CAS(E) this Sketch #212 - Congratulatons

One of my nieces in Tokyo passed her entrance exam this month and she is going to a high school in April. (The academic year starts in April in Japan.)
Cherry blossoms are beautiful in early April so I thought this card would be perfect for this occasion. Congratulations, my little Mai-chan!

My card design was based on this week's CAS(E) this Sketch #212

I die-cut a bunch of cherry blossoms, colored them with Prismacolor pencils, and finished with Wink of Stella.

Stamp: Essential Sentiments (My Favorite Things)
Paper: Neenah Solar White (110 lb), Pink Pirouette, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!), Translucent Vellum (My Favorite Things)
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Sweet Sugarplum (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Cherry Blossoms Dies (Spellbinders), Prismacolor Pencils, Wink of Stella (Kuretake)

Thanks for stopping by!

CAS(E) this Sketch #211 - Love & Sympathy

I've had this silhouette stamp for almost 5 years, and never used it because I didn't know how I could use it without giving too dark an impression. So I tried using a few colors instead of one solid color and softened it a little. I think it worked all right.

I made the image blurry, and this is how I did it: I first wet watercolor paper, inked the stamp with 3 colors of distress ink, and stamped the image. The ink reacted with the water, so the image blurred.

The sentiment was stamped with Versafine ink, and heat-embossed with clear embossing powder.

I used black cardstock to frame the front panel at first, but it looked very stark. So I changed my mind - I colored watercolor paper with one of the distress inks I used for the image, and used it as a frame.

My design is base on this week's CAS(E) this Sketch #211.

Stamp: Just Believe, Love & Sympathy (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Watercolor paper (140 lb - Strathmore), Stardream Quartz (Paper Source)
Ink: Distress Ink (Ranger - Blueprint Sketch, Mermaid Lagoon, Cracked Pistachio), Versafine (Tsukineko - Onyx Black)
Accessories: Ultra Fine Embossing Powder (Hero Arts - Clear)

Thanks for Looking!

Thinking of you, my friend!

A good friend of mine is having a hard time these days, and I wanted to make an encouraging card for her. While thinking about the design and colors for the card, I saw a beautiful card made by Donna Mikasa. I was totally inspired by her color scheme. The colors used in her card were perfect for my friend because her favorite color is light salmon. 
So here's my card:

 
I heat-embossed the dahlias in clear, and loosely colored them with distress ink.

Cheer up, my friend!

Stamp: Regarding Dahlias, Sheltering Tree (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Watercolor paper (140 lb - Strathmore)

Ink: Distress Ink (Ranger - Picked Rapsberry, Spiced Marmalade), Memento (Tuxedo Black), VersaMark (Tsukineko)

Accessories: Ultra Fine Embossing Powder (Hero Arts - Clear), Sequin (Lucy's Cards - Gilded Rose)

Thanks so much for visiting me today!