Keep it Simple

Keeping it simple isn't always easy, but it sure is a good thing to keep in mind when you are running out the door to a wedding shower!
I always want to add more and more to a card, but there have been plenty of times I waited until the last second to make a card for a wedding shower, baby shower, or birthday party. This card can be made in no time!
I combined two stamp sets for this card. I used the happiness stamp from the Heard from the Heart set and the flower stamp from the Thanks for Caring set. Both of these are beautiful and versatile sets that are good to have on hand.

Supplies:
Watercolor Paper
Cardstock (Blushing Bride and Certainly Celery)
First Edition Designer Series Paper
Markers (Soft Suede, Blushing Bride, Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery, Old Olive)
Blender Pen
Heard from the Heart Stamp Set
Thanks for Caring Stamp Set
Scallop Border Punch
Basic Rhinestones
Stamp-a-ma-Jig

Directions:
1. Trim your watercolor paper to 5.75 x 5.5 inches. Score the shorter side at 2.75 inches.
2. Take the happiness stamp from the Heard from the Heart set and ink the small words with the Soft Suede marker. Ink the happiness word with the Certainly Celery marker. Go back and ink only the happiness letters with Old Olive to make them stand out. Huff on the stamp and stamp onto the card.
3. Use your Stamp-a-ma-Jig to position the flower stamp from the Thanks for Caring Stamp set. (You can line this up at the end of the line from the happiness word.)
4. Take the stamp and ink the leaf and stems with your Certainly Celery marker. Ink the flowers with the Blushing Bride marker. Huff on the stamp to remoisten the ink and stamp with the Stamp-a-ma-Jig.
5. (optional) Take your blender pen and lightly go over the stamped sentiment. Use your blender pen to blend the leaf and stems. Take your Pink Pirouette marker and color in the centers of the flowers. Use your blender pen to blend out the color.
6. Top the flower centers with the rhinestones.
7. Trim a piece of the First Edition DSP to 0.75 x 5.75 inches. Adhere to the bottom of the card.
8. Punch your Blushing Bride cardstock with the Scallop Border punch. Trim (2) pieces to 5.75 x 0.5 inches. Adhere one piece to the top of the card and the other piece to the top of the First Edition strip.
9. Trim a piece of the Certainly Celery cardstock to 0.25 x 5.75 and adhere to the top of the pink scallop piece.

That's it! Pretty simple, right? You can make changes to simplify the card.
- You could just use paper strips instead of the Scallop Border punch.
- You can skip the blender pen steps.
You will still have a beautiful card just minus the little details! ;)
I hope this post finds you warm and well! We still have a ton of snow here in Oklahoma with the wind chill at 3 degrees. I'm ready for summer!
If you have any questions about this card please don't hesitate to email me at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!

Shadow Stamping

Hi all!! I hope your week has been fab!
Today I'm sharing a card that is a variation of a card we will be creating in my February Stamper's Night Out class!
My students will get to learn this FUN shadow technique in person, but I'm going to give you the quick How To today. I will be sharing my class card and a more detailed How To after my classes.
For this card I used the Thanks for Caring and Nature Walk stamp sets. I also used the Botanical Gazette Designer Series Paper.

The ink pad colors I used are:
Floral Stamp (Old Olive)
Birdcage (So Saffron for background and Early Espresso for the outline)
Butterfly (Pumpkin Pie)
Sentiment (Marina Mist)

Now the technique is the same for all of the stamped images on the card, but to make it short I'm only going to tell you how to do the birdcage image.

Birdcage Image:
1. Ink your stamp with So Saffron and stamp onto watercolor paper
2. Use your blender pen and go over the image with it so that it blurs the lines. You are just creating a shadow and this does NOT have to be perfect. The messier it is the better!
3. Ink the same stamp with the Early Espresso ink and use your Stamp-a-ma-Jig to line up the image and stamp right over the blurred image.

That's it! That's how I created these beautiful images!
For the images that are one color, I simply stamped off on a scrap piece of paper before stamping the first image. Then I just blurred it with my blender pen as in the steps above and stamped the second time with the same color!
I hope you have fun with this technique! If you have ANY questions please don't hesitate to send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!