Monday, April 7, 2014

Wetlands Card Set

We've been having a lot of rain lately, in our little corner of the Pacific Northwest.  

I'm not complaining though.  I know it's good for the water table since we didn't have a lot of snow pack this winter and it's great for all the spring flowers that are popping up all over, it's just that it's really been curbing our daily walking routine.  

Yesterday when the sun popped out for an hour or so we did get a chance to go for our walk starting out by the pond below our place. The evidence of Spring is everywhere, from the buds on the branches and the vivid hues of the Forsythia and cherry trees. The ducks and Canada geese are nesting by the waterside and soon their hatchlings will be trailing along behind them down the many paths.  

You might be asking yourself what all this has to do with stamping?  Well, let me tell you.  On returning from our walk I was inspired to play with one of my new and soon to be favourite stamp sets called "Wetlands"

Wetlands is comprised of six stamps - three with images of waterbirds and greenery and three with beautifully scripted sentiments.  Wetlands is one of those sets you can easily pass by in the catalogue but it's worth taking a second look.  You can find it on page 69 of the Idea Book and Catalogue. 
 
Wetlands Wood Mount #126695 $26.95 or Clear Mount #126697 $20.95

Here is a set of cards I made:

I'm a big fan of inchies and window cards so when I saw a card on Pinterest by Julia Carmichael, I was eager to CAS it.  Julia's version has a Pool Party card base and her layered inchies were both in Whisper White card stock.  Click here to see Julia's beautiful card.

For the detail on this card I made three short score lines in varying lengths, using my Simply Scored Board.  I started scoring at the outside and decreased the length of each score by 1/4" as I moved towards the center.  I changed up the position of these scores with the layout of each of the four cards.  Although the cards look nice without these score lines, the addition of such a simple detail takes the cards to a higher level. 

I changed the position of the inchies on each of the cards as well as the sentiments and placement of the score lines.  I think this makes for a nicer set of cards. I also plan to make two Birthday Greeting cards to go with this set and a box to hold them.  What a nice gift this will be for someone.

I stamped the images randomly on a scrap piece of Whisper White card stock with Staz On Black Ink, and then punched them out with square punches. I used a 1 1/4" square punch for the images and a 1 3/8" punch for the coloured card stock layers.  The card stock colours I chose were for a colour challenge and featured Smokey Slate, Crushed Curry and Marina Mist, in small amounts this was a great combination.
  
I really like the sentiments that come with this set.  They are similar to those in the Sincere Salutations Stamp set which retired last year.  I really, really missed that stamp set, so Wetlands now gives me back at least three of the stamps that I use most often. 

I kept the inside of my card simple and just added the shore birds stamp at the base. 

Supplies for My Card:
Stamp Set:  Wetlands   
Card Stock:  Whisper White, small scraps of Crushed Curry, Marina Mist and Smokey Slate for the 1 3/8 x 1 3/8" background layers.    
Ink:  Staz On Black Ink

Accessories:  Simply Scored Score Board and Scoring Tool, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" square punches, dimensionals, adhesive.

I hope you liked these cards.  They are clean and simple, but so rewarding.  You can't make just one, I promise you.  

I'll be posting more Wetlands cards later this week so come back again.  If you like this stamp set and would like to order it just click here for my online store.   

If you live in the Fraser Valley area and would like to attend a class featuring different techniques using the Wetlands set just email me and I'll set something up.  I have a lot of Wetlands sample cards on my Pinterest site.  I hope you'll check it out.  Just click on the Pinterest Button on my side board panel, and then once you're in my cards board, simply click on my picture and it will take you to my other posting boards.  You'll find the examples on the board called " Cards - Wetlands".  

Penny

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