The Challenge #85

Hello everyone!  Like you all, I am so happy that Lesley is back to running The Challenge Blog since having her sweet little girl! I joined The Challenge last fall as a designer but not too long after that Lesley had to take a break due to complications with her pregnancy.  Now, The Challenge is back with a new Challenge each week on Thursday Morning.  Our first challenge back is an inspiration challenge and we can't wait to see what you do with it!

I always struggle a bit with anything rainbow and this card was no exception until I found a way to make it my own.  I started with a panel of Gold and White Linen Cardstock from a Papertrey Ink assortment that I picked up in their January 2017 sale. I always try to buy a few gold and white designer papers because I can customize the white to be any color I want using a variety of methods, from ink blending to Copic Markers. Getting a perfect match is no problem at all so if I like the design, I buy it knowing I can change it to suit my needs. This is what I did here using Copic Markers in the Red Violet to Violet Shades starting with R55, R25, RV09, V05, V06 and V09. Simon Says Stamp has most, if not all, of the sketch markers available individually.  I've had most of my markers for many years but have purchased a few there to fill in my collection.  I die cut the three balloons from Papertrey Ink's Balloon Bash Dies using another small patterned white and gold paper, then colored them using RV25, RV09 and V09.  I went over all of the stripes with Wink of Stella Clear Shimmer Pen. There's a few Gold and White Papers that don't take alteration well, so I always do a little test area before I go all in on a whole sheet of paper. Most of them can be changed.

For the Balloon strings I used some gold wired cording I have leftover from Christmas.  You can also use Gold Thread and Gold Embroidery Floss. I've used both of those options previously with success.  I stamped the Altenew Label Love "Happy Birthday" sentiment 3 different ways, then heat set it to see which one I wanted to use. I used Versamark Ink with Ranger Black Sparkle Embossing Powder, Black Versafine Ink with Simon Says Stamp Clear Embossing Powder and Versamark with Fine Detail Black Embossing Powder.  In the end, I chose the one embossed with Sparkle Black.  I don't normally use any type of black embossing powder because it is hard to get cleanly embossed image, but with all the gold on this card, the Black Sparkle just looked the best. I know you can't really see the sparkle in the photo, but I promise it's there.

I die cut the rainbow panel with the WPLUS9 Gift Card Layers Die and attached it to a top folding card base made from Stamper's Select White Cardstock.  Next I adhered the balloons using some Thin 3D Foam Squares.  Pulling the strings as straight as I could get them, I put a bit of Ranger Multi Medium Matte behind the knot and stacked a few acrylic blocks on top to keep it from moving while the glue dried. The end result is a clean and simple design with a feminine feel. Please join us at The Challenge and see all of the great projects from Lesley and the Design Team.