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

Dream Garden for The Color Dare {84}

Hello Color Dare fans!  It's time for another color challenge and here's what Riley has for us:

Color Dare 83

Soft Suede

Pear Pizzazz

Night of Navy

And here is what I've created for you:

The stamp-a-ma-jig made easy work of the center panel.  I started with a piece of Naturals Ivory cardstock (it's okay to add a neutral) and stamped the beautiful panel from Dream Garden in all 3 challenge colors.  I left a little bit of ivory cardstock at the bottom so I could wrap it with the scrunchy ribbon technique in Night of Navy taffeta ribbon.  

I made a flower embellishment from Night of Navy cardstock and layered two flowers from the Flower Fusion sizzlit.  The card base looked too plain to me so I chose another Asian-themed stamp set, Eastern Blossoms,  and stamped the cherry blossoms in Soft Suede as a frame.    

When I was finished, I realized that I wasn't finished--there was no sentiment!  I stamped it on the side to see what it would look like and I really like the effect.  What do you think?

And I couldn't ignore the inside....so the crane was inked up again in Pear Pizzazz and a sentiment from Sincere Salutations stamped in Night of Navy.

Sorry to make this a quick post tonight...please let me know if you have any questions or comments--love to hear from you.  Please be sure to check out the rest of the Design Team.  I'm sure you will find some fabulous inspiration on their blogs:

• Riley - our leader
• Glenda - Papers, Scissors & Rocks
• Heather - Princess Scrapper Stamper
• Joan - JJ Creations
• Marisa - Rosemary Reflections
• Melissa - My Paper Obsession

River Dreams: JAI {24}

Just a quick post tonight...had to get this one in under deadline! Here's a clean-and-simple entry for the sketch challenge over at Just Add Ink: 24. Isn't it great? So many possibilities! This beautiful stamp from Dream Garden is embossed in black on some fabulous River Rock designer paper I picked up in the SU Clearance Rack. I was so happy when SU brought back River Rock--it was the very first SU stamp pad I ever purchased and has remained a favorite! It looks great paired here with the deep tones of Cherry Cobbler--a yummy color--used on the sentiment from Wonderful Words (retired).


For the inside, the Dream Garden crane was inked up in River Rock and the little sentiment from Occasional Quotes (new hostess level 2 set) stamped right over in Cherry Cobbler. Such a great color combination don't you think? Sorry so short but I'm exhausted--thanks for looking!

supplies:
stamps: dream garden; occasional quotes; wonderful words (retired)
ink: river rock, versamark, cherry cobbler
paper: river rock, basic black & cherry cobbler cardstock; brocade backgrounds dsp (retired)
xtras: corner rounder punch

Curtain Call {Act 33} with Mojo!

I've been on an angled kick this week--not my usual layout--but I really liked this week's Mojo Monday {142} sketch and decided to combine it with Stacey's colors at the Curtain Call, Act 33. Love, love the watery blues and greens this week--had to play along!
I wanted to re-work this card I made awhile ago. I used the horizontal crane stamp from Dream Garden and stamped it with bashful blue, certainly celery and night of navy--isn't it pretty? Look at all the detail in that stamp! The stamp-a-ma-jig was the essential tool for getting the cranes lined up just so. Some retired certainly celery dsp came in on the background and two layers of the scalloped edge in whisper white and certainly celery finished it off.

Love those little bits of ribbon on the sketch and here I used bashful blue taffeta ribbon with a little rhinestone embellishment from my stash--just the right amount of sparkle!

More friends with birthdays this month so I inked up my favorite "friend" sentiment from the Great Friend stamp set. I inked first in certainly celery and colored over "friend" with my navy stampin' write marker. The "happy birthday" sentiment was achieved by inking just part of the "live, laugh & love" stamp, from On Your Birthday, with the navy marker. Can't forget the extra crane stamp in bashful blue that ties it all together. I hope you like it...thanks for stopping by!

xtras:
stamps: dream garden; great friend; on your birthday
ink: certainly celery, bashful blue, night of navy classic ink
paper: night of navy, certainly celery, whisper white cardstock; certainly celery dsp
xtras: bashful blue taffeta ribbon; night of navy stampin' write marker; scalloped edge punch; 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" circle punches