A Triple Challenge and A Little Holiday Cheer OWH #99, SQSC #17, PPA #124

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Hey y'all.

Friday is finally here! Woo-Hoo! The cold is coming quickly here in the DMV and we are expected to drop nearly 20 degrees during the day today and maybe even some of the white stuff. YUCK! But, I'm doing a Christmas lunch with my co-workers and counting down to the weekend. I hope you have some fabulous plans for this last weekend before Christmas. Holy Cow, it's so hard to believe it's almost here!

No Christmas card today though, I'm looking ahead to V.D. (Ok, I hope you all went back to High School with me on that one.) Of course, I meant Valentine's Day. Operation Write Home is sending Valentine's Day cards overseas to our troops and they need to be sent out by Dec. 31st. Have you heard about this group? They send cards to our troops so they have beautiful handmade cards to send home to their loved ones. They also send cards to our Hero's from us, to thank them for the Amazing Job they are doing. Check them out. Here's their Sketch Challenge for this week-

It doesn't happen often for me, but as soon as I saw it I knew what I wanted to do. I just needed to flip the whole card on it's side and I'd be in business. This really doesn't happen often for me so I was really excited. One of the things I also really liked about the challenge sketch is it gives dimensions on it. What a big HUGE help that is, especially to someone like me. This of course meant I didn't have to do any math to try and figure out my dimensions. Thanks OWH!

However, While I was waiting to get a chance to stamp, I saw this sketch over at Stampin Queens-

I thought "It's kinda similar to the OWH one, just flip it on it's side too, skinny up the middle layer and stretch out the top one." Are you seeing it?  Now if you  have followed me at all, you know I usually don't see these kinds of connections. I'm usually a very literal interpretation kind of girl, so I was really excited that I might be able to do 2 challenges with one card. The only thing it didn't have was the little accents in the corners. I hope they'll forgive me for not using them.

And then I saw this sketch over at Pals Paper Arts and thought "No Stinking Way! 3 challenges from 1 card?" Here's the PPA sketch-

Here I thought "If I just flip the layout of the top layers side-ways, ( a quarter turn counter-clockwise) I think it will work."  And you know what? I think it does!

What do you think? Here's my card-

Can I just say, it turned out just like I saw it in my head, and it came together so quickly too. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

I started with a base of Real Red and then a layer of Pretty in Pink for my strip, which I adhered with Tombow. I then used my LOVE Letterpress Plate and my Big Shot to create the center panel. I inked it up with Real Red classic ink (although I do believe it probably does work better with the Craft Spots) and ran it through. This was, sad to say, the first time I had used this plate, but I will definitely use it more. I popped this up with dimensionals and then added my large Red Glimmer Heart which was left over from my Valentines Day swap a few weeks back. I used a few dimensionals on this too.

It's kind of hard to see in this picture, but there are embossed hearts on the pink layer. I made a Textured Plate with the backing from our DSP packs and my small heart punch. I did an End of the Week Technique on it a while back. You can check it out HERE if you haven't seen it yet. The hearts are all turned randomly on 3 lines (yeah, random was really hard for me here, because there are a lot of hearts!) and then glued down. Here's a look at what the strip looks like-

Ooops, it looks like I  showed the debossed side :-)

Here's a closer look at the card-

Just a little added touch of the unexpected and since I made it myself, I know no-one else will have one just like it.

Here's the inside of the card-

As I currently own just one Valentine's set that's what got used even though it's from last year and is retired. I used Real Red for my ink and let Tink do her thing at the bottom. Now, if this card was actually being shipped to OWH I wouldn't have been able to use the Dazzling Diamonds, I would have just used a small Glimmer heart instead.

So what do you think? I think I pulled it off. I always wondered at how people could get 2 or 3 challenges out of one card. Most of them are sketches and color challenges or mashups, but I think I managed to get 3 different sketches out of one card. I'm enjoying this because I'm sure it will probably never happen again!

