2 cards, 5 challenges!

Warning: This will probably be a long post! *wink*

So, last night I stayed up kinda late after the boys were in bed, and cranked out two more cards, covering 5 more challenges for the Dirty Dare '08. (Sorry in advance for the yellow-ish close-ups...I was playing with my new-to-me photo box, and I'm not sure why it does that, and couldn't quite fix it in GIMP).

The first is a clean, white card for JulieHRR's challenge that incorporates the pink and black color combo with faux stitching for Jacksonbelle's challenge:
This one kinda took me awhile, trying to figure out how to add that bow. It didn't look right off to the edge, since it'd cover the embossed frame, and it certainly wasn't going to go *over* my image. My solution was to cut two slits on either side of the flower's faux stitching, following the same shape, then weaving the ribbon through the card *behind* the image:
I must admit, I thought I was pretty clever, and it keeps that clean, beautiful white 'No-layer' style *smiles*

The second card I did covers tasher's sketch challenge (following the rules of keeping the orientation and adding a repeated element at the bottom!), Lauraly's vellum challenge, and scrapnextras's distressing/"Get Dirty" challenge:
*Love* how this card came out! I used dimensionals for the main panel, and for the vellum-covered flower. The colors were all inspired by the dp I used, Basic Grey's "Jubilee" from their Fruitcake line...Blue Bayou, Old Olive, Soft Sky, and River Rock all match the design *perfectly* (yay!) In addition to my distressing tool, I also used my fingernails to achieve a lighter distressing on the Basic Grey flowers.

Here's a close-up of the distressed vellum over the center flower:
Thanks for looking! Happy Monday!
~Michelle

Supplies Used ("Thinking of You" card):
Paper: Whisper White cardstock (SU!)
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Going Gray (SU!); Stazon Jet Black (Tsukineko)
Stamps: Bodacious Bouquet, Warmest Regards (SU!)
Other: Bodacious Bouquet embossing/piercing template (SU!); fingertip knife (Fiskars); rectractable paper piercing tool (Tim Holtz for Tonic Studios); black grosgrain ribbon

Supplies Used (Distressed Basic Grey card):
Paper: "Jubilee" dp (Basic Grey "Fruitcake" line); Blue Bayou, Old Olive, Soft Sky, and River Rock cardstock (SU!); Vellum paper (The Paper Company)
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Old Olive, Close to Cocoa (SU!); Stazon Jet Black (Tsukineko)
Stamps: "So Much" (SU!)
Other: Aged Copper Hodgepodge Hardware small brads and ribbon slide, paper edge distressing tool, mat pack piercing template, dimensionals (SU!); copper jumbo snaps (We R Memorykeepers); foam blending tool (Tim Holtz for Ranger Industries)