Mummy-to-be card...

I'm really not sure if I like this card! It has taken quite a while coming together. I printed the front papers when I saw Colour Create's combo of pink, orange and green. They are a free download called 'Happy Mothers' Day' by Summertime Designs. But they have been sitting around for over a week because I was helping out at our Church Holiday club last week and, although we all had a fantastic time, I was too tired to craft in the evenings!

The design started to come together when I saw Friday Sketchers challenge. There were lots of curves which made me think of this Elzybells stamp, which I have had for ages but just not got around to inking up yet! I decided to follow this sketch and round the front of the card which meant I needed to go back to my DP and print a paper for the inside as it would show. About a week ago I persuaded my husband to answer loads of the things I wanted to do with Photoshop but couldn't and he even showed me some things I hadn't thought of! Refering back to my notes, I was able to lighten the pink by altering the opacity and overlay the flowers at the bottom and top corner before printing- I even impressed myself!

I had been thinking about Stamp Something's challenge to use a charm on your card- I don't have any charms! I decided to have a go at making one, so used a little bootie stamp from a Woodware clear set to stamp on shrink plastic. I used a hole punch to make the hole before cutting them out. I knew they were going to end up tiny because they were pretty small before I started but also because I checked them with my shrink plastic ruler (see end of post). They were so small that my heat gun kept blowing them away so I ended up heating them in a ramekin dish to keep them in one place! They are suspended from the mulberry flower by a fine silver thread as I do not have any jewellery making stuff.

Shrink Plastic Ruler.

I don't claim this as my own idea but can not remember where I heard it! Take an off cut of shrink plastic and, using a permanent pen, draw on a line with a ruler and mark off and number each centimeter. Shrink the 'ruler' and use it to give a guide of how small your shrinkies will end up. For example- Measure your stamp in cm. then find the same size on your 'ruler' to get an idea of their final size when shrunk. Sorry for the blurry photo but this is seriously small!