If you liked today's card, I would love it if you left me a comment. It's great when I get to hear from you! Also, if you liked today's card, please feel free to +1 or Pin it. I've added the buttons to my side-bar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are also welcome. :)

Today's Card recipe-
Cardstock- Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White and Red Glimmer
Ink-Real Red
Big Shot- Love Letterpress Plate
Punch- Large Heart
Accessories-Tombow, Dazzling Details, Two-Way Glue Pen

Now back to the holiday's for just a moment. Ever get a phone call and you look at the number and go???????

That happened to me yesterday when I looked at the caller ID and it was my home number. Now I know my studio assistants are pretty talented and Duecey actually likes to talk on the phone, but him calling me, well that would be one for the record books. And, as I'm an empty-nester, (except for Deucey and Bitty) I knew no-one was in the house unless my resident ghost had decided to call and there again, one for the record books. So I answered the phone to find my sis on the other end. *WHEW!* She was calling to tell me she was dropping off a surprise, but where could she put it so the babies wouldn't get it for the next few hours because Bitty was already playing with. We finally came up with a hiding location, but I was going bonkers trying to figure out what she possibly could have left for me that Bitty Kitty wanted so bad.

I got home and found this-

Ok, I actually found it in the spare bedroom so Bitty wouldn't play with it and brought it up so I could take a picture. Do you know what it is? It's the Charlie Brown Christmas tree! With the little red ornament and Linus' blankie around the bottom. You know what else? It plays the Charlie Brown theme.

My sis had got us both one and it was just in time for me to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas on t.v. last night. She is so AMAZING!!!! Really, Just the Best!

Here's the cute card that came with it too. Just right for my studio assistants-

I was laughing SO HARD! I loved my early gifts and just wanted to be able to share them with you all. I hope they bring a little joy to your day. Remember also, to Just Dance, and to dance like no-one's watching.

I hope you have a Great weekend filled with Family, Friends, Lots of Love and of course plenty of time for designing!

Till next time-

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

End of the Week Technique #4 - Making Your Own Texture Plates

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Hey y'all! I hope everyone is doing good today and is excited to be seeing the week coming to an end. I am going to dare to say it (although I am only whispering it for fear that God may overhear, he's busy with other stuff so hopefully he's not paying me too much mind) the sun is trying to peak out today! It's cold though. I almost had to put on my gloves as I read my book in the slug line (that's a topic for another post).

But weak sun is better than no sun right? Yesterday I posted on my FB, that with all the rain we have been getting I should either be meeting my cold, hard bodied, immortal, sparkly, true love or my hot-blooded, hard bodied, long-lived, shape-shifting, true love. LOL. Boy, did that set off a Team Edward- Team Jacob volley of comments. :-) Anyways, I hope you are warm and dry wherever you are!

Are you loving the End of the Week Techniques? I am loving the challenge of it! But the name is a little long to keep writing in the blog. I say we find a way to shorten it. EOTWT? EWT? Someone help me out here. Please?!?!?!?!?! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. I would really appreciate it! Thanks!

So anyways, I was trolling one of my favorite sites a while back, Stamp and Scrap with Frenchie, click HERE to go there, (I just love her stuff!) and found a video on how to make your own texture plates. Well I thought "How stinking cool is that?" and knew I would need to try it. If you want to check out the video, watch it HERE.

Here's my card. For those of you that know me, it seems like lately all I've been doing is running around in circles like one of my studio assistants chasing their tails, and sometimes it's all I can do to smile. So the circle template seemed like the perfect choice for this card.

I used a base of Poppy Parade and my new Circles Template. Love it! (Instructions to follow in just a minute.) I punched a flower with my Flower Punch in Poppy Parade and one from the circle pattern paper from the Just Eat Cake DSP So Pretty! Then I stamped the sentiment smile in Poppy Parade and stamped it out using my 3/4" circle punch. The stamp set is unfortunately retired but it was one of the first I ever purchased and it fit my needs. We have plenty that would also fit here perfectly, you can look in my online catalog to find one you like. I used my bone folder to curl the edges for a little dimension and adhered all 3 layers with SNAIL.

