Bloomin’ Beautiful – CCMC101

Today is the premiere of Create with Connie and Mary's Thursday Challenges!  We've always had challenges for our subscribers, but now every Thursday we will offer a sketch, color or inspiration challenge for EVERYONE to try.  Just check to see what the challenge is for the week, then submit your entry via Mr. Linky over on the Create with Connie and Mary blog.  Please state in your post that it is a Create with Connie and Mary Challenge and the corresponding challenge number (CCMC101 is today!)

 

Mary was nice enough to put together a WHOLE bunch of sketches for us to try over the next few months using the awesome MDS (digital scrapbooking) program that Stampin' Up! offers.  Here is one for today's challenge. 

 

And here is my card using Bloomin' Beautiful, one of the stamp sets that will be retiring at the end of the month.  I also used one of my favorite designer papers, Tea Party…also retiring this month.  LOVE the colors.  This pot of Hydrangeas reminds me of my Hydrangea bushes out front.  They are LOADED with buds and just starting to bloom!  They are always gorgeous.  Here is a picture of last year's…and this year we have even more blooms!  We have people stopping and knocking on our door all the time asking what we use.  My husband says HydraBlue fertilizer…doubling the recommended dosage!  OK…sorry…got off tangent there.

 

I started by stamping with Craft Black Ink on Watercolor Paper, then embossing with Clear Embossing Powder.  I used my Bashful Blue and Pretty in Pink Stampin' Write Markers and outlined the blossoms.  Then I took my AquaPainter and moved the marker ink to color in the rest of the blossom.  I used Certainly Celery for the leaves and So Saffron for the pot in the same way.  The Watercolor Paper was layered on Basic Gray (a little softer than Black).  I used a base of Certainly Celery cardstock and layered on the circle Tea Party Designer Paper, then overlapped the right side with the stripe Tea Party Designer Paper.  To hide the seam, I wrapped around a piece of Pretty in Pink Satin Ribbon and secured in the back.  On the front I tied a separate bow out of the same Satin Ribbon.

 

Above the bow, I stamped Happy Birthday from Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set in Basic Black on Whisper White, then punched with the Small Oval punch.  I layered it on the Pretty in Pink Large Oval and a Scallop Oval punched from the Saffron dotted paper in Tea Party.  Finally I added some butterflies from Beautiful Wings Embosslit that I had sitting on my desk to finish it off.

 

Mary and I hope you play along with the Create with Connie and Mary challenge this week!  We'd love to see your card inspired by our first sketch!