- we are at my favourite vacation spot EVER: Bend, OR. I. LOVE. BEND! In just a couple of hours, my husband will be competing in the first race of his three day/four race stage race - the Cascade Classic Road Bike Race - and I am giddy! Nervous, excited...you name it, I have it. Mr. Cool as a Cucumber is fine. My responsibilities for this 70 mile race are to zoom to feed zone one to pass him a water bottle (swelter-fest here; so not what we're accustomed to) then high-tail it to feed zone two for a second bottle passing. As long as I don't get caught behind the race, or lost (oh, please, not that!!), all should be okay. I hope. Passing a water bottle to a cyclist whizzing by at 30 km an hour, in the midst of a pack of 100, is a tad anxiety inducing, however...'tis what I do. Fingers crossed all goes well.
- I brought along my mobile crafting unit - and yes, this time my cuttlebug and dies, accompanied by a variety of stamps, inks, stencils, sponging thingies, and papers came along. Yayyy...Just so you know: everything I brought fit in a canvas grocery bag. Selective packing this time.
- I have NEW stamps from STAMPlorations!! So excited - and a couple will be making their debut here!
Best to get to the programme, as my nerves are starting to jingle and jangle. We're leaving in an hour, for his 2:20 start...
I decided, for the STAMPlorations Bi-weekly Sketch Challenge #15
to debut one of the gorgeous flowers from the Boxed Blooms and Bold Sentiments set. Of course, I wanted to showcase all of them, immediately, however, one must exercise restraint, mustn't one (hahahahahahaha ...not moi!). You'll see what I mean in a minute: one bloom + two sentiments = two cards and two tags. Had. to. do. it. *grin* Of course, I also had to tinker around with how to colour my flower. I could have used my new Prismacolour pencils (bought at Hobby Lobby in Kennewick WA, where we stopped the first night along our journey...I had a coupon, and no restraint...), but nope. I could have used my distress markers/inks that joined in the journey. Nope again. Instead, I went with sponging, because I'm currently obsessed with this technique. More practice required, of course. Except for the sentiment, everything is sponged: the flower, the stencil dot-fade background and the photobooth die (I didn't bring black cardstock in my travelin' stash - d-uh!). I used varied coloured distress inks for the flowers, and a yellow HA cube ink for the centers (which were tricky, given the size of the sponge daubers I was using).
Ready? First up, my two cards, followed by two tags, that will eventually be placed on cards, because the backs are, ummm...used (so glad that Tracey shared that she does this, too!!).
The black die and flower panels are popped up on the cards above; the flower panels
popped up on the tags below.
I'm also adding these to Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #104: CAS
Time for me to get ready, and we're off to the races...
NOTE: Honoured, delighted and completely thrilled that my cards were the winning picks at STAMPlorations Challenge #15. THANK YOU!!
Thanks so much for dropping by; your visit and comments add sparkle to my day!
24 comments:
Best of luck and full on safe ride to DH, and safe passing off to you too. Your cards and tags ar lovely. Am lovin' those big, close-up blooms. Great color choices too. Those stencil dotty fade-y backgrounds add so much to your works. Great idea!! You da bomb! Bev
Hope DH finishes WAY up in the standings. Two great tags and two great cards. nice going. Good wishes.
Good luck with the passing on the water bottles, I don't know about u but so am already feeling anxious about the whole situation :) lol
And crafting along the way hats off :) u created amazing cards and tags!
Gorgeous design ... love the black frame between the sponged background and your sponged flowers. I have just ordered this stamp set and it is whizzing it's way to me as I type (I'm excited!). Loll xx
oregon! We're practically thisclose to each other...okay so I did google it and we're a mere 5.5 hours away from each other! Go you on the water bottle pass!
I'm always so impressed with your mobile crafting! Awesome projects!
These are fabulous! Way to rock the portable stamping station :) I think I would close my eyes and put my arm out and hope it was still attached after someone zoomed by and got the bottle! Gool luck to hubby in the race :)
Yes, you ARE close......long drive, but close!!!! Hooray. I cross my fingers, and just hearing of the race regime makes me nervous!!!!! Love the STAMPlorations debut!! HUGS!!!!!!!!
