Finally May!

Ah yes, it is finally May!  That means only a few more weeks of school left for the boys, and possibly more time for lazy days, unscheduled trips to fun places and a little bit of traveling - my favorite thing to do during bright summery days!  Of course, my little secret wish is to have more time to just sit at my crafting desk and just ponder on cardstock and various inks to go with it, with even more time thrown in for some actual paper crafting!  What person out there like me wouldn't want all of that, and then some?  

Lately, I've been crafting in spurts: a little in the morning, then dipping into precious sleep time just to finish that one layout or that other card from the month before.  Sound familiar?  Of course it does!  So May is usually a great month for me as I look forward to doing my own little things at longer time frames without several days passing in between!

So, anyway.  On to my next card creation, which will be one of the demo cards for Demo Day at Photoscraps.

I thought I'd try my hand at using the die cut's negative space as my focal point, which has been a hot number in the crafting world for months now.  It was the first technique I thought of when I bought the 'hello' die from Memory Box: a very thin font that actually looks quite lovely regardless of whether you use the die cut or the negative created on the paper.  

The rose ensemble is another new die for me, again by Memory Box.  What I love about the rose is that you really need a rubber mat to impress the petal folds onto the cut, giving it an added texture.  It was kind of like a surprise "buy-1-get-1-free" die purchase, heh.  So in the event you're not a cut-n-stamp kind of girl, this die is a little gem worth investing in.  To accentuate the impression, I used my trusty Sakura Stardust pen in Clear Star (another go-to favorite of mine) to really give it an extra pop.

Hope you like the card - enjoy, and Happy Mother's Day Weekend to all the Mamas out there! :D

(Other items used: bird silhouette die and birdcage die by Poppy Stamps; English Tea Party doily die by Cheery Lynn; 'friend' stamp from the "Just Find Me" set by Hero Arts; patterned papers by Echo Park, My Mind's Eye, American Crafts and the fabulous Crate Paper!!)

Thanks for stopping by!