Sad news today… this is my final post for Jan’s Digi Stamps. After 1.5 wonderful years on the DT, I find myself needing to step down from the team. My hands continue to worsen and typing is something that aggravates the pain. Writing the posts would probably still be doable, but leaving comments and love for the participants has gotten harder and harder, and that is a big responsibility of being on a challenge design team. The requirements for 2 projects a month is also getting harder to meet each month, so the time has come to let someone else enjoy the benefits of working with Jan’s fabulous images and getting their feet wet on design team work. Jan Mahew (and her husband Dick) have been fabulous, and the team coordinator NanaConnie has been like family to me and I will miss the team very much! The JDS team is actually taking the summer off to rest and recuperate, and the challenge and new team will return in the fall. Many DT members are staying on, but you may see other changes in the lineup so be sure to check out the new styles of inspiration from the revised team, and all the new images Jan will create over the summer break! Let’s talk about my last card for the Jan’s Digi Stamps Challenge, shall we? I had so much fun coloring up this image from the SpringTime set with my Prismacolor pencils! Take a look at how much comes in this set:

Jan’s images come in both color and b/w, and always include sentiments. I needed an encouragement card, so I opted to use a sentiment from the Alone Together set. I love how Jan’s sets work so well together, despite being totally different themes! I knew I wanted to use the b/w version of the pansies, and some of my patterned paper. I found a sheet of patterned paper in my stash with loose flower images and a hint of green, and then used the other colors in the paper to determine the colors of the pansies in the image. My coloring isn’t perfect, but it looks better in real life than it does in photos, so I’m still happy with the work. Unfortunately my hands don’t allow me to blend pencils well anymore, and with my new Eco-Tank printer the only media I can use to color that won’t make the lines bleed out are pencils. Yet another reason that led me to making the hard decision to leave the team. Anyway, I used Gamsol to blend the pencil a little on the flowers (but not the pot, which I wanted to look like a galvanized metal pot). Then I popped the focal image up on craft foam for some dimension, and that finished the card!

I would love it if you would head over to the Jan’s Digi Stamps Challenge and see what the rest of the team has made to inspire you. If you have a favorite, please head over to their blog, leave them some love, and subscribe so you can continue to follow them whether or not they return on the team in the fall. Make sure you follow the challenge too so you see their posts when they come back again and start back with the challenges. I still plan on posting here, just not on a schedule, and when I do I will be focusing on ways to use what is in my stash instead. If that sounds good, make sure you subscribe to receive my posts via email. I’ll be back tomorrow with the latest installment of Squirrels Gone Nutz.