Clean and Simple, or Dirty and Frustrating?

This week's Sketch Challenge at Splitcoast Stampers *should* have been easy.  (You can see the original sketch HERE.)  The sketch requires a card base, one additional layer, one image and one sentiment.  Pretty straightfoward, right?  Well, it didn't come together easily for me.  I couldn't decide on an image, then I couldn't decide on a sentiment, and then once I settled on those I couldn't seem to keep my inky fingers from leaving stray marks.  I must have stamped at least 8 panels before getting one that was free of stray marks.  My "clean and simple" card became quite dirty and frustrating!  The final result is a card that looks deceptively simple:

Now that I've finished my card, I can see how versatile this sketch can be and I think I will keep working with it.  By changing the image and/or the sentiment, you can easily create a card for any occasion.  This card is great for mailing because it is lightweight and free of embellishments. 

I made a card base from a piece of textured Bazzill brown card stock.  I cut a panel of Ultrasmooth Vanilla card stock (Stampin' Up!) and stamped the mug and steam (from Close to My Heart) in Memento Espresso Truffle ink on the right side of the panel.  I added the sentiment (from the Elegant Greetings set by Stampin' Up!) using the same ink, then rounded the corners of the panel with a corner rounder punch.  I adhered the ivory panel to the card base and added a liner to the inside of the card.  (Whenever I use a dark-colored card base, I add a light-colored liner for writing on the inside.)  The sketch called for the sentiment to be lower on the card, but with my image it would put the card off-balance to have the sentiment in the lower portion.  In a sketch challenge you are allowed to make minor adjustments and changes to suit your project, which allows for some creativity while following a basic formula.

One thing about Clean and Simple cards: It's very, very hard to hide mistakes!  Most of the time when I'm stamping a card, an extra embellishment or an added layer can cover up mistakes, but a CAS card is just so...naked!  It definitely challenges a stamper to do her best work (and keep those fingers clean!).

Thanks for visiting!