Just the After, and a Thank You

Easing back into blogging here; not sure how often I'll post over the next week or so, but I can't stay away completely. I want to thank you all for your wonderful words of encouragement...y'all are the best!!!

I was going to make this a before-and-after post, because I made an "meh" card first, then this one. But once I edited the photo of the "meh" card, I decided it was actually a "blech" card. You're spared the disaster.

You're welcome. Seriously.

This card's color scheme was inspired by a tea display at Barnes and Noble, with gorgeous gold and green tins alternated on a shelf. The colors just looked so summery I had to put them on paper. 

I inked the grass from PTI's anniversary set for this year using the summer sun marker from StampinUp, then I streaked green galore over it. Before stamping, I huffed it a couple of times (heavy breathing and stamping go together so well). The watercolor effect is so pretty!

On the blech card, I inked the sentiment with a pad, and it looked too crisp for the watercolors of the grass, so here I used the rich cocoa Memento marker. To stamp the butterflies I used a set called Spring Garden from Leave Memories and inked them with the green galore marker, huffed, and got a bit of watercolor effect. Love the crispness of the white with the bright watercolors!

I didn't actually earn the PTI anniversary set this year. I bought eleven sets (ARRGGHHH!!!) instead of the required twelve last year, so no set for me. UNTIL my friend Linda E offered to send me her extra! So, in addition to the card, here's a big

THANK YOU, LINDA!!!!