Good morning, fellow SCSers! I am so excited to finally have another card to share! We have been very busy lately (busy but blessed!), and I have been burning up my card "stash" like crazy as a result. However, there are certain folks I never want to give a purchased or even a pre-made card to - my parents. With Dad's birthday today, I had the perfect reason to sneak in some crafting time Monday evening.
I am thrilled to be participating in Altenew's Educator Certification Program (AECP) and recently completed their "For the Guys" course with Dad's birthday in mind. I found immense inspiration in this course for crafting a plethora of masculine and gender-neutral cards, and I truly can't wait to try my hand at more! Alas, time was critically running out and I needed to get something made for Dad with just the hour I had, and after determining I wanted to draw from the Geometric Designs lesson in the course and pursuing recent SCS challenges, here is what I came up with! (It is a bit simpler than I would have liked to have left it, and I had intended to come back and put a few more finishing touches on it last night, but baking him a birthday cake took priority and took up all of my remaining evening last night. :0) hehe)
I liked the sketch from SC691 from the moment I saw it - so many possibilities! - and was happy to use it for this card. I thought it would provide ample space to show off some geometric designs! I interpreted it slightly different than the sketch was drawn by sanding the edges of panel four and using direct-to-paper inking on them to sort of serve as that additional panel behind it. I wanted it as clean and simple as possible since there would be a lot going on with the geometric design featured already, and I thought doing it this way would help keep it from looking too "busy."
Last Friday's Free For All (F4A42 was right up my alley in challenging us to be inspired by the Kentucky Derby (though "my horse" didn't win - shucks!), and one of the first things I think of when I think of the Derby isn't the roses but the beautiful silks the jockeys wear. Some of my favorite runners in the history of the Derby have been from stables that use an argyle pattern for their silks, so since I was already thinking doing something geometric, an argyle pattern was a natural choice!
After choosing a trio of inks I liked and stamping out my geometric/argyle design, I felt the card needed something just a bit more than geometry in order to be fitting for my Dad. So, I turned to CAS479's "Pets" theme and picked out this adorable pup and a sentiment to go along with it. It reminds me of our last family dog that Dad grew really attached to, and I thought would be a perfect match for this design. I colored the pup and his dog dish in with some silhouette coloring with my colored pencils, and popped both up with a bit of foam mounting tape, using a double-thickness on the pup himself so he would stand out a bit more above the other elements.
For TLC686 from back in April, "It's a BANNER Day," we were challenged to create a banner all on our own - no fancy punches, tools, etc, besides a scissors. I used my scissors to cut the ends of the perfect-width scrap of Solar White I had left and had stamped my sentiment (from the Puppy Play stamp set) on. I have used this technique on several occasions and sure enjoy the added effect it affords to the finished product! I popped the banner up with foam mounting tape for interest.
Phew - that was a lot of challenges to write about all at once! Thank you so much for all the great inspiration here each week! Even though I don't always get to participate, I sure enjoy the experience of seeing these new challenges each week and occasionally taking a peek at what folks have done with it! You all bring me more joy than I can ever explain :0)
Thanks so much for viewing my card and taking the time to read this loooonnnnggg description (sorry about that!)!
Blessings,
C
Date: Thursday, May 10, 2018 GMT Views: 1769
Favorited:3
Splitcoast Dirty Dozen Alumni My Pinkie is Inkie in Boxertown
Registered: April 4, 2006 Location: Boxertown USA, IL Posts: 67333
Thu, May 10, 2018 @ 11:46 PM
A very cute card. I love that you thought of the Jockey's silk riding outfit. That was a good one. I like the argyle pattern and the cute pup. Your Dad will love this card. Thank you, for playing the challenge.
Registered: January 20, 2010 Location: Brampton, Ontario Posts: 26180
Fri, May 11, 2018 @ 12:56 AM
What a terrific guy card this is! I love that argyle patterned background. Leaving it as a wide strip is genius! Congratulations on all the fulfilled challenges - your creativity was working overtime compressed into the time frame you had to work in. :-) Your Dad will be thrilled with his card (and his cake) I am sure!
Registered: May 7, 2011 Location: Canada Posts: 472
Sun, May 13, 2018 @ 8:42 AM
Excellent write-up!! I adore the argyle background with this darling image! It will melt your father's heart! Thanks so much for entering your beautiful work in Altenew AECP assignment Gallery. Beautiful colors and design. Well done!
------------------------------ My blog (Yes,Virginia...): https://virginialusblog.blogspot.com/ Altenew Card Design Team Member since Jan. 2017 Coordinator of Altenew Educators Certification Program