I'm back . . . . well at least for now

As I mentioned in my previous post, things have been crazy busy around here. We have one more "normal" horse show to photograph and then the huge Championship competition here in Colorado this month. After that I am planning to spend lots of time crafting!!! Of course, that is after the editing, stressing, completing orders and stressing. Here are a few cards that I have put together over the last few weeks.

So clearly this isn't the greatest photo. :-) I totally forgot to get a good photo of this card before I was about to give this to my dad for his birthday. So this was all I could do. My inspiration for this card is the cover of OneRepublic's album. I first stamped the tree from Inkadinkado's Fall Season Set with Versamark ink and then I embossed with white embossing powder. I then applied the following Distress Inks with 1/4 sponge; Broken China, Dusty Concord and then Black Soot. I edged the main image with a silver paint pen, layer onto Basic Black CS from Stampin' Up and the added the brads.

The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Damask Designs, stamped on black CS with Versamark ink and embossed in silver powder from Stampin' Up. I then edged with the silver paint pen. I'll admit when first heard about Emboss Buddies I was skeptical. I thought "Just one more thing to buy that won't help." Well, I finally caved and bought one and I loved it, especially on dark papers or when you will be layering color over your embossed image. They certainly have a life span, my first one was leaving white powder all over my cardstock and was not rubbing off but once I replaced it, back to happy times. I highly recommend this tool to anyone that does a lot of embossing.

I have a thing for most things British. The Rampant Lion is certainly one of my favorite images. I have a T-shirt that is green with a Rampant Lion with a crown that inspired this card.

To start I took the following Distress Inks and rubbed them on my craft sheet; Tea Dye, Shabby Shutters and Pealed Paint. I then spritzed with my Mini Mister. I rubbed the cardstock onto the ink puddles about three or four times to get the look I was after. Between rubbings I dried with my heat gun.

The Rampant Lion image is from the Tim Holtz's Collection from Stampers Anonymous and comes from the Regal Flourishes set. The crown is by Hot Off The Press and is from the Flights of Fancy set. I stamped the image with Broken China Distress ink and then dusted with Perfect Pears in Gold. The blue paper was some random cardstock that I had in my craft and while it looks black in the photo the other cardstock is a Gun Metal from Brazzil. The ribbon is black organza ribbon from Creative Impressions. The Fleur-De-Lys is an EK Success punch that I embossed with Sahara Pearls embossing powder from Stampendous. I embossed the punch three times to give it the dimension. There is a small green gem in the center of the Fleur-De-Lys from Hero Arts.

This was another simple card but I think that it has a really elegant look to it. The navy cardstock is Night of Navy from Stampin' Up. The pink DP I used on the background is from the Old World Stack by DCWV. I cut out a circle with my Friskar's Circle Cutter in Night of Navy and a smaller one from white cardstock. I sponged onto my white circle with Tattered Rose and Worn Lipstick to mimic the background paper. I then stamped the image from Stampin' Up's Finest Flourishes in Faded Jeans. I also embossed this with clear embossing powder. I added very small dots of Distress Stickles in Faded Jean on the two small dots on either side of the flourish. The Bonjour is from the Stampin' Up set Carte Postal and was also stamped with the Faded Jeans Distress Ink. I edged all of the cardstock with a very small line of silver using a silver paint pen. I just applied the paint to the edges. My final element prior to assembly was setting the eyelets, and I actually used a ruler this time, so they are pretty straight.

That is it for today! Thank you, as always for stopping by.