A 'challenging' day

Yes, it was a challenging day, but in a good way. Today I worked on cards for a few of the August Stampin' Up! Creative Crew challenges from SplitCoastStampers (SCS). I had a lot of fun and designed three cards that probably would have looked very different if I hadn't started with the challenges.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: For the Birds
Cardstock: Basic Gray, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Pear Pizzazz, Wisteria Wonder, Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Basic Gray, Soft Suede, Pear Pizzazz, Wisteria Wonder, Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry
Accessories: Ovals Collection Framelits dies, Woodgrain embossing folder, Chevron embossing folder, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Honeycomb embossing folder, Argyle embossing folder, Basic Gray stitched grosgrain ribbon, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, Candy Dots - Subtles, Occasions Paper-Piercing pack, paper-piercing mat and tool, Blender Pen, Dimensionals, Glue Dots

The challenge for this card was to use the Afternoon Picnic Designer Series Paper (DSP) or the colors that are featured in the paper: Basic Gray, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Pear Pizzazz, Wisteria Wonder, Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry. I love that DSP, but unfortunately I don't have it yet. (I placed an order on Thursday and almost added it, but I kept changing my mind. Bummer. Maybe next time.) I wasn't quite sure how to combine all those colors, so I started with a line image that I could color. I used my markers for most of the coloring, but for the lighter parts on the bird and in two of the flowers, I used a Blender Pen with just a little ink. I die cut the focal image into an oval and then, of course, paper pierced around the edge. (I can't seem to use the Ovals Collection Framelits dies without adding paper piercing.) For the background I embossed pieces of cardstock with different textures. (Tip: Cut the pieces a little bit larger than needed, emboss them, and then trim them to the right size.) The finishing details were some ribbon and a few mini flowers.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Vintage Verses, It's Your Birthday (inside card)
Cardstock: Vellum, Soft Sky, So Saffron, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Gray
Accessories: Top Note die, Beautiful Wings Embosslits die, Boho Blossoms punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, paper-piercing tool and mat, mini silver brads, rhinestones, paper snips, Mono Multi liquid glue

For this card, the challenge was to think outside your comfort zone and make something featuring Canvas Creations, vellum cardstock, window sheets or coaster board. Now, a card is most definitely inside my comfort zone, but I don't think I've ever made a card with a vellum base. And it actually worked really well.

I cut three Top Note die shapes out of Soft Sky cardstock: one for the card front, one for the inside and

one for the back. The trick with vellum, though, is finding a way to adhere cardstock without seeing the adhesive through the vellum. So to assemble the card, I first stamped and adhered the die-cut inside the card. (Any kind of adhesive is fine here as it will be covered up later.) Then I closed the card and aligned -- but didn't adhere -- the stamped die-cut on the card front over the one inside. I held the die-cut in place, carefully opened the card and laid the card front on a paper-piercing mat. I pierced three holes through the die-cut and vellum and added punched flowers by placing mini silver brads through the holes. This attached the die-cut to the card base. You can see the brad prongs when you open the card, but that doesn't bother me. If you'd rather not see the brads, you could use adhesive to attach the die-cut instead and then add another die-cut inside the card to cover the adhesive.

To finish the front of the card I added a few more flowers, this time using Mono Multi liquid glue. For the centers of those flowers I used rhinestones instead of brads. I also included a vellum butterfly with a rhinestone body.

For the back of my card, I stamped a copyright stamp on the last Top Note die-cut and adhered it directly over the die-cut inside the card.

This was a fun card to make, and I think it has a very elegant look to it. And it stands up on it's own, so it certainly seems sturdy enough. It might be a good candidate for hand-delivery, though, since I would worry about the vellum getting creased in the mail.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Betsy's Blossoms, Gorgeous Grunge, Yippee-Skippee!
Paper: Whisper White, Always  Artichoke, Strawberry Slush cardstock; Season of Style DSP
Ink: VersaMark, Crumb Cake, Strawberry Slush
Accessories: Winter White embossing powder, Modern Label punch, pearls, linen thread, Dimensionals

The challenge here was to choose a project from pages 80 to 95 of the 2013 - 14 annual catalog and recreate it, making two or three changes so it's more your own. I selected the "hello, you" card from page 90, but I ended up making a few more than three changes. Oh, well. To make the flower, I stamped the image three times; for the first one I cut out a small section of petals in the middle,  for the second I cut out around the middle of the flower, and for the third I cut out the whole flower. I layered the pieces together with Dimensionals to create some depth. I changed the orientation of the greeting flag so it looks a bit like a leaf on the flower. The background is stamped with images from Gorgeous Grunge in Crumb Cake ink, and I added a strip of polka dot paper from the Season of Style DSP across the card front. For a little embellishment I added a folded Modern Label punch with a linen thread bow and a pearl in the upper right corner.

If you're ever in need of some papercrafting inspiration, creative challenges are a great way to start. There are challenges on numerous blogs and Web sites, including the Challenges section of SCS. Thanks for stopping by!