Saturday Sketch Challenge 166

Hey Hey Hey Happy Stampers!

How about another awesome sketch challenge from your 411 operators. When I drew this one out, I thought that some of you may feel nervous about an oval.. (just like last week's circle element). However, feel free to substitute for ANY shape that you might have including a rectangle.

Try to keep it simple and fun! Now for more fun! Check out what our featured Stamper Lynn Mangan did with this week's sketch.. Isn't she talented??

She asked me to post the card that I liked best..... Well ~ I LOVE them both! So, I thought I'd share them here. If you love her card, please leave her a comment on her blog here. While you are there, you may want to check out the most EXCELLENT versamark tutorial that she wrote for us this week! Thanks Lynn for sharing your talents with us!

So now that we've had some fun, how about talking measurements for just a moment. Miss Robin is on top this week so I'm going to do some potential measurements for you based on her creation.

Base: 8 1/2 x 5 1/2" scored and folded in half at 4 1/4"
Layer 2: 4 x 5 1/4"
Layer 3: 3 3/4" x 5"
She's got a bunch of ribbon layered between the next layers.. I love how she used ribbon in place of cardstock. If you are going with paper, just make it the same length as layer 2... in this case 5 1/4"
Layer 4 and 5, I believe are big shot ovals
And layer 6 are the numbers...

I bet that has some special significance!!! If you want to read more about the operator creations below, just click on their names below or on the right hand sidebar.

If you're uploading your card to an online gallery, please use keyword SSC166. If you've never done a challenge and you're looking for a place to post your cards so folks can see them, one of my favorite places to post cards is stampin addicts. If you want, you can check it out!

Above all please have fun and just go for it! Does the thought of cutting your card stock using measurements baffle you? Well, you can check out the most awesome post on how to read a ruler written by the very lovely and talented Lee Conrey, by clicking here.

Without further delay... Here are your operator submissions for sketch SSC166.


Robin Merriman



Gretchen Barron




Kerin Sylvester



Tiffany Bauer



Selene Kempton




Connie Babbert




Lee Conrey



Patti Chesky

Now it's your turn :D Never played with us before?? Well, it's easy! Sky's the limit!

1. Make a card
2. Post it online somewhere to your blog or other online forum
3. Post a link to the free linky tool below (please point the link to your post and NOT just your blog)
4. Have some fun and leave comments for each other (and for the operators if you like their work). ~ Everyone loves comments!

We hope you join us this week and play along with this sketch! But don't delay our links will close at 8AM on Thursday morning Eastern Standard Time.

How To Use Versamark, A tutorial by Featured Stamper Lynn Mangan

Good Morning Friends!

It is my Great pleasure to introduce Lynn Mangan a.k.a mango boys and me who has generously agreed to be our featured stamper for this week! Lynn plays along almost every week with the operators at 411 and we always look forward to seeing what she's up to. Surprisingly, she's NOT a demonstrator! She just loves to share her creative talents (and we love to see what she's got for us). Please leave Lynn some love (comments) so she knows that you loved her tutorial and hopefully she'll inspire you to pull out your versamark pad.

How about some more details?... Lynn is a mom to four boys, Ryan, Jonathon, Collin and Marcel. She is married to her high school sweetheart Pat. She states that she is very blessed that he is a stay at home dad to their four boys. She works full time.

So ~ here is Lynn's tutorial all about Versamark... Lynn writes:

"Hello there! The fabulous SU Demonstrators on the Stampin’ 411 Blog asked me to do a tutorial! I got to choose the topic and I picked Versamark. If you’re anything like me, you’re always looking for ways to stretch your crafting supplies. Versamark is the perfect addition! I’m going to share three ways to use your Versamark!

Tone on Tone…
First up is tone on tone. Ever get frustrated that you don’t have a stamp color to match your paper? Versamark quickly stamps and makes the stamp just a shade darker than the color of your paper….the best part…it always match!
Here’s a quick example:
To get started pull out your Versamark, paper and stamp of your choice.

For this card, I decided to use one of my favorite stamp sets Tart & Tangy and make some oranges, lemons and limes in different colors. Versamark dries pretty quickly and if you touch it doesn’t really mess up like crafting ink. After stamping the circles, I punched them with a 1 ¼” circle punch and cut a few of them in half. Don’t you love the colors this creates? Six different colors and only one ink!


To finish off the card, I stamped the sentiment in Tangerine Tango, embossed the white layer and added some ribbon. The full circle fruit was adhered with adhesive and the half fruit was applied with a Stampin’ Dimensional (another one of my favorite supplies!).

Card Dimensions: Base of card: 5 ½ x 8 ½”; White layer: 5 ¼” x 4”
Stamps: Tart & Tangy, Short & Sweet
Ink: Versamark and Tangerine Tango,
Paper: Whisper White, Tangerine Tango, Only Orange, Wild Wasabi, Certainly Celery, Daffodil Delight, So Saffron; Ribbon: SU Pumpkin Pie;
Accessories: Embossing folder, large dots.

Chalking with Your Versamarks
Another great way to use your Versamark is my utilizing your chalk. To get started, decide on what paper you’d like to use along with the stamp.


I utilized my Pocket Silhouette to stamp all the way across the card. After stamping, I dabbed the cotton ball in the various orange, yellow and reds to dab lightly on top of the Versamark. The Versamark is very forgiving so if you add too much of one color, dab the cotton ball in the color you’d like more of and go back over the Versamark. Here’s the end result:


Card dimensions: Base: 6 ½“ by 6 ½”; Second Layer: 6 ¼“ by 3”; Third Layer: 6” by 2 ¾“
Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes and Short & Sweet
Ink: Versamark and Pumpkin Pie
Paper: So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie and Very Vanilla
Accessories: Pumpkin Pie Ribbon

Creating a Monochromatic Background/Embossing
Versamark is also great for heat embossing. If you’re like me, you may not have a lot of embossing powders or embossing inks. Versamark with clear embossing powder allows you to expand the colors that you emboss.

For this card, I started with the background paper in Marina Mist.

I stamped the entire background with the scroll stamp from the Elements of Style stamps. I then applied clear embossing powder and heated it with my heat gun. The end result was the beautiful background.

To finish up the card, I stamped the other images on the front panel with Baja Breeze and Marina Mist.
Card Dimensions: Base: 5 ½” by 8 ½”, Second Layer: 5 ¼” by 4”; Third Layer; 4 ½” x 3 ½”; Fourth layer: 4 ¼” x 3 ¼”
Stamps: Elements of Style
Ink: Versamark, Baja Breeze and Marina Mist
Paper: Marina Mist, Baja Breeze and Whisper White; ;
Accessories: Embossing Powder, Clear

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial! Are you ready to go try out Versamark?!!"

Thanks Lynn for that amazing tutorial! You are a truly talented stamper! Please join us tomorrow for Patti's color Inspiration! (and please don't forget to leave Lynn some love).

(((rubbah hugs)))
Selene~