Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge

Hi there stampin' peeps! It's almost Saturday and around here that means it's time for this week's take on the Stamping 411 Blog Sketch Challenge.
Here is this week's sketch from our sketch Mom, Selene:

I loved the crisp, clean look of this sketch, but when I sat down to create, this gorgeous Hydrangea image kept popping into my head which meant that I'd better use it or I'd never stop thinking about it! I was also led to pair it with this beautiful new background stamp Teahouse. When I first saw the vintagey wallpaper look of this stamp, I KNEW I had to own it! I have so many possible uses for it, I'm not going to be able to stamp with it fast enough! So, what started out for me as crisp and clean, turned into something weathered, sweet and vintagey! Oh well - love those creative rabbit trails!

For today's card, I stamped my focal image from the Because I Care Hostess stamp set onto Whisper White cardstock. I used the Regal Rose and Pear Pizazz Stampin' Write Markers to color directly on the stamp. I colored the Regal Rose on the flower first, then folded my grid paper over it and removed the first impression of ink. I then went back with the same color marker and colored in just some of the flower again which created the darker areas when it was actually stamped on the cardstock shown. The Pear Pizzazz on the stem and leaves was just one inking, the stamp has nice shading on those areas so stamping off once is not necessary.

Now, to get the flower on top of the Teahouse background image, I stamped the image again onto a sticky note and very carefully cut it out, creating a mask for the whole image. If you do this, be careful around the stem and leaves - ask me how I know....... :)

Once my mask was cut, I placed it over the flower I'd stamped on the cardstock and then inked up my Teahouse stamp with Pink Pirouette ink. I stamped off one time to create kind of a faded pink tone and then stamped the background on the Whisper White cardstock. The mask protected the stamped flower and allowed it to appear like it's on top of the background. Isn't that cool?!!

After stamping all that, I distressed the edges of the cardstock with my Bone Folder - it's not just for folding cards you know! This was layered on a piece of Early Espresso cardstock which was similarly distressed.
The other card layers are Pear Pizazz DSP from the New In Color paper stack - you will LOVE the value in these packs of paper! - and the card base is Early Espresso cut at 4 1/4" x 11" and folded at 5 1/2" to make the finished card.

To make the ribbon accent, I took a length of Pretty in Pink ribbon - I didn't measure it, just used it directly from the roll - and separated one end of strands and pulled on just one from the center. Actually, this was a pain in the patootie, but the final result was SO worth the effort. I just love how it all turned out!
Once I had all the ruffles formed, I placed the entire piece of ribbon down on a piece of Sticky Strip that I'd attached earlier. Lastly, I took 3 of the new Pearls Jewels and added them at intervals on the ribbon - just gorgeous!

The inside is finished with a simple piece of Whisper White cardstock stamped with the leftover ink on the hydrangea stamp. Soft and pretty.

So, there you have it, my first 411 effort in two weeks! I can't believe I was away from my challenges for two weeks, but the break was nice and I feel like I have new, exciting mojo! Yay!

Be sure to check out the other Operators projects over at the Stamping 411 blog. I know you'll love what they've created with the sketch as well!
Have a great evening everyone - go stamp something fun this weekend!
Blessings,
~~Robin