Raise the Bar/Sketchbook Saturday

 Another week has rolled around (far too quickly since it's been a vacation week for me), and this week's Raise the Bar Challenge is to use damask and/or swirls on a card.  I ventured across Afton Mountain on Wednesday to a great stamp/scrapbooking store in Charlottesville's downtown pedestrian mall.  While there, an employee showed me how to turn your embossing folders into stamps by using a piece of 1/2" fun foam!  You first heat the foam with a heat gun then quickly put it in the EF and run it through a die machine (I have a Big Shot).  Your foam should now have the embossed pattern on it.  I swiped 3 different colors of distress ink pads over the foam pad, misted it slightly with water and then "stamped" it on paper.  No two tries are ever the same, but I liked the unique BG it created!  I used Chupa's Sketchbook Saturday Sketch for the layout and couldn't resist these primitive pumpkins...again...just LOVE them! 

Thought I'd share a view of our beautiful Shenandoah Valley as I headed east the other day...

....and this was the outdoor patio in the downtown pedestrian mall where I grabbed a bite of lunch at The Nook and had a super yummy portabello mushroom sandwich with basil pesto!

So, this is getting a bit lengthy...hope I haven't lost you. :-)  Remember to check out the other bartenders' creations:

Joni

Thanh (sitting out this week)

Julie (sitting out this week)

Peggy

STAMPS: Primitive Pumpkins (MFT), Super Dad (Verve)-flag outline.

PAPER: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, White.

INK: Crushed Olive, Rusty Hinge, Spiced Marmalade distress inks by Tim Holtz; Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive and Soft Suede by SU.

ACCESSORIES: Swirls EF by CB, Postage stamp border and Open scallop border Die-Namics by MFT, Chocolate pearls, Jute twine, Stripes EF by SU, Ribbon banner die by Verve.