You Make Me Smile

I've been chipping away at "attaining" ink, stamps and dies

that have been on my card making "Wish list".
You can imagine how happy I was to receive a box of goodies 

from Gina K & The Ton Stamps...

BOTH on the same day!

So..

Last night....my buddy Jackson and I took ourselves out to the studio...

When he wasn't by my side "supervising" my card making...

Jackson dedicated his time to enjoying a new bone that he got for his birthday...

and napping...

and I got busy stamping some images of Gina K's YOU MAKE ME SMILE stamp set

with her new AMALGAM INK.

But first....it was all about taking a photo shoot...with my buddy

 

Then...

I got busy stamping...and coloring!

I remember that in a video Gina (K) had mentioned that the Amalgam ink

requires a little bit of drying time.
So, I stamped out a few images with my MISTI and laid them out on the studio work table to dry

while I picked out the Copic colors that I wanted to use.
The AMALGAM ink stamped a nice defined clear image

and I'm excited to know that this same ink is compatible with Copic coloring 

as well as water coloring.

(My 2 favorite ways to color stamped images) 

After the image was colored...

I added background color with CLARITY STENCIL BRUSHES and an INK PAD.

I chose a print that I thought went well with the image and the colors that I chose.

I matted the image, print  and sentiment banner with matte black card stock. 

and..

this is what I wound up with...

I am a lover of floral images 

and immediately fell in love with this stamp set when I first saw it on Facebook.

For me...adding color to beautiful floral images 

is the kind of stuff that sends me to my card making "happy place".

This gorgeous image from the YOU MAKE ME SMILE stamp set

is a "happy place" image for me!

The stamp set also has an assortment of wonderful sentiments...

Choosing one for this card was a challenge...

because...I love all of them.
But...I chose "for you"...stamped it...hand cut the banner ...matted it...

and positioned it with foam dimensionals.

The matted image layer was positioned with fun foam for added dimension.

I wanted the flowers to remain in the forefront...

so I kept the background color light...

I finished the card with crystal sequins

(a change of pace for me...because lately I've been using Nuvo Drops a lot)

I've got a few ore of this image sitting on the studio work table...

ready to go when I am back in the studio again!
Some are stamped with the (wonderful) AMALGAM INK
and some are heat embossed and waiting to be water colored.

Thanks for visiting today, my crafty and creative friends...

Have a terrific Thursday!
Michelle.