A Beautiful Quote..... 2 Ways

I'm still enjoying "playing" with my Clarity brushes...

and am so happy with how they allow me to blend, build and layer color.

I've been experimenting with color combos and color density......

and so not all of the "pieces" have been card worthy...

Still...they've allowed me to get a great feel of what the brushes are able to do.

I had a small piece of purple card stock that I had "brushed" 

and...I thought  that it would be nice to use on a card.

I also had a beautiful quote stamp by Impression Obsession 

that I have been wanting to use...and an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of card stock that I had filled with beautiful Altenew purple roses created with the Vintage Flowers stamp set.

So I put it all  together and this is what I wound up with...

The quote was double stamped onto the "brushed" cards tock with black ink and a gold shadow

and was then matted on a beautiful deep purple metallic card stock.

Then I matted that layer onto a piece of velum.

I gathered up some fine gold thread to create a small nest-like circle 

that I placed behind the upper left of the quote.

I then used low profile dimensionals behind the velum ...

and positioned the complete piece of layers over the rose layer to complete the card.

You can see all of those details in the photo below...

the border of the roses peeking out from behind the quote...

the gold thread...

the metallic mat layer...

as well as the narrow mat layer of vellum.

This quote is so lovely...

So lovely as a mater of a fact...

that I wound up creating a second card with it...

as soon as I finished this one.

(and...I'm thinking that it would be a great quote for a graduation card)

and now...

...on to the second card we go...

The materials and supplies are the same as the card above...

with a switch to using green metallic card stock as the mat layer

I used the purple roses again as the background......

but this time..

I stamped the quote onto a wide piece of velum.

(Wide...but not equally as wide as the rose layer)

Once the quote dried 

(it takes a bit of time for ink to dry on velum)

I cut the velum longer than the rose piece

 so that I would have enough to fold over and under at the top and bottom...

and to secure firmly behind the rose layer

with ATG adhesive.

As you know...

I try very hard to NOT choose favorites when creating cards

and...

IF I DO have a favorite...

I rarely reveal which it is...

BUT..

today..

I am going to put myself out there and admit..

I DO have a favorite when it comes to these two cards...

and it's THIS card.

That's not to say that I'm not okay with the first card (above)

BUT..

there's just something about THIS one (below)

that I am liking a little bit more.

I actually like that the beautiful roses are more visible in this version...

and I love that the quote is stamped on velum.

I've been enjoying having time to experiment and "play" around with some of my layering stamps.

It's really lots of fun to watch the flowers emerge as I've added each layer of color...

and I've found that stamping out an entire 8 1'2 x 11 sheet works well for me

being that I almost always create in multiples.

It's also nice to create a full sheet of a design...

and have it on hand for a day when I feel like creating a few cards

(which is everyday!)

but might not feel like "starting from scratch" 

I've been doing lots "inking" lately..

creating cards with layered stamping ...

and creating backgrounds with the Clarity brushes...

and I've enjoyed all of it.

What I haven't been doing much of is...

pencil and/or regular marker coloring.

So I am thinking that maybe that's what will be next on my card-making-agenda!

Have a wonderful Sunday, my crafty and creative friends...

and thanks for visiting!

Michelle.