Sharpen Your Skills With Challenges

I love to work with challenges! They always give me new ideas, and many times get me using things together that I would not have thought of.  Combining 2-3 challenges helps me stretch my skills even further and gets me thinking outside the box. This morning, I finished just such a project and I am so pleased with the results!

I really loved this week's Mojo Monday sketch, and I am hoping to find time to use it multiple times this week for some different types of cards. Then I saw the current Color Dare challenge to use black & white with green and I knew my first project would be a birthday card for my green loving hubby. His birthday is next month & now I am all done ahead of time - yay me!  Here's the example sketch from Mojo Monday:

The black & white of the challenge made me instantly think of the For Always paper pack. The pattern is more subtle than the picture shows; I had to sharpen it up a it to get the green to look better.

Of course a party needs glitter, and these sparkly balloons from the Artiste Cricut cartridge were just what I wanted.  I used the Green Glitter Paper from CTMH, and the black is Glitter Cardstock from American Crafts. Cutting both materials really made me appreciate the CTMH product even more, and I will be ordering the Black & Gray pack the next time I place an order! It cut so smoothly, in a single pass, where I had to use multi-cut with the chipboard then ink the sides to cover the gray chipboard. And better than the Pow! option from AC, the colors of the green glitter papers are nice and bright. Since this is a heavier material, I adhered the balloons with my trusty Liquid Glass so they will stay put.

I stamped on the tag with a Hostess Exclusive* stamp set, The Party Is On, in Black and Topiary ink. I used Black Distress Ink on the edges of the tag (and on the sides of the black balloon, and the edges of the background paper), and finished it off with a Baker's Twine bow.

The wide green ribbon on my card is from my stash - it was part of packaging on something we bought. Keep your eyes open when you are buying things like blankets, pajamas, and more, especially at Christmas time!

*Hostess Exclusive stamp sets are sets that can be bought at a reduced price using Hostess Rewards. You don't have to host an actual gathering at your home to get Hostess Rewards; you can use the EZinvite system like an online "book party", or contact me to place an individual qualifying order that earns Rewards. You can see all of the Hostess Exclusive stamp sets in the online catalog located here.