Wednesday, January 11, 2012

everything i love about challenges...

...is summed up in this one card!

but before i show it to you, let me tell you about the challenges which inspired it. first there's city crafter challenge blog, week #91: back to black. ok, you KNOW i love CCCB generally, they have awesome themes every week, one of the best DT's online (which includes my lovely friends kirsty and ros!) and the guest designer this week just happens to be my very oldest and dearest blogging friend, the simply elegant (and simply wonderful!) june houck. so obviously you know i was always gonna show up for this one, but it just so happens the challenge this week was REALLY challenging, and i mean that in a very verrrrry good way: we have to include a silhoutte image in our project and it has to be *BLACK*... hence the name. i really had to think about what i would do, though frankly, i didn't think for that long, because once i had seen the first of june's two gorgeous cards i knew i needed to black emboss something!

then there's the other inspiration, which is deconstructed sketch #33. i saw it on leslie's blog, along with her awesome card, and i knew i had to get in on it; which is why i'm putting in a second post today instead of waiting, i'm squeeeeeeeeeaking in just under the deadline!


ok, so NOW, finally, here is my card:


(vintage: sheet music, re-sized and printed on creamy index stock; patterned paper: glitz, authentique (thank you, stef!); flowers and text stamp: prima; bling: recollections; bird stamp: inkadinkadoo; clip: making memories; chipboard: fancy pants; ribbon: may arts (thank you, linda!); mistable ruffle trim: pink paislee (thank you, mari!) inks: ranger, colorbox; embossing powder: psx; adhesives: tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape and doublestick tape, sewing machine)

the reason i say this sums up everything i love about challenges is: there is NO WAY i would've made this card on my own! for one thing, i would NOT have thought of using a silhoutte image--especially a black one; and if i had wanted to, i'd have been stumped thinking, "oh i don't have any"... because it took june's card to make me realize ANY solid stamp will work for this! then even if i had gotten that far by myself, i wouldn't have reached for ruffles and chipboard and put the two flowers up top if i wasn't following the sketch. so basically NO ELEMENT of this card would have existed in the way it does now, and i'd've been a sadder and lesser crafter!

thank you, challenge devisers and hostesses, everywhere! you're performing a wonderful service, and  i, for one, really appreciate it!!! ♥♥♥

15 comments:

  1. That card is aaaaabsolutely STUNNING!

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  2. ooh it turned out amazing! I am the same way about challenges. Thats what I love about them. It plants new ideas in your head and makes you work outside your normal "box" comfort zone. Too cool. This card is totally great. I am loving both of those sites. I feel like I'm completely behind on all the "cool" challenge sites. I keep finding more. Yeah! :) via all you guys.

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  3. GORGEOUS...can't yell it out louder than that!

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  4. WOW! This is so pretty! I love the colours on this and the silhouette stamp too. Love the ruffles & flower....I dream of making cards as beautiful as this one.

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  5. Wherever your inspiration came from ... what you executed is a stunning .... STUN...NING! card ... I love every single bit of this Especially the image and the colours ... oh and that sheet music ... well all of it ... many thanks for joining us this week at CCCB Have a lovely day!

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  6. Wherever your inspiration came from ... what you executed is a stunning .... STUN...NING! card ... I love every single bit of this Especially the image and the colours ... oh and that sheet music ... well all of it ... many thanks for joining us this week at CCCB Have a lovely day!

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  7. Wowzers!! Absolutely stunning! !

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  8. Oh, this is really lovely! Kirsty provided a great challenge, didn't she? We both were thinking out-of-the-box on this one. And look at the result! Really beautiful, Lauren. I'll bet your mom would love to receive this card. No doubt she doesn't have enough wall space to frame and hang all of your beautiful cards you have made for her over the years.

    Thanks for the shout out! I am so grateful for our friendship. My, how I have grown because I know you. I now look for non-traditional colors for ALL holiday cards...the June Houck of 4+ years ago would have been scratching her head on that one ;) Thanks for helping me stretch my creativity and improve, Lauren. I owe you big time!

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  9. After studying your card for some minutes, I have realized that this is a true work of art... the type of which I would put on an easel in my living room. Stunningly beautiful, dear lady!

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  10. AH-MA-ZING, and I don't even care if they want to ban that word, cuz NOTHING ELSE would describe this card! OMG.

    I've already done that sketch, butt (HA! typed 2 t's and left them there for the comic effect) the silhouette dies is on my list of things to tackle this weekend!

    Looooooooooooooooooooooove your card! *swoon*

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  11. Aww.... sweet and lovely!!! thanks for playing along with us at CCCB!

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  12. Wowza gorgeous! Love that sweet birdie!

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  13. Such a beautiful card. Thanks so much for playing along with us at CCCB!

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the *BEST* part of blogging is the comments, dontcha think? thanks for taking time to leave one! ~♥~