Color Lab Challenge 35

Elegant Eggplant is not a color that I have used very often, but this week the color challenge at the ColorLab pairs it with Old Olive and Chocolate Chip.  Nothing like a couple of great colors to get the creative juices flowing and entice me to try a something new.

I started my card by following the MOJO sketch, which, on the last Monday of the month, is always a choice between a round or square card.

I love round cards, and it's been a while since I made one, so I tried my hand at it again.  What I ended up with is a faithful version of the color challenge and a modified version of the sketch!  I found that my scallop circle was a little small and seemed over-powered by a couple of elements of the sketch.  So I switched the ribbon at the top for some linen twin, and completely left off  the long thin panel that would be next to the button. 

But despite these changes I really like how this card turned out.  The colors are so rich you can't help but like them.  And I can always add a heartfelt sentiment on the inside of the card later. 

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to stop by the Color Lab, check out the fabulous colors and inspiration from the Design Team and create something.  We'd love to see what you do!

ColourQ 78

Aren't the colors this week at the ColourQ adorable?  And that's not the sweet treats talking!!

I used to think that Certainly Celery was the best green ever.  I used it all the time and was constantly having to replenish my stash of it.  Then I discovered Old Olive.  Then came Kiwi Kiss.  Then came Pear Pizzazz.  And I forgot all about Certainly Celery.  But happily, this challenge made me remember how pretty it is and I was glad to use it again.

I wanted to layer the Pink Pirouette flowers but was afraid that it would look too bland, so I very lightly sponged the edges with Early Espresso.  It adds just enough oomph so that the flower is not too boring.  I'm really pleased with how this turned out.  Of course, I pretty much love anything made with Crumb Cake (and Early Espresso) so it was a given that I would like this!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

PPC53

The newest color challenge at the Picture Perfect Creations blog was very interesting to me, so I wanted to give it a try.
 

I thought I probably had some Chocolate Chip and Real Red designer paper in my stash that I could use to pretty up the card I had in mind and I was right.  No matter that the dp I chose was from a collection called "Ski Slope."  I've never subscribed to the belief that you have to use designer paper for the occasion that it was intended.  For example, something called "Ski Slope" should properly be used for a winter theme, or perhaps a holiday theme.  But as you can see, I've used it for something completely different.

My layout is a sketch challenge from the Clean & Simple blog, but (apologies to the folks at the Clean & Simple blog), I could not find the post for this challenge so that I could link to it and show you what the sketch looks like.  I can say that this was sketch 3 and that I've copied it quite faithfully.  My only regret here is that the sentiment and little star that I stamped in Chocolate Chip don't really show up on the photo.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

Sweet Sunday 110

Every Sunday I look forward to the Sweet Sunday sketch challenge.  Karen's sketches are always very inspirational to me.

The other day I made a card using some retired designer paper that I had in my stash and that made me remember that I had oodles of retired dp just begging to be used.  So for this challenge I went on an excavation and found some dp called "Apple Cider."  I'm pretty sure it's pretty ancient and it was wasting away in my stash, so I used some of its polka-dotted River Rock paper.

I admit then when I started this card, I had no idea where I was going to end up.  In stages I decided to use the Inspired By Nature stamp set, followed by the butterflies cut in Daffodil Delight  from the Beautiful Wings embosslits.  I had some more trouble deciding what sentiment to use, but went with one from the So Happy For You set.  In the end, I think it came out OK.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

Paper Players 40 and Color Dare 99

This is the second card I made for the Color Dare challenge.  The first has been relegated to the "what was I thinking?" pile!  The colors for the challenge are Basic Gray (which I love), Cherry Cobbler (which is the best red on the planet) and Marina Mist (which I am coming to realize is a really fabulous blue).  In my mind, I envisioned a really cool card to showcase the blending of these colors.  It seemed like a pretty unusual combo, but I had to give a try.  I just had to!

As I mentioned, the first card was horrible, but I didn't want to give up so I turned to the Paper Players sketch challenge for a little inspiration.

