What I was supposed to be doing...

While I was otherwise occupied creating masterpieces of stamping and punching experimentation with Miss 3.5, here is what I was supposed to be making....

DH and I did a last minute deal this year for our anniversary, as the 2 days I had planned to go shopping were not do-able due to sick Miss 3.5 So, his task was to buy a present for himself (and for me) and my task was to make us a card each for the other to give. Now, DH has attended my beginners card making class twice now, and he plans to do the next intermediate class too. He's not at all bad, so it would have been nice to see his own creation. Anyway, it worked out better this time for him to do the shopping and me the creating.

The top card ended up being from DH to me, and uses the One of A Kind set from the Spring Mini, which, being part of the Boho West theme of this year's catalogue, matches nicely with the Berry Bliss Designer Series Paper (and also several other sets such as Boho Backgrounds and Priceless)

The base card is Chocolate Chip, stamped with Versamark using the small flower motif. A vertical band of Berry Bliss paper is matted with a just-slightly-wider Very Vanilla band. Chocolate Chip Scallops are layered with 1 3/8" and 1 1/4" circles of Purely Pomegranate and Very Vanilla. Two of these are stamped in Purely Pomegranate with the large flower from the trio stamp, and the Happiness greeting is stamped in Chocolate chip from Warm Words, a set I turn to over and over. Finishing touches are Rhinestone Brads from the Pretties Kit and some Stitched ribbon in Purely Pomegranate. The actual card layout is a taller than usual card at 4" x 7 1/4" folded, because I was trying to be efficient with using up part pieces of cardstock. It fits in a DL envelope though, which is handy to know!

The second card I made to give to DH. Please excuse the photo, it was taken a bit late in the day. Nice shadow effects though!! The card base is Night of Navy, stamped in Versamark using the star flower from "Looks Like Spring" Then there is a horizontal band of Ruby red, again attacked with the Distressing tool for nicely ruffled edges. A band of River Rock is stamped in Bordering Blue and Night of Navy using the harlequin and overlay stamps, aligned using the Stamp-a-ma-jig to create an Argyle pattern. I stamped the large flower and the flower trio onto Ruby Red and Night of Navy cardstock in Versamark, and used clear embossing powder to give them a shiny raised finish. I hand cut the large flower, and used the Spring Bouquet punch to punch the trio flowers. Two large flowers were layered, and a star flower added on top with a Aged Copper brad, and the other flowers were mounted using Stampin Dimensionals to pop them up a bit. The greeting from "One of a Kind" was stamped on River Rock in Night of Navy, and mounted behind a Hodgepodge bookplate. Ta Da!

Both these cards took much longer than usual to make (see post Little Distractions below!!), but I was pretty pleased with how they turned out. Hope you like them! All products used are by Stampin' Up! and are available to purchase through me, just contact me Or, come along to a class to learn the basics of cardmaking and discover why it is such a rewarding and practical hobby!