HSS160 Sketch - Circles & Stitches

Hello crafty friends!  For this week's Hand Stamped Sentiments sketch, I knew I wanted to get away from what I normally do.  "Normal" for me being DOILIES. GREEN&PINK. and RIBBON.  So I double challenged myself to create a card with the sketch, and not use those elements :)

I actually made two cards.  The first one took several hours, walking away, strolling back over, and thinking about it while I should have been concentrating on third grade homeschool (fractions, George Washington, and helping verbs. still got it done).

So, here it is :) The background paper was ripped out of the Epic Day Journal.  I love the journal, and I love the papers even more!  I like the holes on the side, with the rips and all.  The circle was originally punched and pieced with the 2-1/2" circle punch, but I ended up reducing it to 2-1/4" with my ancient Creative Memories circle cutter.  It was a huge ordeal, with the stitching already being done!  However, I used the discarded portion on the next card ;) Waste not, blah blah!

The black "hello" is stamped onto Window Sheet with Staz-On.  Another experimental exercise!  It's hand trimmed and adhered with a couple of stealth glue dots.  The Stamp-A-Majig came in handy for the Daffodil, Pool Party, and Calypso "hellos", and it finally came together!

 Inside, a few circle stamps.

The second card was purely accidental.  The outer circle that was trimmed away from the original circle laid against the practice sheet I was using - did you notice the background paper is upside down?!  I used the wrong side of the page!  Anyway, I was stamping the hellos to see how I'd like to space them and thought it would be thrown away.  Turns out, the circle over the writing was cute! I added a flower from the Pop Up Posies Designer Kit and there she is!

I love how the Daffodil and Pool Party blend together to make a gorgeous green in the sentiment.

So will you take a little time out for yourself this week and play with paper?  Head on over to the Hand Stamped Sentiments blog and give it a whirl!  I'd love to see your creation!

Have a blessed and creative day!   Erika