New Years SCS Challenge

With Christmas and the new grandson, I haven't been able to do much stamping. So I decided to try some of the New Years Eve challenges on Splitcoast. The first challenge was to make a card for a friend incorporating a "food" stamp. This was the perfect choice. The sentiment says it all! One of my very best friends enjoys coffee just like me.
I used the cuttlebug dotted swiss on the card base (front). The layer under the coffee cup is retired SU designer paper. Both the cup and the sentiment are stamped in close to cocoa. This is one of my favorite color combos.







Another challenge was to use a retired stamp and another was to use stamps with an Eastern Influence theme. This stamp (from Calming Garden) fit both categories. I really like the set, I just rarely use it. So it was a nice to dust it off and ink it up.
On page 9 in the Fall/Winter Idea & Catalog is a color scheme for eastern eclectic. So I used this to choose the colors for the card...tangerine tango, so saffron, very vanilla, and old olive. The different colors on the stamp are achieved by using markers to ink the stamp. I also used Sanded background stamp to give some texture to the old olive layer.







This card was more of a challenge. You were limited in what could be used...like 1" of ribbon, 2 brads (or buttons, or flowers), certain colors, 1 punch...stuff like that. The color choices were a bit unusual for me (not something I usually use). This is sage shadow and chocolate chip. The patterned paper is from my ever growing stash of retired designer papers. I'm trying really hard to use them up. The flowers and sentiment are from Pocket Silhouettes (absolutely love this set). I used sage shadow and chocolate chip markers to color the image, then used the curly label punch.
I saw another challenge today that I would love to try, but I will probably be heading to Jill's to wash her dishes and play with Bree while she tends to the new baby. Sweet!

Upsy Daisy Challenge

One comment I hear from many people is, "I'm just not that creative." They love coming to classes where everything is done for them, but don't think they could make cards (or scrapbook) on their own. It really is not that difficult. There are so many wonderful inspirations out there. The first card is like one made by Maria Pobre, a Stampin' Up! demonstrator from Guam. The only difference between her card and mine is in the coloring of the flowers. Mine has more orange.
The image is stamped on the very vanilla card base, a strip of garden green is added to the bottom and a black ribbon is added. Easy!
Then I took the same card idea, thought of someone and her favorite colors, and went from there. I used naturals ivory for the card, mellow moss for the accent color, and pale plum, perfect plum and mellow moss for the daisy. So who is this friend who likes plum (well actually purple)? I hope she is visiting my blog today. If she is and comments, I have a surprise for her.

Card #3 For this card I went to the new in-colors. I used Baja Breeze and Pacific Point for the daisy (garden green for the stem). I used the distressing tool on the bottom panel.
All of the flowers are colored with stampin' write markers (or in the case of the in-colors, a blender pen and ink refills). Use the lighter color first, then use the darker color on the edges of the flower, color the stems and stamp.
Your challenge - use this layout and make a card. If you don't have this stamp, just use one that is similar. Then take the same layout and same stamp, choose different colors and make another card. Be the first to send me a picture of your results and I'll send you a set of four cards made with the upsy daisy set.
Remember the Upsy Daily stamp set (as well as Heard from the Heart) is on sale this month. You can order through my Stampin Up site by clicking on the "Order Here" button on the left and following the link.