Elegance in a Houndstooth Wrap...The PDCC36

What a fun week this has been in preparation for

the new color challenge at The Play Date Cafe.

I am the color host this week and absolutely

ADORE these colors!

First, we were inspired by this fabulous layout

courtesy of Marthastewart.com

Then, Ruby 2 Shoes issued a friendly little

'insider challenge' to me personally, to create

something using our 'under-used'

Tim Holtz Bird Cage Dies from Sizzix.

From there, the entire team got in on it, at least the

bird/birdcage-theme.  So we hope you enjoy it!

I used a couple of my favorite stamps from

The Artistic Stamper.

The 'Houndstooth Background' which I used on my birdcage

was a perfect match for a little BOO that I used, those paper

flowers from Making Memories.

I also used the very versatile 'Swirl' accent stamp

for my bird.  I gave the white background a little texture

using my 'Stylized Flowers' EF from Cuttlebug

(another favorite) and topped it all off 

with bling here and there.

We are really happy to have Kelly Marie from

Lawn Fawn back as our guest designer and sponsor

this week.  Even Kelly got in on our little

'insider challenge'  : )

One more note...

A good friend to The PDCC made a HUGE

contribution to our challenge blog this week.

You'll have to visit The Cafe to find out what,

but I want to extend a personal thank you to our

friend Paul B of The Artsiders for not only his

wonderful gift to our team and you, the players...

but for his continued support and inspiration each week!

Come play with us at The Play Date Cafe!