Productive day crafting because it is still raining. . .

Got together with my Tuesday crafting friends today and had a productive time - got another 50 Convention swaps underway and also made some other cards because the mojo was in 6th gear!

So here is a card that I have made for a friend who is moving away soon and will be in my thoughts often. She and I both like the vintage themed cards so thought that I would try out a stamp set that most people think is only for Valentine's Day - the You Are Loved set from the Summer Mini which will not be available after 31 March. . .

The card is a 6 x 6 square and nice and heavy (thank goodness I am giving it away and not posting it!).  I have used some of my favourite colour combos - Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke.  The daubing on the edges was done with Soft Suede ink.

I used the Music Notes Stampin' Around wheel  for the top of the card, stamped the En Francais background stamp on an angle 2/3rds of the way across the card; I stamped off the ink first.  I distressed and daubed the edges and then sprayed the whole base card with Champagne Shimmer Paint diluted with Isocol alcohol.  I mounted this base on Cherry Cobbler card stock (which I had distressed and daubed with Soft Suede). Then mounted both onto the Early Espresso card base.

The small rose stamp in the You Are Loved set is beautiful.  I inked it up with Stampin' Write Markers, stamped them on scraps of Very Vanilla and then cut them out and stuck them strategically.  The lace doillie at he back was dirtied up with soft suede ink, using a dauber.  I purchase my doillies at second hand shops whenever I see them as they come in handy for cards and scrapping pages.  I needed to stick this down with sticky strip to make sure that the fabric secures well to the card.

I then punched eleven Fancy Flower shapes out of Cherry Cobbler card stock, distressed the card stock, daubed them with Soft Suede and twisted them into roses using Tom Bow glue (you can see in the centre of the top one that the glue hasn't quite dried. The largest rose uses four punches, the smaller three punches, next size down two punches and then the two buds only use one punch each.

I mounted the roses using dimensionals and inserted Sizzix Little Leaves that I cut out using Always Artichoke card stock - I basically poke these in where needed to balance the arrangement.  Finally I sprayed the whole card with the Champagne Shimmer Paint solution and added the little pearls in diagonal corners. The sentiment comes from the You Are Loved set too.

Love 'n hugs
Shanni