Good Fortune

When I had some foot surgery recently, I had complications from the anesthesia and experienced four days of amnesia.  My doctor went above and beyond the call of duty during that perplexing stretch of time and I received the best care ever.  So at the very least, a card is in order.  My doctor is Vietnamese, so I went with an Asian theme . . .

I chose the image of the horseman because he reminded me of my empathetic doctor who indeed galloped to my rescue during those frightening days!

I used the Charlie Chan font to type the sentiment.  The Chinese text is printed on rice paper which is very thin.  So I glued it to a piece of cardstock to give it some much needed body.  The coin is attached with my favorite method of dealing with the hole that's in the middle of most such coins:  I cut a very narrow strip of black cardstock, push the ends through the hole, and insert a few dried pine needles through the loop.  The ends are pulled through from the back and taped down.  I use glue dots to attach the coin to the card front.  After covering the card with a thin piece of spongy packing material, this arrangement has so far made it thru the mail with no problem!

Cardstock:   Neenah Desert Storm, Generic rice papers Chinese Text      

Stamps:       MJ Barber Chinese Horseman, Unknown Chops

Inks:             Hero Black, Ancient Page Cardinal

Emb Powder:   Distress Black Soot

Emb Folder: Taylored Expressions Weathered

Dies:            Spellbinders Victorian Tags

Doo Dads:    Chinese coin, dried pine needles           

Fall

I had lots of fun making the background on last year's Valentines card (just below) and liked the results enough to make some extra ones to use on other cards . . .

For today's card, I darkened the background with Aged Mahogany to better set off the Palm Leaf on top of it.  A few sparkles, a jute knot, and this card is ready to go . . .

Cardstock:   Marcos Jute, Bazzill Juneberry     

Stamps:       Hero Autumn: “Fall”

Inks:             Distress Brushed Corduroy, Aged Mahogany

Emb Powder:   Distress Walnut Stai,

Dies:            Lil Inkers Stitched Mats: Rectangles, Hero Palm Fancy,

                        Arich Rounded Corners Stitched Rectangles               

Stencil:        Tim Holtz Doily

Emb Folder: Stampin’ Up Fancy Fan

Doo Dads:    Delta Texture Magic Dimensional Paint Country Red,

                        Oriental Trading Adhesive Pearl/Jewels Vintage 

Bloom

Not long ago, my dear friend and stamping buddy Carol set off on a Washi tape tangent and put together some wonderful cards which wound up being published in RubberStampMadness magazine.  I got inspired by her work, although it took me a good while to act on it.  Not long ago, another blogger went wild with Washi and that did it.  I decided to go a little wild too . . .

Carol is a huge fan of black and white and one of her favorite colors is lime.  So for her Fall birthday, I had me some fun with Washi in those colors.  I have a ton of Washi in my stash, so expect more flights of fancy in the future . . .

Cardstock:   Bazzill Raven, Parakeet, Strathmore #90 Watercolor paper   

Stamps:       Savvy Outline Dahlia

Inks:             ColorBox Black

Watercolors:   Inktense Sherbet Lemon, Zig Real Brush Yellow Green

Emb Powder:  Judikins Detail Black

Dies:            DieNamics Single Stitched Line Rectangle Frame, Yalatan

                        Stitched Tags, Impression Obsession Small Bow, Marianne

                        Butterflies

                        DieVersions font Noodles       

Doo Dads:    Various Washi tapes, Wink of Stella Black          

Autumn

Fall is not my favorite time of the year as it brings to a close an all-too-short Summer.  But Fall's colors are indeed lovely and a pleasure to work with . . .

On this card, I wanted to bring in several  Fall weather elements with my color choices.  So I've mixed a foggy grey background with some glowing autumn shades set off with  frosty white and emphasized with a few black accents.  Happy Fall, y'all!

