CCMC195

The color challenge this week at Create With Connie and Mary had me stumped at first.  I started making a card last night but realized after a while that it was absolute rubbish, so I put it aside in favor of sleeping on it.  I went back to my stamp room this afternoon after I discovered a Sketchbook Saturday sketch from a couple of weeks ago, which just screamed at me to use a flower die and would be perfect with these colors.

On the card base I used the Perfect Details texturz plate, something I have not used in ages.  The flowers are cut with the Flower Daisies #2 Sizzix die and the buttons are from a retired set called Fresh Favorites I.  I really like those buttons because they have a lovely matte finish.  Kind of a nice departure from all the shiny buttons SU! has now.  The So Saffron DSP is from my never-ending stash of Sweet Pea.

I had intended to stamp a sentiment on this card but forgot to do it before I embossed the base, so now I think it's too late.  I don't want to add another layer so I guess it stays the way it is!

Thanks for stopping by!

Retro Sketches 4 and Color Throwdown 185

This week retro sketches has got another great sketch for us to try and the color challenge at Color Throwdown was too good to resist.

This card is pretty simple.  I used my favorite impression plate from PTI on the card base.  The main stamped image is from Just Believe and I added the "smile" sentiment from Fabulous Phrases.  Easy peasy and I was done!

Thanks for stopping by!

Freshly Made Sketches 28

The other day while I was looking through my stamp sets, I came across Pocket Silhouettes and realized that it been ages since I used that set.  So when this week's Freshly Made Sketch came around I decided to use it for my card.

I dug into my stash and used some Kiwi Kiss cardstock and a bit of DSP from Walk in the Park.   First I had stamped the image in Kiwi Kiss and thought the overall colors were a little blah so I stamped over that with some Baja Breeze.  Then I added the fabulous Basic Gray corduroy buttons.  I stamped a "thank you" sentiment from Thank You Kindly but now that I've had some time to think about it I wish I had used a birthday sentiment instead because these colors and Lesley's fabulous sketch are perfect for a man-card and I don't have nearly enough of those!

The Freshly Made Sketches design team has made some fabulous cards this week so make sure you stop on by and check them out.  I know you will be inspired to join us with your own creation!

Lesley Croghan

Linda Callahan

Cindy Hall

Tui Nathan

Jennifer Timko

Rita Wright

Allisa Chilton

Narelle Farrugia 

colourQ 130

I really tried to lay off the flowers this week for Arielle's color challenge at colourQ, but every time I attempted to design a card I kept coming back to flowers.  Go figure!

When I saw this challenge I knew right away that I wanted to use the Daffodil Delight DSP from the Beyond the Garden paper pack.  I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to use it, so I poked around until I found this sketch at Clean and Simple stamping and realized it looked pretty good with a scallop circle.

So I cut a big scallop circle from Daffodil Delight cardstock and added a DSP circle.  I stamped the flowers in Melon Mambo and layered them with dimensionals and added a Daffodil Delight button in the center.  The leaves are stamped in Certainly Celery and the sentiment is stamped directly on the DSP in Tempting Turquoise.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a chance to play along with us at colourQ.  Hop on by and check out the inspiration from our design team then upload your own creation!

Color Throwdown 184 and CCMC 194

Hello, and welcome to another week of Color Throwdown true-confessions-of-color-substitutions!

Although, I do have some Elegant Eggplant, I also have some DSP called Lap of Luxury which features the delicious Concord Crush.  So, in an effort to use up my DSP stash, and considering that the colors are close, I substituted the grapes for the eggplant!  Then, because I don't have any Brocade Blue anymore, I stretched a bit and used Marina Mist instead.

My layout is from this pretty sketch from Create With Connie and Mary.  On my card I added some So Saffron DSP from Walk in the Park along with the flower from one of my all time favorite stamp sets, Best Blossoms.  With these additions, my card became a study in retired things!

I'm off to the garden shortly to start getting ready for the planting season.  I've got big plans out there this year that will hopefully yield a great crop!  Thanks for stopping by!

Retro Sketches 3

I am really liking the new retro sketches challenge blog.  Fun sketches and loads of inspiration from the design team.  I missed the first one, but now I'm 2 for 3!

For my color scheme I visited the colourQ Compendium (which is a great resource if you're looking for a color combo) and chose the colors featured on the first colourQ challenge.  Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive, Basic Gray and Whisper White look fantastic together and I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out.  The Basic gray DSP is from the retired Urban Oasis pack and the pretty flowers on delicate stems are Verve.

