The card contest that wasn't

For weeks I've been looking forward to attending a rubber stamp show that's in our area this weekend. I was excited to see cute sample cards and projects, buy a few goodies, and maybe even win a prize at the card contest. I won the card contest two years ago at the same event, and I was hoping to do it again -- first prize was $100 to spend with any of the vendors at the show.

Originally I didn't think I would have time to make any cards for the contest, but the weekend before they were due I decided to go for it. I created two cards to go with the contest theme, "The Nature of Things," and sent them off a few days before they were due.

When we walked into the stamp show yesterday morning, there were several people standing in front of the contest display board admiring the samples. The winners weren't going to be announced until the afternoon, but all the submissions were put up on the display. I patiently waited my turn, and when they were done, stepped up to see my cards. "Which ones are yours?" my aunt asked me. I looked at all the cards, and my heart fell. Neither of my cards was on the board. I was so disappointed, probably more than I should have been. I don't know what happened to them; maybe they got lost in the mail, or maybe they arrived after the deadline. I just know that I half wanted to leave right then, and I wasn't really interested in looking at anything.

But we started to walk through the booths, and after a bit I perked up and realized it wasn't the end of the world. After all, there was no guarantee I would have won anything anyway. So I set aside my disappointment and enjoyed spending the day with my friend and my aunt, finding all kinds of new crafty treasures. And just for the record, here are the two cards I made for the contest:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Touch of Nature
Paper: Barely Banana, textured Soft Suede card stock; watercolor paper
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Versamark, Barely Banana, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive
Accessories: Clear embossing powder, 1/8" Old Olive taffeta ribbon, linen thread, pearls, Aqua Painter, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Glue Dots

I did a little bit of watercoloring on both cards. I don't do it very often, but I think the soft look works so well with nature cards. For this card I used ink blended with an Aqua Painter.

I wanted to some subtle details to the background, so I added two flowers at the bottom and a butterfly peeking out from behind the focal layer. They are stamped with Versamark ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Lovely As a Tree
Paper: Basic Black card stock, watercolor paper
Ink: Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: Soft Subtles Watercolor Wonder Crayons, wood sheets, linen thread, Neutrals Candy Dots, Aqua Painter, Dimensionals

For this card I stamped the image in Jet Black StazOn and scribbled some Watercolor Wonder Crayons over it. Then I used an Aqua Painter to blend the crayons and soften the lines. Behind the top and bottom of the focal layer are strips of a wood sheet.

*July 22, 2014, update: Our mail delivery today brought the envelope with the two cards I submitted for the contest. It was just marked "Return to sender," and I double-checked the address, which was correct. So I'm guessing they arrived after the deadline and were returned. At least now I have a couple more cards I can add to my stash.*

Thanks for stopping by!