My 'Just In Case' cards

Every so often I have a little playtime and anything that is worth keeping at the end of the day goes into my 'Just in Case' box of cards because every so often like it or not we need a card for an occasion we haven't anticipated. Faced with having to make sympathy cards in a hurry is not easy so it's very handy to have this little stash of cards.
Often these cards are inspired by articles I have seen in magazines that I just want to try out the technique... this was one of those:

it appeared in Craft Stamper in an article about Splatter effects ... this particular one just required a little masking of the main images and then flicking a paintbrush of diluted distress ink over it. I was quite pleased with the effect and turned it into a Thank you card ... another type of card you might need in a hurry.

While I had this lovely Kaisercraft stamp out I used it to stamp onto acetate, I then turned it over and dropped tiny amounts of alcohol ink over the images I wanted to highlight i.e the butterflies I also used Tim Holtz splatter stencil to put a faux coffee mug mark on it. Then I turned it back over and decided to stamp another Kaisercraft stamp of one of my favourite quotes on it:

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, It's about learning to dance in the rain.

Typography is the buzz word at the moment and I first saw these words on a faux weathered piece of wood ... it just struck me that it was a lovely way of saying pick yourself up and brush yourself off and start again ... which is what my dear Mam always taught us ... her other favourite phrase which she used so often when I whined " Ah but Mam I can't do it" usually in reference to school work she'd say " Anne, there is no such word as can't" ... when I feel like that about life now I can hear her say those words in my head and every time I have to smile and feel I owe it to her to at least TRY and more often as not it works.
So having attached my acetate onto some white cardstock with eyelets it now hangs on my wall .. a modern twist on Dear Mam's mantra ...

The third experiment was an attempt to recreate a lovely card my sister sent me as a Thankyou card ...it was striking in it's simplicity. When I asked Sue about it during one of our many lengthy phonecalls she said she had used her Stampsaway blending mat as a mask to give the straight edge.

I have attempted it several times in the past , carefully using my inkylicious brushes and Ali's mat as a mask to create a subtle two colour band, but sod's law always saw me end up getting a smudge or thumb print onto that lovely white card .. so in the bin they went. However this one survived and having used this lovely Sundial stamp as the image I though it would make a Sympathy card, so that was a second card for the 'Just In Case ' box. Having said all this I must now remember where I put the 'Said Box ' as I am sure there is a hidden Black Hole in my crafty den where things disappear so I can't find them when I need them in a hurry. :)

Enough rambling from me for today Bye for now
Happy Crafting  xxAnnie