Aloha, all!
When it comes to sketches this time of the year, I can hardly wait to get out my Christmas papers and ribbons. And what better combination to pick than those in Stampin' Up!'s fabulous 2010 Holiday Mini Catalog! My friends and I have been having a blast playing with the Deck The Halls Designer Series Papers AND with the matching Stampin' Up! Fabric.
When I was trying to figure out my next move with this set of papers, along came the Divas Coffee Break Design Challenge for the week. Aha!! There was a chance to do something completely different than I had been doing. And the difference was the Stamp Set, Tree Trimmings, which was one of my favorite from the 2009 – 2010 Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog. Hmmm. Think I'd better put it in the "favorites" column again, huh? It really does stand out nicely with the new papers. And the Seam Binding! What fun it's been using this so very soft and pliable "ribbon" this season. This was the first time I tried using two pieces together and it just wowed me with the way it twisted and turned just like I wanted it to AND it stayed in place when I was finished!
Oh, but you'll want to know about the Divas Sketch Challenge. Actually, the sketch was for a vertical greeting card, not a horizontal one as I made. Here's the sketch (with the Queen Diva's colors changed a bit so as not to clash too much with Robin's Craft Room's blog page). So you can see that I turned the sketch 90 degrees counterclockwise to get the layout for my card.
Besides using the Always Artichoke and Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding as an embellishment for the card (as well as for one of the sketch elements), I added some brads to the top of the ornaments. There's no Always Artichoke Brad, so I substituted a Garden Green Brad. I just saw a card on someone else's blog that used one of the Pewter Brads from the Metallic Brads set. I think I might like that just a bit better.
To make the ornament stamps stand out against the Designer Series Papers, I backed them up with some Sahara Sand ovals punched with the Scallop Oval Punch. I sponged the edges with some Always Artichoke and Cherry Cobbler ink, and I think that the overall effect makes for a really nice vintage style card.
I hope you'll take a few minutes to check out the other Divas and their designs! What an assortment this week, with Fall and Birthday cards as well as my little Christmas Card. And be sure to play along with this week's sketch and add your card to the collection!
Whatever you make this week, be sure to have fun with it!!
