I've case'd this card I saw over at Splitcoaststampers. I used water colour paper and Elegant Eggplant Classic Ink , then spritzed water on the flower to make the colour run a bit, a little heat from the heat gun and some markers to add accent to the centre of the flower and voila! Oh and don't forget to add the little brad to the centre too!

Take a chance to play around with stamping on watercolour paper! There are so many techniques that can be experimented with: watercolour wonder crayons, ink and blender pens, markers, watercolour pencils, or just stamp in a colour and spritz with water!

Stamps: Embrace Life
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Pale Plum, Lovely Lilac
Paper: Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant, Pale Plum, Lovely Lilac, watercolour paper
Accessories: Vintage brad, 1-3/4" circle punch, Greatest Moments rub-ons, various Stampin' Write markers to colour in centre of flowers

April sure does have a lot of birthdays around here! Does your family have one month that has a lot of birthdays all lumped together? It's months like these that I'm glad I've stashed away some birthday cards, but I know that I need to get started on more!

I really liked this card I made for a friend's daughter's birthday just after I started as a demonstrator. I really like the colours and the background of the card. And the paper piercing, okay well I really like all of it! I've just changed up the flower colours and used a different stamp set too.

Stamp Sets: Petal Pizzazz, Short and Sweet
Inks: So Saffron, Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive
Paper: So Saffron, Real Red, Whisper White
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, glitter, scallop circle punch

Spend $50 on Occasions Mini Catalogue products and choose any one item from the "Under $12" page in the Spring-Summer 2009 Idea Book & Catalogue for free.

Hostesses: Hold a workshop of $200 or more and choose any one item from the "Under $12" page in the Spring-Summer 2009 Idea Book & Catalogue for free. For every $200 spent at a workshop, the hostess will receive another "Under $12" item free.

Make sure to place your order before April 30th!

Have you ever tried using regular everyday household bleach with your stamping projects? I have yet to try putting my stamp into bleach (you can do without harming your stamps!), but I do like the effect you can achieve using the aqua painters and bleach, or just a small cup of bleach with a paintbrush. Especially when you are using darker papers.

On the large circle the flowers are embossed in white on Elegant Eggplant and then I've bleached the petals.

Stamps: Botanical Blooms (Sale-A-Bration)
Ink: Versamark, Pale Plum
Paper: Sahara Sand, Elegant Eggplant, Pale Plum, Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla, Perfect Plum
Accessories: White and Black embossing powder, Filigree brads, Certainly Celery Sale-A-Bration ribbon, sticky strip, 1-1/4" and 1-3/8" and 1-3/4" circle punches, Mellow Moss Stampin' Write marker, stampin' dimensionals, household bleach, aqua painter

I've done the same thing on this card, embossing the flower in white and then used the aqua painter with bleach to colour in some of the petals.

Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral
Ink: Versamark, Perfect Plum, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette, Basic Black
Paper: Whisper White, Perfect Plum
Accessories: White taffeta ribbon, white embossing powder, household bleach, aqua painter