THE PAPER PLAYERS SKETCH CHALLENGE

Claire has presented us with a sketch challenge this week and the timing was perfect for me to send a graduation card to my nephew's oldest son. 

I turned the sketch on its ear for a horizontal card that would allow me to include an envelope to insert a gift card.

I attached a black stitched rectangle that was matted with gold cardstock. To this I layered iridescent red and gold vellum strips after gold heat embossing the sentiment. I die cut a strip of gold stars from an old die from I don't know who. I wanted to add a graduation cap and tassel so went to Pinterest for some ideas - great source! I cut a couple of small squares and attached a little tassel I made from red thread and mounted it with a gold brad. I glued white panels inside the card and die cut a small envelope from red iridescent vellum and attached some gold vellum stars to the top flap. That's it.

The other designers have prepared some wonderful examples of Claire's sketch - so have some fun with it! 

The Paper Players: PP646 - A Sketch Challenge from Claire

Cat News: A couple of nights ago my husband and I were relaxing on the patio catching up with each other's days and suddenly 4 small black and white kittens came through the fence! We had just the night before discussed that our little Chenin (named after a bottle of Chenin Blanc wine we were drinking one evening when we decided she needed a name instead of just Mama Kitty) had probably lost her kittens, since it had been at least 8 weeks since she was trapped and spayed. So, to suddenly have these 4 little cuties appearing was a bit of a surprise - the first words out of hubby's mouth were, "We're totally screwed!" Now begins the problems of what to do with these 4 new babes that were born feral. No way do we want 10 outside cats. Their mom has done a great job of keeping them safe and hidden from view.

But who is the mom? The other female that we thought had given birth was one we call Lady Jane Grey - white with lots of dark gray areas and spots. When we had her spayed at the same time as Chenin, we were surprised to get the message that only Chenin was lactating, because we were sure that both of them had been pregnant and given birth. Each time that the new kittens have arrived in the patio they've been accompanied by Lady Jane and last night she was engaging them all in play on the side lawn in the way that we have seen mama cats do. This morning they were all with her outside the gate and she was keeping her eyes on them, while Chenin was not really paying attention to them. So, it appears that Lady Jane is their mother, which is quite a surprise!