Labour of Love

Hi, everyone! As we approach a three-day holiday weekend, I have an SAS4Kids card to share. But, first Thankful Thursday and some SAS4Kids cards from Nicole in VA.

Thankful Thursday

Without going to lots of detail, our little 14-year  pup has had a rough week... and we're still not exactly sure what's going on. But, today, I'm thankful that:

• we've figured out which med was making him sick,
• he had a completely normal day -- helping hubby with the yard work, eating up his breakfast and dinner, greeting us at the door when we returned from lunch, and
• he's currently sleeping soundly on his favorite couch. 

Cards from Nicole

Nicole starting making cards for Send a Smile 4 Kids earlier this year and has become one of our most loyal card makers. Her most recent package included some adorable summer cards. Thanks so much, Nicole!

Labour of Love

So, today's card was inspired by the current Punches and/or Diecuts 4 Kids Challenge at SAS4Kids and the current Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge (top row: sequins, gold, and stamp) over at Simon Says Stamp. I'm also going to link this up at the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes and Shopping Our Stash How Does Your Garden Grow Challenges.

MME Stella Rose dp; Recollections white and black cardstock
Penny Black Labour of Love stamp, stamped in StazOn jet black
dies: MFT Window STAX and Lawn Fawn mini snowflakes; Creative Memories corner rounder
Prismacolor flower, inked with DI scattered straw and evergreen bough, applied with stash brushes and mini mister
coloring: Prismacolor pencils; inking: Distress Ink black soot; accents with Uniball gold pen
stash sequins; Paper Studios itty, bitty gold brad; Stampin' Up! embossing folder
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Zig 2-way pen; Ranger multi medium matte; Recollections foam squares

This particular Penny Black stamp actually has three images. I used the second and third images, placing the third image (shown at the right) directly under the second image using an MFT Window STAX.

After looking at the dp colors and the stamp's images, I decided to color most of the images in gray scale -- reserving the scattered straw ink and gold accents for just the watering can and flowers. Next, I applied just a touch of pinkish red for our little fella's cheeks. Finally, I applied just a touch of scattered straw along the outer edges of the images.

I love the gray-with-pops-of-color effect and pretty happy with the overall look. However, I'm not sure if I'm completely satisfied with the design. Something tells me there may be more tweaking in store. LOL

Parting Thoughts

There's a new challenge starting tomorrow over at Sparkles Christmas -- and I'm so excited to be guest designing over there these next couple of months. Hope you'll stop by and check out the new challenge. There will be some great embossing folders up for grabs.

And, there's still a few days to play along with us at Cards in Envy and about a week and a half to join us at Words 2 Craft By, where there's a Simon Says gift certificate up for grabs. If you find some crafting time this week, we'd love to have you play along.

Thanks for stopping, happy scrappin'... and have a fabulous holiday weekend!