Two birthday cards

Since I became addicted to clear polymer stamps I don't often buy wood mounted red rubber stamps but when I saw Peppermint Polly on a number of crafty blogs I just had to have her. I used her for the first time today to make a birthday card for a niece who is 16 next week. I like to make simple single layer cards and stamped Polly directly onto my kraft card base. I stamped her again on a scrap of pink card, then stamped, cut out and paper pieced her dress. I used my Copic markers to colour the rest of the image and I've found that colouring with a watercolour pencil in a similar colour before using the marker stops ink seeping through to the back of the cardstock - something you don't want to happen on a single layer card.

My second card is for my sister whose birthday is tomorrow. Papertrey Ink held a promotional event in July where everyone who made a $100 purchase received a free stamp set. I couldn't justify the expense of making a mid-month order but did love the free stamp set. I was really pleased therefore to find some sets for sale a little later and was lucky enough to win one on ebay. It was this jug image that I really wanted as it is so reminiscent of blue and white jugs I remember displayed on Welsh dressers and sideboards in various family homes over 50 years ago. I stamped a pattern on my jug to make it look more like those remembered jugs, masking where necessary and adding a bit of shading with a Copic marker. I stamped the card base with another image from the set to create a tone-on-tone background.


Make a Wish card: Penny Black - Peppermint Polly; Papertrey Ink - Love Lives Here, Think Big Favorites #1, Green Thumb
Blue Jug card: Papertrey Ink - Iconic Images, Botanical Silhouettes (sentiment)
All inks Tim Holtz Distress Ink