I Will Never Leave You Nor Forsake You

Hi Friends!

I hope all of you as healthy as possible with social distancing.  Hopefully, soon we can get back to a new “normal” , but until then, I have been stamping more than ever.  

Unfortunately, I am finding it difficult to set aside the time to post to my blog :-)  I have over fifty different card designs to post and am still working on inking up images that have been neglected and/or never inked before.  Plus, while I have the neglected stamps out, I am making several different card designs with each set.

Today I am sharing a card using the Pretty Peonies stamp set (SugarPea Designs) along with a verse sentiment from Fear Not (Stamp Simply).  I find this verse to be such comfort, especially during this time in our lives. 

This is the first time I have had a chance to ink up the Pretty Peonies image (I have had this set in my stash for almost a year) and for this card, I used the SC281 Sketch Challenge from Splitcoaststampers for the layout.  This sketch was from 2010 and I am so thankful that the SCS challenges do not expire :-)

In addition to using the neglected floral stamp, I was able to incorporate several patterns of the retired Domestic Goddess designer paper from my stash.  While it will most likely take the rest of my life to use up all of my supplies, I am having fun creating and even with just a little bit of paper, etc. on the cards, I am making some progress, lol!

In addition to the sketch challenge, I am playing along with the Simon Says Wednesday “Flower Power” Challenge, the Word Art Wednesday#436-#437 “Anything Goes” Challenge and the Tic-Tac-Toe #061 Challenge.  I was able to use almost every square on the tic-tac-toe board (except “pink”) and that is if faux stitching is allowed for “stitching”. 

If faux stitching does not qualify as "stitching", this card uses the following rows for the Tic-Tac-Toe #061 Challenge- top row across (Markers- Blooms- Ribbon/Twine), the middle row down (Blooms- Designer Paper- Layers) and the far right row down (Ribbon/Twine- Rectangles- Red).

This card was a bit time consuming due to all of the layers but very easy to create:

Stamp the images and sentiment with archival black ink onto white cardstock and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

Watercolor the floral image with water-based markers (drying the layers in between and being careful not to "scrub" the paper).  

Once you are satisfied with the watercolor, use a clear glitter pen on the petals for a bit of shimmer.  

Stencil the background behind the floral with distress oxide ink and die cut the image with a stitched rectangle die.

The background layer was dry embossed with a retired embossing folder (love using my stash!) and all of the rectangle/oval layers were mounted onto black cardstock before adhering to the card base.

A bit of silver cord (twine) was looped behind the oval sentiment to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Pretty Peonies (SugarPea Designs), Fear Not (Stamp Simply)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black, Stampin’ Write Markers- Bermuda Bay, Poppy Parade; Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide, Spectrum Noir™ Glitter Pen

Cardstock/Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Coastal Cabana, retired Stampin’ Up! Domestic Goddess Designer Series Paper

Accessories: Gemini, Jr.™, My Favorite Things Dies- Stitched Oval STAX, Stitched Rectangle Set A1 STAX, retired Square Lattice Embossing Folder, AquaPainter™, Embossing Buddy®, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Memory Box Heartwood Stencil, Stencil Brush, retired Silver Cording

I have been very busy creating cards and will try to post more frequently, but I must be very slow at the posting stage (it takes me at least several hours to create a blog post with the photographing, etc.) :-)

I have not monetized my blog since I prefer to keep my art as a hobby and not a business.  I love the friendships I have found with those of you who share the same passion and hope that my cards and blog posts inspire you to create. 

I have tried to simplify the steps in my blog posts, but I know some of you are new at cardmaking, so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments.

Thanks again for taking the time to visit- your visits are so encouraging to me!  I am planning on posting a few more cards throughout this week (The Card Concept's new challenge will start on Wednesday) and I hope you will have a chance to stop by again soon!  Hugs, sweet friends!