You Hold the Key

I think one of the hardest challenges (for me at least) for "Hope You Can Cling To" is the "Pinkalicious" challenge. The goal: take the letters of "pinkalicious" and make 3-4 words of elements you can use in a card. Whew! I have to admit, I was stumped after "pink" & "ink." I was telling my mom about this, and she said that she loves doing puzzles like that. So I asked if she could help by coming up with words, and she said yes. She came up with about 100 words! So I took her list, and narrowed it down to four: pink, ink, lock, & polka.

When I saw the word lock on her list, I knew instantly which stamp I would use. Sweet 'n Sassy Stamp's "Cocoa's Heart" (no longer available) includes the image & greeting I used, & I knew it would be perfect. Kismet!

I die cut a panel from 140 lb. Canson XL watercolor paper with one of the "Small Stitched Rectangle" dies by Lawn Fawn. I stamped my image & greeting in Versafine Onyx Black ink, and heat embossed them with Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder. I colored the image in with my Inktense pencils and a damp paintbrush, adding a bit of pink to the cheeks & ears of the mice. For the background, I used Distress inks in Pumice Stone, Mowed Lawn, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, and Peacock Feathers to watercolor a little scene. I set that aside to dry while I worked on my background.

I die cut another panel from a pale blue cardstock with the largest of Lawn Fawn's "Large Stitched Rectangle" dies. I taped it to my cutting board with painter's tape, masking off the edges outside the faux stitching. I taped a polka dot stencil by Donna Downey Studios over it, and inked through that with Broken China Distress ink. By now, my focal panel was dry, so I adhered it in place. I then mounted my card front to a white A2 card base.

I decided to channel my inner May Flaum, and add an embellishment cluster in the corner of my focal panel. I used a metal lock charm from The Paper Studio, two buttons, and a heart & a couple of flowers I punched from red patterned paper scraps. I glued them in place with Perfect Paper Adhesive. Finally, I added a coat of Glossy Accents to the heart & key in my image, and set the card aside overnight to dry completely.