For the inside I used another stamp from the same stamp and of course had to make it pop, to make my self smile. :-)

I stamped the image with Poppy Parade and then, you know what I did, but for those of you that might be new here.... I used my Two-Way Glue Pen and my Dazzling Diamonds Glitter to outline the image. Why? Why Not? The inside should be just as pretty as the outside! It's hard to see, but I traced the words HAPPY in glitter too. It makes me happy every time I see it. For some reason, it looks like the glitter is knocked off in the right upper corner of the flower but it's not it's just the way the light is hitting the picture. I tried to get a better picture of it here.

I think it's so nice since I can't afford all the diamonds I want in life, Stampin' Up at least lets me have all the Bling I can stand!

Now for the Technique- Did you watch the video? She makes it all so easy!

So, I made two templates- the circle and a star one too. Oi! Can I tell you how covered in Tombow my fingers were? It really is best to lay everything out first. Even then, you may come back and find out you're not real happy with the layout. Ask me how I know?

For those of you that know me- You know how much I love the word Random. And by Love, I mean Loath. Like really, Detest. As in, Can't stand! Seriously, it distresses me. The OCD in me can't stand it. Is it random enough, does it look too symmetrical, not enough, does it look too close, too far, too staged, AUGH!!!!!!!
Well, as you will see, the circle one turned out ok but even with planning the star one still turned out with an almost even row right down the left hand side. SMH! The nice thing about the plates being the size they are is our cards are rarely that size. This leaves us room to turn our cardstock multiple ways to get different impressions each time.

Here's how my Impressions Plates turned out-

Using my Big Shot and #2 Circles and #2 Stars Dies and the Cardboard backpieces from my DSP packs I cut out the following pieces.

I used the 3 smallest circles for this, and cut out 4 of each circle twice so I had a total of 8 of each size circle. I then glued them together two at at time with Tombow adhesive and  then arranged them on my board in an arrangement I liked and then glued them down one at a time. It works better this way so you keep the pattern you like. You let it cure for 24 hours and then you gather all your equipment and make your card.
It gave me this embossed image-

And this debossed image-

I did the same thing with the stars- the 3 smallest stars, punched out 4 of each star twice so I had a total of 8 of each size. I then glued them together two at at time with Tombow adhesive and  then arranged them on my board in an arrangement I liked and then glued them down one at a time. It works better this way so you keep the pattern you like. You let it cure for 24 hours and then you gather all your equipment and make your card. More on that in a moment....

Here's the stars emboss-

And the stars deboss-

Pretty cool huh? I like that both sides are so pretty you have to choose which side you want to pick!

Well, let me just tell you, I was so excited to do this project I did not fully listen to the video and make sure I had everything I needed to do the project. I didn't have the Silicone pad for the Big Shot. So there I was, calling Michael's all over the region (I know, be my best customer, buy from myself, but I wanted to do my project NOW!!!!), over the Columbus Day weekend, and no one had it! AUGH!!!! Well, necessity is the mother of all invention, so I made do. It's not the best, but it made do and trust me I am buying the pad from Stampin' Up because this one is not holding up, but dangit if I didn't take my Mouse Pad right off my computer desk and cut it to fit my Big Shot platform and use it to run through with my card. It was a reeeeealllly snug fit and like I said one I won't be doing any more (Don't try this at home kids!) I just had to make my pretty little card! And it is pretty, don't you think!

So that's it for this week's edition of End of the Week Technique. I hope you like the card and the technique. I hope you learned something new. If you did, leave me a comment. Better yet send me a picture, I would love to see your work.

If you liked today's card, I would love it if you left me a comment. It's great when I get to hear from you! Also, if you liked today's card, please feel free to +1 or Pin it. I've added the buttons to my side-bar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are also welcome. :)

Don't forget to stop by Frenchie's site too! She's fabulous!

As always you can shop 24/7 in my online store HERE to get everything you need to make this card and many more.

Till next time,

Be Safe,
Shannon Pin It