Runway Inspired Challenge #11

It's not often I will make a card purely to submit to a challenge blog. However, when I saw the picture posted by the Runway Inspired Challenge (Christian Dior Fall 2012), I simply had to!

I should point out, for anyone wondering what this has to do with planes...it doesn't! Runway is the term used in the US for what we Brits call the Catwalk ;)

I knew exactly which patterned paper I wanted to use and I had some gorgeous mink coloured ribbon I would use to accessorise too. Sadly, I couldn't find the ribbon and I couldn't quite get the right shade of card I wanted. However, undeterred, I used SU Naturals Ivory CS and aged the edges with Pti Chai ink. The sentiment is a retired Stampin' Up! one I had and the ink I used was actually a homemade blend of white craft ink with crumb cake and chocolate chip re-inkers. I like how subtle it looks on the choc chip background. To add a bit of interest I added one of the Antique brads from SU.

I'm so pleased I discovered this new challenge blog (thanks to Feline Playful) and I can't wait to see what the next challenge will be!

Mellow Yellow

With Summer just around the corner I felt it was time to coax the sun out of its hiding place behind the clouds with a splash of yellow. The folks down at Crafty Boots Challenges are clearly on my wavelength as they've made it their challenge to use yellow this week too! I chose to team the yellow with Kraft and white, as inspired by the OCC Colour Trifecta challenge. I think it gives a really fresh look.

I also added some faux stitching with a white gel pen, as inspired by Crafty Ann's Challenge #64. To make it look more realistic I added a black dot at the beginning and end of each 'stitch'.

The flower is made by stamping one of the petals from the Stampin' Up! Pick-a-Petal set in Daffodil Delight onto white card and mounting them on dimensionals. I've added a black centre made from a simple circle punch. The background is the retired SU Friendly background stamp, stamped in Daffodil Delight again. All of the Kraft sections are SU Crumb Cake, raised using dimensionals to create depth. I've added a couple of strips of SU patterned paper to tie in with the spotty flower. The sentiment is from Afterthoughts, with more of the friendly background, cut out using the Decorative Label Punch.

I usually tend to forget about decorating the inside of my cards, so I've been making an effort lately to make the insides as pretty as the outside. I've repeated the petal stamp and added a sentiment from the Cheer and Wishes retired set. A pretty flower from Baroque Motifs adds a lovely touch...as well as covering up a mark I accidentally made while stamping the sentiment ;) I decorated the envelope in the same way for a lovely finishing touch.

Ain't Love Grand

It seems like everyone I know is celebrating wedding anniversaries over the next few weeks and it struck me how different I wanted to make each couple's cards. I recently blogged a very modern anniversary card, but I've gone down a traditional route for this next one.

I decided to use a sketch from The Sweet Stop, as part of their SSS155 sketch challenge. I chose to work with this sketch, SSS120, as I felt it would really suit the stamp I chose to work with.



The stamp is from a retired Stampin' Up! set called Summer by the Sea. I love the sketched look it has and I chose to colour it using water based wax pastels. Here's a look at it before and after painting...

 

I've used patterned papers from Stampin' Up! and Sassafras (Indie Girl) along with poly stitched ribbon in Poppy Parade from SU. The butterflies were made using the Beautiful Wings Embosslit from SU. The base card is So Saffron (SU) and is an easel card with a message inside. The sentiment is from the retired SU set Cheer and Wishes, which I've cut out using the Modern Label punch.

The Proposal

I was thrilled this week to find out that a friend of mine had got engaged. I knew which stamp I wanted to use as it was crying out to be used on an Engagement card. It is by Rubber Romance and I stamped it using Versamark and embossed the image in silver. A rhinestone became a rock of an engagement ring!

I wanted to keep the card simple but with a feminine touch so I matted the main image with Naturals Ivory and Baja Breeze card from SU and added a section of Neutrals striped patterned paper. To add the girly feely I added two side sections, cut using the PTI Filigree Border Die.

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:-

Crafty Catz Challenge #129 - Stripes
The Secret Crafters Saturday Challenge #182 - Inspired by a film title (The Proposal)