The Challenge #91

This week at The Challenge we have a sketch up for you! I have only recently been doing Sketch Challenges but I am enjoying using them as my starting place for my cards.  I hope I never get stuck in a rut but sketches are a great way to be inspired by a fresh approach to card making.  The Challenge on the Always Playing With Paper Blog has a sketch challenge about once a month.  This allows me to use the same products in a different way than I might have previously. Let's face it, stamps and dies are a significant investment of both time and money, so I want to stretch mine as far as I can.  

I wanted to use a combination of Green and Navy for my card so I started by water coloring the panel using Lucky Clover Distress Ink. Using a No. 8 Round Silver Black Velvet Brush, I wet the panel in a circular pattern and then added a heavy concentration of color and let it move with the water.  I put a few drops of reinker on an acrylic block to get this heavy concentration.  I left it alone (as much as is humanly possible for me) so I could get those hard, fringed edges. Once the watercolor was dry I hit it with some Tattered Angels Iridescent Gold Shimmer Mist and let it dry completely before die cutting the panel with the Gift Card Layers Die from WPLUS9.  The largest die in this set cuts a full A2 sized stitched rectangle panel.  

I cut the widest and 2nd widest strips from the My Favorite Things Horizontal Stitched Strips Die out of Dark Indigo and Gold as well as the "Celebrate" die from Gold Foiled Cardstock. Next I stamped the "You Did It" phrase from the Birthday Cheer Stamp Set onto the Dark Indigo strip using Versamark and heat set it with Antique Gold Embossing Powder.  I adhered the Dark Indigo layer to the gold layer using tape runner and the word die using Ranger Multi Medium Matte. A strip of fun foam was placed beneath the horizontal strip to attach it to the card. Using the banner from the Tag Sale: Quilted Die, I folded it so that two ends would show underneath the horizontal strips as in the sketch. I assembled it all to an A2 Top Folding Card Base made from Stamper's Select White Cardstock.  I added a few Pretty Pink Posh Metallic Gold 6mm Sequins to add the finishing touch.

Be sure to stop over at the Always Playing With Paper Blog and see all of the projects from the design team.  As always, there is some fantastic inspiration among my teammates.  We hope you'll be able to join is this week!