October 3rd was a very special day. It was my mother's Birthday on top of being World Card Making Day. My mother has always been my hero. I just admire the woman she is and the woman she made me become. We may have fought and had our disagreements, but I couldn't have wished for a better mother. I count myself blessed that my mother is still here with me. My mom's favorite color is blue, so I used Mojo Monday 106 as inspiration to make her birthday card. This was also my first attempt at watercoloring. Thanks so much to Mike Funke at Stampin' Style for excellent instructions.

• Started with a card base in Very Vanilla in A2
• The panel is in Kraft, cut just 1/4" smaller all around than the card base
  
• Cut 1 1/4" wide strip of Bella Bleu DSP and then cut that into one 4", two 2" and two " 1 1/2" and adhered to the card with snail adhesive
  
• I stamped the flower from Fifth Avenue Floral in Versamark on watercolor paper. I then embossed with white embossing power and my heat tool. The flower was colored in with Not Quite Navy and Soft Suede markers
  
• I cut the flower out with paper snips and adhered with dimensionals
• The center panel is Very Vanilla cut to 2 1/4" by 3" and Not Quite Navy backing cut at 2 1/2" by 3 1/4"
• Using my paper piercing template and tool, I pierced all around the Navy and added detail in on the Very Vanilla
• The sentiment from the retired set It's your Birthday is stamped in Not Quite Navy on Very Vanilla

I hope to do more watercoloring in the future. It was not as hard as I originally thought. I know you are wondering what gift I got my mother. She is a difficult person to shop for, so I let her choose and just give her a check. She loves it that way, anyway. I would too.

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What I used:
Stamp: Fifth Avenue Floral (113734), It's Your Birthday (Retired) Ink: Not Quite Navy(103008) Paper: Kraft(102125), Very Vanilla(101650), Watercolor Paper(105019) and Bella Bleu(113974) Kool Tools: Heat Tool (100005), Powder Pals (102197), Paper Piercing Template from Mat Pack (104826), Paper Piercing Tool (116631) Fabulous Finishes: White Embossing Powder(109132)

Labels: Challenges, Fifth Avenue Floral, Mojo Monday Sketches