Celebrate Today ~~ just because

Just looking at this card makes me happy. It came about in a rather unusual way, I must say. Because we're moving from Thunder Bay to Guelph in a couple of months, I decided I needed to clear out some stuff from our closets, stamping stuff included. I pulled out a bunch of stamps I don't use very often and offered them for sale in the Shack Marketplace at The Stamp Shack. I had about 12 or more SU sets and promised that some High Hopes and Pink Cat Studio sets would follow soon. Well, some of the SU sets sold quickly and then a couple of ladies asked about the other sets. I started to go through them and, well, I found I was unable to part with any more stamps, sets or otherwise. This came as a big shock to me as I guess I didn't fully understand my addiction to this craft. As I looked at each set, and I only got as far as the High Hopes, I found myself cringing at the thought of parting with the boy with the frog, this lovely little girl holding a stuffed heart, and, well, the baby blowing the bubbles; unthinkable to sell. Anyway, to make a long story short, I withdrew the balance of the stamps from Shack Marketplace and decided that my family will just have to bury me with all my stamps when it's my time to go to that Great Stamping Convention in the sky!

"Celebrate Today" was inspired by the cards created by Michelle Zindorf at Freedom In Creating. I love, love, love what she does with a brayer and regular cardstock. The effects Michelle achieves are remarkable and I wanted to see if I could even come close. While not as good as her cards, I am pleased with the way this one turned out. I stamped the image with Black Palette Hybrid ink and coloured it in with Copic Markers. Then, I used my finger to cover the entire, coloured image with VersaMark. I don't have a marker yet, but my friend, Erin K. picked one up and is sending it to me as a RAK; isn't that terrific of her? Thanks, again, Erin! You can see Erin's blog and all of her great cards here. Then, I sprinkled clear embossing powder over the image and heated it up. I selected Soft Sky ink for the first layer of ink and using my brayer, went over the top portion of the card several times. Next, I added some Ballet Blue in in the sky as well. For the grassy portion, it was Wild Wasabi, making several passes with the brayer. When I was satisfied with the colours of the sky and grass, I stamped the rock with the leaves and coloured them using Copics. The embellishments are all from Buttons Galore. I like them because they have great selections of smooth-backed embellies just perfect for cardmaking.

There you have it, Celebrate Today ~~ just because!