All you need is a great sketch, some time to think about what you are trying to achieve, some inspiration and voila!  A card (that you actually like) emerges.

One of the design team member's card for the Color Dare used three buttons in a row, so I decided to do that on my card where the sketch challenge graphic showed a sentiment.  I put the sentiment on the square panel and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge 196 and Color Throwdown 134

I've got three weddings to go to this summer so this morning I got up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to head on over to a local shopping mall to see if I could get some dresses to wear.  Anyone who knows me knows that "morning" and "bright-eyed and bushy tailed" do NOT go together.  But I did it and my efforts were rewarded because I managed to get something to wear to each wedding.

So, it was early afternoon before I wandered into my stamp room and contemplated the Stamping 411 sketch challenge and the Color Throwdown color challenge.

My retired Island Oasis designer paper was calling to me to stop neglecting it, so I gathered it up with its companion stamp set, Tropical Party, and got to work.

After I was all done and had taken the photo I realized that I forgot the sentiment!  I hate when that happens!  Oh well.  It will have to stay that way for now and maybe I'll add one later.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

Friday Mashup 37

Today I get to be one of the guest designers at the Friday Mashup blog!  The challenge is all about the zoo!

Luckily, I have the Fox & Friends stamp set which has some really cute images of lions and monkeys and some other animals that were perfect for this challenge.  I decided to go with the lion.

I would have to say that lions (and tigers) are probably my favorite zoo animal.  I like cats and lions are just one big cat, with big really big paws!  My guy here is sort of peeking at you, and little by little reveals himself.  I think it's a cute effect. 

I don't often make cards that are for children, but I think this one is going in my kid-friendly pile!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

Color Lab Challenge 34

It's Thursday and time for a ColorLab challenge!  Our colors this week are Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White.

What a fabulous color combo!!  I think I had forgotten how pretty Chocolate Chip was, so I reminded myself by using some of my retired Sweet Pea designer paper for the big Chocolate Chip panel here.  For my layout, I used the Viva La Verve March Week 3 sketch challenge which suggested quite a bit of stitching.  Since I love my Janome Sew Mini, I got it out of the closet and did a little stitching to add some visual interest.

I had this lovely satin ribbon in my stash (not sure where it came from), but to my delight it matches Pear Pizzazz almost exactly.  I love when that happens!  And since these colors are a pefect match for a big sunflower, that is what I decided to do.  I colored directly on my Inspired by Nature stamp, carefully cut it out and popped it up on my card with dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to pop on over to the ColorLab.  The design team has some fabulous creations to inspire you.  So, get your stamps out and start creating.  We'd love to see what you do!

ColourQ 77

Yesterday, I saw the ColourQ challenge and figured I better give this a shot.  At first glance I loved the colors but they seemed a little disparate and I had no idea how I was going to combine them, but once I had a chance to think about them I realized that they complemented each other in a very unusual way.

Isn't this graphic something else?  Fabulous jewel tones and subtle tones together make one fabulous challenge!

My supply of Kiwi Kiss is reaching critical stage, but I couldn't resist using it for this challenge.  I love how it looks paired with Concord Crush.  I wasn't sure how I would like the Bermuda Bay and the Bashful Blue with those colors, but I think they look really good!!  Sometimes it's good to try things out of your comfort zone.  You never know what you will accomplish!  For my layout I used a modified version of the Viva la Verve sketch for March Week 4.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

MOJO183 and JAI60

Yesterday, I got something very special in the mail.  As often as I can, I make a card for the MOJO Monday sketch challenge.  For this particular challenge, if you make a card on the first Monday of the month you have a chance to win a stamp set if your card is chosen as a winner.  I've been making cards for this challenge for a long time, and (I can hardly believe it) for the first Monday in March my card was chosen as one of the winners!!

My prize was a stamp set (which I got in the mail yesterday), so I put it to good use for the newest MOJO sketch and the Just Add Ink color challenge.

I love Old Olive and Rich Razzleberry together, but I wish I had some designer paper besides the retired Cottage Wall paper when using these colors together.  I ended up using the Jolly Holiday paper for the Old Olive polka-dotted panel, which just goes to show that these versatile papers can be used for just about anything!

