My Paper Corner

I haven't followed a sketch layout for such a long time.  When I saw the current sketch challenge at  The Paper Players  I took that inspiration for this birthday card.  I had already planned on using the covermount safari stamps from issue 121 of Creative Stamping mag and in particular the giraffe. I started by randomly stamping four of the leaves to make a background panel using green ink.  Various green/blue distress inks were used to watercolour them before cutting into four strips.  Love the doodle/tangle patterns on the giraffe which was stamped using brown ink and watercoloured with brush markers. The giraffe was in danger of being lost against the background so the middle two strips were covered with some graduated coloured vellum from my stash before arranging on a pastel coloured mat.  Giraffe and sentiment fussy cut and mounted with foam pads. I've used - 5x7" cream card base Safari stamps - issue 121 Creative Stamping mag VersaFine Clair inks - shady lane, pine

Made for the uncle of a crafting friend celebrating his 100th birthday who still enjoys a bit of gardening.  Card Making Magic's Spring Garden stamp set that came with issue 119 of Creative Stamping seemed ideal to use and I also wanted to have lots of colour so what better than a rainbow background. Distress oxide inks were brushed over a stencil to create the abstract background then water drops flicked over to create some interest.  Gardening images stamped in brown ink directly onto the panel with masks used so the hand tools could be stamped behind the flower pots.  Images were coloured with a mixture of polychromos, metallic pencils and gel pens with added white gel pen highlights. Number 100 stamped in green ink with a bracket below again with some white gel highlights ... a topiary sculpture maybe?  White embossed sentiment on the same colour card as the matt layer. I've used - 6x6" white card base Issue 119 Creative Stamping covermount Claritystamp abstract square