Embrace Life

This card was inspired by this week's Mojo Monday challenge (see sketch below). I love this site for ideas and inspiration. The sketches are amazing.

I absolutely love the set Embrace Life (as you can see in my first post). When I see this set, I can't help but picture using pink card stock or ink with it (my absolute fav). I assure you that all Stampin' Up! sets are very versatile to use with many colors. I am just one who loves pink. So what better than to choose the In Colors Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, and Kiwi Kiss as my main color scheme? The cards starts out with a Very Vanilla base. Riding Hood Red is layered over the vanilla. Fiskars scallop edge scissor created the border on the right using Kiwi Kiss. NOTE: My next order will most certainly include the scalloped edge punch from SU!. TIP: Unless you have incredible skills (any Napoleon Dynamite fans out there? I just had to laugh at that) it can be challenging to keep the scallops consistent. Invest in the punch; it makes it a breeze. A strip of Pink Pirouette was stamped with the large flower from Embrace Life using Pink Pirouette ink. This creates a soft, subtle image. It's reminiscent of designer paper (a ton of new DP will be included in my next order, also!). A masking technique was used to create the main images on Very Vanilla. The large flower was stamped twice onto some scrap paper. Both images were then cut out into what are called masks. The same flower was inked again in Close to Cocoa and stamped onto the Very Vanilla square. One of the masks was used to perfectly cover the newly stamped flower. TIP: It may be helpful to use a tiny bit of Snail adhesive to lightly adhere the mask to the new image to prevent shifting when stamping over it. Another large flower was stamped partially over the first one, but the mask prevented the image from crossing over onto it. Both masks were used to cover each flower to stamp the greenery. The flowers and greenery were then watercolored using a blender pen with Pink Pirouette and Kiwi Kiss Ink. TIP: To watercolor using a stamp pad, press the pad into the lid (while it is still closed). This will create a pool of ink in the lid that you can dip your blender pen into. If you would like to switch colors with the blender pen, use a scratch piece of paper to wipe the pen onto. Once it starts to run clear again, you can use another ink. This lovely frame from Frames With a Flourish was inked in Kiwi Kiss and stamped onto Very Vanilla. The sentiment fit nicely inside using a stamp-a-majig. The frame was then cut out and popped up on dimensionals. The card was finished off using cream half back pearls lined up in a row.