Color Inspiration is Everywhere, Part 1

It's official, I've come with down whatever lovely little virus my hubby had last weekend and my son continues to struggle with it as well. So I stayed home from church today and slept until almost 11:30--what a luxury! While I still feel pretty poorly, I woke up with a card running through my head and wanted to make it while the ideas were still fresh. I'm feeling a bit woozy again after all that creative output, so after I post this, it is back to bed for me!

The next few days will feature cards with color inspirations that I got from other blogs, items around my house or just random places. Today's card uses Mercy Kerin's Tuesday Sketch, as well as Jen Arkfeld's current favorite color combo: Kraft, So Saffron, Taken with Teal and Old Olive. Give it a try--these colors are fun together!

A couple of notes about this card: as I've said previously, I don't have a big shot, so the scallop border around the edge of the circle was created with 1/2" circle punches. I used my white gel pen to make the little dotted edges for added interest. The circles were cut out using a Big Shot at my upline's house several months ago and set aside for future projects. I used the top of a jar to make a template to cut the whisper white one down 1/4" to give it a nice border.
Wondering where the dsp came from? It's Tall Tales! I always forget about this dsp--I bought it last summer for a finished project that a customer ordered and didn't use it all on the project, but haven't used it at all since. I have a hard time using dsp with bold designs on my cards and much of the pack is like that. I forget, however, that there are some lovely So Saffron only and Old Olive only patterned pages in that pack and the So Saffron one worked great on this card. Take a look through your dsp packs and see what little gems you come up with!


Supplies:
Kraft, Taken with Teal, So Saffron, Whisper white cs, Tall Tales dsp
Great Friend, Itty Bitty backgrounds stamp sets
Creamy Caramel, Old Olive, So Saffron, Taken with Teal inks
paper snips
hemp twine
dimensionals
button latte
sponge
So Saffron 5/8" grosgrain ribbon (retired)

Weekend Sketch Challenge 121

It's official, my son has whatever my husband had last weekend, so he was up most of the night with congestion and just general unhappiness, which meant I was up most of the night too. Somehow my husband managed to sleep through it all so he could go to his symposium and seminary class today. How do men manage that?? So I'm too tired to do much more than read Judith Krantz today. Light ridiculous reading, completely unsuitable for Lent, but what's a tired pregnant mama who is single parenting for the day to do?

I actually made two cards yesterday, and this card used Gretchen Barron's Inspiration Weekend Sketch Challenge plus the Color Throwdown Challenge. I'm really starting to get to the point of not being able to make a card from scratch without a sketch or color challenge to get me started! The little tip I discovered on this card is that if your dsp is too loud, sponge it down! I liked the pattern on the chocolate chip dsp, but the white was too stark for the card, so I just sponged the whole thing with chocolate chip ink and that toned it down just the right amount. I've seen lots of people making vases out of the large and wide oval punches, so I can't claim original creative credit for the idea, but I will say that sponging the vase makes it look better and I added a little textured with the Itty Bitty backgrounds stamp set.

Supplies:
Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Whisper white cs, Cottage wall, Sweet Always dsp
Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip inks, versamark
Pocket Silhouettes, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Sweet Pea felt flowers
Chocolate chip satin ribbon
sponges
large oval punch

It's Good to Dream Little Birdie

Today the city shut down again for snow, even though we got nowhere near the amount predicted and despite gusty winds, the roads are quite manageable. I guess people are paranoid by now about snow fall. Things were shut yesterday as well, but the snow, while falling all day, didn't start sticking until overnight! As a former Minnesotan, I must say I'm flummoxed by this city's inability to deal with snowfall. I realize that getting 80 inches of snow over the winter months in a city where the all-time record was formerly 48 inches would put a monkey wrench in anyone's plans, but still.

Enough weather talk. I was so unmotivated to stamp this morning after going out to the library, but after having a bit of a lie-down around noon, I started thinking about the various sketch/color challenges floating around this week and came up with this card:

I used the Just Us Girls Challenge (a new one to me!) and combined it with the Hand Stamped Sentiments sketch challenge that used the ala-card sketch from the latest issue of Stampin' Success, the magazine that Stampin' Up! sends all of us demonstrators every month. I always mean to try the ala-card sketch in the magazine but never quite get around to it, so it was fun to have motivation to do that one. Plus it is a nice simple sketch. I also decided to incorporate the Paper Pals Arts challenge for this week, which was to use a bird. I initially wasn't going to play PPA because I couldn't think of any birds in my stamp collection, but the more I thought about it, I realized I actually have 3 sets that have birds! Then it was just a matter of picking a set to use. I love this hostess set--it has so many lovely images.

