Olympic Sports .....

.... Are you enjoying the Olympic Games?  I am!!!  The TV coverage here is good - although it is obviously focused on Team USA.  I would so like to see more of Team GB!!  I was so excited when London won the games.  So you can imagine being in the US, while it's absolutely fabulous, is a bit of a downer for me!!!    I have really missed the build up with the torch being carried around the UK.  The atmosphere in the UK, London particularly, must be fantastic!!  And what has sports and the Olympics got to do with cards and craft?  Well, it's time for the St Luke's Charity Card Challenge and this month our theme is:

Olympics/Sports

I've made two cards this month - and it will come as no surprise that my first card has an Olympic/London theme.

Stamps:  Papermania - Portobello Road Urban Vintage (PMA907126); Waltzingmouse - Freespirit Boy; Personal Impressions - 1st, Tennis
Inks:  Distress - Mustard Seed, Festive Berries, Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean, Black Soot; Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories:  Clear embossing powder, Spellbinder dies to cut Olympic rings; Official London 2012 Logo; Card from stash

This is a large card, 10" x 7".  I started off by masking the edges of the card - 5cms in from each edge and then stamping St Stephen's Tower (often called Big Ben) and embossing with clear powder.  Then I sponged on colour, using my distress inks, in the order of the Olympic rings.  Next I randomly stamped images representing sports and London.  To cut out the rings I used #3 & 4 of the large Spellbinder circles, taping them together to keep the rings equal.  I cut the rings from foil card - you can't see the shine in the photo above, but I think it looks fab in the view below.  I was going to stamp London 2012 above the image, but I really like the official Games logo, so I printed it off, cut it out and attached it to my card.

My second card is perfect for a tennis fan.  It is really quick and easy to make too!!  I used some Kanban paper to cover the base of the card, then stamped the tennis racket, shoes and ball twice onto white card.  I used Promarkers to add some colour to the image.  I cut out one image in full and just the ball and front shoe from the other image, then layered them.  I finished off with a simple birthday greeting.

Stamps:  Hobby Arts - Happy Birthday; Personal Impressions - Tennis
Inks:  Memento - Tuxedo Black
Accessories:  Promarkers; Kanban designer paper, Card from stash

We have a super prize this month - a full set of stamps from Waltzingmouse Stamps.  This lovely set, Blessed by You, is just fab with lots of wonderful sentiments and sweet images.

For more inspirational sporting themed cards, check out the DT's cards, by clicking on the links below or going directly to our blog for full details of the challenge and how to donate cards to St Luke's Charity Card Challenge.

Tara Cardwell

Jenny Mullens

Anne Forrest

Sylvie Colledge

Lynne Atkinson

At the time of typing this post (5.38pm) Team GB have four medals - two Silver and two Bronze.  Huge congratulations to the GB Men's Gymnastic team for getting Bronze!!  China and USA are tied on 23 medals each, but China have more Gold!!  Hopefully Team GB will get some more medals soon.  That's all for now.  

Edited:  Just seen that my cards fit in with the challenge at Paper Play Challenges - PPC30 - Sports/Olympics - so I'm linking up to this challenge.  Just been catching up with the Olympics - the US Ladies Gymnastic team were brilliant and I'm really pleased that Michael Phelps has got the record for the highest number of medals for a swimmer.