Stamps, Watercolors, Glitter, and Ribbon

Here's another catch-up post... and another soon to follow.

Below is a card I recently made for my friend Amy's birthday. I've made this card in the past and I really like it so much. I'm sorry it doesn't represent well here...

The close-up is a little better in illustrating how pretty the stamp is. These cards can be tricky... and not all of them turn "perfect" because each one is hand stamped after the text printing is done on the computer and the card has been cut and folded (in other words, if the stamp doesn't come out perfectly--I don't remake the entire card).

Here you can see how I've used the watercolor paints to enhance each large blossom and the tiny dot of silvery-pink glitter that graces the smaller blooms.

Below is another sample from a set I made for Amy. I saw this ribbon in a discount bin and thought it was so striking. Unfortunately, it was the only spool they had and the spool contained only one yard of ribbon... so once it's gone (soon) it's GONE.

I didn't want to do too much to distract from the ribbon. I used my large square punch on some heavy black textured cardstock, printed Amy's monogram in a font I liked, and then punched those out with a simple round punch (to compliment the circles in the ribbon pattern). I printed her full name in the same font on the card face at the bottom edge.

While I love to make cards as gifts and for barter, I rarely take the time to make cards for me. I was needed to send a few things off this week and realized that I should represent my work in the cards I used for this purpose!

Below is a simple design I've used before with monograms. It really represents well in different colors with complimenting ribbon bows or knots. This time, I tried it with one of my favorite basic fonts and all lowercase-condensed printing. It came out so well, I made a small set like this for Amy too!

Can you believe the holidays are literally around the corner?

I better get started on my gifts!