Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to mothers everywhere - even if she lives only in your heart, like mine...

I sent two Mother's Day cards this year, to my stepmother, Marjie, and my mother-in-law, Irma, but I forgot to take photos before I put them in the mail. I thought this pretty purple butterfly could stand in...

Such a gorgeous butterfly stamp, from Strength and Hope.

I stamped it in Wisteria Wonder and made a mat of the same. The square scallop mat, in Almost Amethyst, is embossed using Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, and I added a small detail with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch. Four tiny pearls make the butterfly's body.  

The sentiment is from Faith in Nature. The small flowers were stamped using Punch Potpourri (a retired hostess set) and punched out with the Boho Blossoms punch. Looking at the inside right now, I can see that it just might need a tiny butterfly to balance these blooms; I think I'll do that before I send it out.

It's funny how a photo sometimes distorts certain elements of a design.  The white circle is matted perfectly on the Wisteria Wonder circle, but probably due to the angle I took the photo, it looks off-center.  Perhaps I need to compose my photos as carefully as I do my cards!

I hope you enjoy a lovely Mother's Day!

Happy Anniversary to Shawn and Ray!

Monday was the lucky 13th anniversary of my darling niece Shawn and her terrific husband Ray. They are a wonderful match and it does my heart good to witness such a great marriage. I sent them this card to acknowledge their enduring relationship.

I inked the flourish image from Strength and Hope with Calypso Coral and Lucky Limeade markers and stamped it on a Nestabilities diecut. The background, mounted on Early Espresso, is stamped with the (retired) Jumbo Stampin' Around wheel Very Vintage - I think it mirrors the style of both the flourish image and the butterfly, which is from Butterfly Prints, stamped in Calypso Coral and punched with the Large Butterfly punch. The ruffled ribbon and flower button give a simple finishing touch.

The sentiment, stamped in Early Espresso, is also from Butterfly Prints and amazingly enough, for the inside of the card, I found a stamp from a retired set in my collection (Happy Harmony) which says Happiness Always using the exact same script as the sentiment on the front! I just love being able to custom design a card to fit a personal occasion.