Great Swaps Girls Challenges: Week 1

Recently, I've become a member in an SU! demo swap group. The talent in this group is unbelievable! I hope my swaps will measure up . . . Anyway, the group has just started a blog that features weekly challenges. Here are my first two cards for the Great Swaps Girls challenges.

This one's for the featured stamper challenge. Our very first GSG featured stamper is Jackie/strappystamper. I based my card on the one found here in her SCS gallery. I picked this card because it uses the Always stamp set. I got this set in early March and I haven't used it yet. I've seen so many fantastic things done with it, but I wasn't sure I could do anything great with it (kinda like my "fear" of Baroque Motifs--LOL!). I used it for a few cards last weekend at a shoebox swap, so I figured I should give it a try.

I made changes to the color combination, replacing Sage Shadow with Close to Cocoa, and to the size of the card, making it a standard size rather than a square one. I also used only one heart image since my space across the card was limited. I stamped the heart image in Rose Red and heat embossed it with Iridescent Ice like Jackie did. It looks fantastic IRL! Instead of faux stitching with All in a Row along the top panel, I did some faux stitching with my paper piercing tool and white gel pen along the Close to Cocoa panel.

Materials Used:
Always stamp set, Rose Red Classic ink, Versamark, Close to Cocoa, So Saffron, and Whisper White cardstock, So Saffron and Rose Red Prints Series designer papers, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, mat pack and paper piercing tool, white gel pen, dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); white satin ribbon (Target); red brads (?)

This is for the color challenge--Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, and So Saffron. This is a great spring color combo, isn't it? I used my Stemming From stamp set. I think this has a real spring-like look to it, too.

I decided to make a mini flower garden using the different flower images from Stemming From. I started by stamping three stems at different heights on the white panel. Then I stamped the large flower in Regal Rose ink and cut it out. I added an Iridescent Ice embossed center to the flower, too. The smaller flowers are stamped in So Saffron on So Saffron cardstock. I added a 1/4" circle to the center of each flower along with a tiny flat-backed pearl. I sponged a little green along the bottom of the panel and some So Saffron across the top (like a sunny day, I guess).

The sentiment comes from the One Smart Cookie stamp set in the current Occasions Mini Catalog. I ordered these because I'm always looking for small sentiments that I can squeeze on to a card when there's just a tiny bit of space left for a sentiment.

The patterned paper is a leftover scrap of Wintergreen paper from the SU! Fall-Winter Catalog. The starburst-y image looked kind of like the stem image to me, so that's why I used it.

Fun first challenges! I'm looking forward to seeing what this week brings.

Materials Used:

Stemming From and One Smart Cookie stamp sets, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, and Regal Rose Classic inks, Regal Rose Craft ink, Regal Rose, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, and Whisper White cardstock, Wintergreen designer paper, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, 1/4" and 1/2" circle punches, slit punch, sponges, dimensionals (Stampin' Up!) flat back pearls (Target); pink grosgrain ribbon (American Crafts)