Good morning! Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Emily here with you today to share a couple of cards that don’t remotely go together… but let’s just not think about that, okay? Ha!

My first card is one that definitely takes me out of my comfort zone, but I’ve been really trying to step outside my normal completely flowery and girly comfort zone to create something different, perhaps even a bit masculine (for me, at least). Enter Dog Life!

I started by stamping the pups from Dog Life with some waterproof black ink, then die-cutting them with their coordinating dies. I colored them with Zigs and set them aside. (the tri-colored pup was not supposed to be tri-colored, but he was the victim of an attack of the three year old who loves to get in mommy’s craft supplies…. oy. Necessity is the mother of invention, yes?)  Next, I stamped a charcoal gray A2 panel using Minor Stripes and Caviar ink, then die cut a window with the Stitched Rectangle dies. I heat embossed the sentiment from Friend Defined in white embossing powder at the bottom of the striped panel. The final step was to stamp the pretty background from Scenes: Fountain Terrace using Crystal Pewter ink on a white A2 card base. The charcoal frame was popped up and the puppers adhered to the card front. Pretty simple, but definitely stretched my creative boundaries! Haha!

This next project is definitely more my normal speed. I have been trying to play along with The Daily Marker challenge every day, and this background was one of my projects from earlier this week. I stamped the Morning Glory Border in a pale gray ink, then used my Zig markers to watercolor the pretty blooms using the no-line coloring technique. (I found it funny that Laura Jane and I were doing essentially the same color scheme and technique on the same background this week! Great minds think alike!)

After I had colored the blooms to my satisfaction, I used the beautiful Brushed You stamp set to create an ombre die cut. After die-cutting the large “you” using the new coordinating dies, I arranged my stamp and die cut in my MISTI. I chose Plum Wine and Grape Crush to coordinate with the colors on my border. I stamped the Grape Crush first on the bottom portion of the stamp, using a fine microfiber cloth to dab some of the ink away towards where it would fade into the other color. I stamped it and repeated the process a few more times to ensure good coverage. Then I did the same thing on the top of the stamp with the Plum Wine, again using the microfiber cloth to dab away some of the ink so there wouldn’t be a harsh line. I also added a dark purple die cut “you” as a shadow layer for the stamped die cut. After that, I simply stamped the coordinating greeting from Brushed You and added a few Glass Slippers sequins.

Have you entered your “lucky” project into The Ton’s Challenge Blog this month? The theme is LUCKY! you have until the end of the month to get your project in to be eligible for a $50 gift certificate to The Ton!