"There has never been a cat
Who couldn't calm me down
By walking slowly
Past my chair."
----Rod McKuen
Hi, Friends......
I couldn't let this MFP Speedy Fox and Friends Challenge with the charming theme of Flower Pots go by without scrabbling together a card for it. There are quite a few entries this time, which is very exciting!! However, I might not make it all the way around to comment on each one, which I like to try to do on the MFP challenges I enter.
This card was fun because I got to use several items that were new to me. This was inspired by the loveable and wacky woman Darnell Knauss with her NBUS Challenge (Never Before Used Schtuff)!!! lol.... The theme for her challenge is Friendship and I think a pot of flowers is an ideal friendship gift. The virginal product I used for this card was from the GCD Studios Kathy Davis Happiness stack. Eeek...you can see by the date of its release that I have had it sitting idle for much too long!!!
Long story about my watercolor paper:
I also made use of some pretty (I think, at least) watercolor background paper that I made from some of my more epic fails in a recent MFP Cling Wrap Tutorial Time Challenge. Ha. I must have been adding too much ink or something because my glossy paper was dark and not at all attractive....not even for making a masculine type card for a guy who doesn't care about prettiness!
Then I had a brilliant (for me) flash.....I wonder what would happen if I added water to these dark blotchy blobs on my precious (did I mention expensive?) glossy photo paper....and laid them down wet on watercolor paper??????? It worked!!! I was able to repurpose these ugly things, that were headed eventually to the trash, into a million (or at least 6) pieces of lovely pastel hued watercolor paper to use on my cards. I LOVE THEM!! And....the beautiful bonus was this: now that a bunch of the ink is removed, they aren't as homely as they were and I might be able to use some of them, too.
So that is the "background" story on my paper. This is my very first time in using any of them. I hope that qualifies as something new for the DRS Designs Challenge with the theme of It's New.
I also followed a sketch for this card from Sketch Saturday. I LOVE the crisp clean lines in this sketch and knew it would perfectly highlight the contrasts of color and black I planned for my card.
Other supplies I used include: some older Stampin' Up thrift store stamps (pot, stems, two different flowers), Staz-On black ink pad, K&Co. paper, Coredinations black cardstock, and stick-on rhinestones from dollar rack at JoAnns.
Thanks so much for stopping in to visit and to enjoy the pot of flowers friendship gift. Love, love, love you and your comments!!!! I have my eye out (not literally) for my next new follower and have my ginormous smile ready!
<3
Janis
Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. MFP Speedy Fox and Friends Challenge #217 - Flower Pots
2. Sketch Saturday - Week 315
3. DJKardKreations NBUS Challenge #1 - Friendship
4. DRS Designs Challenge #128 - It's New
5. The Sailing Pineapple Challenge #8 - Repurpose It
Wow! I love the paper you created!! You are an artist, friend! : ) )
ReplyDeleteGreat card! have a happy weekend.
Patti
You are too kind. I'm only a wanna-be artist!! Thanks so much for taking the time to visit and leave your sweet comment.
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Janis
Janis, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the background on your background paper! I only recently discovered that very same trick and it was like MAGIC!! I love the card you have made with your bp and how you designed it around the sketch! Your beautiful friendship flowers look perfect on my desk!
ReplyDeleteThank you for following me! I had trouble with trying to follow you and it finally said I already was. Sure enough when I clicked those teeny overlapping boxes in the upper right of the thumbnails, it opens the box and there I was. Blogger being funny again, I suppose!
And, finally, thank you so much for your sweet words and for joining in my NBUS Challenge! I appreciate your support! Hugs, Darnell
I appreciate so much that you are stopping by all the blogs that entered your challenge. Wow....that's amazing. Makes me feel sheepish abt saying I might not make it to all the ones in the MFP challenge I entered. Hey, if Darnell can visit mucho-hundreds of blogs and leave such meaningful comments, I can do the 10 or so on this list. Ha!!!
DeleteThanks so much for your encouragement and support. Sorry there was a problem with Google Friend. Look for my new-follower ginormous smile on my next post!!
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Janis
You could make mistakes all the time they turn out wonderful.....Lis MFP
ReplyDeleteHa...thank you, Lis. I think that cling wrap tutorial was yours, wasn't it? So glad I was able to reclaim something from my attempts....even if all I reclaimed was the excess ink!!! Ha. Thanks so much for your visit and nice comment!!!
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Janis
Hi Janis thank you for the nice comment on my flowerpot card. The pot is a stamp by Michael Strong. I stamped it then used some of tim holts destressed ink on it. I think,lol. Been awhile and had it in my stash. I also use those glossy accent on it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping in, Rosie! I thoroughly enjoyed seeing your card. Your flowerpot was exquisite! Thanks for mentioning how you did it.
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Janis
Wow, your background paper is beautiful! I've got to learn how to make some. Thanks for sharing your back story on the background - very entertaining! Thanks for playing along with us at DRS Designs!
ReplyDeleteAwwww....you are sweet! Thanks so much for your encouraging comment. That means a lot to me!!!
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Janis
I love that flower pot stamp and how beautifully you have set it off with that layout and such beautiful colours <3
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lyn, for your nice comment. And thank you, also, for becoming a follower!!! Be sure to watch for my next post where I will give you one of my new-follower ginormous smiles!!!
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Janis
Awesome! I love rescuing a piece I have worked on that failed! Everything is so expensive that I just hate to see something end up in the trash! This is lovely! You did a great job saving the BG!!! Nice flower pot too! Thanks for playing along with Speedy Fox & Friends this week!
ReplyDeleteAnother new follower!! Thank you so much, Angie! Your visit and support mean the world to me. Be on the lookout for my ginormous smile for you next time I post!
DeleteI know what you mean about things being so expensive that we hate to have to toss anything away!! If you read my original post about my photo paper, you can see how this particular supply was even more expensive than usual!! :& Thanks again for dropping by!
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Janis
Great card. Thanks for joining our "Repurpose" challenge at The Sailing Pineapple!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Sharon!! Drop in again!!
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Janis
Love the way you pulled the colors into each layer of your card. Thanks for playing with us at Sketch Saturday. Hugs, Cathy xx
ReplyDeleteThank you, Cathy!!! It was fun to work the plan in my mind around the framework of the terrific sketch!!!
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Janis
A very cute card and what a great idea to add the water. Thank you for joining us for the Speedy Fox and Friends challenge.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your nice comment AND for becoming a new follower!!! Be watching on my next post for your personal ginormous new-follower smile from me!!! I appreciate your support!!!
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Janis
This card is super cute - I actually have that stamp set and I have never used it!! I better get on the ball so I can make a card as great as this one!!
ReplyDeleteYou have this set, too? How fun! Like I said, it was a thrift store find for me....like the bird family: cheap, cheap! Ha. :) Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving such a nice comment!!!
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Janis