OCL Challenges

I'm playing catch-up with challenges on the Our Craft Lounge blog.  This week's challenge is a photo inspiration challenge.

I love this color combo and decided to go with cupcakes from Big Birthday Wishes!  They were stamped with Memento ink, colored with Copics, and embellished with rhinestones and twine.  The layout all started with a found scrap of card stock that just happened to be cut on a diagonal.  Just a simple, bright, fun birthday card!

Last week's challenge was a color challenge, to use teal, brown, and white.  A scrap of Crate Paper designer paper and a Tea Time image stamped on white Copic blending paper seemed like a perfect starting place, but the Copic marker colors I had for the tea cup turned out a little bit bright for my liking.  I tried to tone it down by over-stamping it with the now retired SU linen background stamp and some distress ink.  That stamp was not where I expected it to be, and it took me 45 frustrating minutes to finally find it, which left me exasperated and not much in the mood to stamp.  I ended up stepping away from the stamp table overnight, and still struggled to get back into it next morning.



I used a Nestabilities labels 10 to cut a mat for the focal image, then used an oval to cut an opening in the dotted Swiss paper to create a frame that would let the card base peek through.  A bit of sponging with distress ink and a few pearls emphasize the edges and draw attention to the contours of the label.  I added a small strip of the designer paper, edged with strips of ribbon and a bow at the center...I had originally planned to use more of this paper, but the busy-ness of the design overwhelmed the card, so I changed my mind!  It just didn't look quite the way I expected.  It's funny, too, that of all the white card stock I started with got trimmed away as I worked, so I'm not so sure it qualifies for this color challenge after all, although one of the inspiration photos in the collage IS cream-colored!  ;)  I'm still not so thrilled (or maybe more accurately, so not thrilled) with this card!  I'm not sure I'll ever really like it, as much as I fussed with it, but it is what it is!

Visit the Our Craft Lounge blog to find lots of card-making inspiration using fun sets illustrated by our amazing artists!

Notes:
Our Craft Lounge stamps (Big Birthday Wishes, Tea Time)
Crate Paper designer paper
Copic blending card stock
Nestabilities squares, ovals, labels 10
Memento ink
Tim Holtz tea dye distress ink
Copic markers
Cherry Red Divine Twine
Kaiser Craft pearls
satin ribbon