Country Home Stamp Set in Pastels

I have been so inspired by a set of cards made by Laurin Alarid from the Artisan Design Team for Stampin' Up! using the Country Home stamp set and pastel colours with lots of texture and layering. Laurin's inspirational blog is Crafty Little Peach. I'm used to seeing this set with more intense colours like Blackberry Bliss and Crushed Curry, so when I saw her designs in shades of Balmy Blue and Frost White Shimmer Paint, I wanted to get on the pastel bandwagon right away.

I used Petal Pink for my pastel along with Sahara Sand as my neutral and Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint (and a little Frost White as well). Here's how it turned out:

• I embossed my Petal Pink card base with the Tin Tile Dynamic Embossing Folder to add texture to the project and just because I love it so much!
• My front panel is Shimmery White cardstock because I wanted to do some watercolour smooshing and Whisper White won't stand up to the water you need to use to do that. To smoosh,  I used a Stampin' Write Marker and scribbled on an acetate sheet, then spritzed with a little water and pressed it to my paper, rubbing the ink around by rubbing the back of the acetate with my fingers, making the ink go roughly where I wanted it to go. I lifted off the acetate and blotted the extra puddles with some paper towel, then dried the paper on both sides with the Heat Tool. Once dry, I repeated the steps with another layer of the same colour or added another colour, in this case Sahara Sand.
• I love the combo of the Petal Pink and the touch of Sahara Sand. I ended up with a very marble-like design.
• You can use the Chicken Wire Element as a mask. I taped some down and painted over it with the Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint. I think I needed to add more paint to really get the feel of the chicken wire, but I was still left with a really neat shimmery, textury looking area that I really liked.
• I stamped my images from the Country Home stamp set on Shimmery White cardstock as well so I could watercolour them using an Aqua Painter. I stuck to Petal Pink, Sahara Sand and I threw in some Frost White Shimmer Paint for the cotton balls. It gives them a little dimension as well as shine. The images were fussy cut and added to the stamped front panel, bumping up the milk tin with Dimensionals.

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today.

Product List

Country Home Photopolymer Stamp Set [147678] $27.00	Shimmery White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101910] $12.25	Petal Pink 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146985] $11.50	Sahara Sand 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121043] $11.50	Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint [147044] $11.00
Frost White Shimmer Paint [147046] $11.00	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad [140931] $9.25	Petal Pink Classic Stampin' Pad [147108] $10.25	Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Pad [147117] $10.25	Subtles Stampin' Write Markers [147156] $40.00
Neutrals Stampin' Write Markers [147158] $40.00	Nature's Twine [146342] $12.25	Chicken Wire Elements [147807] $6.00	Aqua Painters [103954] $23.00	Paper Snips Scissors [103579] $13.50
Tin Tile Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [147906] $14.00	Big Shot [143263] $150.00	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755] $5.50	Glue Dots [103683] $7.25	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $5.50

MOJO Monday on Saturday???

Well, this is the latest I have ever done the MOJO Monday Challenge, but it was such an interesting layout, by Mary Fish, that I really wanted to complete it.  And now that I've done my first solo workshop, I've had an afternoon to catch up on my own crafting.  And I still have 22 or so hours to submit my card to the challenge.  This is how Sketch 237 looks:

Isn't it creative?  I decided to use this layout to design my daughter and son-in-law's anniversary card, which I have to get in the mail tomorrow, or it won't arrive in time!  How did life get so busy?  I sort of used a technique I learned from my upline, Tamara.  I say "sort of" because it was awhile ago and I couldn't quite remember all the supplies we used and I think I'm missing a few as it is, so this was my attempt at pansies made using the butterfly punch:

 

The card base is Old Olive and the back panel is So Saffron.  Basic Black punched with the Scallop Trim Border punch mattes both the flower strip and the sentiment in Whisper White.  The sentiment is from Something to Celebrate.

To make the pansies, I punched 8 of the butterfly shapes from Glossy White cardstock.  I inked it up using Stampin' Write markers and inks with the aqua painter.  Then I spritzed them well with water and let them dry, giving them a little help near the end with my heat tool.  When they were dry, I sponged on some Champagne Mist shimmer paint and let that dry.  I added the center details with Basic Black marker and put two together with a brad.  Quite simple really, but they are so sparkly and pretty.  A good reminder that spring is here!  I added some tiny basic pearls to the Scallop Border, quite extravagant of me really - but my daughter and her husband are worth it!  They've been married 4 years now and have a lovely little son, Parker. 

This is my wonderful family, including my so supportive husband, my three daughters and two of my sons-in-law, and my little grandson.

So there you have it, MOJO Monday 237.  Let the games begin, and may the odds be ever in your favour!