Charming "Sitting Here" Cards Make Me Smile

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Upcoming Events

August "Last Thursdays" Card Class—August 25
Greetings From Santa Countdown To Christmas Class—Register by August 31.

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Hi Stamping Friends!

In case you missed it, registration opened yesterday for my annual Countdown To Christmas Class Series. The first month features the whimsical & magical Greetings From Santa stamp set. See September's class details here…and register by August 31.

This week, local stampers are invited to my monthly "Last Thursdays" class, coming up on August 25. If you're in the area, I hope you can join us. Today, I'm sharing another card from this class and it's so sweet!

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August "Last Thursdays" Card Class

Thursday, August 25, 2016, 6:30pm. RSVP by Wednesday, August 24, at 5pm.

See Complete "Last Thursdays" Class Details!

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Charming Sitting Here Cards Make Me Smile

One of my life-long guilty pleasures is swinging on a porch swing. My lake-house neighbors could attest that when I was younger, I would spend hours swinging on our porch swing that my dad had hung from my old swing set frame. I would close my eyes and soak in the sounds of birds and bugs and frogs. I would breathe in the cool, night breeze and watch the harvest moon glimmering across the lake as the boats floated by. Some of the happiest, most peaceful moments of my life happened right there as I relaxed and rejuvenated, hypnotized by the rhythm of the swing. Ahhhh!

What I didn't have in these moments…were pillows! Fluffy, comfy, cushy decorative pillows! Apparently, I didn't know what I was missing!

Still, I knew I had to have the Sitting Here stamp set because it represented wonderful memories that make me smile!

Background Basics—My stamped layer is a piece of 5" x 3-3/4" Very Vanilla, matted onto a 5-1/8" x 3-7/8" piece of Old Olive and adhered to an Island Indigo card base.

Sweet Swing—I stamped the Sitting Here swing in Archival Black Ink, then colored it in using Blender Pens and ink pads. The swing is colored with Soft Suede, the swing cushion with Bermuda Bay.

TIP: Squeeze the ink pad while closed to transfer the ink to the lid, then use that lid as a palette to pick up color with the Blender Pen.

I stamped the swing's shadow image in Smoky Slate. That little shadow is a great detail!

Sweet Sentiment—I stamped the "make me smile" greeting above the swing in Archival Black…a perfect phrase for me!

Pretty Pillows—I stamped the pillow images in Archival Black Ink onto scrap Very Vanilla, then colored them in Bermuda Bay, Island Indigo & Old Olive ink. The pillows are hand-cut with Paper Snips, then adhered to the swing with SNAIL or Dimensionals.

TIP: To get that 3D coloring on the pillows, I used the Blender Pens to color the outside edges of the pillows first, then blended the ink toward the centers as it got lighter. Don't over-blend or add too much color, or you'll find that the card stock will start to pill.

Pretty Plant—I stamped the plant in the foreground in black, then colored that image with Island Indigo, Old Olive & Sweet Sugarplum.

Finishing Touches—I tied some Bermuda Bay Baker's Twine around the stamped layer before adhering it to the card base.

Two Cool—I tried some different swing accents with my second card. This card base is Soft Suede and the mat layer is Sweet Sugarplum.

Pretty Pillows—This time I colored the cushion with Old Olive and the pillows with Old Olive, Sweet Sugarplum & Flirty Flamingo inks. I also added a sweet little birdie and colored him in with Delightful Dijon.

Sweet Sentiment—I chose another Sitting Here greeting and stamped it onto a 1/2" wide strip of Very Vanilla. The ends are fishtailed and the banner is popped up with Dimensionals.

Cute Kitty—I stamped the basket image in the foreground this time and colored it with Crumb Cake. The cat is stamped separately, colored in Smoky Slate, then hand-cut and popped up with Dimensionals.

Clever Cover-Up—As I added my last element to this card, I also added a great big Old Olive smudge on the side. Argh! I hate that! So, at the last minute, I added some Old Olive foliage from the Sheltering Tree stamp set. #cardrescue

Complete Supplies List—"Clear" means a rubber stamp on a clear block. "Photopolymer" is see-thru.