NBUS and "The File": Oh My Stars!

Two of my favorite people are having challenges on their blogs.

Kara, at K and R Designs, is celebrating her 200th week of the Friday Inspiration File - her Pinterest board of weekly favorites. Kara's personal work is absolutely amazing, and her Pinterest board includes her favorites from other cardmakers throughout the week.  Even though I follow the same blogs, seeing these cards pinned in one place is a treat every Friday.

Darnell, at djkardkreations, is holding the third NBUS challenge - that's "Never-Before-Used Schtuff"!  Since Darnell coined the term NBUS, I have made sure that I keep all of my new stash in a separate place, and it can't get filed away until I have used it.  For someone as obsessively organized as I am, that's a powerful incentive to get it used.  The new stamps NEED to get put away by company and the new dies HAVE to get out of their counter tray and into the neat little slots organized by theme.  But somehow the NBUS stash never seems to shrink.  It changes all of the time, it just never shrinks!!

For Kara's challenge, I chose this card by this card by Cristina.  The card is a lovely floral with amazing dimension.  I knew that I needed to go in an entirely different direction, because I knew that nothing would quite measure up to the original.  (Not to mention that to begin with, I hadn't noticed that it was Cristina's card.  I've always loved her cards, but I developed a bit of hero worship after I read her most recent novel - The Book of Unknown Americans.  There's a main story and there are glimpses into other people's lives which is perfect for an avid people-watcher such as myself.  Plus I loved that simple events became special, for example, Maribel's first laugh over the word "oatmeal".)

I was inspired by the color scheme of her card.  Then when my card wasn't quite working, I studied her card again and added the dimension to my flags which ended up being exactly the right touch.


There are two NBUS items on this card.  The first is the Star Garlands die by Memory Box which I originally purchased for Christmas but I'm glad to realize that it will work throughout the year.  The second is the Shine Happy Sentiments stamps from Lil' Inkers Designs.

By the way, have I mentioned my new must-have craft tool?  It's these Eyelash Extension Microbrushes.  It's all based on Jennifer McGuire's first technique for adhering intricate diecuts.  It works fabulously! The Star Garland die was my first real test and I got it adhered without a single mumbled expletive!!  If you order the microbrushes, you should know that they come all the way from China.  Given that anything Jennifer promotes becomes a top seller, I have a mental image of a warehouse in China with all of the workers scratching their heads and wondering what is going on with the sudden run on microbrushes!

SUPPLY LIST

I have linked one of MFT's Fishtail Flags die.  They actually have two sets, the main one and a layers set - I've mingled my two sets and never know which exact one that I am using on a card.

Lil' Inkers Shiny Happy Sentiments	Memory Box Star Garlands Die	PTI Smokey Shadow CS	PTI Simply Chartreuse CS
PTI Berry Sorbet CS	PTI Summer Sunrise CS	PTI Summer Sunrise Pattern Pack	PTI Winter Wisteria CS
MFT Fishtail Flags Die	Versamark	PTI Summer Sunrise Buttons	Hero Arts White Embossing Powder
Hemp Cord - white

InLinkz.com