Easter Gift Cards

I haven't made Easter Cards as such this year.  I also haven't bought Ester Eggs for the family - with a lot of them having allergies to various things like, milk, nuts etc. I couldn't cope with my dodgy eyes of reading every single package to find out if they were suitable, so this year they are all getting some money.  However, rather than just giving them the money I made some cards to hold the money, so they looked more like a present.

I used the new Katy Sue "Adventures in Creativity" stamps, which I have fallen in love with..  They are based on Emma Boyes paper cutting images, which some of the granddaughters have

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I stamped the images with various colours of Nuvo pads, and then embossed them with clear embossing powder.  They were then "water coloured"  with either Indigoblu Luscious Powders or acrylic paint (mainly Posca Pens water down)  I found some old Easter peel-offs in my stash, so added those (albeit these aren't showing up that well in the photos)

Messing about in a Journal

I received some new stamps - and naturally I just had to play.   Journalling is still a little struggle for me - but I have found it useful for trying out techniques

The background was done with distress oxides applied with an old dried out wet wipe.  I then randomly stamped with the IndigoBlu "Golden Ratio" stamp.  I then stamped the owl from Katy Sue Designs, and coloured this with Posca pens and water.    It is sort of work in progress, as being a journal page, I can add to it as the mood takes me.

I also did the same background on this page, but used the Katy Sue Unicorn stamp this time,  It hasn't turned out quite as I wanted, the main stamped image wasn't perfect, so painting it with the acrylics wasn't so easy.   You win some you lose some - but again as it was a journal page - I can go back into it and add some more - you never know I may get to share it again when more has been added.

I have realised that I need to add some shadow/shading to make the images "pop".   That;s the advantage of just playing and taking a photo - you can see more easily what you need to do.