Always thinking of you!

Thanks for visiting today...I have a sweet little design to share with you! As I have mentioned lately, I am trying to ink up my under-utilized stamp sets that I have had for YEARS.

When I made THIS card, I wasn't ready to put this set away, so I quickly stamped another design. I really liked the colors that I chose for the larger blooms, but decided to switch things up and bring in a cooling grayish blue. I just love the feeling that it created!

Rather than using multiple ink pads for the larger blooms, I just stamped the larger image off once before stamping on my focal panel and then used the 2nd step at full ink strength. This is one of those basic stamp tricks that I learned when I first began stamping, but it's one that never loses its pertinence. The leaves are stamped with Mint Julep ink and the shadow image is stamped in Vintage Jadeite for a great dimensional quality.

The sentiment is stamped in Palette Black ink. This is my favorite black ink because I can also use Copic markers and it won't bleed. Is there a better black ink out there that I am unaware of? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject. I stamped the "thinking of you" portion onto a strip of blue paper and then cut a swallow tail on the end and adhered it with foam squares. 

I added a small black dot to the center of each of the blue flowers to tie in more of the black and to ground them as well. They feel empty to me without something in the center. I also added some clear Nuvo drops on the flowers and leaves to represent some dew and to create some additional shine.

I also added some Sparkling Clear sequins in varying sizes for even MORE shine! And...if that wasn't enough, I added some Wink of Stella here and there because I just couldn't resist!

The finishing touch, which I think really adds to the design, is the simple bow of Baker's Twine The entire focal panel is adhered to a piece of blue card stock and then adhered to the white card base with Scor-tape. These are the type of cards that I like having on hand, because you usually end up needing them when you least expect it. Thanks for fluttering by!