Merci Beaucoup

Hello!

"Merci Beaucoup..."  That's what today's card says in a most elegant font.  This was a commission through my Etsy shop by a lady who loves pink and purple and wanted "elegant and ladylike," a style which is dear to my heart.  I don't work with a lot of purples, so this was a fun challenge.

Let me say right now that this is a tad more vivid than it is in real life.  The purple of the base cardstock and handmade stick pin is not "in your face" as these are here, but I don't know what is happening, so you'll need to get the gist of the card.  At least the other colors are showing true.

I've dry embossed the base layer then heat embossed the edges with gold  Then I followed a sketch and added the patterned papers, matting them with contrasting card stock and stitching as I went along.  I love stitching on paper - it adds so much personality and character to a card.

The greeting is stamped on white paper then die cut with a lacy rectangular die.  If you've followed my work at all you'll know that I just don't DO white, either the color or wide open spaces, and this piece, small as it was, was no exception.  It was so...WHITE.  So I added the pearls to the corners and then added clear Stickles to all of the flourishes which shows a little bit here.  The sparkle in real life is subdued (this is a ladylike card, after all), but it's still there to diminish all that white a bit.  Phew.

The bow is where I had the most fun.  I LOVE bows.  I don't know why as I hated wearing them as a child (just ask my mother), but they seem to belong on cards as much as possible, and this one was no exception.  I used a delicious 1" wide silk ribbon to make a luscious double bow and adhered a small lace rosette behind it, then finished it off with one of my handmade stick pins which I thought was the perfect jewelry for this card.

The inside was finished simply with contrasting card stock and a small stamped greeting, the English version of what's on the front.  Just in case.

Merci beaucoup for joining me and I wish you a lovely day full of summery delights.

Happy crafting!

Pink Roses

Hello and good morning!

Today's card was inspired by the challenge going on over at Crafty Cardmaker's this week, #50, Blooming Images.  The challenge is to use a flower image to be the main focus of the card.  Not people, not landscapes, but FLOWERS.  (Or a single flower.)  It's been a long time since I did a floral image as the main focus, and I was intrigued, so here is my card.

I've used this week's Mojo Monday sketch as the jumping off point, and from there I was off to the races.

 

 
I colored the image with Copics and inked all edges of all papers with Tea Dye Distress Ink.   The music layer is from an exercise book from my youth a zillion years ago.  I sponged a bit more Distress Ink around the edges to enhance the already yellowish tone of the paper.

My favorite part, as usual, is the ribbon embellishment.  I used crochet ribbon for the gathered rosette, a couple of pieces of two tone ribbon behind that, a vintage button and some baker's twine, and I finished the "bouquet" off with one of my custom stick pins, a small one.  

You can barely see the scalloped, lacy MS border punch underneath.  Call it an underpinning of sorts.  A little stitching and some pearls, plus popping the main image up on dimensionals, finish everything off.

And that, dear readers, is my card for today.  I haven't stamped any particular greeting or sentiment as this card could be used for any number of occasions, so I'll wait until I need it to stamp the inside.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to join me, and I wish you a lovely day of crafting.  It's good to finally get back into the craft room as I've been going through "new mother syndrome" with the puppy and am finally getting into a routine.  Exhaustion is a big factor, but things are starting to fall into place.  Now if only she'd learn to "ask" to go outside, but that battle is still being fought.  *sigh*

Happy crafting!

Supplies:

Stamp: A Year in Flowers 2 (Flourishes)
Ink: Versafine Smoky Gray, TH Distress Ink Tea Dye
Paper: X-Press It Blending Card; Subtles Stack and Whisper White scrap (SU); Sweet Fairy (Prima); personal music;
Extras: Dies: Designer Label STAX 1 (Dienamics); ribbon and crochet ribbon (3 Girl JAM); baker's twine, MS punch, vintage button, pearls, Copics, dimensionals.

Challenges entered:

IBS February Blog Hop - Bows
IBSIC #46 - Lt. Pink, Lt. Green, Brown
MOJO Monday Sketch
Alota Rubber Stamps #101 - Multiples of Three (Die cuts, pearls)
Incy Wincy Designs - Pop It Up
Crafty Cardmakers #85 - Blooming Images
RRR #66 - Spring Colors + Ribbon
Delightful Challenges - Frilly (Scallops & Lace)
Inky Impressions #97 - Ribbon or twine
Crafty Ribbons #39 - Buttons
3 Girl JAM - Anything Goes w/Ribbon
Pile It On #7 - Clips and/or Pins