Set Challenge

Yesterday I took part in a "set challenge".  3 of us were all given the same set of materials & asked to make a card.  It was fun to see how different they all turned out.  This was mine. The papers came from the Christmas Wonder paper pack.  The tag was stamped using the Christmas Tags and Trims - heat embossed in gold.  After being cut with the matching die, it was matted twice - once on red patterned paper and once on white.  It was colored with inktense pencils & Dazzles were added.  A red ribbon finished it off.

I like the inside even better than the outside: 

It has another stamped image - this time a sentiment from the Christmas Cheer set (HOTP).  It was again heat embossed in gold.    More dazzles and a bit of inking finish it off.

Pay It Forward Challenge

A friend on the Paper Wishers Message Board sent me this small card kit - card, 3 pieces of coordinating paper (2 were 5" x 6.5" and one was more like 4" x 5" - from HOTP "Home Grown" paper set), 4 small brads (2 each of tractor & star), a piece of grosgrain ribbon (16-18" long), a couple of stamped images, and a stamped greeting - greetings and images were stamped on larger pieces of paper/card stock so that I could cut them as I chose.

This was a real challenge because I didn't want it to look too busy, but also wasn't wanting to add to the materials in the kit (except for adhesive & coloring!).  I decided to cut the sentiment apart (and add the 3 dots for elipses) so that I could have part of the greeting on the front of the card and the remainder inside.  By cutting down the focal image, I was able to get white strips that I could piece together to form the white mat.  To help it and the greeting stand out further, I used the red ribbon that was included in the kit. 

Then it was time to do the inside:

Focal was colored with Inktense pencils & a water brush.  Scraps from the other papers helped to form a bit of a frame & a separating strip between the message and the stamped image.

Ambition

To illustrate this one, after protecting the page with clear gesso, I used a stamp from a set called "Sew Pretty" that came with a Cardmaking and Papercrafting magazine.  I used StazOn ink, but had some problem with the stamping and needed to go over many of the lines using a Pitt pen.  I waited to do that, however, until after I colored the "thread" with a bit of marker & water brush.  I used my Scroll and Brush markers to do all the coloring & lettering.  I actually created the lettering on my computer, then used a thin light pad (like a light box) to trace the letters with the markers.  I used just one edge of the "scroll" side of the marker to draw the finer lines of the lettering.  The black lettering was all done with Pitt pens. 

Promises of Healing

After protecting the page with clear gesso, I stamped the girl ("Janie's Girls" stamp set from HOTP) with black StazOn.  I colored her with Inktense pencils and a water brush - and highlighted the relevant texts with the same.  Except, I colored her skin with a watercolor pencil as I don't have a good flesh tone in my Inktense set.  The lettering was done with Pitt pens.  I actually made a mistake when doing the lettering, so "fixed" it by adding a pink heart sticker & writing the word on top of it.