Pink flowers birthday card

I used a new set of tools for this card... the set had an embossing folder, which I used on the white background, a set of flowers and leaves, which I used to make the pink flowers and green vines, and a set of (mostly) flowered papers, which I think suits this card very well.  I am pleased with the outcome and can hardly wait to give this card to the person for whom I made it!

Woven embossed strips

I have done a very poor job of recording my cards lately... too much going on even though I've made a lot of cards.  I never seem to remember to take photos of them.  I think it is a combination of my never having been a big "take a picture" person (I've left that to Russ and he does a good job) and not thinking about the social media aspect of what I do (I am just old enough to have to have taught myself to think about that).  Anyway, I've been working with a new set of dies, stamps and embossing folders that I got from Paper Wishes and this card that I just made fits right in with the Freshly Made Sketches challenge for this week, so I am going to submit it that challenge.

The embossing folder makes a strip of five squares of designs, so I embossed two strips of gold, one of grey, one of pink, one of turquoise and one of purple and wove them together into a square-ish shape for the front of the card, then cut out the letters with the new die in that same package of materials.  I added the black flower to make it 1) a stark contrast to the other colors, and 2) less feminine-looking, so I might be able to use it for a man.  I kind-of like the way it turned out although it is definitely out of my comfort zone!

This is the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:
and here is my take on the sketch:

ADDENDUM:
I am soooo surprised and pleased to say that this card made me a Princess at Freshly Made Sketches this week!    I never dreamed I could make a card nice enough to receive any recognition, but I am so pleased.  It gives me the mental energy to keep trying to improve my skills all that much more!!

Lots of Love

Same new embossing folder but this time I also embossed the flower end of the folder on silver foil paper then cut out one of the stems of leaves and flowers and I think it looks really pretty.  Brushed the embossing with purple ink and added some Jewel Dazzles from Paper Wishes and the end result is very nice, I think.

Using my new embossing folder

When I received my new issue of Papercraft magazine yesterday, it contained a neat embossing folder that includes a grid of bows and a field of flowers all in one along with some neat ideas of using it, so I tried it out on a card for sil Lois who has been sick with the flu.  I embossed a piece of pink paper then rubbed white ink over it and it was really pretty when it was done. Backed it with a piece of silver foiled paper so set off the pink and white.  I have put it into the mail ... hope she likes it.

Christmas in pastels

I got a new Papercrafting magazine and it included a free gift of a set of Christmas stamps and some beautiful foiled pastel Christmas papers so I made these three cards with some of it:

The stamps are very nice and the sentiments are equally sweet and more meaningful than some I've seen.  The inside sentiment, which I have not photographed, says "Peace & Joy at Christmas."

Here are close-ups of the three cards:

 The stamp set also included an embossing folder of stars and swirls, which you can see behind the word block on the dove card.

Another lesson learned over the weekend from my new card-making CD and I must say, I am eager to mail this "Thinking of you" card to my sister-in-law.

I used some remnants of an Artful Card Kit from Paper Wishes.
I embossed a piece of cream colored cardstock then colored the raised image using thee colors of distress inks.

An old dog CAN learn new tricks!

This old dog can still learn new tricks!!  I am pleased with the results of my card-making efforts yesterday as I learned a new technique from my new CD "Teresa's Stamp Camp 4" from my favorite online store Paper Wishes.  I am constantly amazed at the ideas that people come up with for new ways to use old tools in scrapbooking!  I wish I had half that ingenuity, but I am happy to have access to such great ideas. 

This idea was to make four different pages of embossed cardstock then cut them apart at a slight angle and glue them in strips for the front of the card.  The idea fascinated me and although it was a bit time-consuming, I was glad I did it because the result is quite striking.  I had enough to make two cards and here they are:

When I was finished, I still had some small pieces of embossed paper left over and I hated to throw them away, so I came up with one last card...

In the photograph, the green bow doesn't seem to match the card base, but that is the result of a less than good photographer!  Trust me, in "real life" it looks fine!  But the main reason for showing this card is the totally different use of the embossed strips.  I swiped an ink pad over the center banner to change it even more.  The green card made a fitting end to a great St. Patrick's Day!