Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge - SSC140

Oh, YAY, it's Saturday!
I am SO happy for the weekend this week - it's been a very difficult week here personally - just some family issues going on and Mark and I are feeling very emotionally drained. Thank goodness we not only have our faith and each other to lean on, but such a great kid in our daughter Emma and tons of friends who love us lots! You KNOW who you are and we love you back! :)

Now, I know you didn't come here for jibber-jabber about my problems, so how about I show you this great sketch from our sketch Queen Selene over at our Stamping 411 blog.
I {heart} this sketch so much - I think it has wonderful possibilities and I can't wait to see what you all will do with it! Be sure to hop over to the Stamping 411 blog to see what the other Operators have created with it too! I love working with these ladies, not only are they great artisans, but great friends too!
Here is the sketch for this week:

and here is my card!
I KNOW what you are thinking - you just saw this color/dsp profile YESTERDAY!
Well, isn't it still pretty? :)

I actually created this card on Tuesday of this week and I loved working in these colors so much that when I needed to do yesterday's tote box, I pulled them out again! AND, I made another card too, but I'm saving that till next week and only if you really want to see it!

For today's card, I started with a card base of Orchid Opulence cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" and folded in half to make an A2 card 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". This size fits in SU!'s Medium Envelopes.
The first thing I did was to stamp my greeting in the lower right corner. I wanted it to still be even after adding the texture to it. I used the Thank You Kindly stamp set (Free with Sale-A-Bration!) and Chocolate Chip ink.
Using my Perfect Polka Dots Embossing folder and my Big Shot, I then dry embossed the card front giving it this beautiful texture. I am so enjoying this embossing folder - it really fits many styles beautifully.

The two center panels were cut next. The Certainly Celery piece is cut at 3" x 4 1/4" and the Shades of Spring DSP is cut at 2 3/4" x 4". I simply used SNAIL to adhere them together. The center is wrapped with Chocolate Chip Wide Grosgrain ribbon, adhered to the back with SNAIL and scotch tape. (taking no chances that it will slip out!) I popped this panel up on Stampin' Dimensionals so it would stand out.

For my "elements" I decided upon a single flower instead of multiple things there. And I had my first try at these gorgeous ruffled paper flowers that my friend Jan McClurg taught us all how to make at the Phoenix Regional. (Jan, you ROCK! and YES, they are THAT pretty!)
To make this particular flower, I altered her directions a bit and cut my strip of cardstock at 1 1/4" x 12" using So Saffron to coordinate with the dsp. I punched one entire side with the Eyelet Border Punch then ran the strip through my Crimper 4 times to make it very pliable.

I punched out a piece of the Sticky Pages with my 1 3/8" Circle Punch and put a bit of Dotto on the white side of it to stick it to my Grid Paper while I made the flower. Peeling off the red cover to reveal the adhesive, I then started on the outside edge and slowly pleated the crimped cardstock strip around the circle, working in towards the center as I went around. Once I had my flower layers done, I used my fingers to scrunch it up and shabby it up a bit. It looks so soft in person. The Chocolate Chip Brad was added through the center and it reminds me a bit of a Black-Eyed Susan. Since the entire back side was sticky, no other adhesive was needed and I simply peeled off the white barrier and stuck it to the card front.

But, I still had to do the inside -

You can just see the stamped polka dots peeking out on the Whisper White layer inside. I cut that piece at 4" x 5 1/4". The dots were stamped with Orchid Opulence ink and the Dot, Dot, Dot stamp AND my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig. Imperative to get these babies straight! I stamped the polka dots all the way across the bottom edge and it just looks fresh and pretty on the inside.

So, that's my take on this week's sketch - what will you create? Be sure to head over to Stamping 411 to upload your project using the Mr. Linky widget provided. You only need to have added it to your blog or an online gallery first in order to play along - and we sure hope you do!

Enjoy your Saturday everyone and hug the ones you love!
~~Robin