Supplies:
Chocolate Chip, Ivory Naturals, Cameo Coral, Rich Razzleberry cs
Of the Earth, Razzle Dazzle stamps
Chocolate Chip, Cameo Coral, Rich Razzleberry ink
Blender pen
Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon
dimensionals
1 1/2" scallop square, 1 1/4" square, modern label punches
sponge

A Little Pick Me Up

I came home yesterday after a doctor's appointment too tired to do the tasks on my to-do list, but not quite tired enough to just sit around, so I decided that I must stamp something or go mad. Plus I was trying to redeem myself from the twice-is-a-charm card from yesterday's post. This one came together much more smoothly and I'm pleased with the result--it is a bright happy card, if I do say so myself! I've also been trying to finish the inside of my cards which I think adds that little extra somethin'-somethin', and I had just enough dsp scraps left over to do this:

I used the Mojo Monday sketch challenge for this week, and combined it with the Colour Q color challenge, which was Melon Mambo, Regal Rose, Apricot Appeal and Green Galore, plus a neutral. I had intended to use another stamp set when I was getting out my supplies, but Loads of Love caught my eye and I decided it would work better with the sketch anyway. Plus, I was keen to try a bit of water-coloring. I've had Staz-On ink forever, but have been afraid to open it up, so I figured I might as well bite the bullet. It worked great! I was worried about the clean up (I have the cleaner, but it smells SO BAD that I didn't want to use it if I didn't have to). Turns out if you clean the stamp right away with our Stampin' Mist on the scrub, it works just as well! I started out using ink pads and an aquapainter for the truck, but got frustrated with that process very quickly--it takes so stinking long to dry! I patted off the excess water and then used markers and the aquapainter instead, which I think worked better. I'm an instant gratification kind of stamper. I also used a technique that I use when I paint religious icons, which is to lay down the primary color a bit heavy and then use the aqua painter to dab it up, leaving a darker edge and paler middle, which gives nice shading. You have to have a kleenex handy to wipe your painter on between swipes or it just turns into a big mess. When I do this with icons, I'm working with egg tempera and pigments with a brush, so it's kind of the same idea, although the tempera is a little more forgiving. If you are wondering about the shading on the truck, this is what I did: apricot appeal ink from the pad direct, then patted dry, which made the truck very pale yellow. Then I markered the hubs and top of the flat bed with an Apricot appeal marker. I added regal rose marker to the body of the truck and then started blending with the aqua painter, drying my brush between every stroke. I added a tiny bit of Melon mambo to the front and rear lights, but the rest is just apricot appeal and regal rose combined. The flowers are just straight colored in and cut out with my paper snips, nothing fancy.

If you are wondering where the plain rhinestones came from, I pried them out of the smallest rhinestone brads and attached with snail--the mini glue dots are too big and got all gummy on me when I tried to squish them behind the stone. Snail worked just as well--you have to kind of rub the rhinestone directly on the snail dispenser to get it to work properly, but it's not hard, just picky.

Supplies:
Melon Mambo, Apricot Appeal, Green Galore cs, Sweet Always dsp (retired), watercolor paper
Loads of Love stamp set
Staz-On jet black ink, Regal Rose, Apricot Appeal, Green Galore, Melon mambo, Going gray markers
Aqua painter
5/16" silver brads, small rhinestone brads
paper piercer/mat pack
3/8" Melon Mambo grosgrain ribbon
mini glue dot

"What do you do with a white gel pen, what do you do with a white gel pen? What do you do with a white gel pen, earlie in the mornin'"

(to the tune of What do you do with a drunken sailor...) Yes, I know, I'm weird. I had that ditty running through my head this morning, so there you go. Last night I attempted to make two cards after sitting and staring at my hands for several hours, willing them to be creative. I went to bed pretty discouraged because neither card turned out how I had envisioned. The first one wasn't too bad, but the second, which is today's featured card, combined Karen Giron's (very tough) Sweet Sunday sketch and the (also challenging) Curtain Call Color Challenge for this week. I wanted to use the (now-retired) Sip by Sip stamp set and the layout came together pretty well, but it just looked so, well, blah. Plus my stamping was all crooked on the center piece, despite my careful Stamp-a-ma-jig efforts. I ended up using Kiwi Kiss instead of Old Olive because I thought that the inspiration picture was closer to Kiwi than Olive. I also thought that the lighter blue was closer to Tempting Turquoise, but stuck with Ballet Blue because I didn't want to push my luck. :)

So this morning, I took off the crooked stamped piece, restamped it (ah, much better!) and then thought about adding some faux stitching to the panels beneath. I didn't quite trust myself to free hand the zig-zags, so I took my paper piercer and mat pack and gave myself a template to work with. Boy did that brighten up the card! I'm always amazed how some little thing can really make a card come together. So I'm pretty happy with it now.

Supplies:
Kraft, Ballet Blue, Whisper White, Night of Navy cs, kiwi kiss dsp (retired)
Sip by Sip stamp set
Ballet blue, night of navy, kiwi kiss, close to cocoa inks
Kraft taffeta ribbon, white gel pen, paper piercer, mat pack

Sorry so late!

I realized just now (at about 8 p.m.) that I didn't post today--whoops! My day completely got away from me. My husband is still sick with a cold/respiratory thing but did manage to get to work today and my son was cranky all day for no particular reason at all. Between those two things and getting food on the table with a third trimester body, I'm all done in!

Just a quick share today; I made these two cards at an opportunity night at Kristin's a few weeks ago. The main feature of them is that you can make them entirely with materials in the starter kit. Nifty, eh?

Buttons, Buttons

My Saturday post featured clear buttons and punched cardstock to create a unique look. I was on a creative streak that afternoon and decided to catch up on Stamping 411 sketches and some color challenges I had floating around. I liked last week's Stamping 411 sketch but didn't get a chance to do anything with it in time, but better late than never, right? I also missed the deadline for the color challenge, which is from Just Add Ink, but I wanted to give the combo a go--More Mustard, Sage Shadow, Rose Red and Kraft. It was a challenge, to be sure.

I still had Flower Fancy sitting on my desk as my back up set for Saturday's card and decided that I should use it for this card. The clean lines of the card layout and the simple line design of the flower seemed to go together in my mind. Again, I used a 3/4" circle and 1/2" circle around a clear button to create a customized look. It is easy to make these--just punch the circles, (they fit the smallest button in the container--just adjust your sizes as you move up in button size) and sponge the edges with the same color ink to give some depth. Put a bit of snail on the smallest one and adhere to the front of the button (be sure your sponged side is up). Take your paper piercer and lightly prick the two holes from behind but don't go all the way through the cardstock yet. Add the 3/4" circle to the back with the sponged side facing up (so that it goes against the back of the button. Take your sanding block and lightly sand around the edges to curl them. Blow off the dust and run your finger around the edges. Then take your piercer again and poke holes from front to back, all the way through. This way your cardstock will push through the holes rather than stick out the front and look unsightly. Add thread or cardstock scrap and mini glue dot and you're done!

I like the finished product, but I wish I had a Big Shot so I could dry emboss the Sage Shadow layer or something. It seems like it needs a little more texture. I did sand the Sage Shadow layer, which gave it a little bit of a sueded look, but it is hard to see in the photographs.


Supplies:
Kraft, Very Vanilla, More Mustard, Sage Shadow cs, Rose Red dsp
Flower Fancy stamp set
Soft Suede, More Mustard, Sage Shadow, Rose red markers/ink
Clear button
1/2" and 3/4" circle punches
kraft taffeta ribbon
sanding blocks
paper piercing tool
gold embroidery thread
mini glue dot

Shoebox swapping with a KISS plus the best $17 ever spent

When we bought our house in 2007, we also bought some decent furniture to go in it, deciding to donate my husband's Goodwill furniture to the newlywed seminarians who took over our seminary housing after we left. (We decided that getting a mortgage entitled us to grown up furniture!) So when we got here and got far enough in the renovation to put up furniture, we decided to get oak futons for the living room and guest room since we host a fair number of overnight guests throughout the year. I bought nice washable covers for the spring-coil mattresses and the guest futon has been great about staying put on the wooden frame. The living room one, not so much. We got these foam strips that were supposed to help, but really just made things worse. So last week I finally spent the $17 and got a proper futon mattress gripper, which is similar to the non-slip pads you stick under a rug. I was skeptical--can it really work for only $17?? The pad arrived yesterday and I'm thrilled to say that the mattress is still in place!


Today's card is for a shoebox swap that I'm participating in this week. I debated about going because I was having trouble coming up with a design, but the Great Cardstock Organization Project of last week revealed 12 blank Pixie Pink card fronts that I had cut out for a different project and ended up scrapping, so I was determined to use that cardstock up! Pixie pink is not a color I usually reach for, so I turned to the IBC for color combinations and ended up using the Simply Scrapping Sunny Day color combo as my inspiration--Pixie Pink, Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise and Old Olive. Since there are going to be 10 of us swapping, the card needed to be something fast (8 minutes or under to make) and light on the embellishments for cost reasons. I had pulled out last year's SAB brochure a few days ago to look for ideas and the card on the front cover really struck my fancy. I liked the layout and the stamping was so simple! It is the foundation of Stampin' Up!'s philosophy of stamping: ink, stamps, paper. So while I didn't set out to make a KISS (Keep It Simple Sweetie) card, I think I ended up with one, nonetheless. It is mostly just stamping with a tiny bit of ribbon thrown in for good measure. Plus the bright colors are so cheery!

Falling Leaves in the Gloaming

Yesterday I finished the Lenten Master Menu for this year, including recipes and grocery lists for the 4 week rotation I decided on and it was time to hit the market! I had a bit of time yesterday afternoon and the weather was nice, so I headed out to a large indoor farmer's market downtown that operates year round. It is an historic landmark, having been in operation on that site for more than 100 years! It is in an old railroad terminal, so the inside is pretty nifty. Plus the produce is fresh, local and the selection is great. It is also a good place to go people watching if you like that sort of thing (I do!) I couldn't get everything on my list there, so this morning I got up and went to the grocery store in our neighborhood to fill in the gaps. My hubby was kind enough to watch the boy for me while I did all the shopping. The weather is so lovely today--a chill breeze but sunny and pleasant out. A perfect day to walk to the store and back. Luckily I thought to bring my granny cart with me or I would have been in trouble! By the time I got back, got my son situated for lunch, etc. the morning was gone, but I decided to forgo a nap and stamp instead. A good trade-off, I think!

I actually managed to get a Stamping 411 card done on a Saturday, imagine that! I decided to combine the sketch with this week's color throw-down challenge #80, which was light green (sage shadow), rust (really rust/dusty durango) and burgundy (bravo burgundy). The sketch was challenging because there was a whole panel in the middle that had to be filled up somehow. I've been focusing the last day or so on cards that use a lot of stamping on them (tomorrow's card I'm designating a KISS card, and I'll explain why...) and this sketch presented itself as a good one for that. The decision then was which stamps to use? My hand reached for the Flower Fancy stamp set, which has marvelous possibilities for filling white spaces, but in the end, I decided to have a go at making a tree scene with Branch Out, reserving Flower Fancy for in case that idea flopped. I'm not sure that the card is fantastic, but it works, sort of. The thing I did try on this card was to experiment with clear buttons. I've had them for almost a year now and haven't really known what to do with them--every time I try to use them, they end up not looking right or something. I was going to put dsp behind them but didn't have the proper colors for the challenge, so I ended up using plain cardstock and sanding blocks to get the look I have. I sponged the sage shadow button a bit on the edges as (probably should have done a bit more, but oh well).

Inside the card

Supplies:
Sage Shadow, Very Vanilla, Bravo Burgundy cs
Branch Out, Boho Background stamp sets
Really Rust, Bravo Burgundy, Sage Shadow inks/markers
Clear buttons
Dusty Durango ribbon, Very Vanilla ribbon
1/2" circle and 3/4" circle punches
Sanding blocks
mini glue dots
sponges
paper piercer, burgundy embroidery thread

Clean Friday

I was supposed to go to church this morning with my family for a presanctified Divine Liturgy (a special Eucharistic service done midweeks during Lent--it is gorgeous! The video clip above is a Russian version of one of the musical selections from the service) but when I woke up this morning, I felt like I'd been run over by a bus, so my husband told me to stay home and rest while he and my son drove up for the service.

(The clip above is a Byzantine version of another musical selection from the service--the two musical traditions are quite distinct, but both are beautiful. There are many different musical traditions in the Orthodox Church, but we all sing the same songs at the same times, just different musical settings.)

The quiet morning did me some good and I'm feeling a bit better now. I spent most of the afternoon and early evening yesterday reorganizing my cardstock after a fruitful Staples run for office supplies to do so. After the Great Cardstock Project was finished and cleaned up, I spent an hour or so organizing our Lenten recipe list into a 4 week Master Menu calendar (see yesterday's post for more details about this project). Today's task was to locate all the recipes for the list and organize by week and day and then to make a weekly grocery list based on the recipes scheduled. That took most of the morning, but it is done now! Luckily, a lot of my Lenten recipes were already typed up from an old Lenten cookbook I put together for our parish in Iowa City a long time ago. There were a few new ones that had to be typed, but all in all, not too bad.


Today's card was made way back in December when I needed a break from Christmas card making. It uses the Charming stamp set, which is still available through April 31. I love this set! The card is CASEd from someone on splitcoast, but I changed the colors a little--the original was Soft Suede and Kraft, which I thought was a little monochromatic, so I swapped in Rich Razzleberry instead, which I thought looked better.

Supplies:
Rich Razzleberry, Kraft cs
Charming, Pocket Silhouettes stamp sets
Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive inks
Kraft taffeta ribbon
Vintage (antique brass) brads
modern label punch
dimensionals

Flower Fancy Sympathy Card

Last night my family and I all schlepped down for a church service called the Great Canon of St. Andrew, which is a wonderful penitential service. Unfortunately, the church in question did not have a choir present but did have a few tone-deaf older guys, so the singing was a little interesting, but it was still good to go. I'd never been to that particular church, although we know the priest there, and it is lovely! The priest is new, young, and energetic, and has made a real effort to reach out in the neighborhood. God bless Father M, who has his work cut out for him.
My other project this week and throughout Lent is to put our house in order. Some of it is third trimester nesting urges, but I'm naturally a person who likes to keep things organized and am always looking for a better way to do things. So this week, while I'm taking a step back from crafting, I'm putting my kitchen in order (I'm also reorganizing my cardstock, but that is another story...)

I admit, I'm terrible about planning weekly menus and coming up with meals in advance, which is a source of some friction at our house. I'm happy to say, however, that I just found a mommy blog that walks me through the process of doing so. My mother has always made weekly menus and I admire it, but I've struggled a lot to do it myself. Part of the problem is that my husband and I have very different food tastes, and what appeals to me usually doesn't appeal to him and most of the "quick" dinner options that are available to many people are not workable for us for a variety of reasons (religious fasting regimens, allergies, tastes, etc). For example, I love hot dogs (I know, I know...) and my husband thinks they are disgusting. He can't even stand to watch me eat them or have them in the house, so I have to reserve my hot dog eating for my mom's house. So there are no quick hot dog nights at our house. Pizza is a whole other fraught discussion. But I'm determined to get to the bottom of this and get my menu planning in order. So yesterday afternoon, my husband and I sat down and went through the first worksheet on the blog to just come up with a Lenten Master Menu. (We will do one for ordinary time after Lent is over--it seems cruel to torment my husband with non-fasting dishes, even in theory, during the deprivations of Lent). My project for today is to organize said menu into day-blocks on a schedule with recipes and grocery lists and such.

But. I do have a card to share today, never fear! I made this card a few weeks ago for some good friends of ours who had some sadness in their lives. It is CASEd from Stacey Schaefer's card for her Curtain Call Challenge Act 2 and I really like the color combination. I think I've mentioned before that I struggle a lot with the Flower Fancy set (the two-step stamping is tricky with that one for some reason) and it was nice to see a card that used the set in a lovely way. I did get out my Stamp-a-ma-jig for the main flower on the panel, but for the rest of the little flowers, I just guesstimated, which worked fine for a background panel. One little stamping tip for the main flower--make sure you stamp off once on the background part or your flower lines will get lost. Ditto on the little flowers, although that is not as crucial. I had to remake the main panel once because I forgot to do it the first time!

I also did a finished panel inside the card (I don't think Stacey did this on hers) and loved how it finished the card! The only thing that was a little picky is that I don't have Mellow Moss or Bravo Burgundy in ink pads, only markers, so doing all those leaves took a bit!

