CAS-ual Fridays #45 and a photo share

Hello, friends!  It's been a few weeks since I had a chance to play along with the CAS-ual Fridays challenge, so I took the opportunity this afternoon to put some ideas to paper.

This week's challenge is to use pastels along with black.  It just so happens that I love the look of aqua, black, and white, so that's where I went with my card.

Not sure if this totally qualifies as clean and simple, since it's a little more technique-y than what I usually do, but I had a lot of fun making it.

First, I stamped the tulip image from Annabelle Stamps Garden Silhouettes several times in Versamark ink onto white cardstock, then heat embossed the images in white.

To create a watercolor effect, I rubbed my Pool Party ink pad directly onto a piece of clear plastic (saved from stamp packaging), spritzed it with water, and used a paintbrush to apply the ink all over the cardstock panel.

Next, I inked up the text background with the Pool Party ink pad and stamped it over the entire panel.  I used a soft cloth to rub the excess ink off of the embossed flowers.

The sentiment is from an A Muse set, Hand Scripted, and I just adore the font, so you'll be seeing it a lot.  And even though these are cling rubber stamps, the labels are already aligned perfectly so you can tell exactly where they'll stamp.  I didn't even need my Stamp-a-ma-jig to get my sentiment lined up perfectly.

The stamped panel was debossed with PTI's Linen & Canvas plate for some subtle texture, then wrapped with black satin ribbon at the top.  A black mat with a scalloped border at the bottom and a sprinkling of gems to highlight the sentiment are the finishing touches.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (True Black, White)

Stamps:  Annabelle Stamps (Garden Silhouettes), A Muse Studio (Hand Scripted), Papertrey Ink (Background Basics:  Text Style)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Pool Party), Tsukineko (Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (Linen & Canvas impression plate), EK Success (border punch)

Accessories:  Filigree (white embossing powder), Michaels (ribbon, rhinestones)

Are you still with me?  Great!  I promised to share a photo from the Paper Smooches card class I attended on Friday night:

What a treat to meet Kim Hughes and Karolyn Loncon for this fantastic class!  Plus I got to spend some time with my sweet stamping friends Jessica and Suzanne.  Don't we look happy?

Thanks so much for visiting!  See you soon for a new ColourQ challenge!