Hello stampers! I am so happy to have been asked to join in the Autism Awareness blog hop by Patty Chenail. The hop starts tomorrow.  We are all using the colours red, blue and yellow so the first thing I thought of was Brusho. I am so happy that it is carrying over into the new catalog. The stamp set that came to mind is a brand new one called Enjoy LIfe. It was designed by Million Dollar sales achiever Connie Fitzgerald in honour of her children. I love this set as it is the perfect combination of images and sayings. I was able to pre-order this set because I attended the local OnStage event in London, Ontario. Here is the set:

I started out with three pieces of shimmer white cardstock measuring 3 5/8″ by 4 7/8″. I purposely chose this size so that I could cut out five card fronts from one sheet of shimmer white cardstock. I was planning to use three colours of Brusho on each card, but you need to wait between colours so that they don’t bleed together. This was my way of speeding up the process a little.

I first spritzed my cardstock with water, then sprinkled on the Brusho and then spritzed a little more water to make it spread. Each one is unique and that is what I love about it.  Now it’s time to add the other colours.

I ended up using two of these, and for the third card I first embossed the images in black and then added the brusho. Can you tell which one used that technique?

Let’s take a closer look at the cards. For the first one I had originally black embossed both the sentiment and the images but I found that the sentiment did not stand out enough, so I stamped in on white and cut it using the Stitched Shapes framelits.

Before this rendition I had played around with the sentiment and brushed Brusho “paint” over some of the words. I like the above version better but I thought you might want to compare the two. Which one is your favourite?

Do you see how the bike looks like it is riding on a path? Total coincidence!! I first stamped the grass in versamark along the bottom but then the bike looked like it was floating, so I needed to add another layer of grass. I wanted to keep the wispy look so I didn’t want to “double stamp” so I used a sticky note to mask off the bottom grass. This left a slight white section that now looks like a path. Necessity is the mother of invention!! I am really thrilled with how the Brusho turned out on this card. I am not exaggerating when I say that I could play with this stuff all day long!!

Once again I stamped the images in versamark and then black embossed them. It stands out so nicely against the Brusho background. The sentiment was stamped in real red and pacific point. This is a really neat feature with this set. Connie Fitzgerald, the million dollar achiever who designed this set has left a space in the middle of the blue sentiment so that you can add either “love you” or “miss you”. What a great idea!! It also really resonates with me for this autism cause. The love these parents have for their children is immense.

This card just makes me happy. I love the athletic look to the silhouette image. It is strong and victorious. The sentiment is also powerful and motivating. This is the card where I first embossed the image and sentiment in black and then added the brusho. This sequence allows you to place your colour more or less where you want it. Brusho does have a mind of its own!!

I hope these cards have inspired you, but more importantly that they have helped raise awareness for Autism. So many people have to struggle with this and there is not enough funding, so research is needed so that we can learn about what causes it and how to help. Here is the link so that you can donate. Remember, when you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive: to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

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