Inspiration Challenge - Crate Labels

The website for today's SCS Inspiration Challenge was Crate Label Museum, which has a collection of vintage crate labels from fruits and vegetables. I had a wonderful time touring the "museum." I wound up choosing two labels to use as my inspiration.

The first was in the Florida section of the museum. As a Floridian, that was the place I started, winding up at a label for the Winter Garden Citrus Growers Association.

I used two Mark's Finest Papers sets -- Speedy the Cat's Friends and Our Side of the Pond to recreate the label. My layout is this week's sketch challenge. The card base is my new favorite neutral color -- Corn Husk. I stamped the frog with Palette Moss Jardin and the cattails with Burnt Umber and then clear embossed them. All of the background is sponged. After much trial and error, I have finally figured out how to ink up a Cuttlebug embossing folder to get color into the design. The folder I used for the background layer is Forest Branches.

For my second card I went to the Pears section of the website finding this beauty -- Mariposa Pears -- as my inspiration.

I thought the Black Magic technique would work well -- although my background is Not Quite Navy rather than Black. For the background I stamped Just For Fun's Wildflower Silhouette in Whisper White and then embossed it with Detail White ep. Using a Q-tip I colored over the embossing with pastel chalks, wiping off the excess with a paper towel. The butterfly is stamped on white with Palette Noir Black and then clear embossed. I sponged on Palette Raw Sienna and Cognac with sponge daubers and then cut out the image, minus the antennae -- which I replaced with wire. The sentiment is a rub-on.

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I think the Inspiration Challenge is my favorite of the week because it allows you to really use your imagination. Your card does not have to even look like the inspiration piece -- or it can be a perfect replica. It's totally up to you!