Crossing my fingers...

We have this saying in my family...

"Why put off to tomorrow what you can put off until next week?"

It's not just me - procrastination runs in my blood! LOL!

In the spirit of that familial trait, even though I first saw the sketch and the details for the Creative Scrappers Design Team Call a few weeks ago on my little blog roll, I haven't had a chance to get creative until the very last second, of course. Which actually turned out to be fine, because I got the best picture for this layout at the 4th of July BBQ we attended last weekend, plus I got a chance to play with some wicked-cool metallic water colors my step-mom got me as a late birthday present when they were up visiting us last week. More on those in a bit, though.

First, here's the sketch for the challenge/DT call:


And here's my take on it:

Since the photo of Soph & her best friend Lia is so bright and strong, I really wanted to go for a clean look to this layout so the overall design didn't compete with the photo itself. Since I'm more keen to big, fat scallops and I didn't have a punch or scissors large enough for my vision, I used the circle stamps to create my look. For the flowers, I stamped them once in regular ink, then stamped them again with VersaMark and embossed them with Iridescent Ice stampin' emboss powder from Stampin' Up. Once that was done, I cut them out, curled the petals under and popped them up with a thick pop dot for a little extra dimension & visual interest. I added a little bling and pretty, pearlescent paint and called it good!

Most stamps & cardstock are from Stampin' Up. The swirly doodly stamp, inks and chipboard are from Close To My Heart.

That yummy luminescent color on the chipboard and the paint spot behind the photo is from LuminArts. These photos don't do it enough justice!

My step-mom and I were window shopping in Old Colorado City when they were up for a visit last week and we popped into the Holly Berry House Originals store on West Colorado Avenue. They had some beautiful, intricate stamped artwork and we couldn't resist. Inside we found a huge array of these little cosmetic pots of sparkly, shimmery water color paints that don't fade. The owner was telling us that the manufacturer of these water colors had toyed with the idea of going out of business, but apparently there was an outcry from their followers. After using these beautiful paints and seeing it on the designs in the shop, I could see why! My step-mom spoiled me with 10 different colors - yeah! Thanks Sally!

Thanks for looking - wish me luck!