Dedicated To Opal

Happy Friday My Blogger Friends! 

It's the weekend and that means it's time to KICK BACK and ENJOY yet another fabulous weekend with Family and Friends. 

So today ...... I want to start my blog off thanking the many kind things my family and friends did yeterday for Jack's birthday.  WOW!  He had a wonderful birthday and it was filled with FOOD ...... chocolate cake (thanks Debbie, Eddie and Kris) ......... more cupcakes (thanks Karen) ..... phone calls, mail and email wishes (you seriously all know who you are!) ........ and more food (thanks Nancy, KP and Bob).  I was able to spend the ENTIRE DAY with Jack and we had a wonderful day connecting and playing - SUPER FUN!

But now it's back to reality and the everyday grind of it all (don't you just love routine?).  So today I thought I would bring you a fabulous card that was inspired by my stamping buddy Opal.  Opal gave me a card in December for my Crafternooners swap that used the following card recipe and after I made Opal's December Crafternooners card ...... I knew that I would be using that same layout when I set out to make my January Challenge card for my SaddleBrooke Stampers group.  Check out my card for today ........

The original recipe that Opal shared with me was pink and green - and my challenge card for January required me to create a Blue card.  I was also challenged to use a pre-stamped snowflake image and Opal's recipe allowed me to just cut the snowflake out and mount it directly to the center panel of my card.

This image was pre-stamped by Ann LaPerre and was given to us as part of our Challenge Card packet.  All I did was cut her stamped image out and I added a center circle layer that was stamped with Night of Navy ink and punched out with the help of a 1-1/4" circle punch.

The AWESOME TECHNIQUE that Opal shared with me for this card was the pok-a-dot image that was stamped on Bashful Blue cardstock.   All I did was use the eraser end of a pencil and dipped that into some Versamark ink and then dabbed the eraser onto my Bashful Blue cardstock.  It created a wonderful watermark image on the cardstock and it was super EASY-PEASY to do.  SERIOUSLY FOLKS.......DOESN'T IT LOOKS LIKE DSP?  I LOVE this technique and plan to use this technique in many upcoming card projects in 2012.

I love how amazing the snowflake image looked after I cut it out and popped it with some Stampin' UP! dimensionals ....... OH SO PRETTY!

The end result was a beautiful card that met all the requirements of my friend Ann LaPerre's SaddleBrooke Stampers Challenge card for January.  AND......I owe it all to Opal for sharing not only the recipe for this card - but also her amazing watermark image technique.  THANK YOU OPAL for sharing with me.  I hope as you read this - you are enjoying the SUN and FUN that comes with being in Hawaii.  You are one lucky duck to be in Hawaii right now - ENJOY!

I'm off to go get my Stamp Camp packets put together for next Wednesday's Stamp Camp.  I have lots to get done and starting to feel the pressure of getting 'er done in time.  Wish me LUCK!  I'll be back tomorrow to share my January Theme Card with you.......Hope you can come back and join me for that share.  Keep Living Your Dream!