Challenged!

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge proved to be a true challenge for me this week. In fact, many of the sketches this weekend feature round elements, which is why I've been so pokey at getting to them.

Part of the challenge involved with this particular card, however, was self-inflicted. I made my leaves before choosing my paper, and as pretty as I thought they were, they didn't 'go' with anything, leaving me to create something of my own. I used a stamp from the Nature Walk set - a stamp I thought to be kind of weird when I first saw it and one that I've used time and again to create interesting background paper.

And now I've got to tell you about those leaves. The oak leaf was stamped and inked much the same as the one I made for my last card. The maple leaves were stamped in Cranberry and then sponged with Autumn Terracotta and Vineyard Berry. With the desire for 'supple' leaves, I enlisted the help of my paper corrugator to break up the fibers before cutting my leaves out, running the paper through several times - vertically, horizontally, diagonally - every which way. The paper literally turned to mush, and remarkably, something about the process caused the colors to blend more. Instead of relying solely on the sharp edge of my desktop to break up the fibers today, I used it rather to 'iron' my paper out a bit before cutting out my oh-s0-pretty, albeit mushy, leaves. After cutting them out, I inked the edges with Brown Bag ink. Finally, I secured the leaves to my circle with Glue Dots to make sure that I didn't flatten them. I hope my description makes at least a little bit of sense . . . The rest of the card was pieced together until I declared it done! For whatever reason, my camera had a tough time with it. Too much to focus on maybe? And me too lazy to mess with the settings . . .

Materials & Tools: Colonial White, Autumn Terracotta, and Chocolate cardstock; Chocolate, Brown Bag, Cranberry, Goldrush, Sunflower, Autumn Terracotta, and Vineyard ink pads; Autumn Splendor, Nature Walk, and Impression Obsession Sentiments II stamp sets; Ribbon from Walmart; Antiqued Copper mini brads; Stampin' Up Word Window punch; Cuttlebug w/Nestabilities Classic Circles set; Round sponges, Sponge daubers; Glue Dots.

With all that talk about my card, I'll keep the rest of it short. There isn't much to say anyway with the exception that this is another weekend day that is flying by too fast and that the adage 'Time flies when you're having fun' must be true! I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday. 'Til next time, take care.