Hello stamping friends!  You know that old saying about the best laid plans of mice and men?  Well, that goes double for women too!  Here it is a week after I got back from my visit to my sister's, and I've finally got enough energy to get a post done.  The first couple days at Connie's were stamping heaven.  The fourth day, I woke up with a not-so-lovely fever and I was out of it for the rest of my stay, the drive home, and the next day or so.  Then came the coughing that knocks me off my feet and the recuperating.  So there, you have a rundown of my last two weeks.  Definitely not what we planned, but that's the way it goes sometimes.  I do have a few cards to share that Connie and I worked on, which is good since I haven't been in my stamp room for a long while!

I love the Layers of Beauty stamps, dies, and masks!  They are so quick and easy to work with and I've made several cards featuring these products.  Now I have a "mine and hers" version for you.  

First, we started out by stamping the main image onto a quarter sheet of Basic White cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black.  You need to angle it a little to get it to fit nicely.  After stamping, the image is placed under Mask #1 lining it up carefully.  For this layer, I lightly colored in with Lemon Lolly with a small Blender Brush.  In the areas for the tiny flowers, I added a light layer of Azure Afternoon ink.

Mask #2 has a light layer of Daffodil Delight ink added.  The tiny flowers have another light layer of Azure Afternoon on some of the petals.

Mask #3 has a layer of Peach Pie added for the deeper shading.  The centers of the tiny flowers are added with this mask too using Daffodil Delight ink.

Mask #4 has a light layer of Lemon Lime Twist added on all the leaves.

Mask #5 has a heavier layer of the same Lemon Lime Twist ink to add shading on the flowers.

Next, the image was die-cut using the coordinating dies.  The card base I chose for this card is Lemon Lime Twist.  It's not a color I use often, but I thought it was a perfect complement for the pretty yellows and blues on the image.

The design needed something else for a layer and all ideas I had didn't work.  Connie suggested a doily from her stash, and that was a perfect touch in my humble opinion.

The sentiment is from Thoughtful Wishes stamp set.  It's stamped on Basic White with Tuxedo Black ink.  Then it was fussy cut to fit the design.

The doily was attached with adhesive just in the center area.  The floral image is attached with both regular and Mini Dimensionals to give it some lift.  The sentiment is also attached with Dimensionals.  For a little bling, some Flat-backed Pearls were added.  I thought they really enhanced the look.

When I was finished with my card, it looked a little unbalanced to me.  All the design elements were too high on the card with too much space at the bottom.  I really couldn't take it all apart, so I did the next best thing.  I cut 1/4" off from the bottom of the card to make it just a bit shorter.  Did you notice?

Here are our cards side by side.  If you look closely you can see, we really did start out the same, but we diverged quickly.

For the tiny flowers on the floral image, Connie went with a purple tone.  I think she used Fresh Freesia.

She also kept her roses a lighter golden yellow.  The second layer of green on her leaves is Granny Apple Green which changes the look quite a bit.

I believe she used a sentiment from the Thoughtful Wishes set.  There is also a doily used on her card, but the card base is different.  I didn't write it down, but I think she used Bubble Bath for the card base.  If I'm wrong, she'll let me know.

She had some tiny little cute white flowers that she tucked in around the design, attaching them with Mini Glue Dots.  Nice touch!

Oh, one last thing I almost forgot.  She was using a Stampin' Blends to deepen the shadows on the roses to give her the look she wanted.  I think it was the Peach Pie Light color of Blends, but I wouldn't swear by it!

OK, I think that's all for now.  Besides, I'm wiped out and it's time to rest again.  What a bummer this flu is!!

Don't forget that the extra 10% off Bundles sale is still going on.  It lasts until the end of the month.  If you're planning on ordering, I would appreciate your business.  Thanks!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon