Sketch and Challenges Madness!

I have officially decided, what would I do without the wonderful sketch inspiration on the internet and the various challenges that web sites offer? These have become the staple of my inspiration and I can't think that that is a bad thing.

The Moxie Fab blog has been highlighting Christmas, Winter and holiday ideas all week and it has been fun to be inspired with that goodness. One of Cath's challenges was to create with a "shabby" or "vintage" look and that is what this card started out with but then she issued a challenge to use stamping and since that is one of my first loves, I knew that my card had to fit that category.

What makes this card fit the "shabby" look?
1. I did a lot of inking with some brown stamp pads to make the papers look older
2. I added a border of machine sewing with a cream colored thread
3. The lacey edge to the green patterned paper

4. The entire card is sprayed with a silver spray

5. The addition of a creamy colored ribbon tied in a bow

I just received a wonderful set of Christmas/Winter themed stamps from JustRite so I wanted that to be the focus of my card. I stamped the image, it is actually two parts. So the little scallop frame and the words on the inside are two different stamps that fit on an oval block. I colored it in with Copic markers and then the entire card is sprayed with a silver Memories Mist.

This next card fits a sketch at Card Patterns and a coloring challenge at Hero Arts. When I first saw their sketch for this week, I immediately thought of this bold flourish stamp from Hero Arts. Using this stamp let me also work on the Hero Arts challenge as they have been focusing on all the ways you can color in stamps. I stamped the bold flourish with black ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder. The flourish has bold black lines and then a thinner black, outline. I colored in between those two black areas with Copic markers. This area does not need to be colored in, but I thought that added a fun little detail to the stamp.Awhile ago, a friend sent me some wonderful flowers that were cut from old dictionary pages and so I pulled out some of those for my flower accent. It also has layers of flowers that were punched from a Graphic 45 paper. The layers are assembled with foam tape for dimension and then edges are inked with stamp pads for more of an "aged" look.

Another sketch I found this week that I wanted to use is from i (heart) 2 stamp. I wanted to put some unexpected papers and colors together for this. It also fits with the Hero Arts coloring in challenge.

I started out with the wonderful wood patterned stamp by Hero Arts. It is a stamp that wouldn't need to be colored in, so to speak, but I wanted my paper to look like it was colored pink. I stamped the wood stamp with the black ink and then embossed it with clear embossing powder. Next I rubbed or inked over the entire image with pink Chalk stamp pads and then gave it a spray of a pink, Memories Mist spray. You can see the mottled look to the pink, that is the spray. The flower was also stamped with the black and embossed with clear embossing powder and then I colored in the areas that were left white with a strong yellow Copic Marker.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

MAGICAL CHRISTMAS card
Materials list:
Cardstock – Core’dinations
Black Versafine stamp pad
Rubber stamp – JustRite
Spellbinder Nestabilities label die
Copic Markers
Patterned papers – Green Lace/Spring Fling Collection and 5th Avenue/Pink Paislee
Self Adhesive pearls – Kaiser Craft
Clearsnap Fluid Chalk stamp pads
Silver Memories Mist spray – Stewart Superior
Oval punch – McGill
Ribbon

FROM THE HEART card
Materials: Cardstock – Black Magic and Core Essentials/Core’dinations
Versafine black stamp pad
Clear embossing powder
Copic markers
Patterned paper – Cosmo Cricket and Graphic 45
Large flourish stamp and sentiment stamp – Hero Arts
Old dictionary pages for the flower
Powder Puff chalk stamp pads – Quick Quotes
Brad
Ribbon
Sandpaper

CREATE JOY card Materials list:
Cardstock – Core’dinations
Black Versafine stamp pad
Clear embossing powder
Wood Print stamp, flower stamp and sentiment stamp – Hero Arts
Clearsnap Fluid chalk stamp pad
Memories Mist spray – Stewart Superior
Corner rounder punch – Fiskars
Patterned paper – My Mind’s Eye and g.c.d. Studios