Last, but not Least ...

There's a sketch challenge on the Verve Stamps blog commemorating its new release tomorrow night. And, this is what I came up with. The flower(s) is from Verve Stamps' Abundant Blessings set. While I'm happy with the results, my coloring technique was most unconventional. I first colored the flowers with Prismacolor colored pencils and used odorless mineral spirits and a paper blending stump to blend the colors. I was disappointed when the color was all wrong for the paper I had picked out. Instead of discarding it, however, I grabbed a Carnation Pink marker and went over it, changing the color to one that worked with this paper. The crazy thing is I don't think the carnation marker would have cut it on its own.

When I say 'flowers,' this one flower is made up of three flowers layered on top of one another using foam mounting tape. I love the dimension. The camera didn't show it, but the flower sparkles, too, after I 'painted' it with Star Dust Stickles. I hemmed and hawed a bit about what to do with the two little square accents before remembering my Stampin' Up Build-a-Brad set. Just right!

Materials & Tools: Colonial White and Cocoa cardstock; Basic Grey Porcelain 6x6-inch paper pad; Cocoa ink pad; Verve Stamps Abundant Blessings stamp set; Kaiser Kraft self-adhesive pearls; Stampin' Up Build-a-Brad set; Corner rounder; Martha Stewart Doily Lace and Branch punches; Star Dust Stickles; 3M foam mounting tape.

I suppose it goes without saying what I did today ... I did a little organizing, too, although this seems to be one of those situations where one has to make a mess to clean up a mess. My corner isn't looking so great right now either after my little stamping marathon. I'm debating whether I should clean it up tonight or go read the last pages of The Shack. I described the book as 'compelling' the other night. 'Powerful' is another good word. I'll have more to say, I think, once I finish it.

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend. While I'm not particularly excited about losing an hour of sleep tonight, I'm excited by the prospect of one more hour of daylight at the end of the day. I'm hoping it causes me to be perkier in the evenings! Tomorrow, Cameron and the boys are going to spend the afternoon with us, as this seems to have become our every-other-Sunday tradition - one that I cherish. You never know, too. Mathias and I might make a card or two. Thanks for stopping, and enjoy Sunday. Most likely, I'll catch you again then!