A Birthday with Lots of Technique!

My oldest daughter is celebrating her birthday today!  I've been working on her card for a couple of days trying to work out its design.  I knew only one thing for sure when I started, my daughter's favorite color is turquoise, so it would have turquoise in it somehow, somewhere.  A couple of other things I knew were that I wanted to enter the finished card into some Splitcoaststamper challenges, and if it could somehow fit one of my remaining three Round 8, Letters, I'd be pleased!

My usual plan, as most of you who read my blog might know by now, is that I check out all SCS challenges for inspiration and ideas before I begin, which I did with this card.  I am happy to say that with my mojo, which started with the SCS Inspiration Challenge, which led to my being able to enter into Alphabet Challenge, Round 8, and others!  

See "The Story" below my card for more details.  Meanwhile, take a peek at my daughter, Michele's, card below (plus the inside design and verse).  I am truly excited about her card, how it evolved, and how it turned out, and I think she will be thrilled!

Ingredients:  Stampin Up products:  Cardstock--Night of Navy, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Gray.  Patterned Paper: 2012-2013 DSP Stack--Brights/ Pacific Point (umbrella).  Stamp--Marbling (background).  Inks--So Saffron, Pear Pizzaz, Tempting Turquoise.  Stencil--Pattern Party Decorative Masks (clouds).  SU White Embossing Paste.  Glitter--Dazzling Diamonds.  Other products:  Cardstock--Recollections Pack/ Punchy Florals.  Colourcraft Brushos--Turquoise, Grey.  MFT Stencil--Raindrops.  Stamps/Dies--Crazy Birds; Crazy Things (bird/hat).  Savvy Dies--Cityscape; Small Space Needle.  Elizabeth Dies:  Rainy Day (umbrella).  EK Punch: Med. Victorian Corner.  Techniques: Coloring Texture Paste; Copic Coloring; Marbling; Glitter Texture.  Chatterbox sentiment/ verse (computer/ Xiomara font).  Size: 4-3/4" x 6".

THE STORY:

EVOLVING A CARD TO FIT NUMEROUS CHALLENGES

By now, a lot of you who are also on the Splitcoaststamper (SCS) site know that I love to find inspiration from several SCS challenges. You might wonder how I do this.  So here goes an explanation:

I keep a running computer document with all SCS challenges listed chronologically by weekdays and dates within each challenge, then the monthly, annual, etc. challenges follow.  I check each week and add the challenge updates as the week progresses.  If I actually enter a challenge, I place a red check mark in front of the challenge number.  It makes it pretty easy to spot what I've entered and what I haven't, plus checking to see what inspiration I can get to decide what I might want to do to my card to fit the challenges I decide to enter.  It is often a work in progress as I create, and I may add or subtract a challenge as I work and possibly make changes to my original plan.

Almost everything on this Crazy Bird card started first by browsing the June 23, 2018 Inspiration Challenge/ Hayneedle online site for art work with blues and greens as I knew for sure I wanted to use turquoise.  This Inspiration Challenge led to seven other challenges.

#1.  Inspiration Challenge - IC655 - 6/23/18.  In my browsing through Hayneedle, several blue and green three wall art items led me to my card design:  a marbled background, though eliminating the browns shown and adding pear pizzaz and soft yellow to the turquoise; 2) a silhouetted Seattle skyline; and an aqua raindrops canvas led me to add rain and clouds. . .after all, it will be a Seattle scene!

#2. Free for All - F4A432: Baby It's Cold Outside - 6/1/18.  Since I was going to use rain and it was to be Seattle, I decided to use embossing paste and add color and glitter to my rain and clouds to evoke a cool feel to the card.

#3. Ways to Use It - WT680: World Water Day - 3/22/18. . .with all this talk about rain in Seattle, I remember a older WT challenge that talked about rain and umbrellas that I missed because it was issued just a few days before being AWOL with my knee surgery.  I re-checked and sure enough the rain and an umbrella worked for this challenge.

#4. Alphabet Challenge, Round 8 - DD8ABC21U - 1/3/18.  Letter U = UMBRELLA. . .one of my final three missing letters for Round 8!!! The BONUS challenge for using a faux finish fit my plan for a marbled background mentioned above. I was stoked!! 

#5. Mix-Ability - MIX280: Losing My Marbles - 6/8/18.  Marbling led me to think of the mix-ability challenges.  I was sure there was bound to be something about marbling.  In my searched through this challenge and found this one, which gave suggestions on making a marbled background, but it also mentioned that a marbling stamp could be used.  I decided to possibly invent my own marbling by using my SU Marbling BG stamp.  To get three colors in my marbling, I used my MISTI and shifted my paper about 1/8" with each of three colors: So Saffron, Pear Pizzaz, and Tempting Turquoise and blew it dry to set the ink.  I watercolor brushed more turquoise ink as the final coat to add more turquoise and to fill in any white areas, and blew it dry.  Next, I "painted" the entire marbled surface with glitter glue and sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds all over, lightly brushed off excess glitter, and blew it dry.  It looked like a HOT MESS during the process, but I was pretty pleased with the final result.

#6. Colored Texture Paste Technique. I colored my White Embossing Paste and stirred in a bit of Dazzling Diamonds glitter and Brushos Turquoise to stencil on my raindrops and blew them dry.  I also mixed a batch of light grey with a few sprinkles of Brushos Grey and glitter to stencil on my clouds.

