Blogger Challenge: Week 31

This week's challenge was to use the layout found at the bottom of page 141 of the SU! Spring-Summer Collection. The card was not the traditional card size, but one of the long, narrow ones. I don't think the dimensions of my version are the same as the one in the sample, but they worked for what I wanted to do.

I used the new SU! set Mark the Date for the large panel on my card. I made a last minute decision to pre-order this stamp set from the SU! Preview brochure. I thought it would make a nice set for masculine cards, or for scrapbooking, if I want to move in that direction. I stamped the calendar image in Basic Brown ink. The month is stamped with Snap Stamps. The companion set to this one, Full Calendar, has a stamp with the name of each month. It will be on my next SU! order to complement the calendar image. Since I don't have any tiny number stamps and didn't want to hand write the dates, I filled in one circle for each day of the month using the solid circle stamp, stamped off once so the ink would be lighter.

I stamped just one row of the circles from the calendar image on a scrap of vanilla paper and stamped the tiny heart from Mark the Date on one of the circles. I used a 1/4" circle punch to punch out the circle with the heart. Then I figured out which circle would represent February 14 (I counted and recounted a few times, just to be sure . . .). I glued the punched out circle over the circle that represented February 14. This raises the circle just the tiniest bit to make it stand out. I covered the heart with some Stickles for extra emphasis.

I used the heart images from Sweet Shapes for the circular piece. The paper piercing around the edge of the circle panel with the heart was done with the Punches Plus brass template. This template makes it so easy to paper pierce in a nice, even circle.

I added a sentiment to the right of the calendar image using stamps from Everyday Flexible Phrases. The set has the word "your," but not the word "you," so I used a marker to just ink up the part of the word I wanted. I really wish this set had "you" in it, too.

Be sure to check out what the other challenge participants have created using this layout. You can find links to their blogs in the sidebar on the right side of my blog.

Tonight I'm going with family and friends to a Washington Wizards basketball game. My parents have been faithful Washington Wizard season ticket holders for many, many years (pretty much most of my lifetime). As a thank you for their ongoing support, the team is treating them (and their guests) to an evening in one of the fancy skybox suites, along with fancy food and drink and a limousine ride to and from the game at the Verizon Center. Last time we sat in a box, we got to meet a famous former player, so maybe that will happen again tonight. It should be a fun evening.

Materials Used:
Mark the Date, Sweet Shapes, and Everyday Flexible Phrases stamp sets, Basic Brown and Ruby Red Classic inks, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Very Vanilla, and Kraft cardstock, Ruby Red marker, Punches Plus Classy Brass template, mat pack and paper piercing tool, 1/4" circle punch, dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Snap Stamps (Karen Foster); wide red grosgrain (Michaels); 1 3/4" circle punch (EK Success); circle and scalloped circle dies (Nestabilities); Candy Cane Stickles (Ranger)