Spring time pinks .....

.... Good morning! I'm back!  I've not been in my craft room much this week, I've been catching up on some reading; I've a series of 20 books about Anita Blake (vampire hunter) and I restarted the series just over a week ago and not put it down since then - I'm up to volume 14!  But I made sure to get into my craft room this morning to make a birthday card for a special lady.  I used the following challenges to make the card:

• Dynamic Duos - DD#45 - monochromatic pinks
• Addicted to CAS - ATCAS#9 - theme is spring
• Retro Sketches - RS#56 - for the layout

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Asian Gardens, Compact Sentiments; My Favourite Things - Birthday Sentiments
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Early Espresso
Dies: Spellbinders - Petit Ovals Sm (S4-140) #2, Petit Ovals Scalloped Lg (S4-139) #2
Accessories: SU design paper - Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose; SU Card - Regal Rose; White lustre card; Gems; Sakura Blossom punches - tiny, small, medium and large

I really like these soft pinks, so fresh and spring like.  As you can see I turned the sketch on its side.  I started by stamping the trellis background in the paler pink and then stamped the branch in brown.  I stamped some sakura blossoms in both shades of pink on white and pink card and then used the punches to cut them out (so much quicker then cutting them!!).  For some variation in colour I also cut a few blossoms from the matching design papers.  I attached the flowers to the cad - some flat and some with a bit of dimension.  For the sentiment I cut a scalloped mat in the dark pink and an oval in white card.  I stamped the sentiment in brown, positioning it slightly to the left to allow room for the big punched flowers above.  Before adhering the white panel to the mat layer, I ran a brown marker around it to give a little definition to the panel.  To finish off the front of the card I added some bling - it is, after all, a birthday card!  For the inside  I stamped the whole cherry tree and added some blossom to the top corner too.  I finished the inside with a bold greeting.

This card is for Margene, the owner of my local craft shop, Stampeddler.  Not only is she celebrating her 60th birthday today - we're having cake at the shop, but she is also celebrating 30 years in business.  That's no mean achievement these days.  No only is Margene a really lovely lady, she has the most wonderful shop - I can spend ages pottering around building a wish list that she is only to happy to enable :)

That's all for now - I'm off to celebrate a birthday - see you soon.