May RSC Sketch Challenge

When I looked at the sketch for this month's card contest on the Rubber Stamp Chat site, it reminded me of one of the templates I have for my Fiskars scrapboss... so I sat down and made myself a 3-dimensional layered card. Btw the paper behind the butterfly is white, not grey... but the butterfly is 3D and it raised the card up enough that it didn't scan very well.

I started with my oval wreath template - I embossed it, then I turned the template over and put the card back underneath it and I coloured in the flowers and leaves with my chalks using tiny bits of tissue as a brush. I haven't ever tried this technique before - I have chalks but I virtually never use them! But I wanted the colours to be softer than ink would have produced. A bit of green got where I didn't want it to be, but it was easily rubbed off with my sticky eraser.

Once the wreath was coloured to my satisfaction I took it out of the template and put my Colluzzle Oval into the center to cut out the middle. Then I inked the edges and the sides lightly with a couple of shades of green ink, stamped my corner designs and sentiment, and put a plain white card inside. Lastly I stuck down my butterfly (a 3D sticker) and my card was finished. And now I'm done, I'm going for a swim!

Bad news, good news...

First the bad news. I've been struggling with de quervain's syndrome (thumb tendinitis) in my left hand all year long, and while it's a lot better than it was at first (in January I couldn't even  get a spoon or fork into my mouth because my wrist wouldn't bend!) I keep aggravating it. I can't pick up a pen to write, hold a pair of nail scissors (or the cat clippers), or play my flute, and I've realised that if I don't look after it properly it might not get better! Then I wouldn't be able to make cards at all and I'd be TRULY frustrated... I'm taking two weeks off all the activities that put a strain on my hand and that are avoidable to give it a better chance of healing. So no volunteering at the library (shelving books), no lifting, and no crafting. No matter how much my fingers itch to create a new card, I'm not going to do it unless I really have to. Please don't forget about me - I'll be back as soon as I can.

But there's also good news - I posted a card I made for a card contest on the Rubber Stamp Chat site - and I won first prize from Scrolls Work Stamps! I can't wait to spend my gift certificate on some more stamping goodies from their store ... I can't afford to buy stamps for myself unless they're in the bargain bin, so this is a great chance to fill in some of the gaps in my collection. I just HAVE to have this stamp for my OWH cards. :) 

I was also lucky enough to win some beautiful blog candy during the Operation Write Home blog hop a few weeks ago... Lori sent me some lovely ribbons, stickers and bling.  Check out her blog - Lori's Purple Giraffes. Thank you so very much Lori... your gift will allow me to make that many more cards for charity, as soon as my hand will allow me to do the work!

All the cards I make are for ministry - either for Operation Write Home, for card ministry through my own or other churches, or direct gifts to thank/cheer/uplift people through the mail. If/when my hand heals enough to manage it, my next 'order' is to make a bunch of cards for our local cat rescue group to help them raise funds to look after the furbabies. (I offered to do it in January and they said they'd love to get some cards, but I haven't been able to manage it yet. :( )
I don't have the money to buy a lot of supplies (I spend more than I should just on postage and cardstock!), so the occasional things that people give me are received with huge thanks. I would never sell or discard an item that was given to me, or attempt to profit from it myself. If I have too much of something or I really can't use it, I'll find another crafter who CAN use it and give it to them. So thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!!! I couldn't do it without you.

A Card for a Contest

This is the first time I've ever made a card specifically for a contest... I've been lurking on the Rubberstampchat website for a few months now and they have a monthly contest sponsored by a different stamping company each time - often it says that you MUST use stamps by that particular company to enter, but this month it's open (although they have an extra prize for somebody who uses ALL Scrollworks stamps) so I gave it a go.
The theme of the contest is Spring and you had to use this sketch for your card.

I stuck pretty closely to the sketch, but since my central stamp already had a sentiment on it, I substituted a pair of embroidered flowers instead. The patterned paper comes from the Meadow's Edge collection, my background stamp and page corners are from Heidi Grace (I just LOVE those stamps - they're acrylic but they produce a nice clean stamp with coloured ink...) and my centerpiece stamp is from Inkadinkadoo.
I stamped the bird image three times - the base is on patterned paper, then I layered the picture onto cream glimmer paper and added a touch of deep green to the leaves, and lastly I stamped the bird onto a tiny scrap of blue paper from my stash and moulded it over a cut-up 3D gluedot so that it would be rounded instead of flat. The whole central panel is floating - I fastened it diagonally in the center and left the top and bottom corners loose so that it would have more dimension, only of course the scanner squished it flat.
Lastly I stamped the page corners with another Heidi Grace stamp and mounted them, and I added some teensy tiny yellow rhinestones for a touch of bling. Somehow the scanner makes the card look less cohesive than it does IRL... but never mind. I'm happy with it, and I'm sure whoever receives it will be too! Good luck to everyone else who entered the contest - this was my first attempt but it won't be my last. :)

And with some of the leftover scraps from working out that card (and some other stuff in my scrap basket) I made this one. I need to clear out my scrap basket tomorrow - it's full now!