Lucky Me, One Card, two challenges!

St. Patrick's Day is very lucky for me today although I was really scrambling to get this done.  It's lucky for me because although I procrastinated to get my Blog Party card done,  I woke up and saw this morning's WMSC#89, and realized that I could use my idea to make one card for two challenges.  This month the theme for the blog party is no surprise...St. Patrick's Day/Irish/Green!  The sketch for the challenge is by the very "Irish by marriage"  Mischief Maker, Renee Lynch and is perfect for my Irish Themed card.  Here's the sketch:

That great big flower could be just about anything, and I decided to make it a window!

I don't really celebrate St. Patrick's Day and didn't have any stamps for that occasion, but I was so happy to find out that Waltzingmouse had some digital stamps and papers that would be just perfect for making an Irish-themed card, and some of them are  FREE!  Here's my card:

Wouldn't everyone like to have the "luck" of  having a whole flowerbox full of four leaf clovers?  The shamrocks are a free digital download from Waltzingmouse.  What was so great about this image is the fact that I could scale it any size I wanted, large or small to fit my card.  This time I wanted those shamrocks growing outside the Small Madison Window, shutters and flowerbox which represent the great big flower in Renee's sketch.   They were colored with copic markers and a little stickles for some sparkle.  Behind the curtain is a little lamp from PTI's Lighten Up stamp set and some lace trim for the valance. 

The background paper as well as the lampshade is also a digital product by Waltzingmouse called Celtic Squares.  It was so reasonably priced and I can print as many pieces of it as I want, lots of different color shades of green too!  Now, this isn't just a regular card, it is my first easel card.

It's quite dark and dreary here this morning, so my pictures don't really capture how bright and cheery this card is.

For some reason I had it in my head that it would be difficult to make an easel card, but it wasn't!  I found the perfect sentiment panel to fit inside my card too.  Last summer when my friend Renee (It's a Patchwork Life) and I placed our first Waltzingmouse order, she ordered the Irish Blessings stamp set.  Before I sent it to her, she let me stamp off a few images to keep for the future and this sentiment is one I stamped.  I had never had a chance to use it before, but I think it is just perfect for this Irish-themed card.  I plan to keep this card myself and keep it on my desk at work, a constant reminder of how lucky and blessed I am. 

There are going to be lots of other "lucky" Irish cards today over on the Waltzingmouse blog, make sure you get over there and enjoy them this St. Patrick's Day.  While you are at it, why not make a card for the WMSC#89 too, you can even cheat like I did and make it a two for one!