Clean and Simple and Cool

Cosmo the crazy dog and I are back from a short trip to the beach. It wasn't the best beach weather, but it was still nice to get away for a few days. My drive home this afternoon was slower than expected and I had a rock hit my windshield. I don't know what it is, but my car seems to attract rocks! This will be the fourth glass claim I've made to my insurance company over the past two and a half years. I'm sure they'll be thrilled to hear from me again--LOL!

After I got home this afternoon, I did some stamping to unwind. I did a pair of cards for Unity's Hip Hop challenges. This one is for the challenge to make a card that could be given any time. I used the ice cream cone image from Mix Up of Cuteness. I thought ice cream was a good all-purpose image. The image is colored with Copics and embellished with a little Shimmerz.

I used a piece of diagonal plaid paper for the panel on the cardfront, mirroring the diagonal lines on the cone image. I layered the patterned panel on a light pink panel to match the ice cream cone's color, then added a bunch of clear dome embellishments (faux Dew Drops) along the edge.

For an all-purpose sentiment, I stamped "cool," also from the Mix Up set. It's punched out with a circle and layered on the card with a ribbon tab.

Materials Used:

Mix Up of Cuteness stamp set (Unity Stamp Co.); white Pure Luxury cardstock (Gina K Designs); Tuxedo black ink (Memento); markers (Copic Ciao); Pink Pirouette and Riding Hood Red cardstock, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, Pink Pirouette striped grosgrain ribbon, scallop edge punch, mat pack and paper piercing tool, dimensional (Stampin' Up!); oval dies (Nestabilities); patterned paper (My Mind's Eye-Magnolia line); clear dome embellishments (Michaels); Royal Red paint (Shimmerz)

This card is for the Unity challenge to "go green" by using one of Unity's nature themed stamps and for this week's SCS clean and simple challenge to use distressing techniques. I used the small tree image from Unity's September Kit of the Month as the focal image on my card. I colored the tree with my SU! markers, then sponged in grass and sky, and also did some distressing with darker brown ink along the edges of the panel. I layered the stamped image on a Ripe Avocado panel with distressed edges.

I couldn't make a "go green" card without the earthy, recycled look of kraft cardstock, so I used that as the base of my card. I stamped the "live simply" sentiment from the March Kit of the Month on the kraft cardstock in Close to Cocoa ink to finish the card.

Materials Used:

September and March Kits of the Month (Unity Stamp Co.); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery, Kiwi Kiss, and Close to Cocoa Classic inks, Close to Cocoa and Old Olive markers, Kraft and Whisper White cardstock, distressing tool, Chocolate Chip 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, sponge (Stampin' Up!); Ripe Avocado cardstock, cream buttons (Papertrey Ink); twine (Walmart)