Stenciled background sympathy card.

Have just received our monthly Stampin' Up! magazine which showcased a new technique of stenciled backgrounds.  I don't have the punch they suggested but had a play with my scalloped square and here is the result! This was the second attempt, the first one I'll show you tomorrow.

(Please click on photos for a close-up view).

What I used:

Card:  So Saffron, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla

Ink:  Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip

Stamp Sets:  Eastern Blooms, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Tools and other fun stuff:  Scalloped Square punch, Bird punch, Boho Blossoms punch, Lots of Tags Sizzlits die, Stampin' sponges, Basic Pearls, Stampin' dimensionals.

Daisy, daisy!

Here is the third and final sympathy card, I thought I had finished it a couple of days ago but wasn't 100% happy with it, it seemed to lack 'something' so this morning I added the scalloped strip of Soft Suede and now am much happier with it, it looks a lot more balanced to me now.  This stamp set was part of our kit at our Regional Training last year and I really need to use it more.  It also includes a pretty bird image, I'll see if I can find a photo to show you too!

I did manage to find photos of the other cards, it is a great image for using your watercolouring technique, and the wee bird (a finch perhaps?) can be coloured any colour you like!

What I used for the Daisy sympathy card:

Card:  Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede, Whisper White

Ink:  So Saffron, Soft Suede, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive

Stamp Sets:  Every Moment, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Tools and other fun Stuff:  Scallop Border punch, aquapainter, Paper Piercing tool and mat, Word Window punch, corner rounder punch.

With Sympathy

Now, I'm very grateful I don't need any sympathy cards at the moment but I'm counting on "Sod's law" that if I have some already made I won't need to use them!  On the other hand, I'm also pretty sure that if and when the time comes that I do need one I probably won't feel like making one so this morning I made a couple.  I actually made one yesterday and liked the layout so much I made two more in the same vein, just varying the stamp sets and very slight changes to the overall composition.

What I used:

Card:  Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Whisper White

Ink:  Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie

Stamp Sets:  Autumn Days, Petal Prints (retired), Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Tools and other fun stuff:  Word Window punch, corner rounder punch, Scallop Border punch, Certainly Celery 1/4" grosgrain ribbon (retired), Old Olive 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Stampa-ma-jig.