I thought about putting a sentiment on this card, but decided against it.  There's something about this relatively clean and simple card that I don't want to spoil by adding a sentiment.  In my version, I have replaced the scalloped panel in the sketch graphic with the background leaves.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

SPCC92 Cheers!

Today, I have the distinct pleasure of being the guest designer at the Scrapmaster's Paradise Color Combo challenge blog!  A few weeks back they decided they liked a card that I made and asked me to be a guest designer this week.  Well, being completely unable to say no to a challenge, I jumped at the chance!

When I saw the colors for this challenge, I immediately thought of the Greenhouse Gala designer paper.  One of the sheets has those gorgeous flowers in daffodil delight and pumpkin pie.  I put them to use in a favorite layout that I have used many times before.

This is the first time I've used this adorable Cheers to You stamp set.  I had been eyeing it in the catalog for quite some time and finally decided to buy it.  I was imagining a nice cold pina colada when I was putting this card together.  I think that summery drink was the perfect inspiration for these nice summery colors.

So, thanks for stopping by today and I hope you check out the SPCC color challenge this week.

SSSC109 and Inkspirations 62 Happy Together

I think that spring fever must have hit me this weekend.  I started my "spring" cleaning and spent quite a bit of time yesterday getting my house all spic and span.  By the end of the day I had no energy to be creative in my stamp room, so I avoided it and watched some tv instead.  I ended up falling asleep on the couch while watching last week's DVR'd episode of Saturday Night Live.  I can't seem to stay awake to watch that show anymore!

So today, after meeting a good friend for breakfast and running some errands, I had to go into my stamp room and get busy.  I've got a lot on my plate this week, creatively speaking, and I needed to get stamping.  So to get my juices going, I thought I'd make a card for the Sweet Sunday sketch and the Inskpirations color challenge.

All the color challenges lately inspire me to make something with flowers, but today I decided to go in a different direction.  As I was looking for a stamp that I might like to use, I stumbled upon the Happy Together stamp set and thought it would look cute for my card.

These little birdies are so adorable.  Look how the middle one is checking to make sure the last one is keeping up!  How sweet!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

ColourQ76 and MOJO182

When I saw the color challenge at the Colour Q blog this week, I knew instantly that I wanted to participate.  Those colors seemed to jump out at me!  Kiwi Kiss?  Ooh La La!  One of my all-time favorites!  I then thought the MOJO sketch challenge was a great layout for what I had in mind.

Unfortunately, what I had in mind is not what I ended up making!  Why does that happen to me?  I knew that I wanted to do some kind of floral design (shocking, I know), and that I wanted the floral design to sort of flow around the round panel.  But what I made, was not exactly what I envisioned in my head.

For the record, I did actually use both Old Olive and Kiwi Kiss for this card.  The three green 1/4-inch circles that make up the green centers of the flowers are Kiwi Kiss as well as the green parts on the stamped sentiment.  In the picture they seem awfully close and as I look at the original, I realize that they look pretty close in real life as well.  Kiwi Kiss is much brighter than Old Olive, but when you put them side by side they complement each other so well that they are difficult to telll them apart.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

Color Lab Challenge 33

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!  I hope you have a chance to celebrate Irish-style today.  I look terrible in green, so I'll be wearing my shamrock earrings to work!  I'm sure my Irish grandfather would be proud!

Today is also ColorLab challenge day in my house.  Julie's got some great colors for us to try this week.

I see Pear Pizzazz and I automatically think "flowers."  I've basically been handed a leaf or a stem on a silver platter and I'm ready to take up the challenge.

I decided to go long and skinny for this card.  The card base is just a 6 1/2-inch square scored in half.  It's a nice size and fits perfectly in the SU! open end envelopes.  I love changing things up and making cards in something other than A2 every once in a while.

