Splitcoast Sketch Challenge

Warning: I thought this was going to be a quick post but apparently I had a bit more to say than I had originally planned!

Just a quick post to share my second EVER Splitcoast Stampers sketch challenge! SC169 I normally have such a hard time following a sketch that I never do them! This week was different….there was an additional challenge that actually helped me! The challenge was to make the final layer, #4, only 1-1/2 inches wide before any additional layers! Well this "narrowed" down my options to about 2 stamp sets! I stamped the main image (see hint below) and made sure I could cut it to 1-1/2 inches wide without cutting off any toes…or I guess I should say webs! Then I colored the image. I find that more often than not I color my images before I even pick out paper, cardstock or patterned paper, then I match the paper to the colored image. I found an old stack of Retro DCWV paper and thought that this brown/blue print looked actually pretty good even though the only blue in the colored image was some shading I did…..and then I went to town! I cut and measured and slapped it all together! I distressed the #1 paper, the Chocolate Chip…so much so that I was able to peal the edges apart. I think I like this technique! I sort of still feel like there is an empty spot, but I was hoping that some of the wrinkles would fill that up! Found some yellow brads that I would normally never use and thought it kind of pulled it all together quite nicely! Not my norm…..but I do like it!




Stamp set hint:
I have never used this stamp set before; I think I’ve had it for over a year - yikes - and never cut/mounted it! Usually I am sketch-challenged because I just don’t ever know where to start, what stamp set to use or what paper to use! So only being able to choose from two sets really made it much easier for me! Normally I’d use the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig (which I will call SAMJ) for a two-step stamp set like this, but since I hadn’t mounted it yet and I wanted to use it in a hurry (and I couldn’t find my clear piece for my SAMJ), I figured out a way to mount this set so that I will not need to use the SAMJ! Each little guy in this set comes in three pieces, head, body, and legs. When I mounted the head, I made sure that the neck was right at the bottom edge of the block as close as I could get it without hanging off, and I made sure I cut it really close too. Then the middle section doesn’t really matter, but I did decide to mount the upper portion of the body, the shoulders, towards the top of the block. The last section, the legs, I also mounted towards the top of the block, so that the ends that must meet up with the stomach are as close to the top of the block as possible. I stamped the mid-section first….this is very important! Then I stamped the head; I leaned my head down a bit so I could see just where I was placing the neck and lined it right up with the shoulders of the already-stamped mid-section! Then, and this is another important part, I rotated the stamped image 90 degrees, so the head/midsection were now upside down, then I took the lower section, the legs, turned that stamp upside down and lined up the top of the legs with the bottom of the mid-section and stamped. I got it perfect the first time….without the SAMJ! When I finally get around to mounting the rest of the set, I do plan on mounting it this way! I’m a bit bummed that this set retired! I think I’m going to love it….even though I am a year late!

I woke up this morning to icky thunder and lightening and the kids asking if they really had to rake the yard today! I said, “Why of course you do! Get out there with your metal rakes and get working!” Is Spring Break over yet?

Thanks for coming!