another new challenge

This summer I’ve been enjoying finding new blogs and sites and participating in their challenges.  I recently found yet another, In Style Stamps. 

I love sketch challenges because for me, figuring out a layout is often the most difficult part of creating a card.  So I decided to take part in the ISS sketch challenge.  This one had an extra twist – to turn the sketch into an easel card.  So I thought about it and finally came up with an idea.  I turned the sketch on its side because I felt my idea worked better that way. 

This card ended up being a mix of old and new stuff.  I’d never made an easel card before, but I found a really helpful tutorial online and figured it out.  I also hadn’t used this shape of Nestabilities dies yet and decided it was time to put them to use.  The patterned paper is from one of my oldest Basic Grey 6″ x 6″ pads; I’ve had it for a couple of years.  The cardstock for the card base is even older. And it seems like forever since I’ve used any of my stamps from eat cake graphics.  I used something else new to color the image – Copic markers that I received as an early birthday present from my husband.  I still have a lot of practicing to do with the Copics, but aside from my ink smudging a little bit, I’m pretty satisfied with my coloring job here.  I left the bottom panel blank so I can write a message to whoever receives the card.

I’ll admit that as I was working on the separate pieces of this card, I wasn’t liking it very much.  It felt like too much of a hodgepodge of things that didn’t seem to work together.  But now that the card is assembled and complete, I like it.  It’s still not one of my favorites, but I’m happy with it.  Sorry for the kind of dark photo.  It’s been trying to rain here all afternoon so I didn’t have a lot of good light for it.

Supplies:
Stamps: Abagail’s too late for cake, Am I too late for cake, short present (eat cake graphics)
Cardstock: Mauve Mist, Kiwi Kiss (Stampin’ Up); Basics White (Papertrey Ink); papers from Gypsy 6″ x 6″ pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Other: markers (Copic); Dahlia die (Nestabilities)