apothecary Art, For My Family

Card: Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Real Red textured, Whisper White

DSP: Real Red Patterns Designer Series Paper

Ink: Crumb Cake stampin' pad, Jet Black Staz-On inkpad, Real Red stampin' pad and marker, Cherry Cobbler marker, Old Olive and Always Artichoke markers

Other: Basic Black satin ribbon, Pinking Hearts border punch, Labels Collection Framelits dies, sponge daubers, Basic Rhinestones (coloured with a black permanent marker), stampin' dimensionals, mini glue dots