adventures in mismeasuring

I cut the mat for the Paisley Petals designer series paper out of Soft Suede at 4-3/4"x2-3/4" and lined the scallops up perfectly.  Then I decided a Pear Pizazz mat would work better against the Soft Suede ink embossing on the Crumb Cake card base.  4-3/4"x2-3/4".  Maybe if I'd followed that old, old adage -  "measure twice, cut once" - I wouldn't have three - THREE - incorrectly sized (but perfectly scalloped) Pear Pizazz mats in my scraps drawer.  sigh.  When I finally did cut it right, I scalloped it wrong - but if anyone asks about the offset scallops, I'm saying "I meant to do that".

 Other bits and pieces include a Teeny Tiny Wishes sentiment stamped in Soft Suede on Pear Pizazz and punched out with Word Window, and a Plant Hope image stamped in Pear Pizazz on Whisper White, colored using a blender pen with Soft Suede and Crumb Cake, matted with Marina Mist.  Oh, and a Stampin' Up! antique copper metallic brad.

In other efforts, I made this card for the Less is More week 28 one layer challenge to use ink (as opposed to a digital image or computer-generated sentiment):

For me (as for some other card makers who have posted), using only ink wasn't really a challenge - that's what I'm used to using.  What challenges me is being able to tell whether the color is the "white space" or is not, so this may not really qualify?  I CASEd this card from Lynda's Quiet Time, using the same ink she used, direct-to-paper: Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, Regal Rose, Melon Mambo, Real Red, and Rich Razzleberry.  I stamped the image (Just Believe) and sentiment (from my new most favorite set, Perfectly Penned) both in Basic Black.

And last tonight, but by no means least, I also made an effort for Jingle Belles, who are ready to "bling on the holidays".  <chuckling>  I love their plays on words.  I'm really not much into "bling"; I wasn't really sure whether "shiny" is a synonym or not, but that's what I went with.  Of course, after the card was finished, I re-read Lauren's post and noticed that she offered several suggestions: jewels, gems, beads, studs, pearls, glitter, stickles or *ANYTHING* sparkly.  Fortunately, I grabbed a glittered card base from my pre-Stampin' Up! stash:

Actually, all the components came from my pre-Stampin' Up! stash, except the silver stretchy cord I used to tie the charms onto the wired ribbon, and I haven't even the vaguest idea who made them <sorry>, but I do  like the card.  If I ever again have the bright idea to use that stretchy cord to tie little bows, though, I certainly hope someone stops me!