Gallery Idol: You Color My World Challenge

If you've been living under a rock (or just understandably busy, or lounging on the beach in Fiji or....), I entered into Paper Craft Magazine's Gallery Idol and was informed Friday I was one of the Top 20 Finalists! What awesome news that was. Here is the blog post where you can see the other winners (I am amongst some pretty fierce competition, all beautiful and lovely crafters).

My train of thought that occurred:

1. WHAT? That's my picture. Is that a mistake?
2. It says Erin Lee. That's definitely me.
3. I'll scroll down to see what card they picked.
4. Yep, those are my boots.
5. Wait....I'm a finalist?!?! REALLY?
6. What's the theme for Monday? (Color? I LOVE bright colors - score!)
7. Followed by every single thought that crossed my mind Friday afternoon / evening / night included spectrums of colors, rainbows and shades of color. I went to the Farmers Market: I saw rainbows of produce. I saw rainbows in cars, in stores, at church. Outside. Inside. EVERYWHERE.

Today, I'm here to post my FIRST card for the contest. The theme this week is You Color My World. I knew immediately I wanted to do some kind of spectrum, don't know why, it's just what got in my head. I am typically the type of crafter that brainstorms lots of ideas in my head, looks at stamps for inspiration in my craft room for a bit, then goes gung-ho on one concept and never looks back. I followed this path with this card as well. No need to stray from my norm now, right?

Here it is, in all its colorful glory.

For this card, I used Papertrey Ink black card stock for the base and white card stock to stamp the diamond pattern down. For this part, I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to line it up perfectly, which was a lifesaver. The stamp I used for the diamond pattern is from a Unity Stamp Company Kit of the Month set.

I used a whole lot of patterned papers, too. No one diamond is alike - all different (75 to be exact). That's a lot of stamping and a lot of paper piecing. God bless my Cutter Bees!

I wanted to make sure the diamond pattern was the focus on the card so I kept the sentiment small and simple, but still wanted it to pop. I used Zing embossing powder in hot pink and rounded the corners, then adhered it with Stampin Up Dimensionals. The stamp is Unity Stamp Company / Echo Park Smile! Itty Bitty that can be found here.

I hope you enjoyed reading more about the makings of this card. I had so much fun with this one and I realized something about myself - I love a good competition! It helps grow my creativity and stretches my limits, all good things. One thing I verified about myself - I still hate making a huge mess in my craft room ;)

Thanks for stopping by and I would of course LOVE your vote so I can progress to the next round.

Until next time. xoxo