Dreaming in the Garden: {CCMC153} {CI158}

Hiya friends!  I am continuing my spotlight of retiring stamps and accessories with another Thank You card.  My birthday was last weekend so, I've got a lot of thank you cards to send--lucky me!  Another favorite of mine on the Last Chance list is Dream Garden and when I saw this week's sketch at Create with Connie & Mary, I immediately thought of the cranes in this set:

Then, I went looking for a color challenge suitable for an Asian-inspired card and found these over at Stamping 411's Color Inspiration #158:

OK!  So off I went to my craft room.  And after fiddling around a bit--took me awhile to get the Certainly Celery just right--here's what I came up with:

See how the three panels of the crane stamp line up with the three panels in the sketch?  I stamped the cranes 3 times in Peach Parfait on So Saffron cardstock and matted the panel with Peach Parfait.  The Very Vanilla circle was cut with a circle nesties and I used the rock 'n' roll technique for the geisha image.  

I inked her first in So Saffron then rolled the edge of the stamp around on a Peach Parfait ink pad and then again, lightly, on a Real Red ink pad.  After I stamped her onto the circle I used a q-tip to add a little Very Vanilla Smooch Spritz directly on the image for a pearl effect. 

I used another retired favorite, Embrace Life, for the beautiful bamboo fronds that were stamped on the circle in Certainly Celery and on the background in So Saffron.  I love how it makes her look like she is praying in a bamboo grove.

I also grounded her with a Blender Pen and Certainly Celery ink.  Without it she appeared to be floating--much better to be on the ground!  :-)  That's a little bit of Subtles Patterns Designer Series Paper stack in Certainly Celery peeking below the circle and some lovely Certainly Celery 1/4" grosgrain ribbon.

Here is the crane stamp again on the inside--just a single stamp inked in Certainly Celery and stamped off once.  Happy Greetings from the summer mini catalog provided the perfect sentiment inked up in Peach Parfait.


So, what do you think of my Dream Garden card?  I'd love to hear from you!  Remember, we've got a Kind Thanks challenge going on over at The Paper Players this week so come check us out!  Thanks for stopping by today and I hope wherever you are today...it's a good one! :-)

supplies:

stamps: dream garden, embrace life, happy greetings

ink: so saffron, certainly celery, peach parfait, real red

paper: so saffron, very vanilla, peach parfait CS; subtles DSP stack

xtras: circle nesties; certainly celery 1/4" grosgrain ribbon; blender pen; very vanilla smooch spritz