Oh, Happy Day! DAY ONE of the OUTSIDE the BOX Blog Blitz!

It's Day One of the Outside the Box Blog Blitz! And I get to kick things off! What stamps to choose from What's in the Box??? I finally settled on three

• G1848 Distressed Garden Record stamped in Versafine Vintage Sepia
• D1841 Drift Flowers stamped in Archival Jet Black
• B1853 Wishing you a happy day (music notes on the side) stamped in Archival Jet Black

and this is what I did.

A really fun part of this card design was creating a colorblock background.  Using a technique from Jennifer McGuire, these were my tools:

I worked on watercolor paper (cold press, on the bumpy side), inking up each Distress Inking Tool foam with its corresponding Distress Ink--mustard seed, spiced marmalade, peeled paint--and then used each foam to sop up some Tsukineko Shimmer Spritz from my craft mat before pressing the foam onto the watercolor paper. I kept reinking and sopping up more spritz until I was satisfied with each color block. I wish you could see the lovely shimmer on the surface of this card!

Once the background was dry, I added the stamped images.  I did add clear embossing powder on top of the Drift Flowers and the sentiment and heat set those just to add a bit more shine to the card.  To finish it up, I trimmed the watercolor paper to fit on the front of an Aloe card (new color!) and added a piece of Martha Stewart Calla Lily ribbon tied in a bow.

When I was a kid, I used to collect flowers from the yard and the woods and press them into old books. This card reminds me so much of Queen Anne's Lace preserved in a vintage garden journal.  Love it!

Now for the fun part.  How would you like to win some of the latest Memory Box products?  We have two ways to win product this week.

First method...leave comments on blog posts.  At the end of each day, one comment will be selected at random from all of that day's posts to win a prize.  There will be 2-3 posts a day, so if you leave a comment for each designer, you will have multiple chances to win that day's prize.  A winner will be selected at 11:59pm EST each night.

Second method...enter our card contest.  Please consider uploading a card (or many cards) to out Flickr gallery this week.  New cards uploaded to the gallery between Monday, Feb 6 and Fri, Feb 10th (11:59 pm EST) will be eligible.  You can make any themed card, but we ask that you use at least one Memory Box stamp or die in your creation.  Two winners will be selected and will be featured here on the Outside the Box blog.  Each winner will also receive the Memory Box stamp of their choice as well as the brand new 6" x 6" Viola paper pack.  Good luck!

Comments

[connie Locashio]

As always, love the cards/blog from Memory Box and especially those from my friend Anne. Maybe this is the contest where I win a prize??? What Fun! Connie

[Kellie Ketchen]

Beautiful Anne! This is going to be an exciting week. -kk

[Julie Kingsley]

Beautiful ! Was great to see Jennifer's technique used. A great match with the Memory Box stamps! Can't wait to see what you all do this week!

[Kim]

Memory Box, Dave and all of you super talented DT members are my absolute favs - I look forward to seeing all the wonderful design ideas and new products each of you come up with - I check everyday :) I'm hooked!!!
Kim (in Alaska)

[Jennie P.]

I love the colors of the card.

[sue wisniewski]

what a fun technique you did on your card.
stamping sue
http://stampingsueinconnecticut.blogspot.com/

[Flo]

I love this ideas. Thanks for the technique, your results are very pretty.

[Judi]

Wow! I love this card, the colors are so dreamy and this technique of color blocking looks so interesting! Thanks for the inspiration!

[Susan H]

What beautiful cards! Love love the new stamp you're showcasing today!

[Colleen Gee]

Thanks for all the chances to win the wonderful new Memory Box products. I love your stamps and dies and can't wait to see more.

Colleen G

[Natalie]

love the background!

[Lorraine Padden]

What great techniques. Can't wait to try them on one of my projects. Memory Box rocks. Thanks to my local stamping store, Stampin' and Scrappin' time for ordering any MB products I need.

[Jan Harrod]

Love the background technique! I thought of queen Anne's lace too!

[Sheryl Sharp]

Wonderful stamps, beautiful card!

[alison bergman]

love the colors...love the stamps...they are must haves...

[Donna Billingsley]

Gorgeous card. Better get upstairs and get started! Woo HOO!!

[Karen G]

This is beautiful! The colors look amazing....

[Carol Gillogly]

You and your DT ALWAYS motivate me! This is beautiful!!! And, seems to be elegantly simple and maybe even 'fast!' Must find the new paper color, Aloe.

[Regina Z]

I literally just discovered Memory Box this past weekend and I am in love. Can't wait to see more :>

[Suzie P.]

I love the background technique....will have to try that! Memory box is my favorite!

[Maureen C]

great idea! love the card. Thank you!

[jjulie gammon]

Great color block idea! Can't wait to try it out!

[Jami Register]

I love the cards your creative team comes up with. It helps those of us who are not as creative.

[Sally J]

Love these three new stamps and the color blocked background is beautiful!

[dawns]

These colors are so pretty! Lovely card too.