Make Two, Give One

In 2010 I gave myself a challenge to make all the cards I gave out that year, unless I already had them.  My goal was to not buy any cards, and hopefully improve my skills in cardmaking.  I also wanted to use up my ever growing stash of paper, stickers, brads, ribbons and other miscellaneous embellishments. 

One thing I found very helpful was to make 2 cards at a time and give one away.  That way I would have an extra on hand for those times I needed a quick card or didn't have time to make a new one.  If I made a card that I really liked I would often make 3 or 4.

Fast forward to today.  Micheal needed a birthday card for his friend, and I didn't have time to make one.  I went digging through my stash and found my favorite young man card I have ever made.  I think I made at least half a dozen of these in 2010, but I still had one left.  Hope he likes.  Michael didn't even know this boy back in 2010, so it will be new for him. 

To make this card I tore several different pieces of cardstock in various "camo" colors, making sure to leave the edges rough.  Next I layered these pieces onto a piece of white cardstock, making sure to leave some white showing.  (If you are making several of these, you can just adhere it to a large piece of cardstock, and then trim down.)

After I had the camo look I wanted, I trimmed down the white cardstock to 3 3/4 x 5.  The sentiment in the middle was cut out using my Cricut, and cut again using the shadow feature.  I used brads through the top of the tags to add some metal to the card.  I then mounted the "white" cardstock to a black mat.  (4 x 5 1/4)  Allt his was adhered to my white card base.  It really is super simple and easy.  I think I used my xyron to adhere all the different elements, except the brads, but it has been so long now, I'm not 100% sure. 

There is just something about this card I love.  It's been sitting in my craft room for a couple of weeks and each time I see it I smile.  Perhaps it is the blue and white combo.  It may be the silky white ribbon or the darling key charm.   That soft blue pearl in the center of the flower is a nice touch too.  It could just be all the details that seem to flow together for me.
 
The inspiration for this card came from a Christmas card I saw on the internet. I thought it was a fun shape, so I decided to make something similar.

It's time for another sketch challenge on Joanie's blog.  This time she really challenged us with a sketch AND color challenge. 




The sketch is a fun one, especially if you have a patterned paper pack or double sided paper to use on a card because it lends itself to using 2 different patterns. 

Honestly, I love the color combo, but I don't have any patterned paper nor many of the inks in these colors. That certainly made it a challenge, but I rose to it.  (or at least I tried)  It's certainly not one of my best works, but it did stretch me.

I ended up using some CM patterned paper that I found in my stash.  It was lighter than the SU colors, but coordinated pretty well.

I addeed some glitter to my stamped images to "bling it up".

 This adorable little "key" charm was a fun find from "Shipwreck Beads" up in Lacey, WA.   They have so many unique items from beads, to charms, to chains, to wires and most anything you would need to make jewelry or add embellishments to almost any project.