Independence & Handmade Cards - two things I love!

Happy Independence Day!! I'm thankful as always to have my freedoms and enjoy a good life with my family and friends! Thank you to all of those past and present that have made that possible for us!

On a somewhat related note... I had a card workshop earlier this week and thought I'd share what we made. This first card was made specifically for today. It was made using two different stamp sets, "C1394 Candlelight" (which is actually a stamp set featuring different candle images (more for birthdays), but I thought these looked like they could be fun firecrackers) and "B1354 Boom!". Now these are the firecrackers I don't mind being near today, I'm just not one that enjoys the real thing too close to me. I'm more of a snakes & sparklers kind of gal, lol.






















Once we stamped the images, we cut them out and then curled the cardstock around a pen to get the 3-D effect. They stay that way quite well without having to do anything else to them.





































I actually had a second motive for doing this card. I've also been wanting to play along in a challenge over on the Heart 2 Heart Challenges blog, but haven't had the opportunity yet. This card actually works for the theme this week which is "Patriotic". If you're a fan of Close to My Heart products you'll want to check out this blog. It's run by a Close to My Heart consultant and there's a regular design team, then each week other people (consultants and non-consultants) can participate in the challenge and link their creations. It's fun to see how differently people interpret the challenges.

This next card was made using the Magic Moments paper pack and the stamp "C1407 Hot Diggity" (which we used last month for the embossed Frog card we made).


































































This card was inspired by a combination of elements from two other CTMH consultants (Faith Richardson and Jennifer Bennett). Isn't that little snail cute? I thought this card style was very clever with the green flap tucking behind the raised circle the snail is stamped on and once untucked, revealing the inside of the card.

One of the techniques we tried out during this workshop was using the Watercolor Pencils and a Blending Pen. I had only used each a couple of times in the past, so I wanted to do a little more with them and I had a lot of fun. I've always liked to color, I find it very relaxing.

Here's the first card we made using the Watercolor Pencils and blending pen.






















Isn't this little Elephant fun? I'm not usually one that's drawn to really cutsie images, but this whole set is great for coloring. It's called "D1434 You're Great" It has an aligator, monkey, hippo and a lion as well.

That background was a bit of a challenge in class. We started off with just a plain Blush colored cardstock and then used the "D1412 Noted Backgrounds" stamp to get the Herringbone effect. It takes some practice to get the lines to line up because for a card front this size you have to stamp the image 4 times.

We also added a little Liquid Glass to his toenails to give them a little shine and dimension.















The next card we used those same Watercolor Pencils and Blending Pen and added a few more colors. This girl is from the "D1344 Ms.Gardner" set. She was fun to color, and paired with that lovely Topstitch paper, I think this card turned out pretty cute.






























The sentiment continued to the inside of the card.















And last but not least, we did a card using the new Petite Perks "Dreams" stamp set that's featured on the back cover of the Summer Idea Book. This is a set for consultant's to purchase and do with what they choose. I chose to use it on this card and then give all of the workshop attendees a set to take home with them.






























This time we used the Blending Pen once again, but we didn't use the pencils. This time we used the pen and dipped it in the excess ink that accumulates on the lid of each stamp pad. This is a great option if you don't have the matching marker color, to use on small areas.

Well, I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday this weekend, thanks for sticking with me to the end of this long post. :)