A New Saturday Sketch Challenge from Stamping 411!

Hello everyone and Happy Saturday (well, Friday evening, really). Are you ready for a great weekend? I hope you've planned for some creative time because you won't be able to resist this darling sketch for this Week's Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge (click to view the larger image)! In all my years of using sketches, I've never quite seen one like this before! Here's what I created this week ...

It's a darling little Christmas ginger-bready (is that a word?) Bird House! I used Real Red, Soft Suede and Whisper White cardstocks; Christmas Cocoa Specialty Designer Series Paper, 5/8" Real Red Polka Dot Grosgrain ribbon; Heart to Heart, Scallop Circle and 1

1/4" Circle Punches, and the Big Shot and the Stampin' Up! Birds & Blooms Sizzlet's Dies as well as the Petals-a-Plenty Impressions Folder. And oh yeah, the Sweet Season Stamp Set has the perfect stamp for the inside of the card.

Okay, now for all the nitty-gritty details!

 

1. Layer One -- Real Red cardstock cut at 8.5 x 5.5", scored and folded in half to form your card base.
2. Layer Two -- Soft Suede cardstock cut at 4 x 5.25". Texturize using the Petals-a-Plenty Impressions Folder. If you don't have the folder or the Big Shot, you might want to select a small Christmasy stamp image to give some texture in the background.
3. Layer Three -- Christmas Cocoa DSP (Holly Pattern) cut at 4 x 2.5". Apply this on top of the Soft Suede layer and then put a strip of ribbon over the "seam" where the DSP meets the cardstock.
4. Layer Four -- real red cardstock cut at 3 x 2.5". I made the triangle "roof" by taking a 3 x 2" piece of real red and cutting diagonally from the bottom corners to the top half-way point (1.5").
5. Layer Five -- Soft Suede 2.25 x 2.75"

6. Embellish with aScallop Circle (Real Red), 1 1/4" Circle (Chocolate Chip), and faux ric-rac punched with the Scallop Edge Punch (begin with 1" strips of cardstock, punchone side and then the other, off-setting the scallops so you get the ric-rac effect. The medium sized heart from the Heart To Heart punch covers up the point where the two pieces of "ric-rac" meet (it wasn't very attractive by itself so the heart was a last-minute addition. You know what I say, "In stamping, there are no mistakes, only opportunities for creative embellishment."). I sponged the little birds, applied their wings and attached them with Stampin' Dimensionals. The white "highlights" are applied on the scallop circle, birds, ric-rac and heart with a white Signo Gel Pen.

7. On the inside of the card, I sponged the edges of the cardstock, stamped the image on a scrap of Whisper White (using Soft Suede Ink), punched it out with the Wide Oval Punch and then sponged the edges of the punchie. I colored in the tiny heart with a Real Red Stampin' Write! Marker.

What a fun little project! I hope you enjoyed today's inspiration! Be sure and check out what the other Operators have created this week on Stamping 411. And, make sure and come back to link your sketch creations so we can all see them! We're waiting!!!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Comments

[Tammy Jackson]

You totally ROCK!!!! I love All your creations and this one is gorgeous!

[Lee]

Gretchen,
This is just adorable. It' looks like a Gingerbread Bird House! Love it.

[Barb]

This is sooooo cute! I showed it to my DH and he was very impressed too!! Love your blog and all of your creations. Thanks so much for sharing with us :)

[Karen]

Oh Gretchen! This card is beautiful and so cute and so different! You are amazing with all your creative ideas!

[Patti Chesky]

This totally looks like a Gingerbread Bird House. So, so adorable!!!!

[Deb Matovich]

Gretchen this was beautiful and when I read the post this morning, I stopped everything else I was doing and CASE'd this right away. I love it! Stampin' HUGS!!!

[Connie]

Love the gingerbread house! Too cute...

[Martha Beck]

I love this card Gretchen! Birdhouses are my thing, my kitchen is full of them. I feel a case coming on!! TFS!