Goodbye Corner Garden

I'm here today to share another favorite retiring item...the Corner Garden background stamp. This is a card we made at my Retiring Favorites Class here on Tuesday.

This stamp is just lovely and so much fun to color! I stamped the image twice...the first time on Wisteria Wonder using Rich Razzleberry ink. The second time with Black Stazon onto Whisper White. The flowers were all watercolored using my Aqua Painters and Classic Ink pooled in the ink pad lids. The birthday greeting is from Petite Pairs...which is also retiring...sniff, sniff. I use that set ALL the time!

To finish the card I just matted the colored piece onto Soft Sky, added a couple Basic Rhinestones and popped it up with Stampin' Dimensionals lining the image up with the one on the Wisteria Wonder layer.

If you don't already have the Corner Garden background stamp in your collection...GOOD NEWS...the Clear Mount version is discounted during it's retirement for only $12.75. Pick yours up today!

Swallowtail in the Spotlight

Today I have a couple cards to share using basically the same supplies & the same technique, but the second one is has a little more detail. I used the Swallowtail stamp and the spotlighting technique.

I stamped both the white panel and the background at the same time using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. Then I colored the focal image using my Blendabilities. For my second card I followed the same steps as above, but changed up the color and added a few more details for a stepped up version, see...

I used Gorgeous Grunge for the background and also added some sparkle with a layer of Silver Glimmer Paper. I didn't add a sentiment to this one...but can do that when I'm needing a card. 

Have a beautiful day!
 

Come Sail Away on the Catty Cruise - Peace Within

Thanks for dropping anchor to visit my blog today! I hope you are enjoying your tour on the Catty Cruise! In case you washed ashore here unexpectedly, the Catty Cruise is a blog tour featuring 12 talented bloggers sharing projects highlighting their favorite Stampin' Up! products from the newly released Idea Book & Catalog... or Catty for short. If you are taking the full tour, then you sailed in from Linda McClain's blog LMac's Catered Crop. Don't you love the beautiful projects she created with the Cottage Wall papers and the new Butterfly punch?

If you popped in here without knowing about the cruise, I hope you'll join us. Just sail along to the next port with the link provided at the bottom of my post and continue on until you wind up back here...that way you will have visited everyone. If you get lost at sea, then just go on back to our Home Port . Just don't go anywhere until you've see my creations...

I am sharing a few projects I created using one of my favorite new stamp sets called Peace Within. I love to watercolor and I love cats and nature, so I was delighted to see this set in the new catalog. My first project shows how to transform a plain little frame from the Target Dollar Spot into a cute little piece of art, just by using some pretty paper and a few accessories. Kinda like MacGyver...only with stamps and embellishments. hehehe
I love all the patterns in the Razzleberry Lemonade Designer paper pack, but I managed to narrow it down to my favorite two and that's what I used here. I stamped my image onto watercolor paper using Black Stazon and used my aqua painter and classic inks to watercolor. See the pillow that the kitty is napping on? That was stamped onto patterned paper, cut out and then adhered into place. I think the paper piecing technique adds such nice detail to any project.

The finishing touch is the silk daisy from the Pretties Kit. I used my Rich Razzleberry re-inker and my aqua painter to add color to the petals. The center is a White Jumbo Grommet with Razzleberry Lemonade center. Rich Razzleberry Polka-dot grosgrain ribbon was attached to the hangers and it is ready to hang. Here's a closer look...
Here's another way to use this same image and papers but achieve an entirely different look with the spotlighting technique.
I stamped my image onto Whisper White card stock and using the 1-3/4 inch circle punch, I punched out the part of the image I wanted to spotlight. Then I stamped the image a second time onto a piece of Razzleberry Lemonade DP. After water coloring the image on the punched out circle, I carefully adhered it over the top of my full image.

Ink: Black Stazon & various Classic Inks for water coloring
Card stock: Whisper White, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Razzleberry Lemonade DP
Accessories: Mat Pack, White Gel pen, Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain ribbon & Dew Drops

My last project uses the other beautiful image from the Peace Within set along with paper from the Thoroughly Modern Designer paper pack.
I stamped my image and water colored the same as described for my first project. I added a sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set inked in Soft Suede. I matted the image onto Soft Suede card stock and then layered it onto a Top Note cut from the DP. My card base is Kraft card stock which I ran though the Big Shot using the new Perfect Details Texturz Plate. I used the Eyelet Border Punch along the bottom and added some Soft Suede Polka-dot Grosgrain ribbon to finish my card.

I hope you enjoyed your visit...now it's time to sail on to our next port...iSTAMP to see the super talented Nancy Riley's amazing creations using the Level 3 Hostess Set The More the Merrier along with Sunny Days Simply Scrappin' Kit.