Speedy the Cat's Friends & Inspiration Challenges

I actually did two cards for this week's Inspiration Challenge on SplitCoastStampers, which was an initially very "challenging" site for me; but as I wandered through it, it got much easier to find something. My first card is actually for two challenges. In addition to the IC, it also was made for Speedy the Cat's Friends challenge. This week the Jr. and Sr. Design Team members for Mark's Finest Papers were the hostesses. We were to use a diecut on our cards.

My inspiration for this card was this apron from the Oompa website. I took the color and shape as a starting point. Oh, and there's a flower on it! I love coloring the roses from MFP's Spring Roses. After stamping with Palette L'Amour Red and clear embossing, I colored them with Copic markers. I cut the ovals from Basic Grey Porcelain DP and MFP Clean Oven Gray (don't you love that name?). The sentiment is from MFP Daffodil and Anise. I added some Faith dots with a white gel pen and hung the fairy charm from the bow.

The inspiration for my second card was this lunch box, with its patchwork of horses. I revisited a technique I haven't done in a long time -- faux postage -- because the lunch box gave the same feel. This is also a sneak peek of a soon-to-be-released set from Mark's Finest Papers called Southwest Cowboy. To get the shading right on my "stamps," I taped them down with some removable tape and then sponged Tim Holtz Tea Dye ink around the edges. When I removed the tape, the lines were straight and clean. I love those big pewter brads; they look so nice on a masculine card with the twine strung between them.