Stamps and Smiles Release and Mother's Day

Don't you just love those flowers? I actually made this card one evening when we had no power. I was really worried that my colors would be off and I was using a battery operated lantern to light my desk. I think it turned out just fine. I made this card in response to a Hero Arts challenge to distress! I did some serious distressing on this card, roughing up the edges, sponging ink around the oval and swiping ink over the crumpled up paper strip. My hubby picked this Mother's Day card to give to his Mom. I like both of the cards that I came up with so I didn't mind choosing the next one for my own mother.



In my last post, I briefly mentioned the Stamps and Smiles release festivities. Well, aside from the card in the last post, there were 3 other sketches to complete. There was a sketch on each day, Monday through Thursday and a release party on Friday. This card is from the third sketch of the week. I sponged River Rock on the pink to tone it down.


This card is from the last sketch for the Stamps and Smiles release festivities. I used some of my SU sets that hasn't seen much ink, but I absolutely adore! I embossed the butterfly on vellum with a sparkly white ep and then colored some pink on the back of the butterfly to show through a bit. I used some rhinestones for the body of the butterfly. That frustrated me just a little because they were not the right color and I didn't have a marker to change it! I used my Nestabilities to create the circle elements in this card. I originally had the shape behind the butterfly just stamped, but it looked bare so I whipped out my aquapainter and moved the color around. Much better!


This last card was the first sketch from the Stamps and Smiles Release party. I used it to experiment with some easy thank you cards for my daughter's birthday party. The Tart and Tangy set is super cute and is meant to coordinate with the Summer Picnic dp! I think I will change the cross piece somehow when I do the final edition of her thank you card!

Here are the specifics on the cards:

Hero Arts Mother's day -
Stamps: Clear Design Thinking of You (Hero Arts), sentiment (Hero Arts)
Paper: Kraft, Very Vanilla, Really Rust
Ink: Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Really Rust, Ruby Red, Old Olive, Versamark
Accessories: Nestabilities, stampin' sponge, MM edge distresser, Hero Arts flowers, dew drop, glue dots, stampin' dimensionals
Techniques: sponging, distressing, direct to paper, masking

Basic Grey Mother's day -
Stamps: All Year Cheer
Paper: Regal Rose, BG Sugared
Ink: Old Olive, Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose
Accessories: Hero Arts Flowers, M's self-adhesive rhinestones, glue dots

For You -
Stamps: Great Friend
Paper: Whisper White, Rose Red, Basic Grey Perhaps
Ink: Rose Red, Going Grey, Vellum
Accessories: winter wonderland ep, heat tool, M's self-adhesive rhinestones, stampin' dimensionals, Nestabilities. aquapainter, Sakura Clear Star gel pen
Techniques: embossing

Strawberry Thanks -
Stamps: Tart & Tangy, Short & Sweet
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Summer Picnic dsp
Ink: Real Red, Old Olive
Accessories: scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, Nestabilities, white gel pen, red satin ribbon, stampin' dimensionals

All products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise posted.