As Episcopalians we observe Lent and Holy Week, and Easter doesn't get here until Easter.  Then, the Easter season lasts 40 more days!  So, I don't decorate with Easter stuff, and while I have to prepare cards ahead, I usually don't mail them until mid-Holy week.  This year I am a bit behind schedule!  

I made multiples of three cards.  Two are "real" Easter cards, the third celebrates the spring bunny that lays eggs.  My Beloved tells me that the English term Easter relates to Eostre, a Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and spring.  Eostre is the ancient European name for the same goddess worshipped by the Babylonians as Astarte or Ishtar, goddess of fertility, whose major celebration was in the spring of the year.  Yikes.

Nevertheless, she persisted!

This card uses two new things I found at the Mesa Stamp Show.  The Celtic Cross and the background die plate.  The plate can cut and also dry emboss (using the squishy pad).  I didn't do the embossing, but instead used watercolor over my Vanilla Cream paper to make the sunlight rays look bigger.  

Regardless of how you celebrate this weekend - I hope you have a great one filled with friends, family, and fun!  Hugs!

Sympathy card

I have needed an unusual number of sympathy cards recently.  I hope it slows down soon!

I found this two-step stamp at the Mesa Stamp Show beginning of March.  It is a cling-rubber stamp - so in my opinion, very difficult to line up properly.  I got it right with this one attempt, but not with the next 500.  More on that later.

What I did to get the coloring on this was I used my Derwent Inktense pencils and colored directly onto the rubber for the "flower" part.  With the stamp laying face up on the work mat, I used a small fine-mist spritzer to wet the rubber and placed my Neehan Solar White smooth cardstock onto the face of the stamp.  I held it there a few seconds to allow the color to soak in a little, then lifted it straight up.  I dried it with the heat gun, stamped the stems/stamens in black.  The look is enchanting in many color combinations!!  The cardstock used is CTMH's new Heather (in Basics) with the two sides.  

Now, let me tell you about the lesson I learned during Open Stamping on Sunday.  I put down the flower part of the two-piece stamp set, using basic die ink.  I drew the outline of that part of the stamp onto the paper.  I put the second half of the stamp set on the block and with trial and error kept stamping until it was where I really wanted it to be. Then I drew a line around that stamp right over the flower part.  I keep this guide in the folder with the stamps for a reference.  Once I found the right spot - it is pretty easy to line it up.  You should expect more from this stamp set in the future!

Puddle Pad Technique

I posted a similar card recently that prompted a friend to ask me to teach this technique at the next Open Stamping.  We've done it before, but it was probably over 10 years ago!!  I started with two no-scent, alcohol free baby wipes and folded them together into a compact "ink pad".  I selected Lemon, Tangerine, Blosson, Pear, Sky, and Pansy for my ink colors.  You use re-inkers for this technique.

This shows me dropping the ink onto the pad in stripes.

The stamp of diamond shapes is a textured stamp - you can see when I put it on the paper in the next photo that the images are splotchy - that's intentional. 

This last photo shows the front and inside pages of a standard A2 card after stamping.  I then used water color pencils to finish the bird image and some Shimmer Brush to add touches of sparkle.  The base for the card was Smokey Plum from CTMH.  I wish I could tell you that this stamp set is still available, but ALAS, it is not.  Still, a fun technique to learn!

Easter bunny card

Hello everyone!  I'm in an bright mood today as I'm packing up for a scrapping retreat with friends!  Very fun!!!!  I hope to even get something done!  LOL  

One of the cards I may work on is this (heavily stolen from Julia Aston, here.   I used all CTMH products, so my bunny faces the opposite direction from Julia's.   The only current items are the paper and the tiny butterfly (in the Chelsea Garden card making stamp set).  Since it is white on white, can you see that the top piece is dry embossed?  Popped up on foam adhesive tape?  That the "picture" is on the card base itself?  I used Chocolate ink, Sky and Pear, Topiary.  The pinks added to the egg were pencil (needed a fine point).  The "Sharli Lesson" for this card is - stamp your sentiment before dry embossing the paper.  LOL

CTMH Fundamentals Paper - Doggy card

I purchased a stamp set with kitty and puppy images and some lovely sentiments.  Using my favorite card type, I used the CTMH Fundamental design papers in shades of Espresso, with some Toffee and Nutmeg inks.  Edited to add:  The stamp set is from Whimsy Stamps - Love has Four Paws.

I have several friends that have pets - I'm hoping they won't need a sympathy card but I've learned that you never know!  Just yesterday at church I learned of two deaths - so very sad.  Maybe that is even harder than the arthritis pains of getting old; the pains of losing friends.  Hug your loved ones. 

Sympathy - with Chelsea Gardens Paper

Once again, I'm making cards with that design that stands on it's own and really has two focal places.  I used a stamp set from Verve that is perfect for sympathy cards.  The Chelsea Gardens papers add some lightness to the card. I used a piece of Fundamentals paper (the script) on one piece.  The ink was either Charcoal or Espresso (I've forgotten - and I can't tell for sure from the photos, the light is so wonky in my room).  This one was for a friend who lost his wife - so very sad.  I hope he knows we are there for him.  

Fabulous You!

Does anyone remember the stamp set "Fabulous You"?  I still use this one - the birds and sentiments are so beautiful!  But this card is the first time I tried to use the diamond shape accent!  I was imitating a card I saw somewhere - the photo was not watermarked and I probably left out details that the artist had included, but I'm pretty happy with the result.  I created a "puddle pad" on a diaper wipe using re-inkers to stamp the colored diamonds.  As they dried they got lighter and prettier.  This photo was taken fairly quickly upon completion!  I also added a bit of shimmer brush to the pink diamonds, just the pink ones!

The "Thank You" sentiment is from the Stamp of the Month.  All CTMH.