Stamp Off Sunshine Wishes

Buffy, Susan and I are at it, with another Stamp Off

Challenge.  I like this one because Stampin' Up!

makes it so easy!

 This challenge is all about using words on your

challenge card.  The words can be stamped or die cut,

but they should be a prominent part of the project.

The Sunshine Wishes Thinlits on page 216 have some

wonderful words.  The are chunky, meaning they are easy

to glue, without making a mess.  These thinlits also offer

great words, including "sunshine", "congrats", "love" and "hope".

You can cut "sun" and "shine apart, to give you more options.

I layered 3 loves, to really emphasize the word.

For this card, I knew that I wanted to use some copper elements,

so watercolored a Pear Pizzazz background.  Once it dried,

I added embossed splotches of Copper Embossing Powder,

1/4 inch Copper Trim (p 199) and  Enamel Shapes from

the Subtles collection on page 196. 

Overall, I'm happy with this card, with one HUGE exception.

I can't for the life of me figure out why I didn't make the

background pink or red.  I would have had to ditch the

copper and use a different accent color, but "love" should

be layered on to red.  Sadly, sometimes the card is done,

before these insights dawn.  Guess that I will have to
assert that I love the environment and anything green.

I am betting that Buffy and Susan used more relevant

color combinations, so please check out their challenge cards!

Daisy with Butterfly Basics and Flourish

This card is a combination of some of my favorite products.

I used the new Daisy punch on page 206, placing a 1/2 inch

circle in the center.  The Happy Birthday sentiment from

Butterfly Basics (p 149) was cut out with the Stitched Shapes

Framelits (p 214), with a strip from the Flourish Thinlits (p 216)

layered over top.  The Berry Burst card base was run

through the Oh My Stars Textured Impressions Embossing

folder on page 210.  It actually was a quick and easy card 

to create and assemble, given the various Big Shot

accessories and Daisy Punch.

Beaded Flourish Thinlits Per Ubuhle Exhibit

Last week, I visited an exhibit at our local art museum.

The Ubuhle Women Beadwork Art exhibit was wonderful,

and brought up a lot of emotion.  The beautiful, beaded

works of art were created by women with few economic

opportunities, many of whom had HIV.   They worked together

to created panels that were sold to support these women.

It took months to create their lovely panels, and some of the

women died during the course of making their projects.

Later, Chinese imports undermined their efforts.

This inspired me to pull out some of my retired SU micro

beads and make a beaded project.  I used a

Berry Burst flower image from the Flourish Thinlits.

The Ubuhle women always attached their beads to

black fabric, reminiscent of the Xhosa headscarves and skirts 

which many of them grew up wearing. I used the Color

Theory DSP pack and layered my beaded medallion on

to a Basic Gray card base, run through the Layered Leaves

Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.

If you get a chance, check out the story of the Ubuhle

Beaded artwork here.