Variations on a theme ....

.... or just how many ways can you use a stamp!!  Now, I have to state that I don't have these stamps, and that I borrowed them from my friend.  I do, however, think that the Elegant Ladies set by Creative Expressions is just great.  There are four beautiful images of ladies in a variety of different fashion styles, along with six sentiments, a large greyhound and a couple of smaller images.  I used Versamark ink and embossed with both silver and gold, and got multiple images.

For Buffy's birthday card I used some papers that came free with one of the magazines - I think Nanci Watts is the designer (apologies if she's not).  I used the vellum which coordinated with the diamond paper as the main backing sheet.

I stamped the lady on a piece of plain white card and then again on some of the diamond paper.  I then cut out the dress and stuck it to the other image.  I used Promarkers to colour the lady's skin, hat, scarf and shoes.  I think this was the first time I actually used my Distress inks too, and I was really pleased with the soft smudged effect around the image.

Intially, I didn't have a sentiment on the card, but once I'd decided this was going to Buffy - I knew just which sentiment was the most appropriate.

I made this card for my Mum's friend, Catherine; she's been a great support to me and my Mum since Mum had a stroke last year.  Catherine is an extremely elegant and stylish lady, and for her birthday I needed a card to reflect that.  So on Catherine's card, I used Sakura Stardust pens - in a watercolour technique.  Sadly, you can't really see the effect on this picture - which is a shame as it looked lovely in real life, with lots of lovely shimmer.

Catherine likes to wear clothes in neutral colours, so it was easy to make the dress look like her style.  I finished the card by mounting it on the very elegant Spellbinders Labels 10.  The backing paper was free with another of my many magazines.  And the final flourish on this card was to add some gold scrolled corners.

My Mum said that Catherine was delighted with the card.  I certainly enjoyed making it.

I like this stamp so much that I've made lots of cards using it.  The lady in blue is coloured with Promarkers, although I added a little bling with a silver Sakura Stardust pen for her shoes and bracelet.

The lady to the right was done using the paper piecing technique - this time I used some lovely flowered paper to make a bright, cheery card.  This time I added a birthday greeting.  I used chalks to highlight the pre-embossed card.  On both cards I added some flower embellishments.

Two more cards using the same lady. 

I've kept both cards quite simple, with only the minimum of embellishments.  One has a birthday greeting on it, but the other has nothing - yet!!

In all cases I found the image really easy to colour - using both Promarkers and Sakura Stardust Pens.  And it really works well with the paper piecing technique. 

I think my favourite card of this set is the next one.  I used the paper piecing technique - again - I like the way this makes each dress look quite different. 

I found this lovely checked paper (another of my free supply) which reminded me of a dress that my grandmother used to wear - brought back lots of lovely memories.  I used Promarkers for the lady's skin, shawl, shoes and hat; and distress inks (again) for the lovely soft edge.  I used the lace doily Martha Stewart punch to add some interest to the coordinating backing paper.  This card is still in my stash - waiting for a good home.

That's all for today, as I'm off out to Scouts shortly. I've got a busy weekend planned with family outings and the like, so may not be able to post much.  See you soon.