Chess Inspiration

Join us for a new challenge over at Perfectly Rustics!  This fortnight, the challenge is to include the word “remember” or “remembrance” on your project (http://perfectlyrustics.com/2015/04/06/prdc-no-45-remember/).

The sentiment I used on my card project is “remember every pawn is a potential queen” and is based on the promotion rule in chess:  if a pawn reaches the other side of the board, it can become any other chess piece (called promotion) and is usually promoted to a queen.  The pawn is the piece that is assigned the lowest point value of all the pieces on the board, but it has the potential to become one of the most valuable.  I think this reference is great to remind us that anything is possible if we work hard and put our minds to it!  I thought this inspirational card would be good for a graduate, someone starting a new job, or for anyone who needs to be reminded that we are all valuable and capable of great things.

This is one of those cards that just kept evolving; it is nothing like my original idea!  The stamps I used are from the Chocolate Baroque “The Art of Chess” set.  I started with a piece of ivory card stock and sponged some Gina K honey mustard and warm cocoa ink on it.  Then I stamped the sentiment repeatedly with Gina K dark chocolate ink to create a background.  Then I stamped the queen and some pawns with versamark ink and heat embossed them with clear embossing powder.  Finally, I sponged some dark chocolate ink over the whole thing.  I was going for an emboss-resist panel – and ended up hating it! There was just too much space between my chess pieces, and it was so dark and dull.  So, I ended up cutting this panel apart and using just the queen and one pawn.

Now I needed a panel for my chess pieces.  I used another piece of ivory card stock and stamped my sentiment again.  The sentiment didn’t have the word “remember” in it, so I used the stamp “Always Remember” by Woodware Craft Collection – Clear Magic Singles and masked everything except the word remember.  I originally had left this panel plain ivory, but I added a piece of a digital paper image called “Antique Game Board Papers” that I purchased on Etsy from a shop called MarysMontage (HERE) which was distressed so I decided to distress the ivory panel a bit by lightly sponging some warm cocoa and honey mustard ink on it.  To distress it a bit more, I sprinkled on a bit of clear embossing powder in random spots, heat set it, and inked a bit more over those areas.  And of course it started getting dark and dull again!!

I thought I’d try to brighten it up a bit by working with the cranberry that was in the checker/chess board.  I used a piece of patterned paper from the Heartfelt Creations Classic Sunflower Collection paper pad, and some Gina K honey mustard card stock.    (Note to self – cranberry and honey mustard are NOT bright!!)  And I couldn’t figure out what to do with these two panels!  I ended up playing around with a bunch of scraps that were piling up on my desk.  A few of the scraps were from card stock that was embossed with the Darice 5×7 damask embossing folder (which was originally the whole card base).  A few of the scraps have parts of the stamped images and sentiment I had been using.  One scrap was from my original emboss-resist panel.  And I tucked some of the cranberry patterned paper scraps in there as well.  Well, now my A2 card is 5×7!

All of the edges were inked with Gina K charcoal brown ink, and a piece of raffia ribbon and three metal sticker embellishments finished it off.

Another card in brown tones.  Hmmmm…..

I don’t usually add so many “scraps”  to my projects; usually I plan out what I need and cut panels. It was kind of fun to just keep throwing these scrap strips on my card!  And then I notice the email I received today from the “Use Your Stuff” blog where their challenge this week is to use paper strips on our project! Thin strips or thick strips, a lot of strips or just a few – it’s up to us.  Because we all have lots of paper scraps laying around just begging to be used, they are challenging us to put those scraps to use on our projects!  Well that worked out well!! (http://useyourstuff.blogspot.com/2015/04/challenge-179-paper-strips.html)

Over at the Mod Squad Challenge blog, the challenge for this week is Tick Tack Toe where we are to select a line of 3 techniques from the tick tack toe board to create a project.  Here is the board:

This card used techniques from the first vertical column on the left.   (Sadly, this site is no longer active.)

Thanks for checking out my card project!

