TCC118 When I Need A Friend

Hi Friends!

Welcome to The Card Concept #118 {Cacti Clusters}Challenge!  I was inspired by the colors of the succulents as well as the images to pull out the Sweet Succulents Stamp Set (Technique Tuesday) and create a Classy and Elegant/Mixed Media card!

This will be the last challenge at The Card Concept until September.  We take a break over the summer to give our Designers time to spend with their families as well as take a vacation or two :-).  We will be back in the beginning of September with another round of inspiration photos for sure!

I paired the Sweet Succulents Stamp Set (Technique Tuesday) with a sentiment from Choose Happiness (Stampin’ Up!).    I have owned the Sweet Succulents set for a while and this is the first time I have had a chance to ink it up (still working on goal of giving all of my stamps some “love”).

I will also be linking this card to the Try Stamping On Tuesday #413 Sketch Challenge along with the Word Art Wednesday #392-#393 “Anything Goes” Challenge.

If you have not had a chance to visit us at The Card Concept or the other challenge sites yet, I hope you will find time to do so- gorgeous inspiration from all!

To create this card:

1). De-static a piece of white cardstock with an embossing powder tool, stamp the succulent images from Sweet Succulents with Versafine™ Onyx Black, apply clear embossing powder and heat set with the heat tool.  Once the embossing has cooled, color the images with water-based markers, colored pencils and distress oxide inks.  Once you are satisfied with the coloring, fussy-cut the images and set aside.

2). Using a stitched rectangle die, die cut another piece of white cardstock for the middle frame, use the next smaller stitched rectangle die to die cut a piece of green designer paper, a stitched circle die to die cut a piece of white cardstock and the same size circle die to die cut two pieces of blackberry cardstock.

3). Layer the white and green die cut rectangles together, add the lace strip along with the wide blackberry satin grosgrain ribbon (wrap the ends of the ribbon behind the back of the panel).  Mount the panel onto a piece of blackberry cardstock and adhere to the white card base.

4). Overlap the two blackberry stitched circle dies to create a small border for the white stitched circle die cut.  Layer together and mount onto the card front with dimensional foam.

5).  Mount the fussy cut image onto the die cut circle using dimensional foam and use a clear shimmer pen to add shimmer to the succulent images.

6). Using the same steps as in Step #1, stamp the sentiment from the retired Stampin’ Up! Set, Choose Happiness using Versafine™ Onyx Black ink, emboss with clear embossing powder, trim and mount onto blackberry cardstock and adhere to the card front.

7). Add a few pearls to the upper right hand corner to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets:  Sweet Succulents (Technique Tuesday), Choose Happiness (Stampin’ Up!)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black, Tim Holtz™ Distress Oxide Inks-Bundled Sage, Seedless Preserves; Stampin’ Write Markers (all retired)-Sage Shadow, Orchid Opulence, Bordering Blue, Mellow Moss; Zig® Clean Color Real Brush Markers- Violet, Pale Green, Olive Green; Spectrum Noir™ Clear Glitter Pen

Cardstock/Paper: Whisper White, Blackberry Bliss (Stampin’ Up!); misc. designer paper- from my stash, not sure of manufacturer

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot™;  My Favorite Things™ Dies- Stitched A2 Rectangle Sets 1 & 2, Stitched Circles; AquaPainter™, Embossing Buddy®, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, White Lace and 1 ¼” Wine Grosgrain Satin Ribbon (from my stash), Pearls

Thanks again for taking the time to visit! I hope I have inspired you to create your own card based on our {Cacti Clusters}  photo and link up to our gallery at The Card Concept- we would love to see your interpretation!! The challenge is open until Monday, July 8^th at noon (EDT).

Update: My hubby, Dave is still recovering in the hospital and after a few very rough days, but he seems to be doing so much better!  We found out that he did have Stage 1 prostate cancer as well, so we are so blessed that he no longer has to worry about bladder cancer or prostate cancer :-)  

He still has the rare Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia (Waldenstroms or WM for  short).  He had several years of chemo/immunotherapy from 2014-2018, so while there is no cure for WM, he had a positive response to the treatment and his numbers for the WM look good so far! 

Hugs and thanks for all of your prayers and well wishes!  Praise the Lord, He is answering the prayers!!