PCJ DT Card: Anything Goes Challenge - The Most Adorable Panda

Greetings! I'm not really sure what happened to February, but I'm afraid it was one month I don't want to repeat. Life at work since my last DT posts have been a bit hectic and I'll admit more than not I've come home brain-fried, without the energy to craft or visit my bloggy friends. Bleah. =( 

Fortunately my DT responsibilities have forced me into the craft room --which is why I was interested in joining a DT in the first place, so good on me for planning ahead LOL -- and I've had some fun playing with pre-colored images the past two weeks. I felt like I was cheating, but it was so relaxing not to have to think too hard about my oh-so-still-developing coloring skills. And the image for my card today is so cute, who could stay in a gray and blah mood playing with The Paper Shelter's image The Most Adorable Panda? LOL

This fortnightly challenge at Paper-Crafting Journey is easy peasy.... it's ANYTHING GOES! The fabulous prize is a $20 gift certificate for our wonderful sponsor, The Paper Shelter, so you can go a little wild in the shop! =) 

As I mentioned, my pick of the digital images so generously offered to the DT by The Paper Shelter was The Most Adorable Panda, available in both black and white line image and pre-colored, and it also comes with a terrific turquoise digi paper. The set inspired this:

Adorable image, right? Now you see why I couldn't resist? LOL

I spent a little time searching for some kind of bamboo print and I found a free illustration image on Microsoft.com which I resized a bit in Word and printed on cardstock. With it trimmed up and popped up on foam dots, I love the look as a backdrop for the panda image, which I also cut out and layered on thinner foam dots. I wanted a touch of natural materials and I had this Chinese character in my stash that I knew I wanted to use. This character is roughly translated as health, as in wishing someone the blessing of good health, not just in body but also in spirit. Considering how many of my coworkers have succumbed over the past month to some really awful "upper respiratory viruses", OI'm thinking it would make a great inside joke to make it into a Get Well card of sorts. LOL For now the inside is sentiment-free until I decide. =)

After sizing and printing my digi paper, I added a strip of this really gorgeous cream-colored Curvacious Chamois ribbon from Berwick-Offray which is really soft to the touch and has a curling, twisting quality that looks great on three-dimensional projects like wreaths and bows. And I loved it against that soft turquoise color and in contrast to the jute mesh ribbon I paired it with... until I tried taping it down to secure it. Flattening it just killed that beautiful curviness, but after about 20 minutes I finally managed to wrestle it into submission! I braided a few strands of two shades of hemp twine, weaving in the Chinese health charm and adding that over the mesh ribbon. As a last touch a few Hero Arts pearls were dotted here and there.

I have to say that I love what my fellow teamie Jessie did with the same image. She combined the cartoon-like panda with a really lovely background. So inspiring, and it's always interesting to see how many different directions you can go with the same image! =)  You can see her card and get more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team's creations using other Paper Shelter images over at Paper-Crafting Journey... then get to crafting and link up your papercrafting projects! Can't wait to see what you create!

I'll be back Saturday with some cards for Send A Smile 4 Kids, so until then, happy crafting and best of health to you all! I'll try to get out to my bloggy friends soon, hopefully on the weekend if not sooner!
Christy