Thanks for stopping by!

Freshly Made Sketches 27

This week, Lesley's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches was a doozie for me!  Yesterday I promised to show you card that challenged me out of my comfort zone and this card definitely fits that bill.

I thought long and hard about this sketch before I settled on this card.  I like circles, I just don't usually make so many on the same card!  I very nearly gave up because I couldn't decide on colors or stamps.  Then I spied my Spice Cake DSP and realized that it has been languishing in my stash for too long and needed to see the light of day.  The patterns were perfect for this skekch and I put this little number together using a couple different pages from that paper pack and followed up with the matching cardstock of More Mustard and Soft Suede.  The flower was actually cut from the Spice Cake DSP!

Now I hope you'll give this sketch a try.  Don't forget to visit the design team and check out their amazing creations.

Lesley Croghan

Linda Callahan

Cindy Hall

Tui Nathan

Jennifer Timko

Rita Wright

Allisa Chilton

Narelle Farrugia 

colourQ 129

I know that challenges are supposed to be challenging, but the last few days I feel like I have really dug deep and made some cards that are way out of my comfort zone.  The first is this card that I made for Arielle's latest colourQ.  The second I will show you tomorrow!   

The colors are gorgeous (I really love Wisteria Wonder) but I just couldn't come up with something that I was pleased with.  I'm sure that others find it easy to put colors together, but I confess that sometimes I'm stumped.  It's those times that I grab the colors by the hand and make them do what I want!  Ha Ha!  Eventually I poked around my "binder" of sketches for some divine inspiration and finally stumbled upon this one from Clean and Simple Stamping.  Once upon a time I made a card with this sketch that I really liked so I decided to CASE myself.  Turns out that all it takes are some great colors, a great sketch and a clear head to put something together that I can call my own.

This one is pretty simple after all.  The butterflies are cut from the Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die and the Beautiful Wings embosslit.  I put a row of Basic Pearls down the center of the butterfly because that always looks so sweet and added a happy sentiment from Verve and I was done.  Whew!

So head on over to colourQ and check out the design team creations.  Then link up your creation.  I'd love to see how you interpreted these beautiful colors!

CCMC193 and MOJO232

I had to go to work on Sunday because we had a major upgrade to one of our systems.  I thought it was going to be a very simple "get in, test a few things, and get out kind of day," but as luck would have it there was HUGE problem and I spent most of my afternoon there trying to get it resolved.  So as a result, I wasn't nearly as productive in my stamp room as I wanted to be.  But once I got home I did manage to put a little something together for the color challenge at Create With Connie and Mary and the latest MOJO sketch.

I used a couple of patterns from the Everyday Enchantment DSP then I colored directly on one of the stamps from Fresh Vintage to create the floral focal point.  Unfortunately I stamped the "for you" sentiment from All Holidays in Lucky Limeade and it looks a bit lost, I think.  In hindsight I wish I had inked it in Peach Parfait.  Live and learn, I say to myself!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Color Throwdown 183 and Deconstructed Sketch 43

I've missed my stamp room!  I've had an unusually busy week and I haven't set foot in there since Sunday! Yikes.  Fearing that my mojo would go on permanent hiatus, I got to work as soon as I could today on a card for the Color Throwdown and Deconstructed Sketch challenges.

I have a couple of confessions regarding the colors on my card.  The first is that I used Pear Pizzazz instead of Certainly Celery.  I didn't have any Certainly Celery DSP and I wanted the small tilted layer to be made from pretty paper so I chose the next best thing. Not to mention that Pear Pizzazz is "retiring" in a few short months and I'd like to use up as much of my supplies as possible (including that big button). The second confession is that I don't have any Really Rust so I substituted Cajun Craze.

So now that I've come clean, I'll say that the DSP comes from the Greenhouse Gala and Welcome Neighbor paper packs.  The layered flower is one of my faves from the Array of Sunshine stamp set.  I added a rhinestone brad in the center.  And that delightful big button is from the Spice Cake designer buttons.

I've got lots of catching up to do in my stamp room, so I'm off to get busy.  Thanks for stopping by!

Freshly Made Sketches 26

This week at Freshly Made Sketches I've designed the sketch!  For me, it's always a little nerve-wracking when my turn comes around because I'm never sure if my sketch is a good idea or not.  The amazing design team created some beautiful cards with it, so I guess it passes muster.  I hope you all like it and have a chance to play along with us this week.

