Happy Saturday my crafty friends! Hope you are prepared. I'm taking you behind the scenes of how I came up with the two cards I want to show you today. I’m submitting these for both a challenge and for applying for a design team member position. They are to show my creativity and style. I wouldn’t say that I have a certain style but I am one that loves to craft and hope it shows. You too can apply, there are three open design team positions. Interested CLICK HERE for more details. Color Combination: Measurements: Blushing Bride 4 ¼” x 11” scored at 5 ½” Tip Top Taupe 3" x 4" Perfectly Artistic DSP 2 7/8" x 3 7/8" Gold Fancy Foil Vellum 2 7/8" x 3 7/8" Tip Top Taupe 1" Lace Trim and Whisper White 5/8" Organza ribbons 14" each Ready to see my first card? Since love has been in the air lately. Well I've been creating lots of Valentine based cards and projects. I thought it would be a great idea to get started on some wedding/engagement cards. This next card is very "pink" but you can interchange the colors to match the specifics for the new couple. Originally started the card with stamping the sentiment first directly to the card base. There now lies the first of many tweaks I had made along the way. The whole image didn't stamp properly but you wouldn't have known that unless I told you. I’m going to let you on a secret. Shhh don't let anyone else know. The "two" was stamped blotchy. Guess not enough ink or not enough pressure. I thought of restamping (knew that wasn't going to happen because the chances of it lining up again were very slim.) I could have used the Stamp-a-majig but I should have used that to begin with. Then thought about starting over but then I wasted a perfectly good card base. So I measured the word "two" and took out the Large Number framelits to see if I stamped on a cut out of the "2" in the same color it would be like I intentionally made the card that way. BINGO! I was going with the last option because the wording fit perfectly on the framelit cutout. This time I stamped with VersaMark and poured gold embossing powder over the image and heat set it. I wanted it to stand out a bit. Not to call attention to my mistake but to show the number 2 is there acting like a pun but is on purpose to represent the two people. I also added a Blushing Bride glimmer heart for some more eye candy. What do you think? Different huh? Yeah well that's me. Unique. Ready for the inside of the card? I generally do not stamp the inside until I’m ready to use the card. The sentiment on the inside was lonely and I needed to add something. Initally I had the stamped heart images ready to use on the DSP on the front. With all the tweaking that took place I thought it would be good to use it on the inside. Leaving the front of the card to show the Perfectly Artisitic DSP (symbolising the blending of two lives), the hearts to represent lots of love the two people share and the two ribbons tied in a knot (symbolising the bond of marriage). Too much mushy gushy? I had thought to pop up the two bird heart with gold foil heart on top of the DSP and ribbon. Glad I had a backup plan. I am happy this stamp had two love birds on it so I could color them using my Tip Top Taupe Stampin’ Write Marker. Using my White Gel pen I gave them each an eye. I think you can see it in the picture below. I just love how the birds are facing eachother too! Are you ready to see the next card? Keep scrolling past the product list. tams# 5516 Product List First Sight Wood-Mount Stamp Set [140685] First Sight Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140688] For The New Two Wood Stamp Set [137147] For The New Two Clear Stamp Set [138562] Versamark Pad [102283] Tip Top Taupe Classic Stampin' Pad [138325] Blushing Bride 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131198] Tip Top Taupe 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [138336] Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper [140550] Gold Fancy Designer Vellum Foil [133363] Gold Foil Sheets [132622] Perfectly Artistic Designer Series Paper [141021] Big Shot [113439] Big Shot Magnetic Platform [130658] Large Numbers Framelits Dies [140622] Whisper White 5/8" Organza Ribbon [114319] Tip Top Taupe 1" Dotted Lace Trim [138422] Confetti Hearts Border Punch [137415] Sweetheart Punch [133786] White Signo Uni-Ball Gel Pen [105021] Heat Tool [129053] Embossing Buddy [103083] Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder [109129] 2015-2017 In Color Stampin' Write Markers [138333] Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026] Glue Dots [103683] Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] Thank you for continuing to scroll down. I have a masculine card to show you next. First of all what do you think of the color combination? Color Combination: Measurements: Soft Suede card base 4 ¼” x 11” scored at 5 ½” Cajun Craze 4" x 5 ¼” sponged with Cajun Craze ink and embossed with Boho Chic Always Artichoke punched with the 2 ½” Circle Watercolor Paper cut with the smallest Deco Label framelit I chose to make a masculine card for two reasons. First The Wilderness Awaits stamp set has been in my craft room unused. I know HOW is that possible? Next masculine cards are never easy to make unless your man doesn’t mind flowers and different colors. Narrowing down which image I was going to use was difficult since I didn’t know how I was going to layout the card. So I started with the fox. Stamping the fox on Watercolor paper and my handy Aqua Painters I started to color with Cajun Craze. Going over the areas again for a darker more defined look. You'll see it better in the next photo. Colored the grass with the Always Artichoke (again going over the grass blades to make it look darker) and the sky with Lost Lagoon. I added a hint of Soft Suede to his ears and nose. So my focal point was completed but needed to figure out the rest of the card. I continue on the basis of what haven't I used in a while. Boho Chic embossing folder was in my hands. I choose to stick with the colors I had used on my fox image. I tore the bottom right side of the Cajun Craze thinking it would be a great spot for my tired fox. This will give the rest of the area the attention of the embossing image. Ran it through my Big Shot and then sponged to make it look a bit rustic. It was all coming together but needed a senitment. I stamped the "For You" on Cajun Craze card stock with Soft Suede ink. Punched it out of the Word Window and punched a 1 1/16" hole to allow the Linen Thread through. Wrapped the Linen Thread around the Cajun Craze embossed piece and tied a bow. I like just having a few masculine cards on hand that have multipurpose use. Could be a Thinking of You, Birthday, Thank You, Just Because, etc. I left the inside of this card blank. Here is a closer view of the fox and that hard to see Always Artichoke 2 ½” Circle. Isn't this fox image pretty. The Stampin' Up! image artists do an excellent job of keeping the images almost life like. I played along with The Watercooler Wednesday Challenge (#WWC52). Thank you for stopping by today. Hope you enjoyed my two cards and the behind the scenes look at how I created them. I know I generally do not go into that much detail on my daily posts but I thought you would appreciate it. See you back here same time same place tomorrow? tams# 5517 Product List The Wilderness Awaits Wood-Mount Stamp Set [138962] The Wilderness Awaits Clear-Mount Stamp Set [139365] Always Artichoke Classic Stampin' Pad [126972] Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad [140931] Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad [126965] Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad [133644] Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [126978] Always Artichoke 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [105119] Cajun Craze 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119684] Soft Suede 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [115318] Watercolor Paper [122959] Big Shot [113439] Big Shot Magnetic Platform [130658] Boho Chic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [138286] Deco Labels Framelits Die [130102] 2-1/2" Circle Punch [120906] 1/16" Circle Handheld Punch [134363] Window Word Punch [119857] Stamping Sponges [141337] Aqua Painters [103954] Linen Thread [104199] Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026] Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]