Paper Players Challenge 16 – Lesley’s Sketch Challenge

Hi Everyone.  Happy Saturday night.

Lesley's sketch was a challenge for me this week…. I have ALWAYS had a problem with a card that requires little elements… except for my 4-up fall to layout.  I don't know what it is…. but I feel compelled to bring out my squares and start to play around….. I never seem to quite get it right.  Then…. I remembered what Lesley had said about the challenge…. USE ANY SHAPE…. mmmm…. that got my creative juices going and I played around a little longer before I suddenly realized that I needed to stop focusing on the shape – and focus on the card.  I know that sounds silly, but once I let go of my hang up with 3 squares and looking for three images that fit into a square, I let myself get into creation mode.

I can thank Rach for "making" me use Poppy Parade.  It really is a color that is a little "loud" for me.  BUT… Rach has done some really cool cards with it and, whenever I use it, I enjoy it!  So, that shows me that I need to get outside of my little color box and play around a little more often!

Once I had finished the card… I loved it!  I also had immense fun coloring the images!  So, thank you, Lesley, for pushing me out of my comfort zone!

Don't forget to come play along with us at The Paper Players.  We really do love visiting your creations and leaving a little love.

Here's my card

Card recipe:

• card stock:  Concord Crush, Whisper White, Poppy Parade
• inks:  Concord Crush, Poppy Parade
• Stamps:  En Francais (background for the vertical Poppy Parade element); Flores Suaves (one of my favorite stamp sets and it is available in our Spanish catalog), Butterfly Prints (sentiment)

Card instructions:

• Cut Poppy Parade card stock to A2 11 x 4 1/4.  Score and fold at 5 1/2 on the top.
• Cut Concord Crush to 5 1/2 x 2 and adhere to card base – leaving a little Poppy Parade edge on the right hand side
• Cut Poppy Parade to 5 1/2 x 1 3/4.  Ink up En Francais with Poppy Parade and stamp onto Poppy Parade strip.  Adhere strip to Concord Crush strip using snail
• Stamp butterflies onto Whisper White and color.  Cut out butterflies using paper snips and adhere to card using Stampin' Dimensionals.
• I added two little pearls on either wing at the top.  For the pearls, I used the Stampin' Up basic pearls, but needed to dye them.  To dye them I used an alcohol based pen.
• I inked up the fabulous sentiment from the Butterfly Prints set and stamped it directly onto the card base

Jaydee tips:

• When you have a strong focal point – like the butterflies, and need to stamp a sentiment – often the best thing to do is stamp directly onto the card base.  If I had used a piece of card stock and then stamped the sentiment and then punched it out, and mounted it, I would have created two very distinct focal points in a fairly tight space
• With the three butterflies, I created movement by putting them at an angle.  There is continuity, however, because the top and bottom butterflies are essentially facing the same direction.  This makes it automatically pleasing to the eye…. as our brain likes order 🙂
• Want a clean and simple version….. This card could be recreated with the butterflies stamped directly onto the card base and stamped with either the same color, or coordinating colors.  It isn't necessary to color them. 
• With the En Francais background… I wanted a slightly uneven look.  I created this by putting the card stock piece on top of the inked En Francais and pushing down the card stock hard in some areas than others.

On a personal note:  Fall is definitely arriving here in Minnesota.  Some of the trees are starting to turn and the nights are definitely chilly.  It didn't quite reach 60 degrees here as a high today and the nip in the air felt fabulous.  I really love this time of year.  It makes me want to bring out the autumn/winter lampshades, cushions, curtains, bedding, etc. and clean and prep the house for the inevitable cold weather.  So, tomorrow, we will be doing our autumn cleaning and getting the house ready for winter.  I am really ready to change out the spring/summer colors for the warm, rich colors of autumn/winter.  In fact, I have even been planning some winter decoration crafting.

Lou visited the farmer's market on his own this morning.  As I had not been well this week, he was kind enough to leave me sleeping in a little.  He bumped into Brenda who let us know that she and Cherie are planning to run their next half marathon in tutus.  Yep…. tutus.  What Lou didn't find out though, was what color?  I can't wait to see the chicks running in their tutus.  We would go cheer them on, but we will be on vacation so will have to see pictures instead!  I think it's a terrific idea.  Way to go, girls!

Talking about the Farmer's Market, Lou brought back Butternut squash.  I'll be roasting that for butternut squash pasta, and also roasting some with root vegetables as an accompaniment to the nut roast I'm making tomorrow.  We got tomatoes (oh yes, the season is not yet over!)  some local apples, cippolini onions, garlic, herbs, arugula, cucumber, gorgeous potatoes and other goodies.  It really gets me in the mood to do a little cooking!  So, no crafting for me tomorrow… .just house cleaning and cooking! 

As always, thank you so much for visiting my little area of the stamping blogosphere.  Your visits, your support and your comments are always much appreciated.  I really appreciate those of you who comment frequently.  It does let me know that someone is still reading my blog.  So thank you to those of you who do come by and leave a quick comment.

Prayers tonight for Germaine (who is still in pain, and could do with a little help), Nichole and Bob, John and Sue, T, Pri, Lesley, Adelle and Rach (and their furbabies).  Arthur has finally been given his diagnosis and a procedure set up.  Bypass surgery is in the future.

Have a fabulous Sunday everyone.   I hope your day is filled with love and laughter, and time to spend doing the things that make you happy.

Hugs

Jaydee