Dare to Get Dirty 08 Challenges - Vellum and Ribbon

Hello! I know it's been over a week since I last posted. Again, I have to blame a slower than expected recovery from my surgery. It's not that I feel terrible... it's just that I get very tired after a long day at work and don't have the energy to stamp in the evening. Plus, all my extra energy has been spent shipping out stamps that have sold on eBay. Thanks to all who have helped to make my sales so successful! I will have more goodies to put up for auction next weekend, so stay tuned.

On Friday, my friend Lisa and I went to the Long Beach Quilt Festival. That's only the second quilt show I've ever been to... the other being Road to California in Ontario, CA this past January. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven the first time, and the Long Beach show was no exception. All I can say is that it fired me up to get back to my quilting... especially now that I own two more kits to add to the pile of those I've already purchased! LOL So many crafting projects, so little time...

One of our very favorite vendors was Nifty Thrifty Dry Goods. Talk about eye candy! You just wouldn't believe the assortment of buttons, ribbons and beads. You will definitely be seeing some of the delicious ribbons I bought there in future cards!

Quilting was my inspiration for this card. Laurie Schmidlin is one of my top two favorite stampers. I not only love her artwork, but I love hearing about life on a ranch in Montana... about as far removed from my life here in So Cal as can be! Anyway, Laurie issued the first challenge last Monday for Dare to Get Dirty 08, to use vellum on a card. I honestly have not used vellum in a loooonnng time. Laurie does some beautiful things will vellum. I'm a little stymied.

I pulled out my Cuttlebug embossing folder and made a background paper that looks to me like embroidered linen. Then I used my new PTI Quilter's Sampler stamps to stamp quilt squares on Guidelines paper... I used black ink...then punched them out with my 3/4" square punch, then assembled them together on a scrap of cardstock, and mounted all of that over a larger square of Guidelines paper. I got the idea for that from Michelle Wooderson, my other favorite stamper. (I see she's now caught the quilting bug!) With the cardstock background, I think it really looks like a quilt!

I then added the sewing elements to finish the card. The thread spool was stamped first on the "quilt" and then stamped on white cardstock, cut out and mounted over the image stamped on the "quilt" so that you could see the thread portion of the image. I tried to put a greeting on the front, but couldn't get one to look right. I can't tell you how I struggled with this card. I think I must have been brain dead... it came together very slowly and evolved as I went along, but in the end, I think it turned out okay.

Recipe:

Stamps: Papertrey Ink Quilter's Sampler

Paper: Papertrey Ink Plum Pudding cardstock, Guidelines 6 x 6 DP, Stampin Up vellum cardstock

Ink: SU Basic Black, PTI Plum Pudding

Accessories: Cuttlebug embossing folder, PTI Plum Pudding satin ribbon, misc button and pin

This card is in response to the ribbon challenge issued by Jody. She challenged us to use ribbon as the starting inspiration for a card. I have lots of wonderful ribbon, and it didn't take me long to choose this one. I was inspired by the bright colors, and I was pretty sure I had cardstock that would match. Sure enough, I did!

I was anxious to ink up my new CC Designs stamps, and thought this little guy with his melting ice cream cone was perfect for the bright colors of the ribbon and papers. My sons Clay and Avery love sherbet, so that's what I was recreating in my ice cream images. All the coloring was done with Copics. I colored the bear with two different colors and then removed some of the color with my Colorless Blender. I'm sorry I forgot to write down the Copic colors for you. The sketch is patterned after one I saw on Taylor VanBruggen's blog. The bottom green cardstock piece was put through a Cuttlebug emossing folder, although it's a bit hard to see. Anyway, I just love the way this card turned out!

Stamps: CC Designs

Paper: SU Rose Romance and Green Galore cardstock, PTI Lavendar Moon and White cardstock

Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black, Copic markers

Accessories: misc ribbon, Cuttlebug embossing folder, SU scallop circle punch and 1- 3/8" circle punch

I've got to go and get ready for church. I'll post three more cards this afternoon, so stay tuned!