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!

Paris (or...I can dream, can't I?)

Hello!

Today's card is a "just because" kind of card that I've made using the ever delightful Creative Inspirations paints.  I love, love, LOVE them, and one of my favorite ways to use them is the marbled background technique, which you can find here.  It is my new favorite technique and I've already done it several times.

This time I've used Tutu Pink, Mellow Yellow and Pink Highlights, the last of which is interesting because it looks ivory until you turn it towards the light, then the shimmery pink shows up.

I had to photograph the card at a couple of different angles to try to capture the shimmery goodness.  See that slight pink?

Here's another closeup.  You can see more of the pink down there to the right.  I really wish I could have a video within a picture so I could move the card around and show you the shimmer.  It is a fascinating way to create an interesting background that can pretty much stand on its own.

I used some lovely product from the Inspired By Stamping shop, including the always versatile Paris stamp set, the new Background Basics III stamp set (behind the word "Paris"), the Fancy Labels Die, and some Colonial Rose Satin Ribbon.  Some dots of gold glitter glue at the bottom finish this card.

And that, dear friends, is today's card.  Thanks so much for joining me and I wish you a lovely, craft-filled day.

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

Divas By Design - Anything Goes
Crafty Ribbons #45 - No Design(er) Paper
Delightful Challenges - Stash It (use from stash - gold embossing powder, gold glitter glue)
Fussy and Fancy #88 - Anything Goes