PPC 64: The hardest color challenge ever!

Last Monday I checked out the color challenge at Picture Perfect Creations and thought I was seeing things!  The Soft Suede, Peach Parfait, and Cherry Cobbler made picture perfect (pun intended) sense to me.  But wait!  They decided to throw in Pacific Point to make things interesting!

That's not so much interesting as downright scary!  I had no idea what to do, or how I could possibly make this work.  So I closed my browser window and decided to sleep on it for a few days.  By Sunday I figured I had evaded this challenge long enough so I picked the Stamping 411 sketch challenge to be my victim partner in crime.

The sketch was good.  Clean lines, lots of layers.  Everything I like in a sketch.  But pairing it with this color challenge was definitely challenging!

I decided to take a sort of color-block approach to this card.  Each layer is focused on one of the colors so that they sort of exist by themselves.  Actually, one of the first thoughts I had about this card was doing an image that I could color {a snowman with a colorful scarf} but to tell the truth, by the time I sat down to make this card, it was hours after the original thought and I had completely forgotten about that idea!  Oops!  So this is what emerged.  I'm not in any way sold on this.  It seemed so much better in my head when I was designing it! 

I'm glad I attempted this challenge.  It's fun to try something that you are a little afraid of, isn't it?  After all, it's only a bit of color, not bungey-jumping off a bridge or something! 

So on that thought I will leave you with good wishes for a happy Sunday!

MOJO 198 and JAI 75

In a very strange sense of deja vu, the color challenge this week at Just Add Ink is eerily similar to colors I used on a card that I made the other day. 

It's been nice using Cherry Cobbler and Soft Suede again.  I tend to associate those colors with fall and winter so it's good to get them out and let them share the summer limelight!  I chose this week's MOJO sketch as my layout.

I was a little stumped about those two narrow, horizontal layers on the sketch.  I ended up doing the scrunchy ribbon thing on one and then just cutting a narrow strip of Basic Black and wrapping some baker's twine around it for the other.  Then I found some horrible black organdy ribbon in my stash that I used to create the bow in the corner.  I say horrible because the organdy ribbon I used is cheap, not very good quality, and since I've discovered seam binding ribbon everything else pales in comparison.  I think I'll have to get some in black so that I don't have use that other stuff ever again!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you enjoy your weekend.  I'm off to the garden to pull some weeds.  I swear that during the summer, weeding the garden becomes my part time job.  Too bad the work is boring and doesn't pay!

Sketchbook Saturday 18 and The Paper Players 54

I think I missed some kind of Christmas stamping memo because Christmas is the last thing on my mind now, but every time I turn around I see a Christmas in July challenge theme!  And this theme has carried over into other areas of my life too.  This past Monday I went to the 4th of July parade that my town hosts, and who do you suppose was sitting in the last float of the parade?  You guessed it!  None other than Santa Claus himself.  So I took this to be some kind of cosmic sign that I better get out my Christmas stamp sets and start inking them up.  The Christmas challenge at The Paper Players helped me along!

Once I decided on a theme, I wanted a sketch or a color challenge to get my creative juices flowing.  The Sketchbook Saturday challenge seemed to fit the bill.

I used some retired designer paper called Christmas Cocoa and Jolly Holiday to set the tone for the colors of my card, which are Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Old Olive, and Cherry Cobbler.  I was a HUGE fan of the Jolly Holiday paper which was all about Old Olive and Cherry Cobbler.  I've got quite a bit of it left, so I'm sure I'll be using it again to make some Christmas cards soon. 

At least I hope it will be soon!  I'd like to get my Christmas cards done early this year.  This, of course, is what I say every year but is not what actually happens!  Last year I nearly got them all done in time for me to realize that I hadn't made enough.  This precipitated an emergency card-making night that I'm not sure I have recovered from yet!   This year I'm confident that I'll do better!!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have time to stamp!

Color Lab Challenge 48

ETA:  Oops!  Sorry this is posting so late.  I scheduled it to post this morning at 4:00AM but apparently blogger had different ideas!

Today at the ColorLab begins the first of five weeks where we showcase one of the new Stampin' Up In Colors.  This week, for your viewing enjoyment, we are creating projects with Wisteria Wonder.

I don't know about you, but I'm so glad to see the return of a lavender-ish color.  I'm sure you remember last year Stampin' Up! retired Lovely Lilac and Lavender Lace.  I was surprised to see them go, especially since there didn't seem to be anything like them to take their place.  But now, we've got this wonderful color that I would say is kind of a smokey-lavender.  I'm anxious to use more of it soon!

I mixed a little of the old and the new with this card.  The new is the Wisteria Wonder, the old is the Simple Friendship stamp set and the Afterthoughts stamp set - both of which retired on June 30th.  I generally keep all of my sentiment sets, even after they retire, because I don't think I can ever have too many sentiment sets!  I never know what I'm going to need to say to someone some day, so I'd be crazy to not keep them.  And there's no way I'm getting rid of the Simple Friendship set.  That butterfly is too gorgeous to part with!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have time to play along with us at the ColorLab.  And don't worry if you don't have Wisteria Wonder.  Just substitute a similar color.  We'd love to see what you create!