#7. Teapot Challenge - MMTPT515: TPT Tic Tac Toe - 6/5/18.  I'd been watching out for using this one, because I love Tic Tac Toe challenges.  My diagonal Tic Tac Toe is: Stitching, Die-Cuts, and Patterned Paper.  I also added Watercoloring and Embossing (if the Embossing applies to Embossing Paste rather than just dry embossing).  My umbrella is a die-cut, and it became covered in patterned paper with hand-stitching. My bg uses watercoloring and Embossing Paste in the raindrops and clouds.

8. USEIT2018 - ongoing :  My new but dusty and never stuff:  the Crazy Birds stamps and dies and my Small Space Needle die.  I bought both at least two years ago and had not used them yet!  Also both stencils are new and have been languishing in their packages.  My used oldie is my CityScape die, which I have not used for 2-1/2 years! 

So, there's the explanation of my development of a card utilizing numerous challenges. I find this great fun, and a challenge in and of itself for me! Usually I start with a bit of an idea from a challenge then embellish upon the idea to fit other challenges, but as I mentioned before its a work in progress and challenges to be entered can change as the card evolves.

Sympathy for the Loss of a Brother!

My daughter-in-law's father just lost his brother due to an accident and surgery complications, and once again, I needed to make another sympathy card.  This is the second recent loss of one of her uncles, as her mother lost one of her brothers about a month ago.  It seems like I have made several too many of these types of card lately.   

I was going to participate in the SCS Ways to Use It challenge several weeks ago, which required the use of a silhouette—stamped or die-cut, but I was not able to get to it.  I have an idea in mind using a partially finished card started over a year ago that will work great.  It is a leftover from a card class by Dar Peterson to which I have made several changes.  

I changed up the background from vertical coloring with Stampin' Up markers into a horizontal watercolored background using Crushed Curry and So Saffron ink and an aqua painter.  When the panel was dry, I added very fine dots of black paint for a bit more interest.  I also changed the direction of my Flourish Framelit die-cut going from bottom to top and place my sentiment in the top left corner instead of the bottom right.  I added some Wink of Stella for some sheen on my black silhouetted flourish, and I added white pearls instead of black-inked pearls.  Next, I die cut a decorative-edged, Daffodil Yellow layer instead of using a plain So Saffron layer, and I made my Delightful Dijon layer with less of its color edge showing.  Take a peek at my finished card below:

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products: Cardstock--Whisper White, Daffodil Yellow, Delightful Dijon, Basic Black.  Stamps: Flourishing Phrases.  Ink: Crushed Curry, So Saffron, Basic Gray (sentiment).  Dies:  Flourish Framelits.  Pearls.   Other:  Die: Avery Elle Postage Stamp.  Folk Art Acrylic Paint: Licorice.  Chatterbox inside verse.  Size: 4-1/2" x 5-3/4."

Best of 2017 Favorites @ Splitcoaststampers!

I'm in 7th Heaven!!!!  I've had nine of my 2017 cards chosen in the Splitcoaststampers' Favorites - Best of 2017 recently, and three of these were chosen twice!   I also had one card chosen in the CAS Favorites - Best of 2017.  Now that was really a surprise, because rarely do I make a clean and simple card!  I'm speechless and so grateful to the wonderful and crafty multitudes at Splitcoaststampers for giving me so many honors.  

As I have had my cardmaking curtailed in mid-December due some severe hand problems, especially the left, and a right knee flair up, I've been kind of down a bit without my hobby to entertain me.  I've also been absentee blog posting as some may have noticed.  With that said, I thought I would post those cards BESTed again for your browsing!  

Favorites - Best of 2017 Cards

Let It All Hang Out Birthday - posted 8/28/17

 Blog link: https://chatterboxcreations-1.blogspot.com/2017/08/let-it-all-hang-out-birthday.html

 First Christmas for a Little Husky Named Zhanna! - posted 9/4/17 (chose 2 times)

Blog Link: https://chatterboxcreations-1.blogspot.com/2017/09/first-christmas-for-little-husky-named.html

Christmas Card from an Oldie But Goodie! - posted 9/8/17 (chosen 2 times)

Blog Link: https://chatterboxcreations-1.blogspot.com/2017/09/christmas-card-from-oldie-but-goodie.html

Improving on the Christmas Oldie But Goodie! - posted 9/12/17 (chosen 2 times)

Blog Link: https://chatterboxcreations-1.blogspot.com/2017/09/improving-on-christmas-oldie-but-goodie.html

A Dedicated 12th Woman Seahawks Fan Birthday! - posted 11/5/17.

Blog Link: https://chatterboxcreations-1.blogspot.com/2017/11/a-dedicated-12th-woman-seahawks-fan.html

My Son's First Father's Day! - posted 6/18/17.  (inspiration from Dar Peterson).

Blog Link: https://chatterboxcreations-1.blogspot.com/2017/06/my-sons-first-fathers-day.html 

Anniversary Twosome Sail with the Breeze! - posted 7/31/18

Blog Link: https://chatterboxcreations-1.blogspot.com/2017/07/an-anniversary-twosome-sail-with-breeze.html

Birthday Jazz for Youngest Son! - posted 9/15/17

Blog Link: https://chatterboxcreations-1.blogspot.com/2017/09/birthday-jazz-for-youngest-son.html

A Peek at Fall! - posted 9/20/17
Blog Link:  https://chatterboxcreations-1.blogspot.com/2017/09/a-peek-at-fall.html

CAS Favorites - Best of 2017 Cards

New Hat for Spooky Kitty! - posted 10/27/17

Blog Link: https://chatterboxcreations-1.blogspot.com/2015/10/new-kitty-face-card.html