Smile!

Wow! It has been a long time since I was able to get in my scrap room and create anything. Life has been keeping me hopping. My mother has been very ill for the last month and spent time in both a hospital and a nursing home before finally getting home this week. With all of that and school starting, I have been so busy that I haven't had time to do anything just for fun.

This afternoon I found myself with several minutes of actual free time. I almost didn't know what to do!

I sat down and my computer and actually took time to cruise through some of my favorite challenge websites and, before I knew it, I was cutting paper and making cards. It felt SO good!

I owe a big THANK YOU to the gals over at CAS(E) this sketch for providing the inspiration for this card. I loved sketch #91. It was so simple and versatile.

I decided to use the sketch as a way to use some of my many stamps.

I started by using a chevron stamp to create the banner on the left hand side. You can't really tell in this photo, but I actually used 4 different shade of yellow/orange inks to create a subtle ombre effect as the chevron or arrow moves down the card.

Then I stamped a sun using another shade of orange ink and added a few subtle embellishments using yellow stitching, a button, and an orange glitter pen. I decided that I wanted the circles to be a bit more free-form and fun, so after I punched the circles I used my scissors to handcut the edges before inking them.

I stamped a greeting and embellished that with 2 tiny brads. Then I matted the whole thing on a piece of subtle orange stripe cardstock from my stash.

The final card is sure to bring a bright smile to the face of the recipient.