Dn't forget to check out the design team samples.  They are sure to inspire you!

ColourQ 92

Well, I have recovered from all the 4th of July festivities enough that I found myself in my stamp room last night contemplating the latest ColourQ challenge.

I just love a color challenge that throws in a little bit of black.  It adds a bit of a dramatic accent, I think.

Since I still don't have my new, fun stamps to play with I went with the {fabulous} Fabulous Florets stamp for my card.  It's funny that as I check out my fellow bloggers it seems I'm not the only one who is anxiously awaiting her new Stampin' Up! stuff while simultaneously having trouble being inspired by the same-old stuff we've been looking at for months or (even years).  I don't ever remember being this anxious to play with new stamping supplies before, but there you have it.  I just got my shipping notification yesterday so it's probably another week before I see the new goodies.  And I'm not sure how much stamping I'll be able to get in next week since I'm preparing for a trip to Virginia to see my nephew get married!!  It may not be until the end of July before I get a chance to ink up my new stamps.  Oh the horror!

Anyway, I'll try not to keep whining about my lack of mojo as I hope that you are inspired to stamp today!

PPA Turns 100!

One challenge that I like to participate in is the Pals Paper Arts.  It's hard to believe, but this week's challenge is #100.  Time flies, doesn't it?  And the Pals' challenge to us is to make a card using a favorite technique.  Well, that was a no-brainer for me, since my favorite technique is none other than the faux mother-of-pearl!  You're shocked, I can tell!

Anyway, I hunted around the blogosphere and thought that the Deconstructed Sketch and the Inkspirations Color challenges would fit the bill for my card.

I feel a little bit like I'm in some weird Stampin' Up! limbo land.  I've ordered all kinds of goodies from the new catalog, but I haven't received them yet.  And when I look through my stamps nothing seems very interesting to me!  I must be pining for my new stuff, since the old stuff in not very inspiring.  But, here's what I came up with for these challenges anyway.

I found some Baja Breeze patterned paper from the Urban Garden dp.  I'm not 100% sure that I like it, but I like to use up supplies in my stash, especially ones that have been hanging around for ages.  And I also used a Texturz plate on the Poppy Parade layer - something that I haven't used in a very long time.  Those don't give quite as deep an impression as the embossing folders, but when you need a softer look they are the way to go.  And I lightly mist the cardstock with rubbing alcohol first, because it seems to soften up the cardstock and makes a better impression.  (And it dries much quicker than water).

Thanks for stopping by today!

Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge 210 and ColourQ 91

Every week I check out the color challenge at the ColourQ and every week I want to give the challenge a try.  Sometimes finding the time to participate in the challenge is difficult, but I love to when I can.  Today, I carved out some time to get inky with their latest challenge.

So, as I usually do, I find one challenge (either color or sketch) then I begin the search for another challenge to go with it.  This time I thought the Stamping 411 sketch challenge would be a good fit for what I had in mind.

I have to confess that even though I thought that this sketch would be "a good fit for what I had in mind" I had no idea what I had in mind!  Sometimes (actually a lot of times) when I pair a color challenge with a sketch challenge I make the decision purely on how well the number of layers of the sketch compare to the number of colors in the color challenge.  So when I decide that this color challenge will go well with that sketch challenge, I'm really guessing and ultimately taking a huge leap of faith!

Fortunately, this method seems to work out for me (although I've made some really horrible cards in my day), but this card is one that I'm actually pleased with.

The extremely talented Vicky has been using one of my all-time favorite stamps sets quite a bit lately (French Foliage), so I was reminded that I missed making cards with it and it was probably lonely just hanging around in my stamp room with nothing to do.  Of course, I put it to work on my card here and it's good to see it again!  Now, if you're thinking that the Night of Navy button seems a little out of place you're right! This was one of those instances where I had put my card together then checked the color challenge out again to make sure I had it right.  Lo and behold I had forgotten the Night of Navy!  So I added the button at the last minute, but I have to say that I think it looks pretty good.  It kind of messes up the sketch challenge, but not so badly (I hope) that I will be sent to the sketch challenge dungeon!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy July 4th to all my American visitors!

Paper Players 53 and Color Dare 107

This week Lesley has cooked up quite a sketch for us at the Paper Players.

I thought long and hard about this sketch before I attempted it.  I had a hard time deciding on a color scheme until Wednesday when I saw that the color challenge this week at The Color Dare was Marina Mist, Certainly Celery and So Saffron.

I had a hankering to do a little sewing so I got out my Janome Sew Mini and stitched each of the So Saffron layers.  Then I had a hankering to use the retired Heartfelt Thanks stamp set.  Sometimes these things just hit me and I have no idea why. 

That's not exactly true.  Usually, when I have not decided on what stamp set I'm going to use for a sketch or a color challenge, I will get up close and personal with ALL of my stamp sets.  I methodically go through each one until I find the perfect one.  And sometimes, if I'm lucky, I'll have that " A HA" moment, where I stumble on a stamp set that is absolutley perfect for what I have in mind.  In this particular case I wouldn't call it an "A HA" moment so much as a "hey, I haven't used that stamp set in a while" moment.  And so this card was born.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!