A few cards for my hubby

Know what's making me happy today? It's just been a great, feel-good day today. I got to talk on the phone with my dear friend who moved away over the summer. Both of my kids had great days at school and couldn't wait to tell me all about it. When they got settled here at home, they took charge of their school paraphernalia and got right down to work on their homework all on their own--no handholding required! Supper was quick to fix, delicious, and appreciated by the entire family. The fact that I found time to make not one but three much-needed note cards to be used by my dear hubby was icing on the cake! I had such a light-hearted, fizzy feeling inside the whole while. :)

It is no secret that my dear husband is, in addition to being an EE and my main IT squeeze, a complete gearhead. He is, always has been, and always will be totally into cars. He subscribes to four different automotive magazines, has two different car projects in the works, never misses a Formula 1 race, and claims Top Gear (both UK and US series) as his favorite TV show. So what's a crafty gal to do when her gearhead guy needs a supply of note cards for writing thanks yous and such? Dig out the car stamps in my collection, that's what!! Unfortunately, I don't have that many, and the cars I do have aren't exactly his style (he's more into exotics than classics). But the classic convertible in {ippity}'s Authentic Man kit is, well, just classy! So I'm pretty sure my husband will still be happy to write his missives on what I created.

My idea for this card started with wanting to try my hand at Piali's stamp blocking challenge over on Do More With Less. I'm also playing in the All Things Unity challenge to make a one-layer card, as well as the {ippity} challenge to tie it up with twine, ribbon, or string on your project. Finally, I thought it would be fun to join in the challenge to "alter your spooled items" in the Ribbon Carousel Challenge. I choose hemp twine as my spooled item and altered it by tying it into a decorative knot called the Long Single Strand Plait. You can find a picture tutorial here.

I started by stamping ink-coated acrylic blocks on scraps of watercolor paper to get the hang of it, and I also experimented with lightly misting the inked blocks with water. Once I got the kinks worked out, I was ready to block stamp directly onto my one-layer watercolor paper card base! Turned out great! But I also liked how all of my warmup stampings turned out, so turned them into these CAS cards.

I am inordinately pleased with my results. :D They are all ready to turn over to my dear hubby!

Thanks for dropping by to see what's making me happy today!
Emily

One-Layer Card:
Stamps: Authentic Man from {ippity} by Unity Stamp Company
Paper: watercolor paper
Ink: Ranger tea dye distress ink, Ranger antique linen distress ink, Versafine vintage sepia
Accessories: hemp twine
Techniques: clear block stamping 
Blue Card:
Stamps: Authentic Man from {ippity} by Unity Stamp Company
Paper: watercolor paper, SU Marina Mist CS, yellow CS from The Paper Company
Ink: SU Marina Mist, Versafine onyx black
Accessories: washi tape
Techniques: clear block stamping, sponging 
Rust Card:
Stamps: Authentic Man from {ippity} by Unity Stamp Company
Paper: watercolor paper, DP from Provo Craft, cream CS 
Ink: Ranger tea dye distress ink, Ranger antique linen distress ink, Versafine vintage sepia
Accessories: MS modern garland border punch, foam tape
Techniques: clear block stamping