Supplies:
Mellow Moss, So Saffron, Bravo Burgundy cs
Flower Fancy, Thoughts and Prayers stamp set
Bravo Burgundy, So Saffron, Mellow Moss inks/markers
Mellow Moss grosgrain ribbon
Button latte
glue dot

Inspired by Nature while Thinking of You

I CASEd this card from Wendy Hawkinson a few weeks ago and was saving it for the right occasion to present itself, and yesterday it did. There is a retired priest and his wife who live in Nebraska who are dear friends of ours and we just learned that the wife, Lilijah (Lily for short) is undergoing surgery on her liver today. Lily is fond of flowers, pretty cards and old-fashioned letters, so I thought this would be the perfect card to send to her. She has had a lot of health issues in her life and I know she is struggling to keep her spirits up this time, so if you would like to send her a card, please leave a comment with your e-mail address and I will send you their address.Supplies:
Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Old Olive, Whisper White cs, Old Olive dsp
Inspired by Nature, Thoughts and Prayers stamp sets
Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose markers
Sponge
Wide and scallop oval punches
Open scallop border punch

Vintage Tuesday

I did end up getting a bit of energy yesterday afternoon after walking to the grocery store to stock up for the coming ice/snow storm, so I decided to do Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch for this week and combine it with Stacey's Curtain Call Color Challenge Act 17. I had an idea of how this card was going to look in my head, but it came out very differently! My idea involved clean lines, simple stamping and a basic layout. I ended up with a distressed, sponged and customized card instead. I like it, though.

I wanted to make a sympathy type card because we have friends who are coming up on the one-year anniversary of their small son's death. He was a few days older than my son, so I think about them a lot. They have an older son and are expecting again, which is a great blessing, but I know they will always ache for and miss their second son with his wide grin and cute dimples.

I made the dsp by stamping the vine from Thoughts and Prayers on So Saffron cardstock with matching ink, and then distressed it a bit by sponging the edges with the same ink. I had intended to use some left over So Saffron dsp from A Walk In the Park, but didn't have enough left to make four squares, but these are the kinds of things that force one to be more creative! The going gray matting, which was the hardest element to incorporate, is sponged on the (distressed) edges with chocolate chip ink to tone it done a bit and make the colors blend into the rest of the card better. I distressed the edges of the matting by running a metal edge ruler along the sides until it started to fray and look the way I wanted it to. I also sponged all the layers with So Saffron and then added More Mustard to the textured piece and chocolate chip to the More Mustard square to make it stand out a bit from the background.

I know you are asking where I got the coordinating More Mustard ribbon, since I can hear you flipping through the catalog from here! I'll tell you straight--I made it myself. I took Very Vanilla 5/8" satin ribbon (new in the Occasions Mini catalog) and first markered it with a More Mustard marker and ran a baby wipe over it to blend it. I still wasn't happy with the coverage, so I took a sponge and my More Mustard ink pad and went over it again, and used the baby wipe a second time to blend everything and that did the trick! I guess this card also works for the Stampin' Connect challenge for this week, which is to punch things out. The circle is the largest Big Shot circle that we have (I borrowed the die from a friend a few weeks ago and cut a bunch of circles for future use...) and the sentiment is punched from the large oval and sponged for dimension. I actually didn't intend to punch the sentiment out, but I stamped it a bit crooked (should have used my Stamp-a-ma-jig, but I was feeling lazy) and while I could have left it, I decided just to add the extra piece to make it all straight.

Supplies:
More Mustard, So Saffron (textured and regular), Going Gray, Very Vanilla cs
Thoughts and Prayers stamp set
Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, So Saffron ink, plus markers in the same
Very Vanilla 5/8" satin ribbon
baby wipe
metal edge ruler
circle die/big shot
sponges
mini glue dot
large oval punch

Clean Monday

Today marks the first day of Great Lent for Orthodox Christians around the world, myself and my family included. This first week of Lent is traditionally called Clean or Pure Week and forms one of the bookends of Lent (Holy Week being the other). There are many extra church services this week, stricter fasting for those who are able, and a general attitude of joyful sobriety as we set ourselves to the task of repentance and spiritual house cleaning.

I am taking a step back from creating this week, in part because of Clean Week, and in part because I do much of my creating on Mondays when I have a baby sitter for a few extra hours in the morning and I'm not feeling great today. Between my mom's great visit last week and a very long and tiring day yesterday with extra church services and driving, this pregnant lady is worn out! I do have some cards to share this week that I made in weeks past, so you won't be deprived!


