2013 Artisan Finalist Blog Hop - Day 2

Here we are on Day 2 ... and I can ALREADY say that the projects posted by my Finalist Friendies have blown me AWAY!! I am feeling so very blessed and privileged to be included with such a spectacular group of talented artists!! And the more I have gotten to know them, the more it makes me happy ... these women are as kind and wonderful as they are crafty!!

To be honest, I really struggled making the cards for my Artisan entry ... which was SOOOOOO very frustrating for me because cards are usually EASY for me to make!! (And, being honest again, I liked pretty much EVERY card I made for the Convention Display Samples better than the ones I made for Artisan ... not sure what kinda funk I was in!) But all in all, I was happy with what I submitted. This card was probably my fave of the ones I made ... and it was the most out of the box for me (at the time). I seem to have connected with a little bit of the shabby/grunge thing lately (it took me long enough!!)!

I used some Comfort Cafe DSP for the background on the upper half of this card; stamped one of the images from Everything Eleanor in Versamark on top of it, then added clear embossing powder and heat embossed the image. I then rubbed some Soft Suede ink over the whole image with a sponge and then wiped off the image that had been heat embossed.

The bottom half of this card was my attempt at the "ombre" thing ... I was in SUCH a hurry to get these entries out the door that I didn't write down all of my supplies ('cause I was SO SURE I was gonna remember everything ... yeeeaaaahhhh ...). I THINK I used Midnight Muse, Island Indigo and Pool Party. Using my crafty sponges, I started at the bottom of the card with the darkest color (Midnight Muse), then added the Island Indigo and Pool Party with their own separate sponges. Does that make sense? Sometimes I feel like I'm trying to write in English what was ORIGINALLY written in Chinese and translated from Italian!!

Stamps:  Everything Eleanor, Petite Pairs
Paper: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Comfort Cafe DSP, Vellum
Ink:  Soft Suede, Midnight Muse, Island Indigo, Pool Party, Whisper White, Versamark
Accessories:  Whisper White Embossing Powder, Clear Embossing Powder, Victoria Crochet Trim, Ticket Builder Punch, Stampin' Distress Tool, Sponges, Sewing Machine

Click "Back" to see Melissa Stout and/or "Next" to see Amy O'Neill. AWESOME projects from BOTH of them!