Let's Craft and Create Challenge #117: Spots or Stripes..

Today begins a new challenge over at the Let's Craft and Create challenge blog. It's "Spots or Stripes," and who doesn't have some spotted or striped DSP in their stash?

We're also starting something new this month. Half of our Design Team members will provide some inspiration for you today (definitely worth taking a look at all the awesome projects), and the other half of the DT will post their projects on the 19th of the month for some additional inspiration and to remind you that the final day to submit your creations is coming up.

I decided to pull out a Lori Whitlock Silhouette Design from the Silhouette online store and give it a go. I needed a card for my stepdaughter's birthday, and I thought this design would be perfect!

This is design #142226 in the Silhouette Design Store. It takes a little time to figure out how all the flower layers go together, but I thought the end result was really fun. I changed up the placement of my clouds a bit. I like that you can do this so easily with Silhouette designs. Cricut images are often cut with lines showing the exact placement of layers, limiting you to putting them exactly where they have designed them to go.

I love the retro-style bicycle that is included in the design. My stepdaughter often rides bike, so this was a great embellishment for her card.

You can see that the top layer of the bicycle basket has been dry-embossed (Cuttlebug EF) and inked to give it some dimension.

Here's a peek at the interior of the card, so you can see how it is all put together. This type of card could definitely be cut by hand and assembled. In the future, I hope to make one without using my Silhouette. When I do, I'll share the card and all the dimensions of the cuts with you here on my blog.

I also printed out--with my Silhouette and a black sketch pen--the sentiment that is included in the design. For fonts like the one used for the word "Beautiful," the Silhouette just draws an outline. I filled in the letters with a glitter pen, so it looks like it was meant to be that way. You could also color it in with a marker, but since I needed to add a little bling, I did it here.

In this rather cock-eyed photo, I was trying to show you that I stamped and heat embossed "Happy Birthday to you" on the inside brown strip of the pop out. The picture is so dark in that area, that it's difficult to see.

There was room to sign our names on the adjacent strip with the red and orange flowers.





Here's a final look at my card in a mostly-closed position. It really was fun to make, even though it was a tad putsy.

Now you need to hop over to Let's Craft and Create and look at the other amazing creations. You'll love them! Then--QUICK!--get to your crafting space and create a card with spots and/or stripes and post a picture and a link on the LCC site.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl