WOYWW (#358) + Some Cards

HELLO! Welcome to my desk shot for WOYWW #358, hosted by the lovely Julia. Like last week, I am posting late. The photo above shows two Stampin' Up sets that I have combined for storage. I've been making cards like crazy, but I've also been shopping and my new stamps pile is getting big and neglected. As a diversionary tactic, I decided to work on that pile in between cards. I've had one of these sets, Mixed Bouquet, a long time and had never adhered the rubber to the wood blocks (trying to decide, do I go wood? Cling? Unmounted and Tack n Peel?). The other set, Botanicals for You, is brand new and on cling mount, and I had an extra sheet of cling, so I spent a lovely evening appreciating being able to buy stamps already mounted, while I cling-mounted the old set. Sticky, gooey, MESS! Had my trusty embossing ink for my scissors and my talc for the sticky cushion. It did make it a bit easier, but not much. Anyway, glad that job is done! Probably why I put it off for so long...

I also want to share a couple cards. I have several now that I need to blog, and I have that problem because I'm not blogging as often as I need to. Once again, this problem! Oy! LOL, well, please bear with me (I learned in school that this is a plea for forebearance, not a plea to undress or confess - hahaha - and I often forget that simple test because bare with me just looks more correct). I shall re-commit to do better.

I guess I should start with this one that I talked about before. Remember all the pink and yellow card parts on last week's WOYWW desk? I added 2 images from Gecko Galz and am entering this into their April Challenge to use roses, lace and butterflies with at least one of their images:

I have used the Ed Hardy-like "The Time Is Now" image (which features roses) and I colored all but the background with those old Zig Writers pigment ink markers - the tiny tip on one end of the markers proved invaluable! The pink background of the half oval was colored with a Copic. I also added some clear gel pen to the hourglass. The black mod-looking butterfly is also a Gecko Galz image, which I colored with the Zigs as well and added some Stickles to his antennae.

Here's a close-up of the little guy. You can also see the texture on the card's background, achieved by using a dotted swiss embossing folder, then swiping with white chalk ink. Since I was using these images, I felt I needed to grunge up my card elements a bit to tie it all together, so just about everything has some black ink and distressing on the edges.

This photo shows my strip element pieces before assembly. I punched some lace (Martha punch) from the dotted paper and also the argyle paper, then cut the argyle strip apart so that I could layer it underneath and it would appear a bit wider. I'd originally thought to use only paper lace, but ended up adding some real lace on the paper lace before topping with the narrow ribbon. So, technically, there are 2 types of lace.

Here's the back. While I was creating this card, I felt my Just Pile It On mood taking hold and went with it. Without that, I doubt I'd have had the wherewithal to add the word stickers (matted and distressed) and the little matching butterfly stickers.

This is what I almost went with, but my mood took hold. And it took me a while to be okay with my piled-on finished product, but you know, I really like it, just had to get used to it, as my natural inclination is clean and linear. What do you think? Remember, my original goal was to use those stickers! Then, an additional goal became entering it in the challenge. I've since heard back from my cousin, the card's recipient, and she liked it, so that sounds like success to me! lol

Oy again, this is getting long and thanks for hanging in there, but I am going to squeeze one more card into this post. It's a birthday card from March for my friend Micky. (Above is a scan of the card front, closed.)

Here is a scan of the card back, closed.
I must tell you, she is a huge Elvis fan, even has a fabulous shrine to him in her home. I own way more Elvis stamps than I probably should, so it was a no-brainer what to make her. I also began wanting to get my card placed in her shrine, like a personal challenge or something, haha. And so, in my weirdo mind I figured I'd have a good chance if I made a fold card with lots of surfaces for these stamped images. And in the process, I made my very first side-step card!

Here's an overhead shot of it open.

And a side shot of it open. Cornish Heritage Farms made all the Elvis stamps except the big one on the back which was from I Brake for Stamps, and the Superstar is an old See-D's Sugarloaf stamp. The piano keys are from Clear Dollar. The paper was from a DCWV Stack long-ago taken apart, could not tell you the name. Oh, and the white card base is a Jinger Adams pre-cut form that came in a pack of 6 bought at Scrapbook Pal. And boo, I just checked and she no longer carries it. Oh, well, let's make the other 5 first before mourning a loss, haha. Anyway, it was fun to make and Micky liked it. And since I got through my first one, I am thinking I want to do another one when my Pile It On mood strikes again, because this one is looking a little plain to me now. Must be that darn mood! lol

Thanks again if you are still reading this, I appreciate your visit and comments, and I hope you have an awesome weekend!