Boy this card took lots of work/thought to finish.

I started with a watercolor wash background. I used some new watercolors I bought. (I wanted lots of colors without spending a ton, so I did buy a cheap set. While they may not be the best, I think they are good enough for how I will use them.) I used about 3 different colors of yellow, but it is a very mild gradient that is really only noticeable in person.

After the color wash I wanted to add a bit of sparkle so I stippled on some Twinkling H2Os. That did not work very well, so I added water to wash it all over. I did go back and splatter some but even that didn’t really work. In the end there is a great sparkly glow to most of the background (again, noticeable in person). To add a bit of contrast I did some color spritzing with dark yellow and brown markers.

With the background finally satisfactory, I moved onto the card base. I originally was going to go with yellow but I could not find one that made me happy. Since the sentiment was stamped in brown, I tried that. I definitely like that better than the yellows, but I wonder if I should have gone with white (I do a lot of white, so I was trying to do something a bit different).

I thought I was done but after I moved on to another card and was looking for inspiration for that card, I realized that some sequins would be a perfect fit on this card (I have a hard time using embellishments that don’t serve a purpose – but these I could envision as falling leaves). I chose to use yellow sequins so that they blended in with the background and are more like little surprises when you notice them.

Now, I am satisfied with this card!

I used foam sheets as my backing to the watercolor paper. I did a bit of math and it is actually cheaper to use foam paper than it is to use layers of cardstock or foam tape/squares. And since it actually mails better (see Jennifer McGuire’s post for scientific proof), it is a win-win!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Weeks ago when I was making my Halloween cards I realized that I did not have a spooky tree. This needed to be remedied! When the new set arrived, I made one more Halloween card:

The background is watercolor with distress inks. I used masking liquid to create the moon. After the background was done, I did my stamping. It seemed kinda flat to me, so I used stencil and paste to add stars – I sprinkled silver glitter over the paste. For the most part it stuck to the paste, but apparently you have to be quite quick with that…one of the stars barely has any glitter. I finished it off with some silver cord.

Thanks for taking a peek!

My sister-in-law is turning 50 tomorrow. This is the card I created for her. I used the Cardabilities #131 sketch. As usual, I stayed close to the sketch.

I really wanted a soft, feminine card…so I chose my colors accordingly. I ended up not stamping a thing!

Thanks for taking a peek!

My father-in-law turns 75 tomorrow! This is the card I created for him.

I used a CAS(e) This Sketch. I’m such a rule follower – my sketch cards are generally right on target, but this card even uses diamonds like in the sketch! I did add a couple more diamonds, but I felt it was necessary.

Thanks for taking a peek!

I made this one for the RetroSketches #182 challenge.

To make the heart frame, I just used two heart dies. I die cut the larger heart first, then centered the smaller heart die over the large heart die cut and ran it through the Big Shot.

Thanks for taking a peek!