Wishing and Thinking

Here are my cards for this month’s final two Viva la Verve sketches. I went bright and bold on one and soft and muted on the other.

Here’s bright and bold. I made a birthday card using the balloon pair from Verve's Birthday Bash. The balloons are stamped on a light blue panel along with the “make a wish” sentiment. I stamped the balloons a second time on a scrap of white cardstock. I colored them with Copic markers and cut them out, then attached them to the blue panel using foam tape.

I picked two bold patterns for the mats underneath the image panel. Both are from Echo Park’s Sweet Summertime collection. I matted them on coordinating cardstock panels, rounding one corner on each, then machine stitched them to add interest—ignore my lousy sewing around the curves. I probably won’t try that again—LOL!

After arranging the panels on a light blue cardfront, I added strips of bright pink ribbon across them as accents. The ribbon was a scrap, just waiting on my table for the right project. Once the ribbon was in place, I added the image panel to complete the card. It’s already in the mail, on the way to its recipient. Is is sad that I’m proud of myself for getting the card in the mail?

Materials Used: Birthday Bash stamp set (Verve Stamps); Memento Tuxedo Black ink (Tsukineko); markers (Copic); Soft Sky and Yoyo Yellow cardstock (Stampin’ Up!); Hawaiian Shores cardstock, medium scallop border die (Papertrey Ink); Sweet Summertime Collection Kit (Echo Park); pink grosgrain ribbon (Michaels); sewing machine; foam tape; corner rounder

Now, here’s soft and muted. I used the flower image from Kind Words on this one. I inked the stems with PTI’s Ripe Avocado ink, then inked the flowers with Memento’s Grape Jelly. The image is stamped on a cream panel. I added a small pearl to each flower’s center for an elegant touch. The panel is matted on a piece of Royal Velvet cardstock for a pop of vibrant color amid the softness.

I used three different patterns from PTI’s Pacific Vineyard paper pad for the panels on the cardfront. A strip of Ripe Avocado satin ribbon runs along the top edge of the dotted paper. I stamped the set’s “thinking of you” sentiment in purple ink on a cream circle and added that to the cardfront. A matching purple button sits at the top of the circle as an accent. It’s threaded with some olive baker’s twine for a finished look.

Materials Used: Kind Words stamp set (Verve Stamps); Very Vanilla cardstock (Stampin’ Up!); Ripe Avocado ink, Ripe Avocado and Royal Velvet cardstock, Pacific Vineyard patterned paper, Ripe Avocado satin ribbon, Royal Velvet button (Papertrey Ink); Memento Grape Jelly ink (Tsukineko); self-adhesive pearls (Queen & Co.); circle punches (EK Success); olive baker's twine (Timeless Twine)