Hugs & Smiles & Happy Birthday!

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Hi Friends! I hope you are having a fantastic weekend! We've had some rain the past couple of days, so we're enjoying some cooler weather, which is nice. What's even nicer is time spent crafting! Here's my latest creation.
This card was fun to make because I had no preconceived vision of what I wanted it to look like. I just knew I needed to follow a sketch, use certain colors and polka dots, and have it end up as a birthday card in order to be able to enter this in a few challenges. The pretty sentiment is a Verve stamp, and the two floral spray stamps are from Flourishes. The panel behind the sentiment layer and ribbon was originally going to be a piece of acetate until I found out that the inks I have won't dry on acetate. So, I ended up stamping on vellum instead and gluing that onto a piece of dp with a subtle design on it. It was really pretty, but, turns out, between the sentiment layer, flowers, and bow, you can't even see the design. I know it's there, though, and it's still pretty, even if no one else can see it. :)












Lately, I've noticed that a lot of people are using lots of different flowers in clusters on their cards. It's always so pretty, I decided to give it a try, too. It took lots of fiddling with them to get an arrangement I liked, but I think it was worth it. I definitely need to stock up on a variety of flowers!
I used another stamp from the same Flourishes Summer Blossom stamp set for the inside, but I stamped it in  green and colored it with much lighter colors. 

Thanks for stopping by today, and have a great week! School starts here tomorrow, so I'm going to try to get my before and after craft room photos edited this week so I can post them! It is sooo nice to be a little more organized now!

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Viva la Verve August 2012 Week 1: VLVAug2012
Flourishes Birthday Wishes Challenge: FLLCAug12
Do You Stack Up #83: Polka Dots
Sugar Creek Hollow #23: Something old (mulberry roses & pearls), something new (stamps)
Fat Pages and Cards with Attitude #19: Anything Goes
Poodles Parlour: Anything Goes
Simply Create Too #19: Anything Goes
Moving Along with the Times #157: Summer
Simon Says...Kristina's Inspiration Photo: Kitty
Whimsy Stamps #49: Summer Fun

~Hugs!
 
Stamps: Kind Words, Bloom & Grow (Verve); Summer Blossoms, Tag Lines (Flourishes)
Paper: Stash; vellum
Ink: Memento; Copics; Colorbox; Distress Ink
Dies: Std Circles Lg, Antique Frame & Accents, Fleur de Lis Squares (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Ribbon (Joann); flowers & leaf; leaf pins (Maya Road); Stickles; pearls
Size: 5" sq.
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26 comments :

Anne-Elise said...

Beautiful card, Cheryl! Love your flowers with all the different backgrounds!! Great work!

Meggymay said...

Beautiful card, love the layering and the cluster of flowers. Thank you for joining us at SCH this week
Yvonne

Sue B said...

Oh this is beautiful Cheryl ! what a gorgeous design and layout… the sentiment looks great as central focus... love the colours and pretty flowers! :-)
Thanks for joining us at MAWTT for my 'Summer' theme and Good Luck in the Challenge!
Hugs Sue xx

Conniecrafter said...

Lovely, such pretty stamping on the main vellum and pretty flower arrangement. Your inside is so gorgeous it would be great for a card front!

Maria said...

Ahhh...so lovely! Love the black/white elegant background! Sweet sentiment with pearl and cluster of gorgeous flowers! Inside is so pretty, too! Take care and have a wonderful week, hugs!

Unknown said...

Love the black and white :) Thank you for joining us at The Poodles Parlour this time! Good luck in the Challenge.

Chrizette
DT Member
Celestial Things

PS I have a giveaway on my blog if you want to drop by.

Jessi Fogan said...

I'm loving the flower clusters too - there's just so much texture & dimension! Love the leaf pins you used (I have those & am totally hoarding them!) And as for completely covering up an element - yep. Been there! But you're right, YOU know it's there, and it's exactly where it needs to be. Wouldn't be the same without it!

Melissa Bove said...

Gorgeous!! Both cards are absolutely stunning!!

Thank you very much for joining us this week at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog!

Hugs...
Melissa

Stacy Morgan said...

Very striking! Your rich colors, beautiful coloring and great layout all are beautiful. Thanks for playing in Flourishes Birthday Celebration challenge!

Laura said...

This is so pretty Cheryl! The cluster of flowers against the black and white just pops!! Love it!

Judith said...

This just gorgeous - I love the layout and coloured flowers thanks for playing along at MAWTT hugs Judith x

Audrey Pettit said...

This is beautiful, Cheryl!

Beate said...

wow so pretty, i love the colors, the coloring and how you decoreted this awesome piece.
Thank you for playing with us at Simply Create Too
Beate

Mary Jo said...

Very pretty and elegant. Love the color splashes. Thanks for joining us at DYSU.

Silke Ledlow said...

Gorgeous! I love this design! Thank you so much for celebrating with us...hugs ~S~

Lorraine A said...

Gorgeous card Cheryl :-) the whole design is beautiful and the inside is fab too :-)

Congratulations ! You have won the $50 spree to Simon Says Stamp !! Woo Hoo !! :-)

luv
Lols x x x

Arnoldo L. Romero, MLA said...

Congratulations on winning the Simon Say's - Kristina Challenge! Your card is beautiful. Blessings!

Grandma Bonnie said...

Cheryl, i adore seeing what you create..it's candy for my eyes...thank you!

dpkennedy said...

The black really makes the colors pop! Very pretty card! Thanks for playing with Flourishes!

Melissa Craig said...

What a stunner! I love all those beautiful flowers. Great job.

Sue Lelli said...

BEAUTIFUL inside and out, Cheryl! LOVE the design and how you put this all together! So PRETTY!

Anonymous said...

what an amazing card i just love your color choices and the roses are lovely... thanks for joining us at sch this week...

Heather Rogers said...

Just beautiful! I love the sweet flowers on your frame and the pretty sheer bow. :)

Hugs~

Patti P. said...

So beautiful....love the arrangement of flowers, I always struggle with them. Your b/w is the perfect back drop for your design and love the inside as well.
So happy you shared with us at Sugar Creek Hollow this week.

Patti SCH/DT

Theresa said...

Simply gorgeous! I love the flower arrangement and the inside of the card is beautiful.

DesignerDiva said...

Beautiful work the colours are stunning!
Thanks for playing at MAWTT this week for our Summer challenge, hope you will join us again soon
Hugs Laurie xx