Off the Scrap Desk

This weeks challenge at tickled Pink is one to get you thinking! It is called 'Off the scrap desk' and the challenge is to embellish your card with items that are not intended for card making.
I must say that I found this one really tough, as there is not much that I have NOT stuck on my cards at one time or another. Eventually I turned to the outdoors, as I often do if I'm stuck for ideas. Always in nature there is inspiration of one type or another, you just have to open your eyes and look around!

This is what I took back inside with me, an empty drink tin, from the back of our son's truck, a handful of acorn ends and tiny cones.

 ...and I also picked up a hunk of chicken coup wire, don't ask me why. I just thought it looked useful!

After a whole day of fiddling around I finally come up with this....

 I made the leaves by cutting out shapes from the tin can and carefully rolling the sharp edges under. I coloured the tin (and the chicken mesh) with Alcohol Inks. The little acorn ends made perfect little flowers, I just glued a small beads in each one.

 From 'off of my card making desk' I also used string, corrugated card,and craft wire, but these are items that I have used before. Check out the stamps on my card, I just had to use more that one! The sentiments, little boarder, swirl, and heart are all part of a set, called Pink Valentine Sentiments, from Tickled Pink Stamps. These stamps are awesome to use, and they leave a lovely fine imprint (just check out the word 'love' on the little hearts) There are no high pieces of rubber to leave messy smudges on your work either. Check them out!

Molly Mittens is a rubber stamp as well, and also from tickled Pink stamps, like the sentiments, the rubber is cut nice and deep so you get a lovely clean, crisp and fine impression every time you stamp.

I'm not sure that my colouring has done Molly justice, but I will keep tiring to improve. practice makes perfect, well, that's what my Nana use to tell me anyway. Sure hope she was right!

Now I'm going to have to put aside card making for a week or two as I received my NZ Paper Chase brief today, and I am also supposed to be illustrating a book for a friend.

Don't forget to take a peek HERE to check out more 'takes' on this challenge, and join in if you can!