Freshly Made Sketches 59

This week at Freshly Made Sketches, Cindy has got a fantastic sketch that is perfect for layering and showing off your favorite patterned paper.

I used some retired paper called Holiday Lounge as a background to my little snowman.  Now that I'm looking at the photo of this card here, I think he looks a little lonely and I wish that I had either added a friend or some snowballs or something.  Maybe I'll go back and add a little something extra before I send this to someone.  In place of the ribbon, I wound around some baker's twine and added a Crumb Cake corduroy brad which looks surprisingly like the Sahara Sand that I used for my card base.  A happy accident, I'm sure!

Now head on over to Freshly Made Sketches and check out the cards our design team has put together to amaze and delight you!  Then ink up those stamps and get crafty with us!

colourQ 161

With Halloween nearly here, I should have taken the colors from colourQ and made another card featuring some of my favorite spooky stamps.  But I didn't.  For the second week in a row, I challenged myself to make a card that was about something other than witches or goblins!

Ha!  Even the graphic says "Happy Halloween!"  It was a lot of fun to take these colors and turn them on their head to make something unexpected.  I'll admit that I very nearly made a Halloween card until I saw Chupa's Sketchbook Saturday challenge and my creative juices got going.

As you can see, I turned the sketch on its side but  I think that's ok!  I really like how Chupa used a piece of Vellum in the center of her "polaroid" so I did the same only I embossed it with the Elegant Lines embossing folder.  The big flower is from the Flower, Daisies #2 Sizzix die which I cut from Tangerine Tango and finished up the center with a So Saffron button tied with some baker's twine.

I hope you have a chance to check out the cards made by the super-fabulous colourQ design team.  Then ink up those stamps and  join us!

Less Is More 91 and Just Add Ink 141

There's a sketch challenge this week at Less Is More that is quite classic.  I thought if I combined the color challenge at Just Add Ink I could come up with a little something.

I stamped the long vertical layer with French Script in Crumb Cake then drew some horizontal lines to mimic the three rectangles in the sketch.  I thought they were a little too subtle, so I added very skinny strips of Crumb Cake cardstock (which were no fun to attach).  Then I ended up obscuring the bottom one with my floral image anyway so it's hard to see that I followed the sketch.  Sheesh!

Well today I'm off to help out at a Howl-o-ween canine costume parade.  It's a bit rainy so I hope that doesn't deter people from coming to the event.  Then I have to make a couple of cards and get some blog posts done for the week because its looking very likely that we are going to lose power because of Sandy the hurricane.  Yikes!  Be safe!

Dynamic Duos 26 and Unscripted Sketches 182

Hurricane Sandy is busy speeding up the east coast and is expected to cause some high winds and flooding in my area by Monday so today I've got to run around outside and batten down all the hatches.  My patio furniture is all wrought iron and hopefully will stay put during high winds but I've got to make sure that everything even remotely portable is tucked away.  I know the hurricane has been wreaking havoc already and I hope that everyone affected by this storm stays safe over the next few days.

Selfishly, I wanted to make a card or two before I get down to business outside so I chose to make a card for the color challenge at Dynamic Duos and the sketch at Unscripted Sketches.

I went in the closet in my stamp room to get some cardstock and I saw a bag of felt that I bought a couple of years ago.  I rooted around in it and found a couple of pieces that looked a lot like More Mustard and So Saffron and cut some flowers from my Tattered Florals die.  I layered them together with a rhinestone brad.  The triangles are cut from a piece of Spice Cake DSP.  I added a Very Vanilla button from the Deck the Halls pack and I stamped the sentiment from Thank You Kindly on the Cotton Ribbon that's in the new Mini.  Easy peasy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Create With Connie and Mary 224

Sometimes at this time of year its nice to take a break from the Halloween cards, the cards for autumn, and the cards for Christmas and make a card "just because."  That's why I was so glad that the challenge this week at Create With Connie and Mary had colors that were perfect for just about any occasion you could think of!

When I first started thinking about my card for this challenge I was disappointed that I didn't have any Daffodil Delight DSP to jazz things up.  But then I thought that I could make my own, so out came the flourish stamp from Creative Elements to create a subtle background.  I already knew that Island Indigo and Lucky Limeade look ridiculously fabulous together so I happily stamped the stem and flowers from Summer Silhouettes in those colors.  I added this cute sentiment from Made For You in the corner.

I tried my hand at the crinkly bow that LeAnne excels at and I have to say I like this one a lot better than the first one I attempted.  I crimped it in the center with an Antique Brad and just basically let it all hang out!  I think I was fussing with it too much on my first attempt when I should have just let the bow do its crinkly thing!

The DT over at Create With Connie and Mary have got some fantastic cards to show you for this lovely color combo so make sure you take some time to head on over there and check them out.  You're gonna love what you see!

