MIM: Artsy Watercolor Background

I didn't think I'd get around to making a card this week. I went to my craft room several evenings but just never got a card finished. I finally watched the MIM video this evening and found out how easy the process was and how pretty the final product could be. I have decided that I love the Happiness in Bloom stamp set. It saw ink for the first time tonight and I love the effect of the layering. I didn't put in all of the layers since I was going to be using water on the card and I thought the effect wouldn't show if I added more layers to the flowers. I really like the two-tone flowers though. I stamped Lemon Tart, Hibiscus Burst, and Summer Sunrise as my calmer tones of color. Then, the darker tones were Harvest Gold, Raspberry Fizz, and Terracotta Tile. The Terracotta Tile was almost too dark but I just saturated it with more water. I did put the sentiment in that color and really like the effect of how it jumps off the page. I added some twine at the top and a few of my homemade enamel dots. For a quick card, I really like this effect and the end result. Thanks for looking!

I always love putting a close up of a portion of my card. Sometimes I can't show the card well enough as a whole so I like adding a snapshot of my favorite parts too.

Another MIM: Cluster Stamped Sentiment

I was having so much fun with this challenge that I made a second card. I went through my stamps and looked for my favorite stamps for the clusters. I ended up with these cool triangles. It's a PTI five dollar set and worked perfectly. I grabbed several ink pads and just went to town. I think I have: Hibiscus Burst, Hawaiian Shores, New Leaf, Canyon Clay, Plum Pudding, and Harvest Gold. I randomly stamped the triangles on the card. Then, I embossed the "Happy Birthday" in gold on top of the triangles. The sentiment came from another PTI five dollar set. It was one of the Think Big sentiment sets. I added some of my homemade enamel dots and tied a bow in the pretty gold ribbon.

Here are some of my favorites parts of the card.

MIM: Cluster Stamped Sentiment

As a teacher, I sometimes have random days off for different reasons. I had today off because it is election day and some of the election sites are in schools. It was nice to have a day off, especially near the end of the year. It makes me even more ready for the summer with my boys. While my youngest was taking a nap after his almost year check-up, I made a quick card for the challenge. I had taken out a sheet of the Tropical Tide paper because I thought it was just so pretty. Then, it dawned on me that I could use it for the this week's challenge. I took the smallest three circles from Circle Scribbles and randomly stamped them with Versamark ink. Then, I embossed them with clear embossing powder. I grabbed the "Thanks" sentiment from Mini Blooms and used silver embossing powder to make it stand out on the card. I finished the card with some silver sequins. I wasn't so particular about their placement this time and was happy with the finished result. Here's my card!

Here's a close up.

MIM: Envelope Wraps

I love this! I always just put my card in a white envelope and write the addresses on the front. I will say that I've, from time to time, stamped an image on an envelope or added a little something but I have never made envelopes as beautiful as the ones that Danielle made. I was inspired and made a set of three envelopes using the Special Delivery set. It just cried out to be put on the envelopes. I absolutely love playing around with all of the pieces. It feels like I'm dressing a doll and get to choose all of the little details. I chose three Papertrey Ink colors: Limeaid Ice, Canyon Clay, and Hibiscus Burst. Then, I found some patterned paper that I just bought by Alison Kreft. It's called Recorded and has some really cool patterned paper. I decorated the backs of the envelopes also but kept that really simple. I know that it's just going to be ripped open so I didn't want to put a bunch of work and details into it. I did want to put sequins on the card with the Canyon Clay because I thought my orange sequins would look great but I never found a pattern that I liked. I spent way too much time so any tips of placing sequins, I would appreciate it! Oh, and I have a different message on each truck. The Hibiscus Burst is for a birthday with "celebrate" and "ice cream" on the truck, "We move you" on the Canyon Clay, and "Speedy's next day mail" on the Limeade Ice card. Here are the cards....ooppps...envelopes! This is my favorite one. I love the color combination.

This one just makes me happy.

This is the one that I wanted to add pretty sequins to but couldn't find a placement that made me happy so I just added a little rhinestone. I still like it.

The backs of the envelopes...nothing to sneeze at but still a bit pretty.

Here are all three envelopes together...now, to make cards that will go inside.

So Grateful for You

Like I said in my last blog post, last week was really rough. My best friend has really been there for me so I think I'll drop this card off in the mail for her. I was originally making this card for this week's MIM challenge but then I re-read the title and saw that it was supposed to be a pie chart so I made the heart card. I still wanted to make this card though because I had everything cut and just needed to put it together. I love the little whale! I also got rid of some scraps with this card also. I used the kraft card base and put a chevron cover plate on the card in Smoky Shadow. I trimmed up the patterned paper scraps and put them under the whale. I added some of my homemade enamel dots too. I really liked how this card came together.