Avery Elle's June AEI♥U Challenge Part No. 2

Happy Sunday!  As I am on a crafting/blogging roll, Thursday night I made a second attempt at the Avery Elle's June AEI♥U Challenge.   You can find my first attempt HERE. 

 

 

This time around I began with the adorable smaller tag from the Simply Tags: Everyday die designed by uber talented Nina Yang (yes she created the sketch above too).  I cut 4 tags out of the My Girl 6x6 paper pad by American Crafts...such a sweet collection with pretty summery colors.  I added some grey and white baker's twine to each tag.  Now this is when things got dicey.  I ended up playing around with these four tags a lot.  And I mean a lot.  Some cards come together quickly and easily and others just don't.  This one was hard fought.

Here's the great sketch by Nina Yang again:

I decided to emboss the white panel with a nifty honeycomb embossing folder which mimics the hexagons found on the multi-colored hexagon patterned paper.  I pulled out the yellow from the hexagon patterned paper and stamped the sentiment from Air Mail and then die cut it out. 

A little digression, if I may.  Mail and travel themes go for my jugular.  They slay me.  I can't resist them.  Seriously, can...not...resist.  So imagine how thrilled I was with Air Mail.  More thrilled than the camel on hump day.  Watch out as I have a We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board coming my way and I have not even scratched the surface on this baby!  End of my little digression.

After placing the tags on the panel I figured what it needed was a central image.  I went through chipboard, pages of stickers, cabochons and diecuts until I found a lovely diecut from the Amy Tangerine/American Crafts' Yes, Please collection Bits (die cut cardstock shapes).  It was adorable, but not the right colors and a tad big for what I needed.  Still it was a jumping off point.  (Note to self: next Avery Elle order add Petals and Stems).

Here's my inspiration by Amy Tangerine/American Crafts from the Yes, Please collection:

I got out a pencil and drew a rose and some leaves in a similar fashion, painted it in with watered down Distress Markers and to get the right tone distressed the flower with Distress Inks.  Now I was getting somewhere!

I adhered everything down onto the white panel.  Then I added some aqua blue sequins (needed some sequins!) and some stickles to the flower and leaves just for something extra.  Last I adhered the white panel to a yellow card base.

Voila!  The tale of a challenging card.  I hope you enjoy it and thank you for staying with me during my rambling.

Happy creating,
Shay.

Supplies:
Stamp: Air Mail, Avery Elle
Ink: harvest gold, Papertrey Ink; antique linen and scattered straw, Tim Holtz Distress Ink by Ranger
Cardstock: stampers select white, Papertrey Ink; yellow, stash
Patterned Paper: My Girl 6x6 paper pad, American Crafts
Die: Simply Tags: Everyday die, Avery Elle
Other: Cuttlebug, Provo Craft; Honeycomb embossing folders, Lifestyle Crafts; circle nestabilities dies, Spellbinders; baker's twine, Whisker Graphics; pencil; worn lipstick, spiced marmalade and barn door, Tim Holtz Distress Markers, by Ranger; paint brush; water; Inkssentials ink blending tool, Ranger; aqua sequins, Studio Calico; star dust stickles, Ranger;dimensional adhesive

Making the Move From Google Reader

July 1st marks the end of Google Reader and like many I am shuffling to find an alternative.  One is Bloglovin' which allows you to follow blogs and make a very seemless switch from Google Reader. 

I am including a new way to follow my blog through Bloglovin':

 Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I am also on Feedly.  It is also very easy to transfer all of your information from Google Reader to Feedly.

Both Bloglovin' and Feedly are beautiful.  I figure if one way to follow a blog is good than two are better...you just never know which is sort of like packing extra underwear on trips.

Whatever you decide, make sure to do it before July 1st so you can transfer all of your information from Google Reader in just a few short minutes.

Happy creating,
Shay.

Avery Elle's June AEI♥U Challenge

Ever have some products parked in a shopping cart because you are eyeing them something awful, but the craft money is already spent?  This was me with Avery Elle for a few months before I vowed that I would buy something.  When they sweetened the offer for their first anniversary with an adorable free stamp set, Party Animal, I knew the time had come.  That stamp set was way too cute to pass up!  For your information, the offer is good until the end of this month, June 2013 {wink}.  Let me also assure you that their customer service is excellent! 

Avery Elle has a monthly AEI♥U Challenge that I am finally going to enter using this great card sketch:

I took a chance and went with purple.  I decided to mix the purple with a lot of white and touches of grey and silver.  Here is what I created:

I used a mix of stamps and dies from Avery Elle and just had fun playing around.  I love the Chevron Border die and used the little diamond pieces from inside the die designed by JJ Bolton (for more examples on how to use this die and others check out JJ Bolton's blog).  I plan on experimenting with this awesome die some more!  Another fun stamp set with matching dies are the Simply Tags: Everyday stamp set and dies designed by Nina Yang (who also designed that cool sketch above).  I used the larger tag die which I embossed and stamped the sentiment in purple only to stamp over it with VersaMark and emboss with silver embossing powder.

For the subtle background behind the diamonds I stamped the ikat chevron (love!) from Ikat Additions in grey.  This stamp set is a doozy and under $5.00!

One last picture where you can see the silver of the embossed sentiment a little better:

So the moral of the story is that if you have been itching to buy some Avery Elle products I recommend doing so before July 1st or any time really as you won't be disappointed.

Thanks for taking the time to visit!

Happy creating,
Shay.

Supplies:
Stamps: Ikat Additions and Simply Tags: Everyday, Avery Elle
Ink: weather vane and lavender sachet, Jenni Bowlin for Ranger; VersaMark, Tsukineko
Cardstock: solar white, Neenah Paper
Patterned paper: Hero Arts
Dies: Simply Tags: Everyday ELLE-ments and Chevron Border ELLE-ments, Avery Elle
Other: Zig Zag embossing folders, Lifestyle Crafts; Cuttlebug, Provo Crafts; silver embossing powder, Ranger; jewels and pearl, Hero Arts; dimensional adhesive

www.verdigrishall.com

Woo hoo!  A little thing, but a big step for the blog.  verdigris hall now has its own domain!  Yes, you can now find this blog at www.verdigrishall.com (or verdigrishall.com) without the pesky blogspot.

Thank you so very much for joining in on this little voyage of mine and I hope you continue to visit often!

Happy creating,
Shay.