Sharon Harnist asked me to use the card kit we got at regional and make a card with it other then the one suggested by Stampin’ Up!. We supposed to use all the pieces that were given in the kit. We could exchange the set (SU used True Friends) and add additional cardstock and supplies.

Read Sharon’s challenge post here. 

The card base is a 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ piece of Basic Gray folded in half.

The 2 1/2″ Soft Sky cardstock square was stamped with the Close as a Memory Flower in Going gray and sponged in the same color. I highlighted the flower edges with a white gel pen and added a silver brad in each flower center.

The edges were distressed with the cutter kit and paper pierced.

It was layered on a 2 1/2″ sponged and distressed Basic Gray cardstock square.

The 2 1/4″ x 4″ Purely Pomegranate carstock piece was sponged, stamped with the Happiness stripes, paper pierced and taped down. Then Faux Stitching was added with the Argyle stamp from All in a Row.

The ribbon from the Sherbert Ribbon Originals was stapled over the Pomegranate layer.

The saying is from Circle of Friendship. I stamped it with Basic Gray on Whisper White cardstock, punched it out with the 1″ circle punch and sponged it with Soft Sky Ink. I stamped it again on white and punched out the center with the 1/2″ circle punch. I taped the smaller circle in the center of the bigger one and layered them first on a distressed and sponged Basic Gray circle (handcut), then on a 1 1/4″ Purely Pomegranate circle.

Make sure you check out Sharon’s gorgeous card. She lists other challenge stamper in her post!

Yesterday’s Featured stamper was Carol Burrage. I had a great time browsing through her gallery and admiring her work.

I decided to case this card. I kept the size, the layout and I chose the colors of my card by the colors in the ribbon. I also repeated my greeting underneath my images.

I changed the colors and the set I used.

I started out by looking through my ribbon and finding a multicolored one that would work for this card. I picked one from a multi ribbon pack from Papermania.

From the ribbon I knew that I wanted to use Bravo Burgundy, So Saffron and More Mustard.

Since I just got this set at Portland and haven’t used it yet, I pulled out So Much. I stamped five flowers in Black Stazon on Shimmery White, colored two with So Saffron, two with Bravo Burgundy and one with More Mustard refills and Aqua painter and cut them out.

Next I added Pewter Jumbo Eyelets in each center and then a Fire Circle Rhinestone brad in those eyelets.

The card base is a 8″ x 8 1/2″ piece of Bravo Burgundy folded in half. The two circle stamps from So Much were stamped all over the card front and the edges were sponged.

The More Mustard layer measures 3″ x 7 1/2″ and the edges were sponged. Black brads were added to each corner.

It was layered with a 2 3/4″ x 7 1/4″ piece of So Saffron. The edges were punched with the ticket corner punch. The Faux Stitching was stamped with the All in a Row stamp and Basic Black ink.

The top layer is a 2 1/2″ x 7″ piece of Shimmery White cardstock, with punched corners. I used Mellow Moss reinker and aqua painter to color it’s center and paper pierced the edges.

I stamped the sentiment from So Much three times on the bottom of the page and added four black brads in between and on the outside of the sentiments. The flowers were adhered with dimensionals.

I woke up and did today’s Inspiration challenge right away.

The inspiration piece was a painted Gourd (okay…never even heard THAT word before. Is the word for  this particular  shaped vase?).

I loved the colors and shapes it had. I wrote down medaillon, scallops and for a color combo: Basic black, Ruby Red, Creamy Caramel/More Mustard and a tad of gray (under the medaillon)

I thought of Baroque Motifs right away when I looked at the center piece. But when I pulled the set out, the Medaillon piece didn’t quite fit.

So I stamped it three times in Ruby Red on Caramel Shimmery Paper. Remember the trip to the Paper Zone I took in Portland. Well…we didn’t have much time, but I did buy Caramel, Ivory and White Shimmery Paper. Along with a cool book and a tool kit from Making Memories.

Anway….after I cut all three images out leaving only the four large leaves standing. I layered them on top of each other with dimensionals, punched a hole with my Crop-a-dile and added a Pewter Jumbo Eyelet with a Fire Circle Rhinestone center.

I taped the medaillon on Basic Gray cardstock and outlined the edges.

Okay…so sometimes when I design stuff I don’t think things through. After I had done all this, the caramel leaves looked to pale. I sponged them with More Mustard to make them look more vibrant.

I cut a black circle with my Coluzzle, paper pierced the edges and taped my center piece right in the middle.

My card base is a 4 1/4″ x 8 1/2″ piece of Basic Black cardstock folded in half.

I corner rounded the edges on the right hand side.

I did the same with my next layer, a 4″ Ruby Red square.

I sponged the entire square and stamped the swirl image from Baroque Motifs over it. I added Cherish in Black Stazon on the bottom right corner.

After I did all that I thought about how to finish the card off.  The layout for this weekend’s sketch challenge looked perfect with it.

For the horizontal part I cut a piece of Caramel shimmery paper to 2″ x 3″. I sponged it with More Mustard, added scallops with the corner rounder and stamped the Linen background over it.

This was layered on a 2″ x 3″ piece of Black cardstock. Black brads were added in the center of the first four scallops and Gray Taffeta ribbon was tied around the cardstock layers. I adhered the circle and the horizontal stip with dimensionals.