2 Crafty Challenges

I thought I'd join in on a few weekly challenges, to keep my creative doobrys flowing!

The first is the Inchy Challenge set by Inch By Inch.

To take part, you must create something to fit in with the week's theme. Any materials can be used, but it must be 1 inch square in size! Then link back to the Inch By Inch site, and leave a comment there, so they know you're joining in.

This week it's hats. I was wondering what to do, and then realised that that old song, "The Sun Has Got His Hat On" was going around my head. My dad used to sing it round the house during his wackier phases! Well, here goes:-It's a 3 layer watercolour- the hills and the sun at the back, then the trees cut from another piece of watercolour paper, then the writing on another. I've gone over the leaves on the tree with some green Crystal Lacquer pen.

Having the 1 inch square to restrict you is amazingly freeing! You have to be very strict with yourself about what you have to leave out. It's like writing a poem to a set metre or rhyme- a restriction, but a helpful one.

Go on- have a go! You may surprise yourself!

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Next, a weekly challenge from Sketch Saturday. (It changes each Saturday but lasts for the week.)

The 'sketch' is actually a layout that you have to follow for making a card, postcard, ATC, etc. You can turn the layout on its side, or upside-down, but mustn't move the elements around.
Here's this week's:And here's my attempt, using paper scraps, stuck on to a plain brown "Kraft" card. Part of the bare card shows at the top, and I've rubbed gold and green ink pads over this part and then rubbed on some fine glitter. The butterflies are outline stickers, filled in with Crystal Lacquer pens. The flower in the centre bottom is a sticker left over from a pack (possibly K and Co). The three are sitting on squares of Indian paper handmade from recycled cotton rag. I've coloured the margins of these using purple and bronze ink pads.........
"Thank You" was a Paper Artsy stamp, using a bronze ink pad and clear embossing. Behind it is a thin strip of vellum with some gold calligraphy on it.

I added some light butterflies along the middle strip with another Paper Artsy stamp, using a watermark stamp and a little pink and blue.

The photo's don't show the colours very well, I think this is because they were taken in artificial light.

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While I found the inch by inch challenge fun, and the size restriction helpful, I didn't enjoy working to this layout at all! Whether this is because I've only made a few cards, and when I do, I just make them up as I go along, or whether a different layout would suit me better, I don't know. I'll do this challenge for a few weeks, and that way, I'll find out!