Thanks Card Inspired by Catherine Pooler

While reading blogs on my iPad, I came across a fun card made by Catherine Pooler using the reverse side of a stamp.  You can find the post and video here.  I thought I would give it a shot.  Since I didn't have the stamp she has, I used the backside of the Dahlia stamp from Crafty Secrets along with the Peacock Feathers, Mustard Seed and Picked Raspberry Distress Inks.  I wasn't sure I really liked how it turned out, so I set it aside and worked on something else, but once it dried, I actually thought it wasn't too bad.   Sometimes things just have to grow on me.  So I cut the panel down to 4 x 5 1/4.  Then I used the Lawn Fawn thanks die to cut my sentiment into the panel.  I then taped the panel down to a card base made from Simon Says Stamp Soft Navy card stock, which is quickly becoming a favorite.  I used some extra of that card stock to cut out another thanks using the die.  I then inlayed the sentiment, which is a very popular technique right now.  I added a few clear sequins to finish it off.

Happy Birthday - Inspired by Kristina Werner

There are a handful of people in the crafting industry that I find seriously inspiring:  Jennifer McGuire for her endless supply of techniques she teaches, Nichol Maguoirk for her amazing use of colored pencils and Gamsol, Vicky Papaioannou for her fabulous art journal pages (and lovely accent), Michelle Short for her clean and simple style (and lovely accent), Catherine Pooler who is a new discovery for me and I'm loving her personality, Ali Edwards for her thoughtfulness, Melissa Stinson who introduced me to Citrus Twist kits (I'm still heartbroken that she's "retiring" because she and Michelle have shown me that one doesn't have to be formally trained and can have a "day job" - or in Michelle's case a day job and school on top of it - and still be quite amazing)...  Oh, I'm sure there a few others that I'll be kicking myself later that I didn't mention, but if I couldn't only see one artist's work for inspiration, it just might have to be Kristina Werner.  I've only been stalking following her for a while now, but I'm constantly amazed by how fabulous her work is both in the products she designs but also in her coloring and finished cards.  They are simply amazing.  I've been so inspired to try to so many of the things she's done (although my budget might squeak a bit at how much I ended up buying because of it). 

For today's card, that's exactly the case.  I saw her use Ferro to make a simple card the other week.  Although I had seen Ferro used before in someone else's video, it was her video that has stuck in my mind.  So when I popped into Runaway Arts and Crafts during my lunch walk last week to get hydro cortisone, I was so excited to see several bottles of Ferro in beautiful colors, but I was drawn to the Steel bottle.  So pretty. 

So, for today's card, I made the background with the Ferro and a simple dotted stencil from Heidi Swapp.  I adore how pretty it is in real life.  For the focal point, I wanted to replicate this cute tag I saw Kelly Marie Alvarez of Lawn Fawn make in a recent release video.  I stamped the tag from Winter Gifts, fussy cut out the inside and then used the Color Box Dahlia Art Screen with some Distress Ink to get the cute petals on the tag.  Then I stamped the tag again, die cut it with the matching dies and glued my "internal" tag portion on top.  I added the Happy Birthday stamp from the Inkadinkado Framed Expressions set stamped in Archival ink over the top then finished it off with pop dots and a scrap of ribbon.

Happy Birthday!

For today's card, I really didn't have to look anywhere for inspiration; it just sort of made itself.  I recently bought this Crafty Secrets' set called Dahlia while shopping at yet another local scrapbooking store that is going out of business.  My sister was over to watch some TV and I just wanted to play with the new stamp.  Without any real idea of where I was going with it, I stamped it in Versamark ink on some kraft card stock from my stash then heat embossed it with some Zing white embossing powder.  I colored the flower in with some colored pencils to add a pop of color.  Then I stamped on the sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp Happy Sentiments set using Versafine ink.  I decided it needed a bit of a mat, so I cut the finished piece down to 3.75 by 5 inches and then cut a white mat at 4 by 5.25.  Then it was just a matter of gluing it all down to a kraft card stock card base.