Unfortunately, There Seems to be a Rush on Sympathy Cards

Posted in Cards by My Empty Nest Creations

For some reason, I’ve had several friends ask me for sympathy cards recently. They are the hardest cards for me to make. A lot depends on who’s receiving it, who passed away and the card giver’s relationship to them. I don’t want to make a floral card if the recipient is male. I also don’t want to make an overly personal card if the recipient is more of an acquaintance to the card giver. As most things, I know I’m totally overthinking it, but it still matters to me.

With that said, I was able to create a few different cards for them to see. Here is one from the group…

My Empty Nest Creations Ink Blended Silver Embossed Sympathy Card

Unfortunately, my photo doesn’t do this card justice. The silver embossing is very shiny (not dark like the bottom portion looks in the picture 😦

I started by creating a circle mask and ink blended with Broken China, Peacock Feathers and Wilted Violet Distress Oxides. Because patience is NOT one of my virtues, I used my heat tool to speed up the drying process. After dusting with my powder tool, I stamped the floral image from Unity Stamp Company’s Steps of Courage stamp set at the bottom edge using Versamark ink. I heat embossed it with Zing’s Metallic Silver Embossing Powder. The sentiment is from Hero Arts Everyday Sayings stamp set and is embossed with the same embossing powder. The card front is matted with a blue/green card stock to match the ink blending.

Thanks for stopping by!

Computer Signature

4Feb2018

A Card for a Friend

Posted in Cards by My Empty Nest Creations

Unity Stamp Company is one of my favorite cling stamp companies. Their stamp images range from adorable to incredibly elegant and everything in between. I’m convinced that anyone would find something that they liked in their stamp inventory. Best of all, their stamp quality is hard to beat. The images stamp beautifully and clean up is a breeze.

My Empty Nest Creations Unity Stamp Lil Bloomin Owl over Watercolor Background I had a leftover piece from some watercolor playing, so I decided to use it for the base of my latest card. I diecut it using Avery Elle’s Wonky Stitches die to give it that cute loose stitching along the edges. Unity’s Lil’ Bloomin Owl has been sitting on my desk waiting to make an appearance, so I thought he’d be the perfect star for my card. I stamped him with Memento ink onto Copic Blend It Paper, and colored him with Copic markers. As you can see, I need a lot of practice using my Copics, but I think he turned out okay. After fussy cutting him out, I used foam tape to pop him up. My greeting is from another Unity stamp set, Lil Bunny Peeps. I white heat embossed it onto black card stock and adhered it with my tape runner.

To mat my card front, I chose a color that I definitely don’t use very often, green, but I think it coordinated perfectly with the watercolor background. I chose a kraft colored cardbase rather than a white one because my watercolor paper isn’t truly white.

I hope you like it!

Computer Signature

21Jul2017

Unity Stamp Co. Hugs, Kisses & Birthday Wishes

Posted in Cards by My Empty Nest Creations

I love clear stamps for a multitude of reasons, but I will never give up on my cling stamps. Their clean, crisp stamp images are fantastic! Some of the best cling stamps come from Unity Stamp Co. They have several sets with an adorable owl that I just can’t resist. The Hugs, Kisses & Birthday Wishes is a large set that includes many different birthday sentiments along with this adorable owl surrounded by a large bouquet of balloons.

My Empty Nest Creations Unity Hugs, Kisses & Birthday Wishes Stamp Set

I stamped him on Bristol paper using Memento Tuxedo Black ink (Copic friendly), and colored the image with various Copic markers. When cutting it out, I didn’t worry about the balloon strings because I knew that I could just draw them on the card at the end.

I just received the My Favorite Things cloud stencil, so I used it to create a soft cloud/sky background with my ink blending tool and Distress Ink. I used fun foam to adhere the owl image and added a very thin pink strip of card stock to each side. For a little bit of color balance, I glued a bright blue piece of card stock to my card base.

I chose one of the many wonderful birthday greetings from the stamp set and added that to the top. To finish it off, I used my clear Wink of Stella marker on the balloons (unfortunately, you can’t see that in the photo).

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Unity Stamp Co. Hugs, Kisses & Birthday Wishes
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Markers: Copic Sketch Markers, Clear Wink of Stella
Paper: Neenah Solar White 110#
Other: My Favorite Things cloud stencil

2Mar2017

Need Creative MoJo?

Posted in Cards by My Empty Nest Creations

CAS(E) this sketch #211 To The Rescue

Here’s their newest sketch…

This sketch is perfect for so many beautiful floral stamps out there. Because I just received my first Unity Stamp Company order, I was excited to use one of them. I chose their Steps of Courage set for my floral image.

Here’s my card…

I started with a 4.25 x 5.5 inch piece of Bristol paper. I white heat embossed my floral image on the bottom right corner. I knew that I wanted a soft look, so I pulled out my Zig Clean Color markers and used a water brush to apply the color. After coloring the flowers, leaves and stems, I applied a very light wash of light blue around the image. I drew a rough square around the card making sure to leave a space where the flowers met the bottom.

It took me a while to decide on where to place my greeting. I knew the sketch had the sentiment closer to the bottom, but I felt it detracted from the pretty flowers. I decided to place it higher on the card. I white heat embossed a greeting from Technique Tuesday’s Beautiful Bouquet stamp set on to black card stock. I felt it was a little plain, so I added a slight lavender mat around the fishtail greeting. I then adhered it with fun foam to add dimension.

For some final touches, I glued a few sequins (2 black and 1 iridescent) near the flowers. To soften the brightness of the card, I sprayed some black watercolor over the whole thing to get those small black flecks. I attached the card front to a top folding gray card base.

I hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by 🙂

Supplies Used: Unity Stamp Company “Steps of Courage” stamp set, Technique Tuesday Beautiful Bouquet stamp set, Recollections snow embossing powder, Versamark ink, Zig Clean Color markers, Craft Medley sequins, Bazzill Alpaca card stock, Bristol paper