Beate's Inspiration Challenge

There are myriad, numerous, plentiful inspiration challenges in stamping blogland, and there are only a few that I have the time and/or the inclination to participate in. Beate Johns' Fresh & Fun blog is one of the most visited of all. She has over a million hits to her site and counting. Yesterday she posted this cute picture of a black and white Pottery Barn pillow and said, "do something with this."

I find white on black to be stunning, but also quite challenging. But the allure of the challenge was too much to withstand (with laundry being the other thing calling my name), so I accepted. I wanted to work with Garden Silhouettes again, a retired Hostess set from the Fall-Winter 2007 main catalog. I'll be needing a sympathy card soon (not something fun to know), so black and white was going to fit the bill for that as well.

I pulled out my favorite image, the goldenrod, and set to work with my Craft Whisper White pad. (There's another image from the set that would've been almost an exact match, but I didn't want to just replicate the design of the pillow as a card.) As dense as pigment ink is, white still has a hard time standing up to the blackness of Basic Black card stock, so it had to be enhanced with White Embossing Powder. Here's where the word "challenging" applies to this card design. While there are tools--an embossing buddy--and tricks of the trade--flicking excess with stiff rapping of the card stock--we stampers are taught to use when applying EP, dealing with stubborn, lingering particles always seem to impact my designs. This experience was no different than the other times, but I persisted.

Once I had the background completed, I moved on to the sentiment focal point. I stamped the same image with Black Staz-on (read permanent and intense black) ink on Whisper White card stock. Then I chose the sentiment from God's Blessings (sometimes death is) and determined that introducing silver into the design would add just the right dimension of shimmer to this somber card. So I inked the message in Versamark and embossed it with Sterling Silver EP, matted it with silver card stock, BB, and WW card stocks and the card was finished.

If you haven't already left a post to enter yourself in the blog candy contest that ends tomorrow, please go to yesterday's posting and do so! Let me be clear that this is NOT open ONLY to those who haven't yet subscribed to the blog. ANYONE can leave a comment and be entered! If you feel so inclined, tell me how you found my blog and where you're reading from (what state or country you reside in). The winner will be announced Friday.