Today's card was my February swap for the Philly Inkers meeting. Diana Gibbs had posted a picture a while back with some cool ceramic-ware she bought at Ross and my first thought was color challenge! The colors were Certainly Celery, Bermuda Bay and Summer Sun/Crushed Curry. I added in Soft Suede for a neutral and went from there. I got the layout idea from someone on splitcoast, but tweaked it a little to make it my own. I actually love this color combination and would never have thought to put them together! If you are wondering how I did the tree, first I colored the trunk with a Soft Suede marker, then did the leaves in Certainly Celery. I then took a Summer Sun marker and tapped it all over the leaves, but not to cover the green. I did the same thing with a Bermuda Bay marker but less, since it was a darker color. I guess it would be called thumping technique. Since I had to make 10 of these, it was a LOT of thumping!

Supplies:

Certainly Celery, Bermuda Bay, Summer Sun, Whisper White, Soft Suede cs
Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Forest Friends, Great Friend stamps
Soft Suede, Summer Sun, Certainly Celery, Bermuda Bay markers, Versamark
Certainly Celery twill ribbon (retired)

Asian Artistry Valentine

My mom left this morning and I'm a little sad that she is gone, but at least I can look forward to May, when she'll come to help out with the new baby. On Friday afternoon, during my two-year old's nap, we decided to stamp together and use a color and sketch challenge. She ended up leaving the color challenge behind but I stuck with it, even though it was hard to work with! I think the sketch challenge was the hardest part--we used this week's PPA sketch and man, was it challenging! Sometimes those seemingly simple sketches can be the hardest.

I think my card took more than 2 hours to come together! The color challenge I used was the Diva Coffee Break Designs Color Challenge #164, which was to use Bravo Burgundy, Soft Suede and Pretty in Pink to make a Valentine. I ended up giving my card to my husband for Valentine's Day, so even though it is kind of non-traditional, I think it works as a Valentine.


My mom started out with Soft Suede and the rest of the colors, but decided to swap in Going Gray for Soft Suede and Pink Pirouette dsp for the Pretty in Pink. I liked the Pink Pirouette so much, I used it instead of Pretty in Pink myself! That's the beauty of group stamping--you bounce ideas off each other and make great cards as a result. My mom's card turned out so well, I think I'm going to have to CASE it! I've included it in this post for your viewing pleasure:

My card supplies:
Bravo Burgundy, Pink Pirouette (textured), Very Vanilla, Soft Suede cs
Asian Artistry, Baroque Motifs, Sanded stamp sets
Soft Suede, Bravo Burgundy, Pink Pirouette inks
Blender pen
Gold brads
Soft Suede grosgrain ribbon

My mom's card supplies:
Going Gray, Bravo Burgundy, Pink Pirouette (textured), Whisper White cs, Bella Birds dsp (retired)
En Francais, Of the Earth, Itty Bitty Backgrounds stamps
Chocolate Chip, Going Gray, Bravo Burgundy, Pretty in Pink inks/markers
Gray satin ribbon (non-SU!)

Color Q Flowers in Silhouette

When I saw the Color Q challenge this week, I thought, wow, those are pretty colors for an outfit (and indeed, the inspiration came from a collection of gorgeous skirts!) but how will they work on a card? Surprisingly well, it turns out!!

I realized very quickly that the regal rose needed to be a minor accent rather than the main attraction and the muted tones of Close to Cocoa and Blush Blossom needed to take center stage. I also used Mary-Jo Price Williams' Monday Lunchtime sketch for the week (her sample this week is GREAT--I'm going to have to CASE it when I have some time). I originally stamped the flowers/stems in regal rose and chocolate chip, but it looked too bright and monochromatic for the card, so I went back and restamped the image using markers and shading. I did the stems in Close to Cocoa and the flowers in Blush Blossom and then added Chocolate Chip and Regal Rose accents to the edges of the silhouettes, which I think makes for a better image.

Supplies:
Blush Blossom, Close to Cocoa, Regal Rose, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip cs, Candy Lane dsp (retired)
Flowers in Silhouette (retired), Vintage Vogue Labels (SAB), En Francais stamp sets
Blush Blossom, Regal Rose, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip markers, Chocolate Chip ink
Open Scallop border punch, 1 3/4" circle punch
Circles #2 die (borrowed from a friend)
Chocolate Chip 5/8" satin ribbon