faux corEENtheean leatherrrrrrrr*

this week at shopping our stash, we're VERY excited to be welcoming four unbelievably awesome new designers to our team, so be sure to pop over and leave some love for jessi, linda, michelle and sandie, and see what they've done for this week's challenge (#64):

Technique Time

Use a technique you've always wanted to try but haven't yet, or one you haven't done in ages! Be sure to tell us what technique you are using. Ideas: alcohol inks, coloring with a different medium (for instance if you always use copics, use pencils instead), make your own embellishments, emboss with ink or paint using a cuttlebug folder, anything Tim Holtz-esque, etc.

i'm pretty excited about this one, so first i'll show you my card... and then i'll essplain it.

vintage deer illustration; patterned paper: graphic 45, dcwv; real wood veneer: kate's paperie; metal and epoxy frame: k and co; butterfly sticker: ek success; leaf ribbon: may arts; nubbly green trim" making memories; felt fern: prima; distress inks (in about 6 slightly different colors of brown and tan!): ranger

as you know, i am a technique-free zone, so i did what i often** do on these occasions, screamed (via email), "HELP!" to my lovely and talented friend stephanie severin, who sent me a list of links to some cool (but EASY) techniques that she knows i have admired in the past; including one for making faux leather out of masking tape, from this beate johns tutorial on SCS which stef had used on this card i love! i don't think mine looks nearly as much like leather*** as either of their cards do-- mine's more like cork, or maybe that pressboard stuff they used to make inexpensive furniture from, before columbus discovered mdf-- but i really like it; and it was indeed easy and fun to accomplish, so i know for sure i'll be trying it again in future (already have a few ideas on that score, actually) so i'm happy to enter this in simon says stamp and show... your FAVORITE technique! i also found a cool new (to me!) challenge blog called do you stack up, who are featuring "four-legged friends" this week, so i'm popping dear mr. deer in there, as well! :)

i was very excited to get a shout-out at unscripted sketches last week for the vintage motoring card i made for our chiropractor, and i thank those lovely ladies for that; this week's sketch (#171) is beyond fab as well; i've flipped it horitzontally to avoid one of my biggest cardmaking pet peeves: i cannot stand it if my "focal image" (in this case the aforesaid mr. deer) seems to be staring right off the page, rather than into the rich heartland of my card; i know, i know, it's very silly of me, but that just totally bugs me, so there!

finally, this is by far the most tangential i've ever gone in a card for one of laurel seabrook's inspired by challenges, and it makes a lot more sense if you realize that the title of #36 is "inspired by camping" --from which i took the general outdoorsy/nature theme--than if you compare my card to the inspiration picture itself, but i'll show you the picture anyway, o'course, in case you want to play, too! i might need to have another go at this one, actually, since i am sooooooooooo IN LOVE with those fabulous stacked triangle trees:

and now i invite you all to head over to shopping our stash, see the amazingly gorgeous DT cards, welcome our new DT darlings, and start planning ♥YOUR♥ lovely card!!!

*you have to be my age (late 40's) and american and remember ricardo montalban's chrysler commercials from the 70's to get this; even then it's not VERY funny. see, if i can't think of a good post title when i sit down to blog, i just put the first silly thing i thinkof, then go back and fix it later. but sometimes... i can't think of a good post title later, either. this was one of those times. sorry! 

**something else i've been known to do on these occasions, is to scream (via email), "HELP!" to my lovely and talented friend marisol adams! :)

***i used two different kinds of masking tape, thinking it would add more texture--which it did; however the two types also absorbed the inks in COMPLETELY different ways! interesting, no?! ...note to self...