Mothers Hold Their Children's Hands, Happy Family Days

Hello, Charmaine Stack here from beautiful Victoria, British Columbia, Canada - just a few hours' drive down the road from where Quietfire Design is located. I am honored to be a Guest Designer on the Quietfire Creations blog for April. Gentle Thoughts rubber stamps from Quietfire Design are so beautifully elegant and a joy to use. As a failed calligrapher (I lack the self-discipline it requires) I appreciate the hand-lettering that Suzanne Cannon painstakingly produces and turns into rubber. I often use these stamps on the inside of my cards, but I figured that wouldn't be very exciting to share here - so instead I have a Mother's Day card to show you.

Card 6.5 inches

This is a large, old Magenta stamp from my stash. I stamped it with Versafine Toffee pigment ink on white uncoated cardstock. I gently rubbed some chalks on for pink skin tone and deep blue fabric. I stopped there, hoping less is more! I matted the rectangle with teal and copper layers of cardstock.

This happy greeting was stamped in Kaleidacolor Cappuccino Delight dye ink. Gradient colour is very hot right now in fashion and crafts (me trendy - who knew?) and even if you are an accomplished calligrapher, this is difficult to achieve with pen and ink. I used Antique Linen and Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks to sponge the oval, and matted with teal. Ovals were cut with Spellbinders Classic Ovals dies.

This upper oval was actually cut with a Spellbinders Floral Oval die, but I trimmed the lacy bits off to leave the pin dot border. The sweet new sentiment stamp received the same gradient treatment. The ribbon is a tail-less bow that I created by punching two holes vertically at the top of the oval. I threaded a length of ribbon through the holes, leaving a bit of a bubble showing. I inserted a loop of ribbon through the bubble and then pulled the ribbon on the backside to cinch it tight. It's a simple finishing touch.

While vintage is a favorite style of mine, Gentle Thoughts rubber stamps are extremely versatile. Here's a contemporary card in pink and teal (mounted on Bubblegum Hills paper) using the same lovely quote:

The sentiment was double stamped to create a shadow/highlight effect. The heart is created using the Burnished Velvet technique using two shades of Glitter Ritz Microfine Glitter and the lovely Serafina Heart die from Memory Box. I "cheated" and pieced a scalloped mat for the heart from a Spellbinders Scalloped Heart die cut. The whole thing is mounted on a folded card cut with a Spellbinders Labels 8 die.

I look forward to returning later this month with something else to share!