Painter's Tape Background

Today's technique uses blue painter's tape. It's pretty simple. Just tear off a strip of painter's tape and gently press it to an ink pad, trying not to get ink along the long edges of the tape because that will leave lines in your image. For me, that is the hardest part. (I take a peek at the stamp after I've inked it and if it looks heavy along the long edges I press the edges only on a piece of scrap paper. ) After inking the tape gently press it to the Whisper White card stock, then remove. Be careful if you press it too hard it might tear your paper when you pull it back up. I actually tore one edge of this card and had to trim that off. This changed my layout plans to had to add the ribbon, which I like. A happy accident!
I used Pistachio Pudding for the lowest layer, So Saffron for the middle and Pool Party for the top. I used a new piece of tape for each color. The stamps are from Thoughts and Prayers stamp set and Butterfly Basics stamp set.

Great Layout

I had so much fun with this layout I found on Mary Fish's blog. Two totally different cards using the same layout.
If you look closely at my fox you'll see I used the fine tip of the marker to color him. I thought this was more in keeping with the line drawing image. Just another way to change up how you do things.

Sharing in Your Sorrow

Sadly, I was in need of a few sympathy cards. We have had a few deaths in our parish and community. At about the same time our weather was gloomy and so I wanted a card that was more bright and hopefully a little uplifting. The butterflies were made using my Big Shot and the Beautiful Wings embosslit. The DSP comes from the Flowerpot packet and the expression is from the Thoughts and Prayers stamp set. I wanted to use this expression because I was sending this card to a dear friend whose mother, Helen passed away at the age of 102. Helen was just such a dear, sweet lady and you would never have guessed her age. The pearls add a little extra sparkle to the card just like Helen did to life.