One Layer Sketch Challenge (Flop!)

Paper Smoochies has a challenge for World Card Making Day - I just realized there were three options, not three requirements!  I tried twice to make a single layer card using the sketch they had, and included some pink on it.  HOW do you make a single layer card and still follow a sketch with multiple layers?  That was my problem, and I'm not happy with either of the efforts I made. 

First I tried using three different background stamps, and masking the areas that weren't to be done by the particular stamp.

  Then I tried using different stamps to create the 'layers', but . . .   I tried distressing both cards to make them "blend" more, but that didn't work.  It was more distressing for me than the cards!!  LOL!!

Card "kits" for OWH Birthday Party

To celebrate Operation Write Home's birthday last month, Sandy Allnock had asked card-makers all over the country to have OWH card-making parties. I designed a dozen or maybe different cards, and made kits for easy assembly. From 12 to 15 kits per design.  That's a lot of bits and pieces!  I planned to host a party for a couple of hours at work, using my vacation leave.  

However, working in government has it's drawbacks.  Management at my work site wasn't supportive.  The concept may have been too "political" for the setting.  Anyway, since co-workers couldn't be allowed a few minutes to make a card, or write an Any Hero letter, I was left with about 170 cards to assemble.  Here are a few of the ones that got completed this week.

Miss You (U) on a Spattered Background

This card combines requirements for Day 216 of 365 Cards - a spattered background - with the second Viva la Verve sketch of October.  I spent the day with my friend Kelly, in her WONDERFUL studio.  She's a fiber artist, but pitched in to make spattered backgrounds for "miss you" cards that I'll give to Operation Write Home.  She used some thin ink (can't remember what she called it) and some dye she had handy.  Kelly also provided the vertical strip of painted paper, and had the alphabet stamps to make the greeting.

Mojo Monday Sketch #261 & a Color Scheme Challlenge

This card combines requirements for the Society of Stampaholics October challenge - color scheme of camel, amethyst, and charcoal - with the Mojo Monday sketch for the week #261.  Not colors I'd have thought to put together, but not bad.  The photo washes out the color of the camel paper, but if you look in the lower left you get an idea of the actual color.  Not sure why only one corner of the paper didn't wash-out in the lighting!

The sketch called for a wider ribbon than I had, so I put two strips of ribbon side-by-side.  The charcoal mat on the sentiment and the vertical strip add some depth.  The "circles" are Nestabilities Blossom dies (largest and then two smaller ones).  The verticle strip is from Gina K Designs, the Parisian Garden patterned paper pack.  I added three small gems at the bottom corner to give a sense of "grounding", otherwise it felt like the whole focal area was about to float off the left side of the card.  The gems were clear, but I colored them with Copic markers.

Flowers & a Flourish

Tonight's card combines three challenges.  The sketch is #140 from Operation Write Home. The StampTV Free-for-all-Friday challenge is to use flowers.  And the challenge at Joan's Gardens is to use a piece of designer paper for the background, include a dimensional flower, a flourish, and a sentiment.

The paper is from my stash - something I bought at Jo-ann's Fabric & Crafts a few years ago.  The narrow striped paper is from a 6x6 pack by Stampin' Up!, and the flourish is from a Stampin' Up! jumbo wheel.  The flourish is embossed in a sparkly green powder I've had (and used a lot) for at least a decade.  The dimensional flower was hand-made from a satin ribbon and a heat gun. The sentiment I've also had for years, and don't know who made it.  The card just didn't look finished yet, so I tried the 'hand-drawn lines' like Darlene DeVries does, but I'm not very good at it.  I fixed a goof by covering the outer section of the lined area with a blue Permapaque marker by Sakura.