I have a few anniversary cards to make in September so I made 3 similar but ever so slightly different by changing the colours slightly or the shading (only showing one here).  The photo doesn’t really pick up the shading very well.  I was trying to capture a  misty Autumnal morning effect.  To get the misty effect spray a very fine mist of water over the image as this reacts with the inks I used and diffuses them slightly.

Inks:  Distress inks Tumbled glass, Weathered wood, Frayed burlap, Stamping up Mellow moss and Crumb cake

Card:  white card

Stamps:  Judikins bamboo, Carity (?) flock of birds, Rubber stamp tapestry (small leaf), Stampin up Cheer and wishes, English stamp company Oriental grasses (reversed by stamping onto brayer)

I have been trying to do more single layer (less is more) cards recently and there have been a few articles in past Craft stamper magazines which I have taken my inspiration from.  Here is one of the anniversary cards I have made.  I vary the colour scheme depending on the season and I like to mix and match various flower and foliage stamps.

Inks:  Distress inks Mowed lawn, Shabby shutters, Tumbled glass, Picked strawberry, Memento black, Stampin up Crumb cake, marker pens.

Card:  white card

Stamps:  Stampin up Pocket silhouettes, Cheer and wishes, Rubber tapestry stamps (various flowers)

Another card taken from the Craft stamper mag this time from May 2012 in the stamping contrast section and this particular one is designed by Liesbeth Fidder.  I love the autumn colours in it and again I didn’t change much at all.  I didn’t have the same colours of alcohol inks that Liesbeth used and I preferred a black card rather than the orangey coloured one she used.  I also made my card much more saturated colour.  The green colour you see in this image is more of a teal colour in real life.

Inks:  for the background: Adirondack colorwash Butterscotch spray and Cosmic shimmer Aqua lagoon. Alcohol inks: Butterscotch, Stream, Willow and Mountain Rose with blending solution,  Stazon black and Saddle brown, Stampin up Taken with teal
Card:  watercolour paper, teal pearlised card, glossy white card, black card
Stamps:  Stampin up Just believe and Cheers and wishes
Other:  punchinella (sequin waste), black pen, 3D pads

I have a few anniversary cards to make for this month plus a few birthday cards so I have been looking through my Craft stamper mag for inspiration and just loved the card  Paula Whittaker made in the August 2012 issue.  I didn’t change much at all:  I kept her overall design but substituted eyelets in place of washers and I used different stamps.  I didn’t add anniversary wishes to this card but I will be making an insert with the Happy Anniversary message.

Inks:  Stazon black, Distress ink Walnut stain
Card:  white card
Stamps:  Crafty Individuals  C1-207
Other:  eyelets, stitching, Tim Holtz filmstrip, yellow highlighter pen

I didn’t have much time to make a card for John and Lizzie before they went to Greece so this is quite a simple but elegant card.  I used a brayer for the background colour then coloured the image using inktense pencils and a water brush.

Inks:  Distress ink Scattered straw, Memento Tuxedo black
Card:  white card
Stamps:  Stampology Silhouette blossoms, Hero arts Tiny Chinese wishes (translates as Love)
Other:  Copic multi liner to make the squiggled border, Inktense pencils  to colour the blossoms and a glitter pen to add a tiny bit of shimmer to the centres

I love this stamp from Julia Hawkins – Stamps Happen.  It is one of my oldest stamps but I have used it a lot.  This time I decided to use colouring pencil to add the colour only I managed to mix up my watercolour pencils with my Prisma pencils – DOH!  So when I tried to use my aqua brush on some segments I wondered why nothing was happening and on other segments I used both types expecting them to blend when I went over with the water.  Needless to say my colours didn’t come out quite how I imagined them to.  There is some sparkle in the flower heads but that doesn’t show in the photo.  I wiped the ink from 3 of the lines so that I could get the greeting in at the bottom of the image and just added black flat backed mini pearls to cover the tiny bits that still showed up.

Inks:  Memento Tuxedo black
Card:  white, black, dusky pink pearlised card
Stamps:  Stamps Happen Magnolia floral by Julia Hawkins, Stampin up Cheers and wishes
Other:  Black flat backed mini pearls, glitter pen, black pen, watercolour pencils, Prisma pencils with Sansador

As you can see by the poor photography I was in rather a rush to take the photos and get these to get these in the post in time.
I was asked to make the 2 silver wedding anniversary cards for a pal (proceeds go to Spinal Injuries Scotland) and the Oriental one is for my wee brother Chris and his wife Grace.  I haven’t made an Oriental style card for ages and I had forgotten what fabby Chiyogami papers I still have in my stash.

Silver hearts
Inks:  Versamark with silver embossing powder
Card:  white, silver miri, silver swirly vellum
Stamps:  Hearts (possibly Elusive images), greeting Stamping up Cheers and wishes
Other:  gems, white ribbon with silver edging, white flower, gem brad, Cuttlebug embossing folder

Silver anniversary
Inks:  versamark with silver embossing powder
Card:  white, silver miri, silver angel hair, Silver anniversary vellum,
Stamps:  glasses chinking free with Craft stamper mag.
Other:  silver heart charm, silver ribbon, silver nail heads, glitter pen to colour

Entwined hummingbirds
Inks:  Memento Tuxedo black, Distress ink Barn door, Adirondack Sunshine yellow
Card:  silk matt coated white, white, black, embossed gold, Chiyogami patterned paper
Stamps:  Clarity stamps Entiwined hummingbirds, Hero arts tiny Chinese wishes (love)