Sunday, February 16, 2014

Pattern Playing...Cure for the Monday Blues #4, CASology Week 82: Bold, Simon Says Monday Challenge: We Love Stamps

Hello!

I have a couple quick posts to share, then I'm embarking on another editing/revision project that's come my way. This time, the paper comes from a student in Archeology, who is studying a little known culture - the Oromo - and their tuber-crop domestication processes, as revealed through their ceramic pottery.  Seriously:  how cool is that!!  My dendrites are already tingling in anticipation, because this will be fascinating! I remember taking two classes back in my university days (many, many  years ago), on Ancient Greece and Rome, and the professors taught them in a narrative style, with plenty of slides (back in the days before internet, smart boards, videos, youtube...). Three times a week for the duration of the semesters, I was transported to the past, and oh, what discoveries I made.  Fabulous classes.


Traveling 'back in time' is part of the theme of the two cards I'm sharing in this post.  Last week, I made another delightful discovery: the Cure for the Monday  Blues challenges, designed and hostessed by the phenomenally talented Taheerah.  I've followed her blog "Fill your Paper with the Breathings of your {heart}" and, in turn, her 'rise to stardom' in the card-making world for a few months, and wow...her creativity is limitless. This challenge alone, is evidence of that; each Monday she shares a photo to inspire us to lift up from the Monday duldrums and get our creative sparks firing. I saw, but didn't play, in the first two challenges (feeling a bit daunted), and nearly went the same route when Challenge #3 came around. 


This challenge, in turn, lead me another discovery, or rather, a reminder, of a stamp set that I won a while back, from Annabelle stamps; one I had yet to ink because the fun, trendy, artsy, yet 'out of my crafting terrain', series of images had me stymied.  

The combination of Taheerah's challenge and the stamps ignited a 'ping'...and a card was born.  Unfortunately, because I'm time-zone challenged, I missed entering.  You'd think I'd pay closer attention to 'link closes in "x" days" info and work from there... 


ANYWAY...when Taheerah's Challenge #4 came about (candies...licorice sticks...yummmm),
I decided my previous un-entered card, with the previously un-used stamps, warranted a companion. This time around, I combined the 'image' inspiration from Challenge #3, Pattern-tastic, with the colours from Challenge #4, Sugar Rush (purple, blue, pink, lilac) to create my card.

Taheerah, hope this card fits your challenge criteria. I'm not sure if mixing-and-matching is allowed, but I'm hoping so, because your challenges have certainly caught my attention!  


Here's my Pattern-tastic inspired Sugar Rush card:
 


Just for a lark, here's the first one that didn't squeeze in on time,


And here they are together...


Two more, and I'll have a set...I'm going for it!

Since this is certainly a 'bold' new style I've explored, I'm also entering into CASology Week 82: Bold


Thanks so much for dropping by; your visit and comments make my day!






15 comments:

Anni said...

Great cards!
Anni

~amy~ said...

ooohhhhh....nice work, both of them are simply stunning! I love reading about your editing jobs, so fascinating!

Shannon J said...

Sketchy, artsy, fun, cool and quite simply, perfect! You'd never know these stamps had you stymied! It looks as though these came about naturally and effortlessly! YES, a set needs to be made!!! I don't think Taheera will mind mixing and matching at all - I think she will be tickled pink when she sees these! I also just love your enthusiasm for diving in, and learning about new subjects as you are editing papers. You are one cool lady, Miss Carol!

Tracey McNeely said...

Love those bold patterns, both cards are so fabulous! Very interesting about your newest editing job. Sounds fascinating. Thank you so much for joining us t his week at CASology!

Suzanne C said...

Great graphic design! These are very flexible and could be used for a variety of occasions! Thanks for joining us this week at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge!

Joyce said...

Fabulous design. I love them both. Thanks so much for playing along at CASology this week.

Taheerah said...

Oh my goodness me!! Thank you so *so* much for all your kind words and praise and just general niceness!! I'm totally blushing and flattered over here!! You made my day!!

Secondly, I am so so happy you played along! I've been seeing you leaving comments on the other entrants' blogs before, mentioning your trepidation, so it makes me so happy you got past that fear and entered! Such a shame you missed the deadline last week, but your card for Pattern-Tastic is awesome!! And you are totally within the rules to combine parts from each inspiration (I never thought of that! What a great way to expand your options!). I love the sketchy blocks and love that you took the colours from this week's challenge to change up last week's design!! Wonderful to have all those little sentiments at those different angles too!

Now you've played once and broken your duck, you'll have to keep coming back... ! *wink* Thanks so much for playing to Cure The Monday Blues!

Dana said...

Oh wow!! I just love how you used the sketch blocks!! And to tie it into the new challenge, genius!! I love the sketch blocks in black and another in color!! Just awesome!!

Katie Ann Brooks said...

OMG, love, love, love your patterns, so fabulous! Wonderful job with this challenge!

Greta said...

Really cool looking cards, my friend! Good for you finding new challenges--these look tough to me!

Anita in France said...

Carol ... you just know I'm going to love these sketchy blocks, right? And I love what you've done with them ... in monochrome and in colour ... both very, very cool ... and fabulous! Happy editing! Hugs, Anita:)

Kylie said...

Oh they are so fantastic! You know I think you master anything you try! Gorgeous!

Marisa said...

Fun, bold cards :) What a great paper to read and edit too!

Sian Ridley said...

Oh my goodness! These are gorgeous!!! Don't get me wrong, I'm not in the slightest bit surprised because you always come up with fantastic designs, but these are especially stunning!!

I also ran out of time for challenge 3 and am now stumped by challenge 4 - I will keep working at it though!

Ooh, that paper does sound interesting - although I don't know how you have time to do everything you do...the only sensible conclusion I can draw is that you're superwoman ;)

Marlena M. said...

These cards are cool Carol~I love the patterns and blocks! ;)