I think Marina Mist is a great blue color and it looks really nice embossed with the Elegant Lines embossing folder.  When I first started to assemble this card, I realized that the blue would show off a little better if it was stamped or embossed.  Your eye is then drawn to it and admires it (I hope!).  I ended up choosing this embossing folder because of it's delicate look.  It doesn't over-power the floral image of the card, but enhances it in some way.  It's really quite lovely, and if you don't have it, I recommend that you get it!

Thanks for stopping by today and don't forget to visit the ColorLab and check out the challenge this week.  We'd love to see what you create with these colors!

UDI Sketch Challenge and Creative Sketch 23

I recently discovered the Utah Divas International and the Creative Sketches challenge blogs.  Today I combined their latest challenges.

What an interesting color combo!  And it's a real change from what we've been seeing lately.  I love it!!  It seems like recently I've been making cards with colors that are all about bright, springy colors.  As much as I want spring to make it's presence known, it was a real treat to make a card with these colors.

 

But since I've had a second look here and I see those nice Baja Breeze and Bashful Blue flowers, I've decided that these are nice springy colors! And it's been a while since I've used the Greenhouse Garden stamp set, which I think was just the thing for this card.  Spring has got nothing on these colors!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

Sweet Sunday 108 and Paper Players 38

I'm not sure what it is I love about the Sweet Sunday sketch challenges.  I suspect I am heavily influenced by Karen's (the sketch artist) interpretation of the sketch.  Her cards always seem playful and fun and I try to participate in the challenge as often as I can.  Today I paired it up with the Paper Players color challenge.

These colors called to me right away and I knew they would be a perfect fit with this sketch challenge.  Here's what I came up with.

I'm really quite pleased with how this came out.  But then again, I'm a sucker for Baja Breeze especially when it's set against something as fabulous as Early Espresso, so I'd probably be pleased no matter what it looked like!  But seriously, I like this card!  It could be used for a mulitude of occasions.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

Friday Mashup 35 and Color Throwdown 132

Today, my card focuses on the latest Color Throwdown color challenge and the Friday Mashup sketch challenge.

Of course, I see a challenge that calls for Crumb Cake and I'm all over it!  I'm not sure it's possible for me to resist!  As I was perusing my stash of designer paper for these colors, I came across the retired Parisian Breeze specialty paper.  If you don't remember this paper, at first glance it appears to be just regular double-sided paper, but the specialty part refers to it's heavy-weight and texture.  I have been hoarding it for quite some time and I think it is so special that I suspect I will continue to hoard it for a while longer!  But I did use a bit for this card.

 One thing that occured to me as I assembled this card, is just how close Baja Breeze and Soft Sky are!  For the record, the first layer on this card is Baja Breeze followed by a piece of the aforementioned Parisian Breeze specialty paper in Baja Breeze.  The small circles layered on the Crumb Cake scallop border are Sofy Sky as well as the bigger butterfly.  The sketch did not call for a sentiment, which is fine by me.  This is the kind of card that can remain blank until you find an occasion to use it.  It's very simple to stamp an appropriate sentiment on it when you need it.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

Just Add Ink 59 and Picture Perfect Creations 51

Today I attempted to make a card following the very lovely color combo over at the Picture Perfect Creations blog along with the layout from Just Add Ink.

I say "attempted" because I was very busy putting together my card which consisted of More Mustard, Poppy Parade, Soft Suede and Very Vanilla.  I was just getting ready to take a photo when I looked at the color challenge and saw that I completely forgot about Baja Breeze!  How could I forget Baja Breeze?  I debated whether I wanted to re-do the card with all the colors or just keep the one I've got and forget about participating in the color challenge.  In the end, I ripped off a portion so that I could incorporate the Baja Breeze!

I think that since the Baja Breeze was basically an afterthought with this card, its use seems a bit forced here.  If I had remembered it earlier, I think I would have colored some of the flowers with it.  But even so, it's not horrible.  I've certainly made worse! 

Earlier today I went to the bridal shower for my nephew's fiancee.  I made the shower favors for everyone and I took this picture of one on the table.