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Dessert Therapy

Join us for a new challenge over at Perfectly Rustics!  This fortnight, the challenge is to include the word “remember” or “remembrance” on your project (http://perfectlyrustics.com/2015/04/06/prdc-no-45-remember/).

The stamp I used on my card project that contains the word “remember” is from the Stampin’ Up “Hang in There” stamp set.  For my desserts, I used parts of a digital paper called “32 Desserts Digital Collage Sheet” by boxesbybrkr that I purchased on Etsy (see listing HERE). Card stock used was Gina K Faded Brick, Christmas Pine, a piece of brown polka dot scrap from my stash, and a few two-sided sheets from the Momenta “Euro” pad (lot 20472 R4).  I used Gina K dark chocolate ink for all the edges and versamark and Gina K dark chocolate embossing powder to stamp the sentiment.  I used a die from the Spellbinders Artist Trading Cards set to cut out the sentiment panel.  (This card is 5″ x 7″ which allowed me to use many layers without getting too crowded.)

I did three versions of this card before deciding on my “final” one above.  The first one I did is here:

(It’s an A2 sized card.)  For this version, the desserts I chose were from a digital paper called “32 collage from a set of  “Vintage Old Paper French Patisserie” by Needful Things Shop on Etsy (see listing HERE) which I cut using a Creative Memories circle punch.  Card stock used was Gina K Dark Chocolate and a few two-sided sheets from the Momenta “Euro” pad (lot 20472 R4).  The print is actually vintage postage stamps, but I really liked the colors and pattern, and with most of it covered up, you can’t really see the actual images!  I used Gina K dark chocolate ink for all the edges and versamark and Gina K dark chocolate embossing powder to stamp the sentiment.  I really liked the vintage dessert images and the colors on this one, but I was not so sure the sentiment’s font really went with the rest of the card!  Hmmm…

The problem was that the font was too whimsical for such a vintage look (I thought) so I looked at several more “dessert” choices and found the cartoon-like ones that I ultimately used.  My second attempt is the one is the one pictured above.

In addition to better dessert images, I also thought the polka dots gave it a whimsical feel, but I wasn’t sure if the dark colors were the best choice so I tried making a third version with a completely different color scheme.  (This third card is another A2 sized card.)  Here’s my third version:

For this card, I used  Tim Holtz Stormy Sky and Spun Sugar distress inks for the edges and Gina K Blue Denim ink for the sentiment.  The blue card stock is from the DCWV Neutrals 12 x 12 stack, and the solid pink is Core’dinations April Lovely.  The striped paper is from the Recollections 6 x 6  All Girl paper pack, and I used Copic Marker R81 to color my pearls pink to match my project.  The desserts are from the same digital sheet by boxesbybrkr mentioned above.

I like this pink and blue version also, but I think I like the larger version with the polka dots the best! What do you think?

Now it’s your turn!  Create a project that includes the word “remember” or “remembrance” and enter it in the Perfectly Rustics “Remember” challenge.  I can’t wait to see your creation!

Over at the Mod Squad Challenge blog, the challenge for this week is Tick Tack Toe where we are to select a line of 3 techniques from the tick tack toe board to create a project.  Here is the board:

For my card, I used techniques from the first vertical column on the left.  I sponged the edges of my panels with Gina K dark chocolate ink, I heat embossed the sentiment with Gina K dark chocolate embossing powder, and I used polka dotted patterned paper for my mats and one of the banners.  The sponsor this week is Gina K Designs so I get a bonus entry since I used Gina K ink, card stock and embossing powder.    (Sadly, this site is no longer active.)

Over at Use Your Stuff, the challenge is to use paper strips on our project. Thin strips or thick strips, a lot of strips or just a few – it’s up to us.  Because we all have lots of paper scraps laying around just begging to be used, they are challenging us to put those scraps to use on our projects!  For this challenge, I entered the pink and blue version! (http://useyourstuff.blogspot.com/2015/04/challenge-179-paper-strips.html)

Thanks for checking out my card project!

This content uses referral links as described in the disclosure policy on my sidebar.