From class to challenge...

...just like that!

Today, good readers, I am going to share a secret with you about how I approach almost all, some of our challenge cards.  Our design team has a deadline each week of Tuesday to get our cards completed, photographed, edited, and uploaded so that our amazing team of webmistresses can do their magic and put them all together for you to enjoy.  I know that the deadline is Tuesday, and the sketches are typically put up in batches, which means that I have seen this week's sketch for no less than 4 weeks now.  

Now, knowing all of this, the thing that would make the most sense would be that I would have my card done well in advance of this deadline.  That way, I can shoot my pictures in the really good northern light that comes into my stamp room, have a leisurely cup of coffee while I edit my photo, and then do an easy-peasy load to the group's page and just wait for everyone to tell me that it is a cute card and how much they love ME it.  

What really happens is more like this:  

I have my sketch, this week it is a single-layer so all you really see is the design element of the card against my white background.   

I wait until after the news on Tuesday night and think, "Hey, self, maybe you had better churn out the card you have to have linked up in an hour-and-a-half or else suffer the ridicule and shame of your friends calling to make sure you haven't been abducted by aliens."  (Or, even worse, that your stamps haven't been abducted by aliens.  Shudder.)

I then come into my stamp room and start trying to figure it out.  That is when I notice that I have a perfectly good, almost up-to-the-sketch ready card from my ombre technique class sitting right on my table.  (Insert heavenly choir singing and my Ott light shining down on the card as if it was divinely lit.)  

Stamp:  Just Thinking Cardstock:  Basic Gray, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer paper Ink:  Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Melon Mambo Accessories:  Canvas, Organza Ribbon, Smooch Spritz

At 11 p.m. this card did not have the ribbon or butterfly on it.  At 11:03 it did.  It involved me pulling up the canvas that I lovingly glued down earlier, and then propping it up on a bunch of dimensionals, but y'all were worth it.  Not just one, not two, but three whole minutes of extra "work".  That's me, problem solver, people pleaser.  

The point is, sometimes you just have to put down what you are working on, walk away for a bit, and then come back to it to dress it up and get what you wanted out of it.  And when that happens, I promise that you will hear those choirs singing in your head, too!  

I hope that you will take the time to play along with us at Stamping Challenges this week. We love seeing your cards, reading your stories, and letting you know how much we love that you took the time to share your vision with us!  So, until next time, Happy Stamping!

Kim