Colorful Classic Stripes

Here is my second Kristina Werner Color Inspiration Challenge card - I stayed with the juvenile theme and used the Wild About You stamp set. For the background I really wanted to ink up my new Classic Stripes background stamp.

I thought inking the stripes with my Stampin' Write Markers would create a really sharp background...I really like the way it turned out, but next time I need to color faster. By the time I got to the last stripe, the first one was almost too dry to "huff"! I was really tempted to add some ribbon to this card, but I had to restrain myself! I added the brads instead.

This card is going in to my "Just In Case" card stash. When a birthday sneaks up on me or when I need a thank you card and I don't have time to sit down and stamp one, I pull out my "Just In Case" stash!

Bugs & Kisses - Kristina Werner Style

Here is the card I worked on yesterday for Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge. This week's color combination was Ballet Blue, Ruby Red, So Saffron, and Certainly Celery. When I saw these colors together, I knew I wanted to make a juvenile card. Not only because this combo really lend itself to kid-friendly themes, but I also had to make a birthday card for the son of a good friend!

I decided to kill two birds with one stone and use this week's Splitcoast Sketch Challenge for the layout. Participating in all of these challenges really makes it easy to create a card. All I had to do was decide which stamp sets to use! (FYI - I used Bugs & Kisses and Polka Dot).

Groovy or Gaudy

I'm still trying to get my creative mojo back, so I've decided to start participating in Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration challenges. The most recent color combination is Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Pumpkin Pie, and Very Vanilla. At first glance, this combo reminds me of Autumn. My instinct was to use a Fall-themed stamp set - maybe something with leaves or pumpkins. But then I thought that a Fall card would be too easy and I wanted to do something a bit more funky. I pulled out my Organic Outlines stamp set and went to work!

The card base is Kiwi Kiss with a border of scalloped Chocolate Chip. I really like the look of using two colors on the main image. First I inked the entire image with my Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad and then I went back and colored over the dots with my Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Marker. I stamped the image on to Very Vanilla cardstock and then matted it with Chocolate Chip. I added a strip of Pumpkin Pie cardstock with Chocolate Chip ribbon along the bottom of the card front to tie the whole look together.

I think I really like how this card turned out...but I'm not totally sure. Sometimes I look at it and love the groovy feel of the color combo and the funky stamp set. And other times it looks a bit gaudy to me. You decide - groovy or gaudy?

Inspiration Challenge

I've seen all sorts of different blogs that do Inspiration Challenges as a way to spark creativity. Basically, you take some sort of picture, object, advertisement, etc...and incorporate elements of it into a card or scrapbook page. So when I won this SUPER-cute hand towel at Bunco last month, I thought it would be perfect for an Inspiration Challenge here on my blog!

This picture doesn't do the colors any justice! The hand-towel is Soft Sky, the ric rak at the bottom is Certainly Celery, the stitching is Chocolate Chip, and the button flowers are Ruby Red, Cameo Coral, Groovy Guava, and Apricot Appeal.

Now, that is A LOT of color to try and incorporate into a card - especially if you aren't using patterned paper. So when I created my card that was inspired by this hand-towel, I narrowed it down to Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal, and Ruby Red.

Here's my card (and YES, I stitched every bit of it by hand!!):

The main card front is Soft Sky. The Whisper White panel at the bottom was pierced with the Mat Pack and a piercing tool. Then I went back and hand-stitched the zig-zags with a needle and embroidery floss. I didn't have any ric rak that matched this color scheme, so I tied a piece of Chocolate Chip 5/8" grosgrain ribbon across the center of the panel. Then I glued a strip of scalloped Certainly Celery cardstock to the top of the panel and a thin strip of Apricot Appeal cardstock to the bottom of the panel.

Next, I stamped three different flower images (2 from Bodacious Bouquet and 1 from Big Pieces) on to the card front with my VersaMark pad. I sprinkled white embossing powder over the stamped images and then heated them with the heat tool. After the flowers were embossed, I used my Bodacious Bouquet Classy Brass template to pierce the stems from the center of each flower to the mid-point of the card. Again, I picked up my needle and thread and hand-stitched the stems with dark brown embroidery floss. I used a glue dot to attach buttons to the center of each flower. And last, but not least, I mounted the stitched and matted Whisper White panel on to the front of the card, making sure that it just barely overlapped the bottom of the stitched stems!

This kind of challenge was actually quite fun! You can use all sorts of different elements from the original image...the color combination, layout, embellishments - the possibilities are endless! If you have a spare sec and want to try out this little challenge, send me a link to your card (or e-mail me a pic). I'd love to see what you come up with!!!