Featured Cupcake Sampler

For those who aren't aware, Taylor Van Bruggen hosts a Cupcake Challenge on her blog every Friday (fyi: cupcake not required!). Then, on Monday, she choses her favorite card and the artist is the featured cupcake sampler for the following week. Last week she chose lil' ole me! (Woot!) So she emailed this week's sketch to me on Monday and I had to get my design to her by Thursday so that it could be featured on her blog today.

The sketch for this week is below. I don't know about you, but I love a sketch challenge. I always need layout ideas and sometimes these things are absolute lifesavers. Never tried to do a sketch challenge? Why not start now with this one?!


When I saw that long image area, I immediately thought of my Star Santa set. I wanted this set in the worst way when it was in the catty, but never bought it. Then a friend of mine decided to get out of stamping, and had it at her rummage sale for a few bucks. Score! That was about four years ago now, and this is the first time I've inked it. Sooo typical!

Here's what I came up with for this week's sketch:

The base of the card is So Saffron. On top of that is a piece of Crate paper called "Snowing". The paper is double sided, so I cut it just a little longer than I needed and tore it in half and flipped one piece over to show the other side. I sponged all of the edges of both of those pieces with Close to Cocoa ink and adhered them to the card base. The main image is stamped on Very Vanilla (again, sponged all the way around) and layered on Mellow Moss. I colored Santa with my Earth Elements watercolor crayons and aquapainter. The three lines at the bottom are Very Vanilla grosgrain, Making Memories ribbon, and Mellow Moss grosgrain. The star is chipboard from The Paper Studio. First I colored all of the edges with my Mellow Moss marker, then I traced it onto a piece of So Saffron, cut it out, and adhered it with ModPodge. I sponged all of the edges of that with Close to Cocoa as well, then punched a hole through the center with my crop-a-dile, added a bronze brad, and adhered it to my main image with mini glue dots.

I'm not gonna lie to you, it was pretty time consuming for me! I usually don't go into this much detail on my cards, but I wanted to do well for Taylor since she was kind enough to pick me so I really gave it an extra effort this week. I'm really very happy with the results, so maybe all the extra work is worth it!!

Now I want to talk a little about yesterday's card. I gave it to dh last night after finishing that post (yes, we're a couple of night owls!) and he read the front and said, "When were you crabby?" What a sweetie! Tonight he thanked me again for the card and said he really appreciated it because it has been a rough week (which is totally true). So it was a hit, and it sits in his craft area by all of his little war gamer dudes that he paints. hee hee.

Debby asked about the sentiment on the stamp... that's all one big stamp. Sentiment and crab and all. The only thing I added that wasn't part of the stamp was the sand. FYI, Debby has some stampin' stuff for sale on her blog if you scroll down a bit. I've already laid claim to some of her stuff but there's lots left!

I also wanted to let y'all know that I might be taking a blogcation for a few days. We're heading to Chicago early tomorrow morning to meet two of the gals I chat with regularly on SCS (one will be in town from SD, the other from VA) for lunch, so I don't know how much crafting and/or computer time I'll get this weekend. I'll definitely be back on Monday though, if not before, with another 3 Little Dreams challenge to share.

Details:
Stamps: Star Santa (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: So Saffron, Snowing (Crate Paper), Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa
Other: Vanilla Grosgrain ribbon, Mellow Moss Grosgrain ribbon, Making Memories ribbon, Chipboard star, Bronze Brads, Earth Elements Watercolor Crayons, Aquapainter, Stickles, Copic Marker (on face), Stampin' Pastels (pink on cheek)