In honor of Virginia Tech

Today's SCS color challenge was to use Pumpkin Pie & Bravo Burgundy, with Always Artichoke an optional color. I pulled out the paper and said "YUCK"!! What ugly colors to try and use together on a card!! I also decided right away that I was definitely adding the artichoke. But since the colors were chosen for a good reason - in honor of the Virginia Tech tragedy - I decided to forge ahead and try to make them work. (Sorry JenA - I'm sure they are lovely on football jerseys and college sweatshirts, but I don't think I'll use them again on a card!) But actually, in the end - I hope I don't sound too full of myself if I say - this card is gorgeous!! I *really* love how it turned out!! And here's why: I tried a super cool but totally easy technique I learned on Leslie Miller's AWESOME blog (you may notice, she's moved to my idols list!)!! :-) I used TP (yes, that's right, toilet paper!) to dab color onto the cardstock! The result is so rich and amazing looking. Why can't I ever come up with these ideas myself?? At any rate - I highly recommend you try this out immediately! You need to see it IRL, the photo isn't even doing it justice. For the image, I used the sand dollar from the retired Stipple Shells set, coloring it with watercolor crayons and then spritzing before stamping (actually, I just used my aquapainter because it was handy). I dabbed on a little burgundy with the TP here too. The orange piece has Pumpkin Pie & Bravo Burgundy "TP'ed" on, and also French Script in Always Artichoke. The sentiment is from the retired hostess set Small Script, stamped in black. And I added a few artichoke brads as well. Lesley, if you happen to be reading - as I'm sure you can tell, this card was totally inspired by the card I sent with you for your little French stamp party! :-) I've been using retired sets a lot lately - I've been trying to decide if I can part with any of my massive collection of retirees - turns out the answer is no, I cannot. :-) But I'll try to use some current stamps next time!

ETA: The other part of this color challenge was to actually send the card to the family of one of the victims of the VT tragedy. When I first made this card & posted it, in my sleep-deprived state, I didn't really think this would make a good sympathy card. But, thinking about it more the next day, I decided it would - so I actually am making a second copy of the card, stamping "with sympathy" rather than "wish", and mailing it off. It was hard enough to hear about this on the news, I can't imagine actually being touched by this horrible event.

A side note - my stamp room is such a disaster right now, I can't even find basic things like dimensionals!! In the past that would make me avoid going in there, but I'm trying not to care - I'm just shoving everything to the side of my desk and working on my half a grid sheet not buried...! But I need to set my goal for the next few days - CLEAN MY STAMP ROOM!! So I may not be stamping for a bit, need to focus on cleaning. :-) Maybe I'll have to share some before and after photos...! (although I suppose the "befores" would be super embarrassing!)

Ok, time to stop rambling and hit the hay. Thanks for looking!