Sweet and Simple Saturday - Beautiful You

Hello Friends

Surprised that I am back so soon?  I did tell you that I would try to be more faithful...right?

Well, in order to get a card made today I needed to keep it simple.  Really simple.  And what could be simpler than to just use the stamp sets and inks that are already sitting on my desktop, right?

You'll notice that I am using the exact same colours as yesterday's card (see it HERE).  Island Indigo, Elegant Eggplant and Pool Party.  

And the same stamp set (Beautiful You) although I am using a different sentiment, as well as a few images from that set.

Even my trusty old, clear Wink of Stella.  Because it was sitting right there!    :)

"My Girl" dancing in the rain - the puddle at her feet and her skirt are both the same stamp!

Falling Petals embossing folder (debossed) simulates raindrops,

Stamped the image of the girl first - dancing in the rain.  Man oh man I love this image.

This
Girl
Is
Me

Then I stamped the sentiment.  Once again, a sentiment that I truly love.  Something that has been my motto for much of my life (I am the Eternal Optimist).  And a sentiment that has carried me through some of the less-than-stellar days in recent weeks and months.  Once again.

This
Motto
Is
Me

One of the blotch images from this set (I call it a 'swoosh') was used to stamp the puddle, and also to quickly colour her skirt.

I used an aquapainter to colour the bodice of her dress and her hat.  I love my aquapainters.  Takes about 20 seconds (tops) to colour using this handy little tool.

Emboss the cardstock with the new, Falling Petals embossing folder.  Actually, in this case, I debossed the card.  The textured images are indents instead of raised elements.  I love changing up the way my embossing folders look, just by reversing their 3D effect sometimes.

Petal-raindrops falling

Her hat is collecting raindrops...

Isn't it amazing how Wink of Stella makes the hat look "wet"?!

Wink of Stella to give some wet-look shine to the puddle she is dancing in, as well as the Falling-Petals rain.  And then it was time to glue this beauty together.

It has taken me 5 times as long to post about it as it did to actually make it.  I told you.  Sweet and Simple for this Saturday morning.

Did you know that if you purchase the Beautiful You stamp set, the aquapainters and a clear Wink of Stella pen, you will be eligible to select a FREE Sale-A-Bration item.  Tomorrow I will give you a sneak peek at one of the super things you could choose.  See all the great SAB products that you could earn FREE (one for every $60-worth of product you purchase) by clicking HERE.  

Place your orders online by visiting HERE (at check out, please use the hostess code 3M2AGU7N) or contact me to place your order for you.  

And if you want a LOT of stuff (why wouldn't you?), you can save a TON of money - up to $200 - by making your purchase into a fully customizeable Starter Kit purchase.  See the details HERE or contact me to ask how we can save you lots of money while getting you everything you want.

Hope you enjoyed this sweet and simple card for a Saturday morning.    Enjoy the rest of your weekend and God Bless,      Cynthia   <>< 

Product List

Beautiful You Clear-Mount Stamp Set [143637]	Falling Petals Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [142761]	Aqua Painters [103954]	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush [141897]
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708]	Elegant Eggplant Classic Stampin' Pad [126969]	Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad [126986]	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad [126982]
Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Elegant Eggplant 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [105126]	Island Indigo 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [122923]	Pool Party 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [122924]

Fast & Fabulous Friday - Reason To Smile

Welcome to my Fast and Fabulous Friday feature.  And as I promised you, today I will give you yet another Reason To Smile.

I will warn you, I am having a brief love affair with this particular image from the Reason To Smile stamp set so you can expect to see a few more cards coming your way using this image.  In addition, since I always have a multitude of people to say thank you to (not the least of whom are my wonderful customers) -  well, suffice it to say that you will see your share of Thank You cards on this blog in the next little while.

Onwards then.  Today's card is another very fast sample that uses the single "daisy" outline image and an aquapainter for quick watercolouring using some 2010-2012 In Colours.  I love, love, LOVE this quick and easy watercolour technique!

Supply List
Stamps - Reason To Smile (available July ONLY), Lacy & Lovely
Paper - Whisper White
Ink - Black StazOn, Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade
Tools and Accessories - Aquapainter

How easy is that?  It may be a short supply list and a quick card, but the results are still gorgeous, simple and appealing.  And your recipient will never know that it took a mere 5 minutes to whip up the card!

Trust me - you really don't want to let July pass without taking the opportunity to buy this exclusive stamp set for a mere $5 !  Contact me to find out how you can purchase this stamp set.  You'll even receive a lovely sample from me to start your creative juices flowing.

Check back tomorrow when I'll show you how you can use this same simple design and technique with only slight variations, to produce a variety of matching but non-identical cards!     Until then, have a wonderful day and God Bless,          ~Cynthia              <><

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Well I have told you all previously that I have the best mother in the world (sorry to disappoint all those out there who thought they had her).  I am here to add to that by telling you that I also have the world''s greatest father.  My cup runneth over and I am truly blessed.

I could wax poetic about my parents - but that's not why you came here   :)
Instead I will show you the card I made for my father - an avid fisherman - and hope that the pictures do it even just a little bit of justice!

I have an old retired Stampin' Up! set called Fishin' that came out in 1996.  This set was just itching to be used for my Dad's card so I stamped the bullrushes and weeds and water splash and fish all using Stazon Black ink, onto Naturals White cardstock.

I used my aquapainter to apply colour to the scene, including the water.  Once the image was coloured, I used a brayer to apply "sunrise" colours to the sky.  The image was cut out using the second largest Labels size of the Framelits, then the entire piece was spritzed liberally with a home-made shimmer mist.  It was mounted on a chocolate chip mat that had been embossed with the Square Lattice embossing folder, then this was adhered to a Naturals White card.  Finally, the fish was covered with Crystal Effects to make him seem wet and slick.  Here is a close-up so you can see the shimmer on the scene, and the wet/slick look of the fish.

On the inside of the card I stamped a few more fish, a fishing pole and a tackle box and traditional fishing hat (think Tilley hat). 

 I really hope my father likes this card.  I tried to get the fish to resemble a rainbow trout (thank you Google Images!).  I am not certain how well I succeeded. But I know my father will appreciate the attempt!

This is a wonderful stamp set and perfect for my fisherman father.  I know it is retired and I really should sell it at my Open House in June but I am undecided so far.  I don't use if often enough to justify keeping it.  But will anyone else love it the way I do?!?!?  Certainly no one loves my father the way I do.  Well...maybe my 8 brothers and sisters (yes - you read that correctly.  I am one of 9 children.  Told you I had the world's greatest mother and father, didn't I?!).

At any rate, to that wonderful father (married to a wonderful woman), I say, "Happy Birthday and lots of love". 

And to the rest of you - enjoy your day.  The weekend is almost here!  God Bless,    ~Cynthia    <><