Mother, may I have some help?

Cards are thoughtful and wonderful happenings to give and receive.  I have often thought a stash of homemade cards would be the right thing to have.  This past week's Mother's Day  and an upcoming gathering of the clan to celebrate a cousin's 85th birthday were the impetus to do it.

I had a package of bought blank cards and matching envelopes.  I gathered my supplies.

The first card is a light weight Lutradur stamped with permanent ink.  I use a double sided tape (1/4 inch) to hold it down.  The coloured lines are stripes from card stock and again adhered with double sided tape (1/2 inch).

I did not use anything but the white card for the background as I kept the look simple.

Next I used a scrap of Lutradur that I'd practiced drawing with crayons on.  The grand kiddies luv snail mail.  It needed to have the colours deepened and I used a variety of markers.
I would rather 'draw' on a scrap and then fiddle with placement later.  Takes the pressure away from that commitment to a blank white square, don't cha know!   ;}

 It looked a little forlorn in the centre of this card as the Lutrador didn't cover the whole surface so I added some washi tape borders.  Remember  when you fuss over the process that it is the thought that counts and the journey is progressive.  ;^)

I had a piece of medium weight Lutradur that I had embossed on the Bigshot.  I wet it and used Distress Paints to create a soft wash of colours.

 When it dried I positioned a stamp I'd prepared and cut out.

 This is more sophisticated and I think pop dots should hold the flower.  Very quick and satisfying.  

My thoughts turned to some dark Lutradur.  I wanted some glimmer.  The Radiant Rain nozzle was plugged so I just brushed some on.

 After it dried I ran it through the Bigshot.   I'm thinking I can get two cards with this particular process.

This is okay but...  I need to bump up the glimmer, perhaps a more opaque one.  Two works if the die is a bit smaller sized for the card and if I hadn't thrown away that wee bit between the branches.  ;)

 Next I stenciled a feather onto another piece of Lutradur that had a swipe of some kind of acrylic paint on it.

To show the translucence of the Lutradur I fixed it to patterned card stock.  Fun!

Lastly, I had another piece of Lutradur that had some spray on it and I masked off a flower and sprayed again.

A little addition of some washi tape and another card for the stash.  I try to keep them plain so I can use them for most occasions.  I could have done a few more but it was time to quit procrastinating and finish up the primary project for the week.  :)

Now I'm asking for help because the 12 inch square pages for the portfolio book each tell a story.  The current page is about helping with chores and needs to include past and present.  At some point I'll give a nod to the future. It also needs a wee bit of data.  Everything I put in has a purpose, at least to my mind.  But that is a lot for one page.  :O

 I started with a sheet of Lutradur that had photos printed on it.  They were too faint so I gessoed, painted, stenciled and sprayed the Lutradur.  The large piece wasn't going to do it so I divided it up, divided some more and spread them around to act as a corral for all the wildness in the middle.  Trimming and shuffling things around and taking stuff off and putting stuff back. ???  I thought about it while I fiddled with cards.

 "He who hesitates is lost.", to quote my dear ol' Dad!  It is what it is.

Ah, a final tweak.  I'll be adding a wee white "photograph' border around the page.  This one will finish 12 1/2 inches square.  Good enough.   Ten more to go.    Mother may need some more help!  :~)