UDI Inspiration Challenge #70

Welcome to Thursday everyone! This is my second week of Inspiration Challenges for the UDI Blog Design Team. I think I'm really going to love this challenge each week. I've looked ahead at the inspiration pieces we have coming up and my mind is just reeling with all the possibilities! I can't wait to show you each week!

This week's photo really caught me both creatively and emotionally. I love this images' staging with the bright daisies really standing out against the rustic background. It reminds me that no matter how bleak our life may seem, there is bright hope for tomorrow - a newness with each day's beginning. My family has been through some challenging days in 2009 - but God has been so faithful to us through every thing. He has provided when there didn't seem to be any way and He has blessed us in ways we couldn't even imagine before these challenging days came. This photo brings to mind this verse in Romans 12:12 "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."
The patience part is hard, but it's all part of the growing process and fortunately, we get a fresh chance every morning!

So now, for those of you who came by for the project idea - here it is!
Whaddya think?

I came up with the idea for this card in the shower - if you read my blog, you'll remember that I do some of my best thinking in there! As a Mom, sometimes it's the only place I can get some peace - can you relate?
I wanted to make my own stencil and create an opaque daisy on a rustic background that would mimic the basket in the photo. So what I did was take a piece of transparency film from the office supply store and run it through my Big Shot with the Daisies Die. It gave me 3 openings for my stencil. (I also saved the punched out pieces to try on another project.) To prep the cardstock, I took a piece of Soft Suede and ran it through my Big Shot with this rustic Texturz plate. Then it was sponged with some Soft Suede ink to make it more distressed.
Then, I placed the stencil over my cardstock anchoring it with some Dotto. I also added the center of the daisy with Dotto so it would stay brown there. I then used my Sponge Daubers with Whisper White Craft Ink to stencil the daisies onto the card. I did them one at a time so I could place them where I wanted. To get the saturation I wanted, I just kept adding ink until I was happy with the look. I did not emboss it, but just let it air dry. If you do this, just remember not to touch it if you can help it! Ask me how I know! Haha! Did you know that the adhesive eraser will sometimes remove craft ink?......

Anyway, I then used my Paper Piercer and Mat Pack to add the hole for the Summer Sun Corduroy Buttons. The leaves were cut out of Garden Green cardstock with the Little Leaves Sizzlet and my Big Shot. I sponged a little Soft Suede ink on them just to tone down the color a bit.

I then found my Linen Thread and wrapped it willy-nilly around this cardstock layer and threaded the ends through the tag I'd created with my Large and Small Oval Punches. It's supposed to mimic the dried grass in the photo.

The tag was stamped with a greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes onto Naturals Ivory cardstock and was mounted on a piece of Textured Sahara Sand cardstock. Both were sponged with some Soft Suede ink. I anchored the tag with a Stampin' Dimensional underneath.
After rounding the corners, I mounted this whole layer on a piece of Sahara Sand Cardstock that had been rounded and sponged as well. And that was about it!
My husband really liked this card - I'm not sure if he really liked it, or if he was being enthusiastic because he wanted something, but his reaction was what I needed to hear! You'll have to tell me what you think so I can see if he knew what he was talking about! LOL!
After you leave your comment, please be sure to check out what the other design team members did with this sketch by going over to the UDI blog for the links to their projects. I know you'll be inspired by their work!
Thanks for stopping by to visit and be sure to come back tomorrow for my Blogger's Challenge project. It's all about Giving Thanks!
~~Robin