Something new for ABC Challenges

Hello friends - Happy Monday (if there is such a thing - hahaha)! So happy to announce today that this is my first card to share with you as a member of the brand spankin' new challenge called ABC Challenges. The ABC stands for All Beautiful Cards. I'm so delighted to be part of this challenge launch and am looking forward to seeing your beautiful creations and visiting your blogs. In honor of our first challenge our delightful blog leader and challenger owner Patty Gorka has decided to use the theme "New to You". That means we want to see you make a card using something that is either new to you (this can be something you've had for a while but never used - or it can be something that is brand new to you) and/or try a new technique that you've not done before. How fun is that??? I think it's very fun and here is what I came up with to inspire you:

 

My card today uses the following "new" things:

1) a NEW technique called bargello (see more info below)

2) a NEW stamp called Frightening Feline

3) an retired ribbon that I ordered and never used til now (and a NEW way of tying the bow -new for me that is).

 

Here's a close up of the words on the cat:

Not sure if the photos show this very well but I embossed the cat in black.  I was worried that the works might not stay clear with the embossing process but it seems to have worked out just wonderfully (other than where my fat thumb bumped the top of the left ear).

 



I had a lot of fun creating this card to share with you today.  The background is made from strips of patterned paper (1/4" each) put together in a technique called Bargello.  I learned this technique by following Mynette's fabulous instructions on the Technique Tuesday blog.  It's really quite easy - and I'm quite pleased with how my first attempt turned out.  What a super fun way to make you own paper!  To get the instructions pop on into the Technique Tuesday blog site and then make your own creation to share there.   

I'm a big fan of combining challenges when I can.  I find that it give me an extra level of challenge fun and inspiration as I'm deciding what to make.  At ABC Challenges we allow you to combine up to 10 challenges in total.  I used a couple more challenges for today's card in addition to the ABC Challenge.  I took my color inspiration from the Dynamic Duos Challenge #25 - Orange and Black.

 

I took further inspiration in terms of my theme for Divas By Design Challenge #57 -"Something Spooky" and Halloween at Sweet Stampin' Challenges.

Please pop on over to the  ABC Challenges blog and visit us.  We have a fabulous design team who have created some terrific cards for your inspiration to jump start this new challenge.  We would really love your support and can't wait to see what you create!  Thanks so much for stopping by to visit me today. Til next time... Hugs and Happy Crafting!

Supplies (all from Stampin Up!): Cardstock - Tangerine Tango, Pumpkin Pie and Basic Black.  DSP - Howlstooth and Scaringbone.  Stamp - Frightening Feline. Ribbon (retired - black lace). Other - Versamark in and black embossing powder.