Birthday Smiles: Sending A Smile Your Way Banner Card

Hi there!  For today's card I thought I would share how versatile the Birthday Smiles stamp set is and how well it works for everyday cards.

This card focuses on the little banner and pennant images which I colored with my Copic markers.  Since I knew I would be fussy cutting these out, I had a blast really coloring outside the lines (big time) and focusing my efforts on quickly blending the colors instead.  With the straight lines I had them colored and cut out in a matter of minutes which was awesome.

For my background, I finally experimented with my new Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers.  I added a bunch of water to my Ranger watercolor cardstock panel and then just went to town layering the ink from the Zig markers.  I have much to learn and I must admit that I don't know if my perfectionist personality is well suited for watercolors, but after a little patting with a paper towel I was satisfied with it.

I have another confession... That little sentiment on the cloud punch was my way of rescuing this card from the trash bin.  I sadly made a mess of stamping it directly on my background with the textured surface.  It still feels a bit out of place to me, but I'm happy I was able to find a way to make it work.  ;)

Here's a look at the full Birthday Smiles stamp set used for today's card (available for purchase on September 8th):

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you have a happy Monday!  :)

Happy Home: Victorian New House Card

Hello there! I'm back today with another idea using the Happy Home stamp set.  For this card, I thought it would be fun to color the Victorian home image as a pretty pink lady.  ;)

To ground my image I created a little scene contained within a 3" x 3" square (and matted using Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Squares dies).  I stamped the clouds on masking material and fussy cut them out to apply to the background before inking it up.  For the grass I repeatedly stamped the grass stamp image to form a continuous border..

The tree is a sneak peek of a free digital stamp set I will be sharing at the grand opening blog hop on September 8th.

For my pink background, I inked it up with Spun Sugar distress ink and then used that same ink to stamp a random pattern with the little flower image in the set.

Here's a look at the Happy Home stamp set used for today's card (available for purchase on September 8th):

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  :)