Best Buds~Thanks a Lot

Hello friends!

I'm back with another card using Paper Smooches Best Buds stamp set. Eek! 

I had an idea of a card I wanted to create that used the banner image in the set. Terrific cardmakers have been using those single word dies to span a die cut circle and I think that looks really neat. So I thought I'd try my hand at it using the banner image. I thought I'd die cut a circle out of the top of the card and use a negative space of the die cut to act as a stencil and I would blend some colors like Kay Miller or Laura Bassen does. That was the look I was going for. But not what I ended up with!

So I start by taking a few attempts to die cut the circle on the main panel of my card, because, you know, the die kept shifting and going off center. My tape wasn't strong enough. Got that right. Okay, so I start blending using a negative space circle. I got a couple of hard lines, even though I thought I was being super careful, but liked the look by the time I was done. Picked up the stencil and realized that the "stencil" didn't cover the whole inside of the card and....I got ink on the inside panel of the card. Grr again. So, I start over and messed up the blending a.gain. Oy! I had a mini hissy fit and just about threw it all into the garbage can. But I took a couple of deep breaths and changed my plan. 

Instead of  doing the blended ink circle on the inside panel of the card, I used the same size panel and attached it with foam tape to the top piece with the die cut circle. Okay, I'm sure that doesn't make any sense. 

Here's the card I ended up with:

Originally, my idea was to have that blue inked circle be what you see on the inside when you open up the card. Now it's attached with foam tape to that embossed panel and when you open up the card you have the full white panel to write your note or stamp your sentiment. Would you believe that when I attached the embossed piece that was covered with foam tape to the card base, I did it crooked? Oh my gosh, it was just about the last straw for me today. But I carefully cut it off the card base and attached it to a new one. 

I took a close up of the circle because I liked what I decided to do here. I used my clear Wink of Stella pen and covered the blue inked circle. I love how sparkly it is! Then I added some Stickles to the center of the flowers and used a Gelly Stardust pen on the leaves. I also added some foam under the banner to help keep it from bending in the open space behind it. 

That embossing folder is a Darice brand and I colored the images with pencils and blended with odorless mineral spirits. 

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

I so appreciate the visit!

Best Buds Surprise!

Hi Friends!

I got a huge surprise last week when my sweet friend,  Ms C left me a comment telling me that I had won a prize from Paper Smooches(for a comment I left on my massively talented friend, Kay Miller's, blog). I was absolutely giddy. I knew for sure which stamp set I wanted to order, Best Buds. I also was able to select a few dies. Squeal! Shipping was super fast, too! Thanks, Ms. C, Kay, and Paper Smooches!!

I sat down and stamped several of the images onto white cardstock (Michaels Recollections 110lb white). I knew for sure the first image I was going to color was the one with the flowers in the jar. I used my trusty colored pencils and odorless mineral spirits and got to work. 

I kept it simple and straightforward. Then I added some Wink of Stella as well as a little bit of Gelly Stardust pen. I also tried some white dots from my Signo pen, but I think that might be drying out or gooping up from lack of use. :( I ran the cardstock through my Cuttlebug with a Lawn Fawn stitched rectangle and adhered that to a piece of textured black cardstock from Hobby Lobby. Finally, I add a few iridescent sequins (also from Hobby Lobby). 

By the time I finished futzing with this one, my crafty time was up. But oh, I was smiling big time when I was done. 

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you are having a wonderful day. 

Big hugs!