Retiring Stamp "Brushstrokes" Father's Day Card

I needed one more Father's Day card for tomorrow and I'm still of the mindset to play with my retiring stamp sets. This one using the stamp set "Brushstrokes" was really quite easy and fun! It has the look that it was painted with wide brushes and  watercolors. The word "happy" is from "Happy to Be Friends," also retiring. (Father's Day was a very old, long retired  stamp).

 

The side papers are from "No Worries" and the inks I used were Lagoon, Pacifica, Willow, Black, and Versamark for the white embossing.

Thanks for visiting!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
Cardz 4 Guys #171 - Something blue for Father's Day
Connie Can Crop #59 - It's a Guy Thing
Crafty Girlz June Challenge - anything goes / masculine option
Love to Scrap Challenge #98 - Boyz Rule

Merry and Bright Christmas in July

I'm so thankful for all the Christmas in July reminders I've seen around the web. It's time for me to get busy on Christmas cards even though the summer heat makes Christmas seem so far away.
Here's another card using a Close To My Heart retiring stamp set and papers. I felt inspired to use several shades of blue with a bit of CTMH Cashmere.

I embossed the light blue retiring "Balloon Ride" background paper with dots. The Outdoor Denim banner is from the "Sarita" paper pack, topped with non-retired blue epoxy bubbles. (The Cashmere honeycomb pattern is not retiring. It's available in the Paper Fundamentals Basic pack.) I stamped the Colonial White  banner with second generation Cashmere and Sky inks using the berry branch from the Merry and Bright stamp set.  

The snowflake border strip on top of the banners was cut using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge. If you haven't heard yet, Close To My Heart will be revealing a new Cricut cartridge next month, Artfully Sent, especially for card makers. I can't wait!
 
I used Glitz Glitter Gel on the snowflake strip and the wreath. The wreath was stamped with Cashmere ink, cut out, and the flowers were colored with ShinHan Touch Twin markers. The tiny bullet point made it easy to color such tiny petals and flower center. The bow was stamped with retiring Sky ink and the bird was stamped with retiring Twilight ink. The Wilton doily added a great background for the bird.

I fussy cut the August Stamp of the Month Circus letters to make the sentiment. This set is retiring at the end of the month and can be purchased at full price or for $5.00 with a $50 order.

 

Thank you for visiting and happy crafting!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
Come and Get It - Christmas in July
Crafting for All Seasons #82 - Christmas in July
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas challenge #186 - layer it up
Hiding in My Craftroom #158 - Christmas in July
Jellypark Friends - Christmas in July
Little Red Wagon #247 - Christmas in July
Simon Says Stamp - Embossing
The Corrosive Challenge #204 - Christmas in July
The Sisterhood of Crafters - die cuts and punches (Cricut snowflake border)
Winter Wonderland - Blue Christmas