Update... and a card

Hello everyone. I hope you are all doing well. After 10 months of dealing with a yucky "issue" I had surgery this past Wednesday. I am doing very well. I hope this continues, and that in a few weeks it will all be a memory. I am eager to get back to exercising and keeping up with the kids. I am also eager to getting the house back to the way it used to be. Clean and organized would be a wonderful way to start the holidays. For now I'm just trying to rest and glance over all the messy spots. :-) My wonderful husband has been taking good care of me and everything else. We will hopefully be getting our groove back on in a few weeks and I hope to be sneaking in some crafting till then. It doesn't involve heavy lifting or anything else strenuous. Right?

I was so inspired by a card that Jennifer McGuire posted this past week. I just had to give it a whirl. The Hero Arts blog partnered with the Creative Imaginations blog and were featuring Hero arts stamps and Twinkling H2O paints. Here is a link to her card that inspired me. I loved the shimmering leaf that has the sentiment stamped on it. I haven't broken out my Twinkling H2O paints in a long time, so this was something I was itching to try when I got home from the hospital.

I had the background sitting around for more than a week. I created the background by inking up some white card stock with some Distress Inks by Ranger in Fired Brick and Scattered Straw. Then I stamped the Wood grain background stamp on top with some of the Scattered Straw ink. While all of this was still wet, I spritzed the Tree with water and stamped it on top. I left the stamp down for a little longer than normal to let the water get soaked in. When I peeled it up I let it dry for awhile. When the ink dries, the image that is stamped with water has bled and the ink sort of moves away. It looks so pretty.

To create the leaf I took a scrap of white card stock and water colored it with a bunch of the twinkling H2O colors. When it was all dry I punched it out with a leaf shaped punch I have by EK Success. I stamped the greeting on the leaf with some brown Stayzon Ink. Last I matted the tree background piece on some dark brown card stock and added the ribbon and string. I pop dotted the leaf on and added my buttons. The body of the card is a craft card I have that has a matching envelope. I can't wait to send this to someone special who has an upcoming birthday.

Here is a close up of the leaf and background. The wood grain stamp is really subtle there along with the tree image. I can't wait to enjoy the beauty of autumn. Here in Colorado it is a wonderful time of year. I hope I will be able to blog some of the fun soon.