A Special Friend!

I made this card for a special friend as a thank you card. We spent time together, hitting a couple of the chain stores and I wanted to use the items I purchased. So, that is why I believe the card came out a little busy! And, I am still not quite sure about the balance of the card. The flower almost out does the little stamp. I do like it. I would love to hear your thoughts! The flowers are from Prima. The large one in the rear, is from a set they had clearanced for $1. I normally don't buy the great big ones because I really feel they are made for scrapbook pages and not cards, but I couldn't resist with that price! And I had to use it! The stamp is a wood mounted from Hampton Arts. I colored on the stamp with Tombow markers and then spritzed with a little bit of water before I stamped it. The sentiment, a special friend, is from a Hero Arts clear set. The papers are from one mat pad from My Minds Eye. I think it is called Home. I loved all the coordinating colors! I had fun using three different shaped die cuts to make this layout. Oh, I also used a newly purchased EK Success border punch. I debated whether this punch would be o.k. for cardmaking because of it having such large scallops but I am so glad I got it because it does great on the horizontal side of a card. Enjoy...

One note, I don't know if you have noticed but on two or three of the last cards I have posted, I have added a light blue background behind the image. This is a tip I received from the same special friend! Thanks Eileen! After you have stamped and colored your image, and have die cut out the image into a shape, leave the die cut attached and sponge in your background color. When the die cut is removed, the background color is there and it almost looks like an added layer. Too cool! For my blue color, I used the distressed ink, Broken China and for the sponge, I used one of the stamp handles with cut n dry attached. This is a Tim Holtz product. Until next time ...

Happy Stamping! Tina