Sketch It Saturday :: The Altered Circle Challenge

Happy Saturday! It's time for another challenge at Unscripted Sketches! Along with the sketch, it's also the piggyback challenge. This challenge is do something to or with the circle in the sketch. Alter is somehow - distress it, tear it, layer it - Make the circle a unique focal point. 

For my card, I flipped the sketch and altered the design a bit. This is a great reminder from us to you -- The sketch is just a starting point to inspire you. We hope you'll take that sketch and run with it, creating cards, layouts, or 3D projects. 

The stamps are from a Market Street Stamps set called Christmas Bells. I've loved this bow stamp (by Brenda Weaver) from the moment I saw it released. I remember seeing a card Brenda created with the set, coloring the bow green. I didn't want to take another look at her creation before creating my own, as it might stunt my creativity. As I began writing this post, I went to search out the card on Brenda's blog to reference here today. Wow was I stunned. I must have subconsciously remembered more of the card than I thought, or her and I had similar ideas for this stamp. You must take a look. I almost cried looking at her card, as it looks like I copied the whole thing! Right down to the placement of the sentiment and the rounded corners! Wow, wow, wow. I almost didn't want to post this card, but the US post is already up! Have any of you come across this before?! I was so proud of how gorgeous this card turned out, and now I'm slightly embarrassed.

But let's move on to how I created the card... I stamped the bow onto white cardstock, re-inked the stamp, and stamped again onto a second piece of cardstock. To line up the bow, I turned over my circle punch, centered the bow, and punched away! 

The image was colored with Copic markers. I started by coloring the image on the circle. As I came to a piece that extended off the circle, I colored the other image, making sure the shading on both pieces was consistent and coloring only what would be seen beyond the circle. I outlined the entire image with E50. During my Intermediate Copic Certification, there was a large discussion about outlining images vs creating realistic shadows. I don't think our class ever fully agreed, but I always like outlining my images with a light color. Once the images were colored, the circle was adhered using foam risers. I didn't alter the circle in any way described in the challenge today; however, the circle truly is a unique focal point on the card!

After this part was finished, I noticed the Copic blues and my cardstock were not the exact color. Therefore, I added a second layer of kraft to separate them. Just that little change, and it works! I rounded a few corners, added some bling, and adhered a sentiment to the card base to balance out the raised circle. The stamp set comes with several different sentiments that I thought about stamping onto the card base as well. Maybe for the next card I create with this set... It's far too pretty to put away just yet! 

Thanks for stopping by... Make sure to view the rest of our lovely design team's inspiration on the Unscripted Sketches blog!

CARD SUPPLIES
Cardstock: Paper Cut
Stamps: Market Street Stamps (Christmas Bells)
Inks: Memento (Tuxedo Black), Copic Markers, atyou Spica Glitter Pen (Clear)
Bling: Queen & Co (Classy Red Pearls)

COPIC LIST
Bow: B41, B32, B45
Bells: Y00, Y11, Y21, Y26
Outline: E50
Berries: R24, R59
Leaves: G21, YG63, YG67