When I Count My Blessings -- My First Side-Stepped Card

"Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose."
                                                         ---Garrison Keillor

Hi, Friends.....

Ooooooh...feel that stre-e-e-e-e-e-e-etch......!  

This challenge card really stretched me!!  But it was fun and I am so glad I gave it a try!!!  This is for the MFP Friends of Speedy TV Side Stepped Card challenge.  I have never made one before and wasn't at all sure I was up to it......I nearly wasn't, but I was nearly up all night making a go of it!!!!!  Eeeeek!  

I knew I wanted to use this "When I count my blessings, I think of you" (a thrift store find!) stamped and embossed in red, but from there on out I was winging it....like the robin.  (Little pun, there........very little....)

Photographing this was almost as challenging as making it!  Eeek!

 Thanks to the terrific design team who made sample cards for this intriguing challenge, I was directed to a wonderful tutorial for making this fun fold card.  It still took me a little bit of playing around to get the dimensions just right to fit my stamps, but I managed....eventually!

My big flower image is from a couple of sets I won from Denami Designs:  Summer Flowers and Summer Flower Leaves.  (THANKS, Denami!!!).  The grass and the robin are from an ancient Rubber Stampede set called The Country Garden.....also a thrift store find my son discovered and snagged for me.  I stamped them each with Staz-On black and then watercolored them.  Lastly, I added some sparkly blossoms to each of my layers of grass with sequins.  Seeing little flowers blooming in grass makes me extremely happy! :)

Did you recognize these leftovers?  Oh, yes!  The sky is from some bits from my recent castle card and so is the yellow.  Love it when I can use my scraps on the next card.  I still have 2 small pieces and 1 medium-sized piece of that yellow, so expect it in the near future again!  :)

Well, there you have my very first side-stepped card....(blushes with pride.)  I really am pleased with how it turned out, so I will appreciate all manner of kind words of affirmation for the heroic hours of effort I expended in making it!!!  Ha.

Thanks for your visit!  I seriously do appreciate each of you and count YOU as a blessing!!!

<3
Janis  



Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1.  MFP Speedy TV Challenge #129 - Side-Step Card 
2.  The House that Stamps Built Challenge DCC618 - Shaped or Fun Fold Cards 
3.  Eureka Stamps Challenge #94 - Friends
4.  Lexi's Creations Challenge #118 - For a Friend
5.  Through the Purple Haze Challenge #46 Anything Goes with Stamping