2 Challenges in 1 and A Sneak Preview

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Hey y'all. Happy Humpday! I hope you're having a fabulous day and an amazing week. I've go two cards to post before they close, one at midnight and one first thing in the morning so I'm actually going to do 2 posts today. This is #1.

So, Nacho Average Challenge is a new challenge site and I entered their 1st challenge, a sketch challenge, last week. Their plan is to alternate between sketch and color challenges. I think I've only done one color challenge on here in the last year, because as a general rule, I'm really just not that creative. There's just too many possibilities...all the potential combinations....AUGH!!! Which is why it's so funny that I have 3 cards and 2 color challenges to show you today.

You know by now, that I show the good with the bad here and I'm pretty honest with y'all about my shortcomings and faults. Color challenges and me....well, I'm pretty inept at them, really just too many possibilities, so I just don't do them. Yeah, yeah, Scaredy Cat and all that. I'm working on it.... Well, I saw the challenge colors yesterday and decided I would just have to give it a try. What's the worst that could happen? I'd have a sucky card to show you, so you know my cards don't always turn out. (As if you didn't already know that! LOL) On the walk to the slug-line, I started thinking of the stamp sets I had at home, and which ones could I possibly use with this color combination. Believe it or not I had two different stamp sets and two different card ideas come to mind. *Score!*

Here's the first one-

Happy Birthday Card featuring
Apothecary Art

Here's the Color Challenge (if I put the images of the sketches/color chart first then that's the image that shows up in my rolling top-ten list)

Wow! I wasn't sure about these colors outside of a fall/autumn type card and there was already one of those in the DT cards. Normally I wouldn't look at the DT samples first, but I was afraid I might need some inspiration. Good thing too, or I might have used my Gently Falling set and looked like a copy-cat!

I'd been wanting to use this image from the Apothecary Art set as it hadn't yet seen any ink. How sad is that? So I inked it up with Black Staz-On and stamped it onto a piece of Whisper White c/s. I ran this through my Big Shot with the corresponding Labels Framelet. I used my Blender Pens and Classic Ink Pads in the challenge colors to color in the image. It's a little hard to see at first glance but the inside portion of the flowers are in More Mustard. Do you know, I think this is the first time, I've used my M.M. products. I had to open the paper and the pad I know had never been used. I don't even think I've used the marker. Hard to believe how light the Riding Hood Red can appear. I love how using the blender pen you can make the colors almost a "wash" and then go back and layer in more to add depth and intensity. I wanted to add a little ribbon and as Riding Hood Red was all I had (from Christmas Cards last year) guess what I chose. I opted to put it across the center of the focal point instead of a sentiment.

Here's a close-up-

I decided to use Lucky Limeade as a mat. My original idea was to make two and cut them down so I'd a have just a small mat, you know like we do with labels but, silly me, I cut out two of the next larger size instead of the same size. I decided to just go with it and for a little added something-something I ran it through my Big-Shot with the Perfect Polka-Dots E.F. Now why I didn't think to just put the smaller framelets on the larger ones and cut them out is beyond me. Who know!?! As a stand-alone mat I was happy with how it looked so I decided to go with it. If I had it to do over again I would try it with the smaller mat. In fact I may still try that at home. That just left the More Mustard. What to do, what to do? Think, Think, Think, (you know what to do here (:  ) I decided to keep it simple with just the card base and no additional layers so I ran it through my Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper E.F. I then sponged it with M.M classic ink to bring out the detail.

For the inside, I used the sentiment that came in this case and the other floral image as well.

I stamped the sentiment in Soft Suede as I thought Basic Black might be a little strong. The floral image is actually from the journaling stamp that comes with this set. I masked off everything except the floral image and then inked it up with Black Staz-On.

Sorry, about the lighting. Not sure why the flash didn't go off. I used the same colors and blender pens to color in both stamped images and then let Tink have just a little bit of fun.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. With the exception of trying a smaller mat, I think it's o.k.  Now the challenge doesn't end until midnight Saturday so why am in such a rush to post today? Well, as I was mounting the focal image on my card front it struck me that it would fit in the Stamping 411 challenge too. Yes, I know I've already entered that one, but it never hurts to enter twice. : D In case you missed that sketch yesterday, here it is again-

Remember when I said I had two sets come to mind yesterday as I was brainstorming on the way to the slug-line? Well, I made a second card last night for this color challenge. It's actually my favorite of the two, but I'll do the complete post either later this week, maybe Friday or on Monday.

Here's a preview-

So excited about how this one turned out!!!!

Don't forget to stop by Stamping 411 and Nacho Average Challenge. There's still time for you to play along.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked my stab at this challenge, and if not I hope you can at least appreciate the challenge it was for me and commiserate with me. :) I hope it inspires you to step out of your comfort zone and try something new.

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day and stopping by today. You are so appreciated!!! If you liked today's card and have a moment to drop me a line, I'd love to hear from you. Your comments make my day! I read all of them and try to respond to them as well. If you liked today's card, or any here, and would like to +1 or Pin it, I've put the buttons here on my blog for your convenience. Friends and followers are always welcome too.

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan

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