Stamping 411: Saturday Sketch

TGIF!!! This week was my first day back at work. Let me tell you, I miss staying in my jammies 'til mid-morning.

The one thing I do look forward to on Friday is posting my project for the Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge.

As soon as I saw this week's sketch, the idea for my card popped right into my head. I knew I wanted to use a snowflake for my shaped element.

Here's the card I designed:

My base card is Night of Navy (5 1/2" x 8 1/2", folded in half)

Layer 2 is Marina Mist that has been run through my Big Shot using the Northern Flurry embossing folder.

Layer 3 is a strip of patterned paper from the Deck the Halls dsp pack. It measures 1 1/4" x 4".

Layer 4 is a Whisper White snowflake cut with the Snowflake #2 Bigz die.

Layer 5 (my focal image) is so cute! I stamped the snowman onto Crumb Cake cardstock using Basic Black ink. I punched the image out with my 1 3/4" circle punch.

I grabbed a cotton swab and colored his snow parts using my Whisper White Chalk Pastel.

The rest of his body is colored with Stampin' Write Markers (Marina Mist for the hat and mittens......Cherry Cobbler for the scarf and band on the hat....nose is Pumpkin Pie). His buttons are dotted with Silver Fox Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink. The ground is colored with my Illuminate Top Coat Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink.

I sponged the edges of the circle with Chocolate Chip ink to soften it up a bit.

The last element of the sketch is the sentiment. I cut a strip of Crumb Cake cardstock and stamped the sentiment (in Basic Black ink). To cut the banner edges I use my Photo Corner punch. It makes a perfect edge...every time!!! I also sponged the edges of this with Chocolate Chip ink.

Here's another helpful hint.......to make the curve of the banner, run a bone folder along the back edge (just as if you were curling ribbon for a gift).....it breaks down the fibers of the paper.

I plan on using the sketch quite a bit.....there's so many images I own that will work within this snowflake. I can imagine penguins, polar bears, Santas........oh the possibilities!!!

I can't wait to see what the other Stamping 411 operators have decided to use for their shape. They always inspire me with their creativity. I am so proud to call each of them my friend!

Now it's your turn to play!!! If you decide to play along, we'd love to see your project. Just use the Linky Tool at the bottom of the Stamping 411 blog post to link your project's URL to our post.

Until next time....Happy Stamping everyone!