The Challenge #90

Hello Everyone!  It's time for a new challenge at The Challenge on the Always Playing With Paper Blog. Lesley always finds the most gorgeous photos for our inspiration and this time is no different.  There are some absolutely gorgeous cards from the Design Team to see as well.

I had so many ideas for this week's challenge but I ended up using the colors as my starting point.  There's some Hot Pink, Black and Orange as the major colors in this image. Using Distress Reinkers in Abandoned Coral and Picked Raspberry, I watercolored a background panel onto Canson XL Watercolor Paper.  I chose this particular paper so that when I hit it with some glimmer mist after the watercolor was dry, the mist would catch or kind of pool in the texture and give it a little bit of a pattern. This effect is probably not visible in the photos but you can definitely see it in real life.  The Glimmer Mist that I use is Tattered Angels Iridescent Gold and I have been buying it directly from Canvas Corp because none of my usual retailers is carrying it even though I've asked.  I was pretty happy to see this booth at CHA and they told me I could order it from their website.  I usually order 4-5 bottles at a time and they ship to me for free. They have many many colors, but I love the Iridescent Gold.

Once everything was dry, I stamped the sentiment using the Papertrey Ink Quoted: True Friends Stamp Set in Versamark and Heat Embossed it with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder.  This stamp set is broken into 7 parts so you can have it read how you want or you can stamp each part in a different color of ink. I like that it is so easily customized.

As the person who moved away from my closest friends 4 times in the last 33 years, I love sending them cards to show they've not been forgotten. I left my best friend behind 7 years ago when my husband's job brought us to Oklahoma. That was the hardest move yet as I also left behind my daughter and 3 grandkids. Thank goodness for Facebook, Facetime and Cell Phones.  It's been a lot easier to stay in touch this time.

Once I had the heat embossing finished, I die cut the watercolor panel with the 2nd largest Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Dies, and cut a background panel using the largest Stitched Rectangle Die from Gold Foiled Cardstock. Then I mounted everything to a top folding card base made from True Black Cardstock. Additionally, I die cut another panel from white cardstock for the inside of the card.

That's it for today's card.  Be sure to stop over at The Challenge to check out all of the Design Team's projects.  Thanks so much for stopping by!