Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock.
       ~ Will Rogers

Diplomacy is the art of letting someone have your way.
       ~ Daniele Vare

You know, I always run my cards by my family, who I have trained to oh and ah on queue. My daughter, well trained in critique diplomacy said – she hates it!

I immediately defended my card as my first venture with Magnolia stamps and began educating her on the virtues of Scandinavian style craft. I told Caitlin about how the stamps originate out of Sweden and showed her the Magnolia Ink magazine so she could appreciate the culture of the card. United Nations would be proud of my efforts at bridging the differences between American modern minimalism and Scandinavian ornate vintage, Caitlin, however, could not be convinced. She couldn't even bring herself to look at it! So, being the incredible diplomat that I am, I got my way – and I didn't even have to find a rock!

To those of you who love and create beautiful art with the Magnolia images, oh dears, do be gentle. Remember, it's just my first dabble at it. Being more than just a little intimidated, I did what any novice would do – I copied a master: Rachel Jakes. (I want to be like her when I grow up!)

I used so many sources for inspiration, I'm not sure I can even take any credit for this card.

First, Jen has this really fun sketch at i{heart}2stamp (I flipped it upside down and all around).

This week the My Time to Craft Challenge is "Pretty Pearls." Making a Scandinavian card without pearls would be like making German Chocolate Cake without coconut – it's almost a required ingredient. Besides that, they're so pretty.

I'm still keeping up with the Copic Creations challenges. Challenge number 26 is all about coloring black hair. The funny thing about coloring something black is (write this down – it's very important ) don't use the Black marker – it's too black. Suzanne Dean's tutorial, Coloring Images/Objects Black (very helpful) called for cool grays; C3, C5, C7, and C9. I didn't have C9, so I made a C9 with a 100 Black marker. (I know, I just told you not to use the Black marker – and it was very important.)

I touched the nib of my C7 marker to the nib of the 100 Black marker to pick up just a little bit of black and then colored the image with my C7 marker that now had just a little black mixed into it. I promise, you can do this without contaminating your markers. It works much like the way you might use a blender pen to pick up color from another marker, chalks, or ink refillers. By the time you finish coloring your image, the color you picked up with be gone from the nib, and you'll be back to your original color.

Here is a breakdown of the markers I used. If you're reading this in a reader like Google Reader or Feedblitz, or, if you one of the lucky ones with the new iPad, you may not be able to see this slide show (it's in Flash), so here's another link to it.

And, all together . . .

• Embellishments – Basic Grey Opaline half pearls, Prima flowers, Charm Me (from Oriental Trader)
• Fibers: Stampin' Up! White Taffeta and Silver cord
• Ink – Copic Markers (see above), Memento Tuxedo ink pad
• Paper – Neenah, American Craft (Letterbox)
• Stamp: Magnolia Tilda with Bike
• Tools: Nestabilities, Stampin' Up!/EK Success border punch

So, in the interest of good, diplomatic relations – where you do weigh in on the vintage Scandinavian vs modern American styles? Are you in Team Caitlin or Team Magnolia. I promise – I won't look for any rocks!