Dress My Craft Paper + Sentiment Stickers = 9 Cards

As part of my 2020 Creative Resolutions, I've been making cards using a variety of techniques and materials that I don't normally use. Here are my latest creations:

Each of the cards started with paper from the Romantic Roses collection by Dress My Craft (affiliate link here and throughout the post). This collection is not something I'd use for scrapbooking (too vintage for me), but it works really well for cards. The quality of the paper is fabulous - super thick and really smooth. 

I cut my card bases strategically. I positioned the roses to serve as embellishments on four of the cards. I fussy-cut one frame to make a shaker filled with flower pearls (the first shaker card I've ever made). The other frame holds a sentiment sticker. That sticker and all the others were part of a gift from my dear friend, Julie. I particularly love how the two pink cards with the white script turned out. That's one single white heart doily that I cut in order to decorate the two cards.

For the pet sitter card, I used this stamp to make the rabbit. Ordinarily, I would have had a chance to give the card to our awesome bunnysitter by now, but COVID-19 has canceled all our travel plans for the foreseeable future, and thus eliminated the need for pet sitter. 

None of these cards look like what I would usually make, so it a good challenge for me. 

One Collection, Cards for Three Occasions

I wanted to send cards to three strong women in my life who are going through three very different things: a devastating loss, a major surgery, and a horrible court battle. I made all three with the same paper collection (Romantic Roses from Dress My Craft), stamp set (Everyday Sayings by Hero Arts), ink (Color Box Pigment Ink), and technique (clear embossing powder). Affiliate links here and below.  

I started with the sympathy card. Those are always the hardest for me. I chose a gorgeous paper featuring roses and cut a card front, then stamped and embossed the simple sentiment on the scrap. I backed that with a heart-shaped doily that I cut down. 

The Get Well card was next. I cut out the card front, then fussy cut some extra leaves from the scraps and glued them in place. I stamped and embossed the sentiment and attached that to the card. 

The third card was a bit tricky in that I wasn't sure what my message should be. My friend has been fighting in court for years and the decision finally went her way. I'm proud of how strong she has been and thrilled that the judge recognized what we've all known all along. For her card, I used two sentiments and added them to the dresser drawers on the card front. 

You can't tell in the photos, but all the embossed sentiments look fantastic. I've struggled with embossing in the past, but this was so easy. Two things changed. First, I stopped using clear ink with colored embossing powder because one stray or missing speck can make the whole thing look bad. Instead, I use colored ink and clear embossing powder, which makes a world of difference. (So much so that I've given away all my colored embossing powders). Second, I have a proper heat gun now and I LOVE it. All this time, I've been using an iron for embossing and this is SO. MUCH. EASIER.