Because I Care...

After floating in my pool with a Blue Moon beer in my hand yesterday, adding to my skin cancer potential, I am having definite difficulty adjusting to Monday and work! The only part that made it short of paradise is that it was 95 degrees and 150% humidity- ahh, summer in Houston and it's only early June!

As promised, I have a card to share today using one of the Hostess stamp sets from the upcoming 20110-11 Idea Book & Catalog called Because I Care. I am a fan of the set "Bloomin' Beautiful" and was sad to see it retire this year. The flower image from the Because I Care set also features a hydrangea, which is one of my all-time favorite flowers in real life- I nurture a few of these plants in pots in my hot Houston garden- pathetic compared to the ones I used to have in my garden in CT!

This card is relatively simple- coordinated sheets of patterned paper from the Bella Bleu set, a Kraft card base and some Brocade Blue ribbon. The image was colored with Brocade Blue, Always Artichoke and Mellow Moss markers then stamped on Very Vanilla. A second flower was stamped and the flower and larger leaf were cut out and popped up on foam dots over the main image to give it some dimension. It was cut out using a nested die shaped, then sponged with Crumb Cake ink while the die was still in place, leaving a crisp edge uninked.

The border was die cut from Kraft card stock using a nestie border die, then sponged with Crumb Cake ink to enhance the pattern. The tag was stamped with a greeting from the Holidays and Wishes set (retired), cut out and sponged as well.

The inside was finished with a strip of pattened paper, another sponged border pattern and a fancy birthday greeting from Elegant Greetings (retired but a keeper!). I debated stitching some of the layers together, but wasn't sure if that would look better or not and I wasn't really in the mood to ruin a good card-lol!

This beauty will go to my SIL for her birthday next week- yay, I'll actually be on time- if I get it into the mail on time... I was about to get rid of most of the retiring ink pads, etc but may have a change of heart for some colors after making this card. What colors will you miss most? Leave a comment and share your thoughts about your can't live without colors- mine: Close to Cocoa, Ruby Red, Pink Passion, Lovely Lilac. The rest I was really OK with moving on!

Hope your Monday isn't too painful~






Supplies:
Stamps: Because I Care, Elegant Greetings, Holidays and Wishes
Paper: Bella Bleu DP, Kraft, Very Vanilla, Brocade Blue
Ink: Crumb Cake, Brocade Blue, Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss
Accessories: Sizzix Big Shot, nested dies, 1/4" Brocade grosgrain ribbon, sponge, dimensionals