I used the pretty paper from Twitterpated for my background and stamped the floral image from Bordering on Romance.  That was colored in with my markers, then I highlighted the center of the flowers with some Riding Hood Red pastel.  It's been a long time since my pastels have seen the light of day!  I added a black brad in the centers of the flowers to make it really distinct.

The super-talented Freshly Made Sketches design team has got some beautiful cards to show off this week, so be sure to check them out.  And don't forget to play along with us!

Lesley Croghan

Linda Callahan

Cindy Hall

Tui Nathan

Jennifer Timko

Rita Wright

Allisa Chilton

Narelle Farrugia 

colourQ 128

I think I mentioned the other day that my mojo had decided it needed a spring break.  Hopefully it was enjoying pina coladas on a tropical beach somewhere while I was toiling away in my stamp room.  It seems like every time I attempted to make a card over the last few days, something about it bugged me and I felt like I needed to go back to the drawing board.  Even my colourQ card this week was worked and re-worked until I came up with this.

Arielle's colors seemed to be all about St. Patrick's Day and that's the card that I wanted to make.  In fact, that was the first card I made.  Then I decided it was no good, so I made a card with some green flowers.  A quick mental review of my own garden revealed that I don't know of any green flowers, so I scrapped that idea and I found myself back to St. Patrick's Day.

The shamrock is stamped in all those greens with the Lucky Shamrock stamp.  They are strung up with some Going Gray "string."  And the snarky sentiment is nothing but a cheap $1 stamp that I got at Michael's a couple of years ago.

Now, don't forget to head on over to colourQ and feast your eyes on the design team's amazing creations.  Then link up your own creation!

Retro Sketches 2 and The Paper Players 86

There's a new sketch challenge in town but unfortunately I ran out of time last week to participate in the kick off of retro sketches, so I set to work early for sketch #2.  

I think my mojo is on spring break because I had a hard time in my stamp room this weekend.  My table is littered with cards that I started and cast aside because something wasn't right.  Even this card ended up being something other than what I had originally envisioned, but I was determined to make a card with this awesome sketch.

I was sure that the springy-color challenge at The Paper Players was just the thing to get my crafty juices flowing.  The colors are fabby!

I think I wanted to add a sentiment on this card, but I forgot.  This is sometimes a good thing because this card can become whatever I want when the occasion arises!

And thanks to everyone who emailed me with tips, tricks, and even a video tutorial (you know who you are!) on creating bows.  I'm going to try out my newly-learned skills soon!  I hope I'm not a hopeless case.  Donna, my super-talented upline has shown me on many occasions how to tie a bow, but I think I must be all thumbs because they never look as good as hers!

Deconstructed Sketch 42 and Just Add Ink 108

Despite the fact that the calendar still says winter, it has been decidedly spring like around here the last few days.  And I think this balmy weather is going to continue next week too!  I'm no fan of winter, so this is great news to me.  To celebrate all this yummy spring weather, I've been busy making flowery cards.  The first one I've got to show you I made with the gorgeous colors at Just Add Ink and the very fabby Deconstructed Sketch.

I love Island Indigo and I can't believe that I don't use it more.  For this card I used some Island Indigo DSP for the vertical layer.  I even paper pieced the flower from one of the other patterns in this pack!  I crinkled up some Pool Party seam binding ribbon then used my Bow-Easy to make this bow.  I really wanted to make one of those crinkly and loosely gathered bows that I keep seeing everywhere but I haven't got the hang of it yet.  If anybody wants to help a girl out and point me toward a tutorial I'd be much obliged!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Paper Players 85 and MOJO 231

The challenge this week at The Paper Players is all about spring!  Jaydee is asking us to make a card telling our own story of "spring has sprung!"  Since I love flowers and in my book spring is all about flowers I made a card celebrating those wonderful garden additions!

During spring and summer you will find me in my garden most days.  There always seems to be a weed or two (or a thousand) that need some pulling!  So my card celebrates the flowers as well as the love that goes into growing them!

I got some help for this card from the latest MOJO sketch with this very cool and clever layout.  The sketch inspired me to add lot of DSP on my card.  In fact, I don't think that I've ever combined this many designer papers on one card.  The DSP is from Everyday Enchantment, the flower and leaf and adorable notebook paper are Verve.   I finished off the flower with an Everyday Enchantment brad.

Thanks for stopping by!