Unfortunately, the picture is a little blurry, but you get the idea.  I think everyone liked them!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

MOJO181 and ColourQ 75

I have been thinking hard about the latest MOJO sketch ever since I saw it on Monday.

It is scary and intriguing all at the same time.  I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but I knew that I wanted to try and make something.  Then I saw the ColourQ color challenge and I thought I had a match made in heaven!

What fabulous colors!  To me, these colors are tropical with a touch of black thrown in for a dramatic accent.  Ultimately, I had fun trying to put these two challenges together.  But I have to admit that I started this card yesterday and had to quit when I encountered a creative block.  When this happens I like to step away from my stamp room and take a break.  Today, I realized that a butterfly would solve all my problems!
   

The sketch graphic suggested a flower at the top of the circle and this is where I had my original hang-up.  I couldn't find a flower that I liked enough to add to my sentiment circle panel.  So I decided to take a break, sleep on it, and see what I came up with in the morning.  This is how I found myself thinking of butterflies.  I cut out the small butterfly from the Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die, stamped it with the Fine Flourish stamp, added some Basic Pearl Jewels and put it on my card in place of the flower.  I also added some tiny Basic Pearl Jewels to portions of the flourish, but I think it's a little hard to see in the picture.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

Color Lab Challenge 32

It's Thursday and time for another challenge from the ColorLab!

Another batch of springy colors!  Just thing thing for me, since winter hasn't quite given up its grip on us.  I seem to be reaching for this stamp set quite a bit lately, so I thought I'd use one of the floral images from Fast & Fabulous on my card.

More scrunchy ribbon!  I'm so glad I decided to give that technique a try.  I seem to use it all the time now!  On some cards, I think it's a little more interesting to have the ribbon all scrunchy rather than flat.  But on the other hand, it does create a thickness that can sometimes present a bit of a problem when you're trying to get the card in an envelope.  I still love it though, and I'm sure I'll keep doing it!

For this card, I stamped the floral image in So Saffron, then stamped the outline in Rich Razzleberry.  I added the Rich Razzleberry button to kind of balance things out, since I had a lot going on towards the bottom of the card and it seemed like it needed it.

Thanks for stopping by today and don't forget to pop on over to the ColorLab, check out the fabulous colors this week, and create something!  We'd love to see what you do!

FTL130 Make Me Smile

Every once in a while I make a card that I really like.  The card I made for the FTL challenge is one of those cards.  Here's the challenge layout.

I'm not sure if it's my color scheme of Whisper White, Melon Mambo and Pear Pizzazz.  Maybe it's the adorable stamp from Pocket Silhouettes.  Or maybe it's the crinkly ribbon that I can't seem to stop making.  I don't know what it is, but I just love this card!

I carefully colored the stamp with my markers and placed them all in a neat row with my stamp-a-ma-jig.  Maybe all that controlled-chaos is what I like?  I'm actually pretty sure that when you pair a bright color, such as Melon Mambo, against white it really stands out.  Anything will look good.  It's bold, dramatic and makes a statement all at the same time.  But I'm not going to give Melon Mambo all the credit.  I think I had some say in the way this turned out!  And I really like it!!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

PPA83 and a New Sketch Challenge

I have discovered a brand new sketch challenge.  As I was checking out the participants in the latest PPA challenge I was lead to the blog of Iwona Palamountain who just this Saturday started a new sketch challenge.  Well, being a sketch challenge junkie, I had to give it a try.  Here are the two challenges I tackled:

These colors are right up my alley.  They are all that are earthy and wonderful.  And when you scroll down the participants in the challenge on the PPA blog, I think you'll agree.  And it's no surprise that I'm a big fan of CAS cards, so it took no time for me to figure out that I would have to participate in the first Sketchbook Saturday Challenge.  Here's what I came up with when I put the two together:

Once I put this card together, I realized how fabulous these colors really are together.  I knew they were wonderful, but I think I under-estimated how wonderful they are!  I used a little bit of the Christmas Cocoa dsp from last year as my background and finished it up with the very pretty flowers from the Fast & Fabulous hostess stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!