Recycled Card for Earth Day

I've been working on a recycled card today, and it still took me more than 10 minutes!

Last night I pulled out my crate of old greeting cards to look for a card to recycle into a new card.  I'm pretty sure I looked through 300 store bought greeting cards.  I had Christmas, Birthday, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Christmas, Thank You...did I say Christmas??!!!! You get the picture.  The majority were Christmas cards - not easy to work with for Earth Day. I found one card image I wanted to use for my focal point. I set that one aside. I decided to use the colors from the image for my card.

Card base: 5x10 Chocolate Chip folded at the top

Recycled products:

More Mustard layer: 4-3/4 square

Background piece: 4-1/2 square 

Ribbon scrap from my stash

Gold elastic cord scrap

Vintage bead from my bead box (I couldn't find my button box!)

I found a glossy political postcard in my junk mail and decided to use that for my designer paper. I wheeled versamark ink all over the postcard with the Very Vintage Jumbo Wheel.  I heat embossed with clear embossing powder and sponged with More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Real Rust (it's retiring), and Chocolate Chip ink.  I mounted the background on a layer of More Mustard.

I tore around the card image and sponged with Real Rust, covered the image with Versamark ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. (The image was on thin cardstock and had a dull finish - I wanted it shiny.)  I mounted the image on More Mustard, tore the cardstock and used my distressing tool on the edges. I mounted it on Chocolate Chip and used dimensionals to mount it to the background layers. I tied the gold cord around the green ribbon, ran it through the bead and tied a knot.  I punched 2 holes in the More Mustard and background layers and tied the ribbon piece to the back of my card.

Ohh! I also pierced the top left corner of the image layer with my paper piercer.  Have you ever tried to pierce card stock after you have raised and mounted it to the card?  Believe me, it was not easy...

Thanks for stopping by today.  Please leave me a comment to let me know you were here!

10 Minute Challenge

I just earned my place in the Stamper's Book of Records for the longest 10 Minute Challenge card EVER.  I think it took me 2 hours to make one card. I know! That's really bad, but give me a little credit here. 

This is the first challenge I have ever entered and it's not like I have all my supplies in one place! I stamp on the kitchen table.  My paper and stamps are in the office/bedroom, and my punches are in the closet.  My stamp pads have their own storage tower, and all my tools are in the basket (except for the ones I forgot to put back after the last workshop I attended.) 

Of course, I needed those tools and had to hunt them up, find a new refill for my tape runner, figure out what size to cut the paper, eat some chocolate ice cream, etc.  (You get the picture?) So, I'm pretty sure it took me about 30 minutes to gather my supplies (yeah, that sounds good).  Then I had to clean and condition the stamps 'cause they're made of rubber (that took another 30 minutes).  I dropped the paper on the floor 3 or 4 times, had to go to the bathroom, find the cardstock I just cut out and immediately lost, answer the phone, and be pestered by the boys...So I REALLY just spent about 30 minutes on the card.  tee hee

Anyway, Sandi and Carole'Anne have the neatest challenge and I decided to join in this week.  So here is the sketch we were supposed to use for our card.  Easy you say?  Well if you've been stamping for ten years it would be, but I've only been stamping for three.   So, I say I deserve a little more time - yeah!  Ok, so here's my card:

Stamp Sets:  En Francais, Vintage Vogue

Ink:  pale plum, perfect plum, mellow moss

Card Stock: pale plum, perfect plum, very vanilla

Other Supplies: circle ice rhinestone brad, mellow moss taffeta ribbon, eyelet border punch, perfect polka dots impression folder

The card is really much lighter and brighter in real life, but I have to depend on my son to take my pictures.  I wanted to add extra light and he kept insisting the flash on his camera was enough light.  Go figure  - he's 31 and thinks he knows it all!

I hope you enjoy my card.  Go check out the other entries and meet the new design team.  You'll be impressed.

Stampin' Up!'s Two Step Into Spring!

Stampin' Up! has a great promotion for you this month. Not only will you be getting a sneak peak at a fantastic new Two Step Stampin' set called Awash with Flowers, but you will have the opportunity to purchase it from April 1-30. Your next chance to get it will be after the new Idea Book & Catalog comes out in July. If you host a $350 workshop, you can get it FREE!

In addition to that, four Two-Step Stampin' sets will be offered at a 20% discount for the same time period. These sets are beautiful floral designs from our current catalog...perfect for Spring!

Two-Step into Spring!

From April 1-30 only, you can buy the brand-new Awash with Flowers Two-Step Stampin' set—or get it FREE when you host a $350 workshop!

Item                  Description                                     Price
117062     Awash with Flowers (wood-mount)      $39.95
120549     Awash with Flowers (clear-mount)        $27.95

Plus, get 20% off a selection of springy Two-Step Stampin' sets:

Item          Page               Description          Regular Price        Sale Price
113824     p. 94        Greenhouse Garden        $25.95               $20.76
113734     p. 98        Fifth Avenue Floral         $24.95               $19.96
111578     p. 101      Flower Fancy                 $36.95               $29.56
113258     p. 112      Trendy Trees                  $17.95               $14.36

View the flyer to see some beautiful creations you can make with the Awash with Flowers set—then contact me to place your order or schedule your workshop.