One year ago today...

...I got a PM from Jenn Balcer of SCS asking me to be on the SCS Dirty Dozen design team! To say I was in shock was a total understatement. The Dirty Dozen designers were my stamping idols and I couldn't believe Jenn thought I belonged among them! My "reveal" was on May 15th and my final gallery contribution was November 15th. What an amazing experience those 6 months were and I can hardly believe a year has passed! Thank you Jenn for having the confidence in me! My Dirty Dozen "roomie" (meaning the gal entering the DD with me) is the incomparable Joan Ervin! What a pleasure getting to know this amazing and talented lady -hugs to ya Roomie!

So, to honor my time with the Dirty Dozen, I thought on the 15th for the next 6 months, I would share with you a couple cards from each monthly theme. These first cards are from my first month as a Dirty Girl. The theme was "This One's For the Boys" -what a perfect first month theme for me! I love making masculine cards!! Please note, you need to be a SCS Fan Club member to access these links. If you aren't a fan club member, you can check out the deets here.

This first card is for the boy all grown up! Boys and their toys, right?!? This motorcycle image is from an unknown unmounted stamp I bought from Ebay. The DP is a carefully trimmed piece of SU! Wanted. I wanted to use the corner star to match up with my punched out stars. The sentiment is from a Harley Davidson sticker pack.

Each month I tried to do a 3-d project of some kind (which was a challenge -I am a card-only kinda girl!). This month I did a picture frame for my Aunt. Some of you know that my cousin is in the Army stationed in Afghanistan back then (and still is!).

I painted the frame with dark brown acrylic paint, then covered the bottom portion with mod podge. I cut up my camouflage DP and pasted it on. I then covered the edges, both outside and inside with twill ribbon (to hide the uneveness). The silver metal rings say integrity and discipline respectively, and I tucked them onto the twill ribbon knot. The eagle image is from The Free and The Brave set and is colored with prismacolor pencils then sponged with distressed ink. Some of the stars are stamped tone on tone with the Sanded BG. That handsome soldier is my cousin, and I am pretty sure he would die of embarrassment if he knew it was in this picture and I was showing it AGAIN!

The 15th of every month we say welcome in 2 new designers to the Dirty Dozen and say goodbye to 2. This month the theme is Going Green and be sure to welcome Heather (inglishrea) and Bonnie (Eggette) be sure to stop by and give the gallery and the new girls some love!

Card deets (motorcycle):
Stamps: unknown motorcycle
Paper: black, sahara sand, basic gray, really rust, whisper white, Wanted
Ink: black, sahara sand, really rust
Accessories: large and small SU star punch, jumbo eyelets, pewter brad, sentiment sticker from Harley Davidson, dimensionals, sponge

Card deets (frame):
Stamps: the free and the brave, Sanded BG
Paper: Chocolate chip, Sahara sand, Close to cocoa, camouflage DP
Ink: Sahara sand, Choc chip, Close to cocoa
Accessories: prismacolor pencils, gamsol, large and small