Have a sweet day!

This weekend I played around with a new stamp called Citrus Trimmings from Studio Katia that I just L.O.V.E !  This style of stamp is not typical for me – I tend to lean more toward florals but for some reason I just knew I had to have this one.

One of the things I like to do first whenever I get a new stamp set is to spend a few minutes just playing with some different layouts.  I gather up some scrap papers and usually some masking paper to make a mask and just have fun brainstorming or doodling with the stamp.  I like to keep the masking cutouts and all of my drafts and sample stamping layouts in the stamp pocket to refer to later.

To make my first card with this stamp set, I thought I would white heat emboss it and watercolor it.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks and used a white, black and red acrylic paint splatters after everything was dry.  In my mind, I had envisioned this panel being popped up and mounted on a black card base to make the bright yellow and orange shades from the stamp really pop. But, I had just purchased a new black and white patterned paper bundle that was sitting on my desk and as I flipped through it I found that I really liked the contrast of a monochromatic graph pattern against the soft lines of the citrus.  I finished it off with an embossed sentiment on a black tag tied off with some black and white string.  (this idea I got from a gorgeous Debbie Hughes card shown here) and mounted it on a matching lime green card base. 

[col-md-6]

[/col-md-6]
[col-md-6]

[/col-md-6]

As for the inside of the card, I always try to pull in some sort of coordinating accent to tie it all together.  I used a rectangle die from the wonky rectangle die set to create the front panel which left me with a border frame was perfect for the inside of the card.  I decided not to stamp a sentiment inside and left a nice big space for a hand written note.  This one of a kind card is available for sale in my Etsy shop.

It is now day FOUR of the masters, so I’m off to go watch Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy go duke it out for the treasured Green Jacket.

Have a great day everyone.

– C