Cardstock:   Generic Burgundy, Grey, Strathmore #90 Watercolor paper   

Stamps:        Hero Autumn

Inks:              ColorBox Black

Watercolors:   Derwent Inktense Shiraz, Tangerine, Sienna Gold, Fern,

                           Amber, Tan

Emb Powder:  Judikins Detail Black

Dies:              Lil Inkers Stitched Mats Rectangles, Ali Express Etched

                        Frame, Hero Autumn Frame Cuts, Carta Bella Hello Fall

                        Set: “Autumn”, La La Land Stitched Ribbon    

Emb Folder:   The Paper Studio Woodgrain, Spellbinders Bricks and Bark

Doo Dads:     American Crafts Jute Black, Memory Box Jewel Stickers Black

Something Beautiful Remains

The death of a dear friend's Mother has prompted this card . . .

I don't believe I've ever used brown and blue together for a sympathy card before, but the more I look at it, the more serene and comforting it appears to me.  As for the sentiment from Technique Junkies, I am so glad to have it:  I think it's one of the best expressions of loving kindness for a Sympathy card ever . . .

Cardstock:   The Paper Cut Brown Umber, Strathmore #90

                        Watercolor paper      

Stamps:       Technique Junkies Something Beautiful Remains

Inks:             Distress Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean, Stormy Sky,

                        Brushed Corduroy, ColorBox Frost White

Emb Powder:   Stampin’ Stuff Ivory Pearl

Dies:             Lil Inkers Stitched Mats: Rectangles, Squares, Love

                        Nicole Scalloped Shell, Nautilus Shell, Penny Black

                        Bamboo Foliage                 

Doo Dads:    Stampin’ Around Glitter Gold Dust          

Fall

It has been a rough year for a lot of people - myself included - but I still have much to be thankful for . . .

While I love coloring with watercolor pencils, it's a little tedious to do over embossed images.  The pencil leads break and so do parts of the embossed image.  But my Inktense set of watercolor pencils had exactly the colors I wanted.  So I used a hand held pencil sharpener to shave off some of the color over a ceramic plate.  I picked out any wood that had dropped into the shavings and lightly misted the rest.  The colors hydrated immediately when stirred with my water brush and I was able to watercolor easily over the embossed acorns and leaves.

I hope all of my treasured readers have a blessed Thanksgiving Day, regardless of wherever they happen to live on our beautiful planet . . .

Cardstock:   Marcos Jute, Strathmore #100 Bristol      

Stamps:       Impression Obsession Give Thanks, Acorn Row,

                        Inkadinkado Filigree Fall Set, Vippies Dotty Snow

Inks:             ColorBox Black, Distress Brushed Corduroy

Colorants:    Inktense Crimson, Sienna Gold, Fern, Mustard, Baked

                        Earth, Willow

Watercolors:   Zig Clean Color: Geranium Red, Orange, Bright Yellow

Emb Powder:   Zing Chestnut

Dies:            DieNamics Horizontal Stitched Strips, Ellentina Nesting

                        Tag, Arich Rounded Corners Stitched Rectangles, Carta

                        Bella Hello Fall: Fall                      

Emb Folder: Spellbinders Bricks and Bark

Doo Dads:    May Arts Jute           

Nature

This one is a guy card for my stepson's birthday . . .

Andy lives on the edge of the woods, has two dogs, and is out in nature year 'round. The elements on this card are ones he sees all the time while walking the pups . . .

After sponging dye ink on the back of the fern stencil, I pressed it onto the cardstock.  As metal repels dye inks, the background got the speckled look I was after.  I dried it with my heat gun, replaced the stencil and ran it through my die cutting machine to raise up the fern image. 

Lastly I sponged the green ink through the stencil.  Because of the thickness of the brass, I wound up with some white edging which set off the fern quite nicely - an unexpected benefit!

Cardstock:   The Paper Cut Brown Umber, Beckett Candlelight,

                        Strathmore #90 Watercolor paper, Marcos Jute, Generic

                        scrap Dark Brown           

Stamps:       So She Stamps “Nature”

Inks:             Distress Mowed Lawn, Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo

Emb Powder:   Vippies Transcendence

Dies:            Lil Inkers Stitched Mats: Rectangles, Memory Box Large

                        Fremont Pine: Outline, Background, Nellie’s Straight

                        Dotted Oval                     

Stencil:        Lynell Harlow Fern, Simon Says Bokeh Lights

Doo Dads:    Lowe’s Home Improvement Granite Crystals, Delta Texture

                        Magic Vintage Leather