Just lovely, Carol ... the faded out dotty backgrounds are a perfect foil for these bold, stunning blooms ... I'm always amazed by what you do with your MCU! Hope the water bottle passing passed off like clockwork! Hugs, Anita :)
Hi Carol. I just love how you used the Boxed Blooms set and your sponging is superb! Thanks for joining us at STAMPlorations. Good Luck! Monika
I love your use of this layout - each layer is just right. The stenciling under the filmstrip is really cute and then topped with the rich and beautiful flower is a lovely look. You did this out of a canvas shopping bag??? Wow!
Hope you caught up with your husband at the race and didn't get lost! Sounds like a very exciting vacation! And still, you were so productive and made four beautiful cards and tags! With only your mobile crafting unit! Wish I would be able to do that! Your sponging looks amazing!
Carol, I can't even image trying to give a bottle of water to hubby with all the other bikers whizzing by! I would be on my last nerve if I had to do that. lol Just be careful and don't get run over!!! Gosh don't get lost either!! My son told me OR is a beautiful place, one day I would love to see it myself. I'm on the East Coast and my dream is to drive the US visiting the lower 48 states in a camper. Since I'm married to a farmer, I don't see that happening, but he might would take me on some trips out west. lol I wish you were in my neck of the woods cause I would certainly try to met up with you. You are such a sweetie and I think we would hit it off! So if you are every in PA you must let me know. lol Love, love that you have gotten crafty while in Bend and I love, love those cards and tags. You amaze me! I love those flowers and how you colored them, those dots in the back ground are awesome and I love the way your used the MCT die cut-just beautiful! The tags are equally cute, just loving those flowers. Yay for you for getting the colored pencils, I only have a few of them, but love them so much. Although it has been a while since I've used them, shame on me. lol Have a wonderful time in Bend Carol and don't get lost or run over!!! Hugs, Brenda
Oh my goodness....you had to use these stamps didn't you???? Why, why, why? Now I have to go and buy them! They are amazing and I just love what you did them, simply gorgeous and the possibilities are endless. Hope you have having a wonderful time in Bend and were able to hit all the stores you were looking forward to shopping at. Take care sweetie.
The best of luck to both you and your hubby for his big race. :) Would love to see your mobile crafting set-up. :)
What can I say about your cards? I loved the sketch but you've knocked the idea out of the ballpark with your interpretation. Just lovely!
Carol! These cards are just amazing. Beautiful, beautiful use of the sketch and the STAMPlorations stamps. I can't believe you are crafting with one grocery bag's worth of goodies. Go you! Good luck with the races. Thanks so much for playing along at STAMPlorations xx
Fabulous cards and tags!! So stylish with flowers!! I also love the stencil background!! And good look at the race!!
Well, if you can sponge everything and end up with it looking this fabulous, then I say sponge away! These are gorgeous! Love the black panel on the cards, really striking!
These are simply awesome, Carol! Love the stenciled backgrounds! Your black frames really set off the florals! So happy you could join us at ATSM!
Well come on, zoom or restraint... which is it?!?!? Fabby cards. I must get my hands on those blooms. Congrats on your win and hope hubby did well too.
Amazingly done, Carol!! I sure hope your trip to the States has/is gone well!! I am thinking about you and wishing you and your hubby a great trip!! I also just saw on Stamplorations that you are their winner for these 2 beautiful AMAZING cards!! Happy dancing for you!! Hugs - Taunya
Hi Carol. Thanks for joining us at ATSM too. Have a lovely day! hugs Monika xxx
These are some of my all-time favorites, Carol! Congrats on a well-deserved win! I love sponging to color--of course I can't really color with pencils or markers--LOL! Hope everything went well at the race. I'm finally catching up on your blog & made myself go in order this time, which I usually don't, for whatever reason. Wish we were sharing coffee--I'm thinking of you.
Oh what a beauty, Carol! Doesn't look like you're a beginner at watercoloring & I love the "brush dots"--gotta give that a try!
Winner!!! OH YES YOU ARE!!! Holy drop dead gorgeous and I mean GORGEOUS blooms. Design elements are right on and just swoon-worthy!! Ahhh I just love your cards and extra love watching you grow as a card maker!! You truly are at the top of your game!!!
Ok, hopefully I can buzz out a few more comments to you tonight (I'm waiting for Dave at his office do it will depend on how fast or slow he is!!) and I can't wait to talk tomorrow to hear all about Bens and everything else!!!!!!
Post a Comment