Birthday card for a true friend

Yes! - for my last post of the year I've managed to actually use some of my more precious goodies, rather than just buying them and admiring them from time to time, lol. That's gonna have to be a resolution for the new year - to actually use my stash. My friends and family are worth it, after all (good reason) - and if I use it then I'll have to buy more (even better reason)!

So now to the recipe - for this card I started with Rose Red cardstock as the base. I used the small circle flower from the True Friend stamp set and stamped this onto Whisper White card in Regal Rose, Rose Red and Bravo Burgundy inks and punched with the 1-1/4" circle punch. These were layered onto matching flowers punched using the scallop circle punch and the centre of each flower is a medium Rhinestone brad. To keep with 3 separate colours I used pink and red brads from the Circle Fire set and a clear from the Pretties Kit.

To get the blend of colours on the True Friend sentiment I used the same inks again as for the flowers, building up from the lightest to the darkest. The inkspots make it easier to do this sort of detailed inking. This was layered onto Regal Rose and Bravo Burgundy card, all of which were punched with the corner rounder. The background paper strip is from the Spiced Cider designer series paper which matches the True Friend stamp set.

A very happy and healthy new year to you all. Here's to a Super Stampin' 2009!

Sara xx