Sometimes a Chick Has to Get Dirty - PPA34 Sketch Challenge

This week's PPA challenge is a sketch challenge. I was feeling a bit chickish and thought I would take out  Country Morning. I had to give my chicken a proper rustic treatment and I couldn't find the right elements without diving back into Autumn Meadows. I am hoarding that now (yes the papercrafter's sickness) so I needed to use something different. That is when I decided to take the leap and ink my texture plates. I know, I know! Get my plates dirty? ... but it's my sacred crafting equipment! Well, I held my breath, turned the crank and immediately ran for the sink to wash my plates. When I actually looked at the outcome I was pleasantly surprised at the results. I am glad I took the leap because the paper turned out perfectly for my chicken and now that I have conquered that fear, I can create an endless number of background papers. 

Not only can you apply ink and paint to your texture plates, you can also apply ink and paint to your embossing folders. Since they are plastic, they clean up beautifully. I am sure you will see more of my inked textured papers in the future.

Stamps - Country Morning, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper - chocolate chip, not quite navy, ruby red, whisper white card cardstock
Ink - really rust, more mustard, going grey, basic black, sahara sand, old olive, not quite navy, real red, chocolate chip
Accessories- blender pen, chocolate chip corduroy buttons, antique brads, 1" double stitched chocolate chip ribbon, texture plates, Sizzix Big Shot.

PPA15 - Color Challenge - Lounge Chicken? The Lizard's Third Cousin

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the Christmas Lounge Paper. After a long, busy week of football, soccer, volleyball playoffs and mass amounts of homework for the kids, it was so nice to lock myself in my craft closet last night and work on this week's PPA challenge. I lost myself in it and it was almost midnight before I knew. When PPA's color challenge selected Basic Gray, Ruby Red and Taken with Teal, the colors brought to mind some of the colors used in country decor so I went to my Country Morning stamp set. I am really digging the Christmas Lounge DSP with Ruby Red and Taken with Teal in them. I found a few designs that reminded me of chicken wire so I went from there. The Ruby Red and taken with teal are very dark so I didn't want to use too much gray. (The card can be likened to my hair with just a touch of gray.) A few silver brads and white ribbon to balance the darker colors and it was happily done along with the very busy week.

Mojo107 - Mojo Monday Challenge

AGAIN, I love the Autumn Meadows Designer Series Papers. They are so diverse and the colors so rich. The colors in the barn wood paper remind me of the Araucana chickens my sister and brother-in-law raise on their property in Washington state. The feathers of the Araucana are so beautiful and colorful especially when the sunlight hits them. They even lay colorful eggs in beautiful Martha Stewart blues and greens. I thought this might make a good card for my brother-in-law's birthday.

Ahhh time to start thinking about the holidays. I have just started experimenting with some fall cards for upcoming classes. I am digging the Country Morning hostess set. It is so intricate and I am sure I'll be using it often. I think it lends itself to many occasions and it is really fun to work with. I used elegant eggplant, more mustard, chocolate chip, kraft and old olive card stock. Most of it was from my scrap pile.

I love the little Boo stamp. This was my first go at using him and I am sure he'll be seen in many of my halloween projects. Not only was I excited to try the stamp but also the Cast-A-Spell designer series papers.