*Hello Sunshine*

This card came together slowly, but it came together. 

I used my Misti with a border stamp and Catherine Pooler inks to create the background, one line at a time.  I wasn't sure I liked it so I set it aside for a bit.

So I picked it up again a while later and trimmed the panel down and then and added the black layer using my Perfect Layers Tool.  And I put it aside again.

So a while later I picked it up again... put it on a white side fold card and thought "now what"?  So I used the hello dies from Concord & 9th, the fatter one out of black and the thinner one out of a very sparkly My Favorite Things silver.  I adhered it to the front of the card and stamped the word "SUNSHINE" underneath the die with VersaFine black ink.  I used my Misti so I could stamp it several times to make sure it was good and dark.

And I don't hate it...

*Revisiting Patterned Paper*

I used to use a lot of patterned paper in my cards.  So I have a lot of patterned paper in my stash from my days of working at the scrapbook store.  But for the most part, I ignore it.

The other day I decided to pull out a neglected piece and play...  and this is what I came up with.

It's still clean and simple, it was so quick to put together, and I think I like it!

*Two-Fer*

I decided to share these two cards together since they are pretty much the same card, with different dies.  I saw a card on Pinterest and decided to make it in to an every day card instead of a Christmas card...

I'm not sure which one I like better....

*Same Stamp*

I made another card with Bonnie's stamp...  this time stamped in pink ink on a white card front....  I added a chocolate brown layer and then a pink layer before putting it all on to a white card base.  I added a Paper Trey Ink sentiment stamped in the chocolate brown.

*Just Wow*

Bonnie brought over this Stampin' Up Sale aBration stamp set when she came to play a few weeks ago...  I will admit, just looking at the stamp, it doesn't look like much... but I am shocked at the detail you can get on regular cardstock with dye based ink.

I stamped it in a dark purple ink and cut that layer and the striped layer with the MFT stitched rectangles.  I added it all to a white card and stamped the sentiment in black VersaFine ink.

So very quick and easy!

*A Valentine*

I can't tell you the last time I made a Valentine.  Over the Christmas holidays I won a prize from Scrap n Stamp and I was excited to see it was hearts since I have *nothing* with hearts.  I was inspired by a card that my friend Bonnie made and decided to try it myself.

The heart die and little heart stamp are by Lawn Fawn.  I cut them out of white cardstock and stamped the little heart on them and then dragged a grey ink pad along the edges.  I used some Ken Oliver Color Burst powder with a water pen to create the scribble background and once it was dry I covered it with some clear Wink of Stella.  I used pop dots to attach the hearts to the card, added a Catherine Pooler sentiment and used my Perfect Layers tools to create the black matte.

It's funny... when I had just the scribble background, I didn't like it at all.  I placed the hearts and still didn't like it.  I took the hearts off and added the black matte and the Wink of Stella and suddenly I liked it!

*Geometric Embossing Folder*

I was playing around with a new embossing folder, seeing how it looked when I embossed it on coloured cardstock and decided to make a card out of it.  I really wasn't sure about this card as I put together each piece, but in the end, I really like it.

I used some of those great (and old) Michael's Bridal flowers and I coloured them with some Copics and added a little black pearl to the centre of each flower.  I used a Spellbinders die to create the white circle and stamped a Penny Black sentiment in black Versafine ink.  I adhered the flowers to the white circle and then added it all to the purple panel before placing it all on to a white card.

In other news... yesterday was my last day of chemo pills....  I am *really* looking forward to the next 6-8 weeks as these drugs leave my system and I start to feel "normal" again... it could have been so much worse, but I'm tired of the constant exhaustion, of not tasting food and of just not feeling well, day after day. 

*Simplicity Inspired*

I saw a card very much like this on the Simplicity By Lateblossom blog and on a day I wanted to create but had no flowing mojo, I decided to CASE it.  She does such an amazing job embracing the white space and rocking the clean and simple look.

I used the MFT stitched rectangle dies, a stamp set by My Favorite Things and some Catherine Pooler inks to create this simple card.

*Thank you Cathy Zielske!*

I love some of the stamps that Cathy Zielske has designed... some of them are completely inappropriate and so totally me.  I added some other stamps to her "beyotch" stamp to create the sentiment on this card.  I added some images stamped with Catherine Pooler inks, a 1/16th blue layer and a few Dew Drops to give some sparkle...  Now to figure out who I can send this to without offending them LOL!

*CASe This Sketch #238*

It has been a long time since I've used a sketch and come up with an idea to go with it...  For this card I used the flourish from Stampin' Ups Baroque Motifs.  I coloured up some white shimmer flowers (from Michael's several years ago) with Copics and added a Penny Black sentiment in black VersaFine ink.  I used my Perfect Layers Tools to create the green layer and then popped it all on to a white card.