Fishy

Luckily I got an early start on the card I wanted to make for today! I have lots to do later on. But I'm so glad I took the time to play now, plus I'll still have plenty of time for the to-do list this afternoon!
So this card came about from several sources of inspiration, including the Color Throwdown #101 colors: At first I wasn't sure I liked these at all. I usually keep a notebook of the challenges I like to play in and will jot down the current challenge of the week in my notebook when it's posted. Then I scan my list for inspiration when I'm ready to make a card. So when I jotted this one down in my notebook, I was pretty sure I'd be passing on it. But as I looked at the CAS sketch for today's Clean and Simple challenge on SCS and the Mark's Finest Papers Flourished Sea Creatures stamp set that I wanted to sneak peek today, it all clicked! Suddenly those CTD colors were perfect :)

I used my Martha Stewart deco fan punch-around-the-page (PATP) punch set to make a frame that would be in keeping with my ocean theme for today's card! Although it's probably hard to see in my photo, I made a grid to stamp my little fishies in by scoring with a stylus along the cutting groove in my paper trimmer. The poor stamper's equivalent of a ScorPal! I don't have kiwi kiss, so I used old olive ink for my fishies and stamped off once. The texture-y pattern on my crumpled paper flower comes from multiple stampings of the coral stamp in the Flourished Sea Creatures set.

Want a peek of the inside of the card? Well, OK, then! Here you go: The fish and kelp images come from the MFP Flourished Sea Creatures set; the sentiment is from Stampin' Up (On Your Birthday). For supplies and links to the challenges I entered with this card, please click here.

A friend of mine has a huge list of family birthdays that she and her husband celebrate. It's too much of a financial drain to give everyone on the list a gift, so she likes to send really nice cards to mark their loved ones' special days. For the past two years at Christmas, I've given her a variety pack of handmade birthday cards, and she loves them!! They have a great time sorting through the collection and picking out the perfect card for each recipient. And they use every card. I just LOVE that they use them rather than hoard them! I've been putting aside cards for her Christmas gift this year, and this one will be perfect for it. So far I've been lacking masculine cards (although I know this could be used for men or women).

Oh, I almost forgot! My smile for this morning? When my DS and DD called me outside to the driveway to show me the synchronized scootering routine they've been working on. The cutest thing ever!! :) Thanks for checking out my little slice of bliss today!