Porch Flag

There's something about a country farm house with a flag proudly waving in the breeze that epitomizes the term "Americana."  While surfing the web for all things card-making some time ago, I happened upon a terrific website called Serendipity Stamps.  It was, indeed, a moment of serendipity.  Don't you just love that word?  Well, long story short, I browsed in their shop for quite awhile, but it didn't take me long to decide that their "Porch Flag" stamp would be among others when I placed my first order.  I love the way Old Glory is front and center, but the details of the rest of the stamp add the perfect finishing touch.  The artist gave us the freedom to decide what kind of tree and flowers are planted out front, so I went with a waxy Magnolia leaf on the tree and a sprawling, blue-violet hydrangea bush.  Today I'm submitting this Copic-colored card as part of the "Anything Goes" challenge this month which you can read about on their blog.  Wish me luck!  See you next time!

Merry and Bright

I really enjoy watching card making tutorials on line.  It never ceases to amaze me how much imagination these creative people have.  I confess that I don't have nearly as much, and I end up being somewhat of a copy-cat most of the time. Today I'm submitting this "Merry and Bright" entry for Darlene's "Holiday" challenge over at Live Love Cards.  It may seem early for Christmas, but we card makers know that August isn't really early at all if we want to get the mail out on time.

Speaking of mail: For this card, as much as I wanted to add a couple of layers of dimension (it seems to beg for it), I knew that it would not likely be a hand-delivery, so I kept it flat for the postman,

I started with the Tiny Star Background by Hero Arts.  I actually saw Darlene use this background stamp on her blog a while back, and I thought it was so cute. Have you ever noticed how inspiration can make your wallet thinner?  I wish that would happen with my waistline instead.  But I digress.

I stamped the Tiny Stars with Versamark ink and heat embossed them with white embossing powder. I sponged Tim Holtz Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink over the embossed stars to make the night sky.  The "Merry and Bright" sentiment is a Hampton Art clear stamp, and the trees are from the Stampin' Up Festival of Trees set, The sentiment and trees were also heat embossed in white.  I used Stormy Sky Distress Ink for the trees so there would be a bit of a color difference between them and the sky. I wanted everything to be mono-chromatic for this particular card. The ornaments on the tree are covered with Turquoise Stickles.  I love silver, blue and white for Christmas! The snowy hills were made with a Paper Smooches "Stitches" die.  That die did not cut through the paper (?), so I'll have to check it again on the next round, Anyway, I trimmed the hills just above the stitch line and then used my Versamark pen and Reflections "Opaque Bling" embossing powder to add a sparkling edge.  The white frame around the sentiment is also heat embossed with that same powder. Finally, when positioning the trees, I decided to put the tip of the middle one just underneath a star and color that one whimsical little star with a gold Uniball Signo pen. I put a "blanket" of yellow Stickles over the top of it for some final pizazz.  See you next time!