THE New Stuff!!!

I missed the Wednesday Sketch Challenge. Hubby and I went on an overnighter to Sleepy Eye. We went to see the Jeffer's Petroglyphs. It was extremely fascinating. The only bad part of the trip was the Petroglyps were all there really was to see. There was not a lot to do there. We did drive to New Ulm to have dinner oh and we stopped at this Wal-Mart store to pick up a game to play to occupy our time that evening. This Wal-Mart was UNREAL. It was not a not a Super Store, it was a Super Mart. The place had 4 doors to it!!! The left end had a liquor store, the 2nd section had the grocery store (HUGE) the 3rd section had the usual "Wal-Mart" stuff and the other end was the garden center. I took a photo of it, actually it was 2 photos because I couldn't get it all in on one picture!!! I was amazed at how big it was. Oh and I spotted a Dollar Tree there and hubby being the SUPER nice guy that he is stopped there for me!!! It was ok, not as big as out Dollar Tree here but I managed to find a few things to buy!!! LOL It was a nice short getaway!!! Hubby was between releases at work so he was able to take a bit of time away. The weather here was still cool enough for me to go outside!!! LOL Which was good because there was a bit of hiking up a trail to see the carvings.

Ok, onto my post!!! My Stampin' Up! pre-order items came today!!!! Of course I had to order the "in colors" kit! But I did not use any of them in this card. And NO, I'm not saving or hoarding them for the future!!! LOL I was just TOO anxious to play with this fun Level 2 Hostess set I ordered. I thought it was such a pretty and versatile set. And the flower fit SO well in the sketch focal area! Oh and yes, I did actually cut that flower out. UGH!!! It took a while to do but it was SO worth it!!!

Oh and the markers also come in the in colors now, how cool is that??? I was SO thrilled when I saw that!!

I started my card out with Basic Black for the main part of the card. Then I set a layer of white on top. The white had been sent through the Cuttlebug "Dotted Swiss" folder. Then the strip layer went on. The decorative paper there is from Stampin' Up!'s "Tea Party" package. I just LOVE that paper. The purple on the very top layer is also from that pack of decorative paper. The green squares are don using Certainly Celery.

To do these sketches I usually just measure the printed out sketch. It prints out exact size so it's easy to get measurements. Sometimes I just hold my card stock to the sketch and use my fingernail to make a little mark on it and then head on over to the paper cutter and cut it to the nearest whole line on the cutter. I do that because it makes it easier to cut the black layers for under it.

Like I mentioned, the flower was cut out. I had stamped it using black StazOn. I cut it out and then I colored it in. I was going to color first but I opted to wait and do that because the last time I colored with a blender pen and then cut the image out the ink smeared. SO to avoid that from happening again I decided to just cut and then color and I was very pleased with the results. The image stayed clean! I used Pretty in Pink for the flower, Barely Banana for the inside of the flower and Certainly Celery for the leaves and stems.

I glued the flower in place in the focal area. I have this wonderful glue pen. It's got a tip on it like a ballpoint pen. They are by the Sailor Corporation. And it's a 2 in 1 pen meaning that if you use it right away it will stick permanently but if you wait then it will be a removable adhesive. Oh and it's got a blue tint to it to know if it's still wet and is in a permanent state. If it is clear that means the glue has dried enough and you will be able to reposition the piece. Well, I really didn't want to have to reposition this piece. I had a feeling I had to get it right the first time because if I were to move it the fine stems would tear. I set the flower in place but was a bit too far to the left and the leaf stick a bit over the decorative paper. But that's ok, it still looks fine there, just not perfectly on the DP like I really wanted.

If you have time I highly recommend you give this sketch or one of the other 231 sketches a try!!! They are SO much fun!!!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda