Color Flake

I was so taken with the Vintage challenge with freebie digi at CDAC this week that I just had to try it out. Despite how happy I am with the result, challenge-wise I really flaked. Somehow I didn't read all the instructions (that's my M.O.!), so I didn't so much make a "100-year-old Birthday card". I could easily "age" this with a little distress ink, but I think I'll just try this challenge again. I did manage to stick to the Curtain Call color challenge over at Stacey's Stamping Stage: Lavender Lace, Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler & Bravo Burgundy. Sadly, I'm 10 hours past the deadline. Sigh. Well, thank goodness fun was the point! At least it works for, and is in time for, the sketch I was following from Stamping 411!

I was pleasantly surprised to find this lavender-on-lavender, striped paper in my stash, and was especially surprised by how thick it is: slightly thicker even than Core'dinations cardstock! So it was perfect for the base of the card. I stamped some burgundy flourishes onto a cherry-colored cardstock, for the border strips and the "Friends" tag. I sanded them all with a nail file, after edging...I love how well StazOn works for this.

I also used this project as an excuse to try making some 9-hole, monogram buttons. Design Sponge has a super tutorial on how to make them, and when I realized that the whole point is being able to stitch in any letter, I knew this would be my new favorite thing. I used to use polymer clay all the time, but am just getting back into it...I had to sand down the buttons a bit after baking, but I can live with their homemade-ness for now. They remained just soft enough for a needle to get through.

Honestly, I wasn't sure how I'd like all the elements together, but the colors were chosen so well that it all seems to work. Thanks, Curtain Call!
Incredible Friends DS2 digi stamp by Ignacio for Nicecrane Designs

Supplies: Paper Studio (?), Recollections and Core'dinations cardstocks, StazOn and Memento inks, Fiskars papercutter and corner punch, Crop-O-DileII, stash eyelet, Offray ribbon, emery board and nail file, Sculpey polymer clay (and necessary materials), Michaels craft thread, Copic Ciao markers, sentiment & flourish stamps from stash