This month, we (The Creative Crew on Splitcoaststampers) were asked to create a “Blank slate” meaning a no layer card. This is usually a challenge I have a hard time with but I thought, “if I could sponge a great background, it will be ok.” I used a LOT of different colors. Soft Sky, Powder Pink, Sweet Sugarplum, Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry (for the sun), Pacific Point and Tempting Turquoise. I wanted a sunset scheme to go with the all (Archival) Basic Black Bridge, Birds, and Sentiment. I think this card came out pretty nicely. What do you think?
The stamp set is called Wherever You Go. It fits in very well with the travel/staycation theme we were given. I really love the sun stamp and I was determined to use more of the set for this card.
Now that we have glossy paper back, I wanted to do my Technique challenge for the Creative Crew on Splitcoaststampers using glossy paper. So, I chose, Joseph’s coat. I learned a couple of things and I wanted to share it with you.
This was the last month of my term in the Creative Crew on splitcoaststampers. It’s bittersweet! I really enjoy challenges! This month wasn’t too much of challenge for me. It was all about Vacations or Stay-cations. My July was PACKED full of vacations. The last one that I took was to England. My niece and I went for a week and had such an incredible time! Our last night, we stayed at the Tower Hotel, which was right next to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. I knew I was going to England when the “Chase Your Dreams” stamp set came out in the Occasions Catalog. I know it’s retired now but I needed it! I plan on making a scrapbook of my trip. And this stamp set is perfect for it. I plan on doing something on the cover of the album and of course, adding it inside the album!
The challenge is called SIP…. Step It Up. We have to create 2 cards. One, simple. One, stepped up. Here are both cards. You can see that they are both great cards. The stepped up version is colored with ink pads and blender pen, has a glitter border, pearls and I used, Oh My Stars embossing folder on the banners. While the layout of the card kind of reminds me of the French flag, the same colors are in the British Union Jack.
Here is my inspiration card for this month’s challenge. In the image below, we were asked to use the photo for inspiration. I found another really neat color combo that I wanted to use and decided to use the bees that are in the photo. The color combo here is Night of Navy, Marina Mist and Crushed Curry. I used the Dragonfly Dreams Stamp set and the Detailed Dragonfly thinlits to make this card. Watercolor paper was used as was an aquapainter to color the watercolor paper in Marina Mist.
While I got this card layout from my upline, I did change it a bit. The DSP used here is Naturally Eclectic as I thought the pattern went nicely with the dots stamp in the Dragonfly Dreams stamp set. I also really liked the pop of color from the Glitter Enamel Dots. I used a tiny piece of doily and a thread from the burlap ribbon just for fun accents on the card. I really hope you like it!! I am thinking about sending this card to a friend… but who? Do you want it?? Comment below! I will pick one person randomly!
So Here is my sketch card for the month. We were given a sketch and told to run with it. Summer Lovin’ was this month’s theme. So I found a photo on pinterest of the ocean during sunset. It had these gorgeous summer colors in and I tried to recreate that color scheme here. I used Dapper Denim, Tempting Turquoise, Flirty Flamingo, Rose Red and Daffodil Delight with Whisper White. It does have a Summer-y feel doesn’t it? The Marbled background stamped on each of the panels reminds me of water. On the star, kind of reminds me of a shooting star… The sentiment came from Sunshine Sayings stamp set. I also used the Glitter Enamel Dots for little pops of color.
Anyway, here’s what the sketch looks like. I like the way the card turned out though. Oh! I forgot to mention where the star came from…. We used to have star shaped thinlits (Well I still have mine… LOL) but they retired. So, I pulled out the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits! Yay!!
So, yesterday, I blogged about using embossing paste and the lighting in the photo was a bit wonky. You couldn’t really see the beautiful texture on the white on white background. WELL! Here’s a card for you! This card was for the Color Challenge for the Creative Crew on Splitcoaststampers. As you can see below, the color challenge was Real Red, Island Indigo and Very Vanilla. 
I took literally 2 drops of real red ink and mixed with Stampin’ Up!’s Embossing Paste and smeared it all over the brick texture from the Pattern Party Decorative Masks. I also did something that I have never done before. I watercolored a doily! My upline has done it NUMEROUS times and I kept thinking… when will I ever use it? UGH! I love it!! I used the You are So Sweet Clear-Mounted stamp set and the Mini Treat Bag Thinlit to cut out the sentiment. I fussy-cut the border. So what do I love about this card? Well, besides everything? It’s a mix of urban and elegant… It’s ele-ban-t (there you have it folks, I created a new word!)