A Challenge Became a Friend

Well, it all began with a challenge. I decided I would try my hand at one of the challenges over at Splitcoast. I always see the card sketches and thought it might be fun... so I tried this sketch. And this was the card I ended up with...

...only, I don't like it. I think it's lopsided and too heavy on the right. I like the way the Priceless stamps look all random on the Whisper White strip, and I like how the sentiment from Short & Sweet fits on the Large Oval punch (I had to use my Stampin' Write marker and position that by hand), but I just don't think this card is up to par. Disappointing.

But alas, not all is lost, I did like the color scheme I used! It's Lavender Lace, Certainly Celery, and Barely Banana. So I just played around some more and created the two cards below instead!


Totally different, but I like these much better... and even though they don't exactly "fit" the challenge, at least they were inspired by the one that does... does that count? :)

The strip across the bottom comes from the Hostess Level I set called A Little Bit of Happiness, and I colored them with my Blender Pens and classic ink pad lids. I mounted the strip onto some textured cardstock that has been pierced and sponged. The beautiful dear friend sentiment comes from All Holidays and is stamped with Lavender Lace ink on both cards. And some Whisper White Taffeta ribbon adds some balance. (speaking of Taffeta ribbon, I do still have some openings in my Ribbon Share... I'll be placing that order on April 20th, so be sure to get in on it before then!)

Finally, here is one more card that I made like this, only in a slightly different color scheme... this one is Apricot Appeal with Ruby Red and Certainly Celery.

I took the photo next to the envelope I mailed it in (it's on its way to my dear friend in Scotland - hope she gets it before she sees this post!) because I wanted to show you how I use the same stamp on the flap of the envelope. This works nicely given the shape of that stamp.

So there you have it... what started as a challenge turned into a dear friend!