Embossed resist cards

I mentioned in an earlier post (CUPBOARD CRAFTER: Rainy Days and Thwarted Plans#links) some embossed resist cards that I had made, but at the time I could not upload them. Courtesy of my daughter's SLR, a steep learning curve, and more patience than I ever knew I had, here they are! Finally!

I also made an A5 card but cannot show it here as I've submitted it for publication - fingers crossed.

I used a stamp from the 'Live Out Loud' themeplate from http://www.graphicus.co.uk/, stamping onto patterned paper and then embossing using clear embossing powder. This created a resist for the Tim Holtz Distress inks that I worked in over the top of the images. A very simple technique but it shows off this stamp nicely I think.

There are a lot of bird stamps around at the moment, ranging from peacocks to owls, but these are definitely my favourite. There are four themeplates in the collection. I have just two of them. I think the bird tails from my second set, the 'Curly Birds', make very nice background swirls, as shown on the green and brown card.

Confession time: I have loads and loads of ribbons, buttons and brads in my stash, but I love them so much, it is a real sacrifice to give them away on my handmade cards! I usually try to get away without putting ribbon or buttons on a card, but sometimes, as here, I really had to so that they look finished.

Some crafters cannot bring themselves to use papers from their stash -  with me it's embellishments. If I wasn't on a budget I would have ribbon in every pattern and every colour! And have a neat storage system with them all displayed on reels and arranged in colour families  --- Heaven on Earth.