Making stamps work harder

Hello crafting pals!

I've been looking more closely at my new Beautiful Branches set from Concord & 9th. It's full of nature images - flowers, leaves, berries, branches... and paper lanterns! Pardon? I hear you say! Yes! One of those leaf stamps works beautifully as the kind of paper lanterns people hang in trees at celebrations :) Come and see:

I used the round leaf (pointy bit up) to make my lanterns. They were inked up with Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Coastal Cabana and Pumpkin Pie markers and I used the thin end of the markers to add horizontal lines to give them that lantern-ish look!

The lanterns are hanging from the gorgeous large branch in the set. I used the tiny leaf to add summer foliage, repeatedly inking up with an Old Olive marker... and I will be glad when my ink pads arrive, let me tell you!

ONE FOR THE BOYS
I thought I might use the lantern look for a more masculine card too. The Rainbow Card Challenge is looking for cards using the colour blue and/or inspired by this graphic.

Here's my take:

I love the lanterns in shades of moody blue! I kept things a bit simpler on this card, opting for a doodled string to hang the lanterns from, sponging in the suggestion of a sky and adding thin strips of card stock to frame the sentiment.

The sentiment, on this card and the previous one, is from the perfect birthday sentiment set - Birthday Wishes by Alte & New. It's a set that says happy birthday in various ways and in a variety of fonts - that's it! Just what I've always wanted!


It's raining in the heart of England today. I thought I'd enjoy the novelty after the searing temperatures of last week but no, all things considered, the rain is a bit wet! Excellent crafting weather though, am I right?!

Thanks for visiting me here today :) I'll be back soon with more to show you from my new stash!