APRIL SWAPS FEATURING BRAYER TECHNIQUES

It was decided at my March class that my customers (aka friends) and I would feature brayer techniques on our April swaps, and I'm excited to share the gorgeous creations today!  Even though the rubber brayer was retired by Stampin' Up! a while back, our April swaps could feature that brayer or the current sponge brayer.  Following are the fantastic cards:

Aren't the swaps great????  I think some gorgeous scenery and colorful backgrounds were created!  For my swap, I used the sponge brayers to create a faux plaid background and then stamped the images with black ink.  At the last minute, I decided to color the flowers and leaves, and the gold Wink of Stella Glitter Brush was used on the center of the flowers:

FROM MY BOWL OF PARTS

It's been a while since I shared a new creation but, when I looked through the pictures on my camera card, I realized that it was also past time for me to create something.  Of course, there are plenty of completed projects in my stamp room, but I wanted to make something.  I turned to the old wooden bowl (a treasure from mamaw's house) that sits on the corner of my table and holds a mixed assortment of components that I started at one time or another but didn't finish or use. 

It's my "bowl of parts" you might say, and that's where I found the white-embossed and watercolored butterfly that finally found a home on this card:

 

 

I added some washi tape, sequins, and ribbon to the butterfly layer, adhered it to a piece of Mint Macaron cardstock, and stapled the sentiment (from Special Reason stamp set) that I stamped onto a strip of gold foil paper.  A pretty doily was adhered to the bottom front of the Pink Pirouette card, and then the butterfly layers were put in place.  And that, my friends, is how I take something from the bowl of parts, mix in some pieces that are laying on my table, and turn them into something ready to mail.

 

SKETCH CHALLENGE #70

There's a new sketch for Creating Pretty Cards - Card Challenge this month at Craft Project Central, and it looks like this:

The sketch was designed by Julie, and you can find her easy-to-follow tutorial HERE.

I used Stampin' Up!'s Always an Adventure stamp set and coordinating dies (and Glamper Greetings for the sentiment) to create this card for the challenge:

This was actually the first time that I have used these fun products, and I couldn't resist placing that healthy-looking bear in the scene.  I meant to wrap linen thread above the sentiment, but I forgot to do that before the trees were adhered.  Oops!

If you create a card and upload it at THIS LINK, then your name will be entered in the drawing for a FREE one-month subscription to the awesome tutorials at Craft Project Central!!!!  That's a fantastic give-away, and getting entered in the drawing is really easy.  For every 10 cards that are submitted for the card challenge, a winning name will be drawn!

"BASKET BUNCH" EASTER CARDS

I can't believe that I really made Easter cards this many days before Easter.  It would be more like me to be in a rush a few days before the holiday, scrambling to make a few cards.  These designs were kept really simple, and I really liked them! 

The first card features Calypso Coral, Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, and Pear Pizzazz cardstock.  Doesn't the bunny look happy with how nicely his carrot crop is growing?

And this is the second design, which has a fence going across the front of the card.



  I liked how well the colors worked on these cards, lending a softness to the designs.