Weekly Stash Challenge - week 5

Hello everyone - time for week 5 of our weekly challenge.  I hope you are all feeling inspired and creative.  On to the sketch!

Sketch week 5

As I have said before, these sketches are for your inspiration - if you hate portrait, make it landscape.  If you hate squares, make them shapes.  It is your card - and I can't wait to see what you come up with.

For my card this week, I picked some items from my stash.  I had a boxed set (I've had it for ages, and shamefully, it wasn't even opened!) and the latest Creative Stamping magazine and some random dies (that in the end I didn't use).

Both the cards I made this week were 7 x 5, mainly because they were the blanks I had easily to hand.

The first was made using the box set.  It came with papers included, so I chose the colours I liked and cut them to fit as a mat and layer.     I picked a toning paper to stamp the flower onto, which I did with gathered twigs distress oxide.  I cut them down to fit the squares, and layered them onto the top.      To finish the card, I used some ribbon to make a bow, and stamped the sentiment onto a die cut from my stash box, which I had edged with the same distress ink.

My second card was made using the Creative Stamping magazine stamps.    This had come with a

stencil, so I first used it to make the background on the 7 x 5 card blank with the help of some distress inks.  I distressed the edge very lightly with frayed burlap distress ink.     Then I added the ribbon across the bottom third of the card.   There are lots of iconic stamps in the set this time, and I had great fun stamping and colouring them, before fussy cutting them out.  Lastly, I stamped the sentiment onto a heart shape from my stash, and stuck it in the centre. 

The card looked a bit empty and unfinished round the edge, so I added some faux stitching in blue.

All done!  2 very different cards, but the same sketch.  I am looking forward to see all the cards you make - enjoy, and Happy Crafting!