Freshly Made Sketches 58

This week our Freshly Made Sketches sketch is brought to you by our guest designer Narelle.

For my card I tried to channel my inner Narelle and add some layers.  (I'm not sure that I know any cardmaker that is able to combine layers the way Narelle does).  Her cards are always clean, simple and gorgeous and this week she's given us her signature style as her first ever sketch for our challenge!

I've been neglecting my Christmas cards (again) so I dug out some retired DSP called Holiday Treasures to make this card.  Good thing I saved some Ruby Red cardstock because that's what this DSP is all about and nothing else looked quite right.

The holly leaves and berries are fussy cut from Watercolor Winter as is the poinsettia.  I really wanted to include some glimmer paper so I cut the smaller banner from Champagne Glimmer and used it as the layer under the sentiment from More Merry Messages.

There are some A-MAZ-ING cards over on the Freshly Made Sketches blog so hop on by and check them out!  And while you're there say hello to Linda Callahan who is rejoining us this week!

colourQ 160

Now, I bet that when you see the latest colors for the challenge at colourQ you will think of Halloween.  And if the colors don't spell Halloween for you then the scary tree, mummies and pumpkins in the graphic surely will!  I know that's what I thought of.  But I've been making lots of Halloween cards lately and wanted a change.  So I thought I'd challenge myself to make a non-Halloween card with these colors.  The sketch from retro sketches helped me along.

Luckily the color challenge included Kiwi Kiss, which for me often says "leaves" and from there it was a short leap to orange flowers.  The Basic Black and Rich Razzleberry stumped me until I added the wavy scallop border in Basic Black and a thin strip of Rich Razzleberry as an accent on the side.

As luck would have it, this card was coming together perfectly for me until THE SMUDGE.  That's right. Something purple is smudged on this card (which you can't see because I Photoshopped it out, but trust me it's there), and I suspect it is Elegant Eggplant which I used on a card I made the other day.  I tried to track down the exact source of the infection and narrowed it down to my stamp-a-ma-jig or my finger which may have touched the aforementioned stamp-a-ma-jig.  In any event, smudges are a cardmakers worst enemy and as is often the case, I didn't notice THE SMUDGE until it was too late to fix it!!!

Anyway, smudges aside, be sure to head on over to colourQ and check out the latest batch of awesome-ness from the design team.  As usual they have out-done themselves and you are sure to leave the site inspired and itching to get your fingers all inky!  (Only clean your fingers before you touch anything important).

Less Is More 90 and Play Date Cafe 154

The theme challenge this week at Less Is More is AUTUMN .  That sort of challenge is no problem for me since I seem to have collected a few leafy sets over the years.  The biggest problem I had was choosing which one to use!  I chose to make my autumn card using the colors from the challenge at The Play Date Cafe.  They are calling the colors "flame, grape, and mulberry" and to my eye the photo inspiration looked like Cajun Craze, Pacific Point, and Elegant Eggplant so that's what I went with.

I've got to say this was a really tough color challenge for me.  I fretted and changed my mind about a hundred times before I settled on masking the leaves from Gently Falling around the thank you sentiment from Much Appreciated.  I love the look of masked stamps, but I don't love the halo effect masking sometimes creates.  I did get white spots around my mask, but I filled them in with markers.  

I almost gave up when I was making a card for this challenge because I couldn't decide what to do, but after a while the ol' stubbornness kicked in and I wouldn't let these colors get the best of me!  I figured I had put so much energy into designing something there was no way I was going to scrap what I had started.  So I trudged along.  I don't love this card, but I think it's got a certain clean and simple appeal anyway!

Thanks for stopping by!

CAS(E) This Sketch 2

Another dreary weekend is on tap so I'd like to hunker down in my stamp room.  Unfortunately, I've actually got a major systems upgrade going on at work so I'll be doing some testing from home and in between the conference calls I hope I can get some productive stamping done.

I figured I'd start the day off right with a fun card for the challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch.  The design team cards are all so gorgeous and at first I was inspired to do something autumn-themed, then I spied this cute stamp and went in a totally different direction!

I've just realized that I think I was supposed to make my image fall off the edge of the cardstock.  Rats!  At least he's running toward the edge.....Hopefully that will suffice.  Sorry ladies!

Thanks for stopping by!

Create With Connie and Mary 223

How time flies!  I can hardly believe it's Thursday already and time for a new sketch challenge from Create With Connie and Mary!

Eeek!  Diagonal lines are always a bit daunting for me, but with some guidance from the color challenge at Fab Friday I put together this card using the pretty flowers from Everything Eleanor and a little sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  

My parents 56th wedding anniversary is coming up soon so I had it on my mind when I made this card.  My father has always loved flowers and my mother has always loved my cards so I think this is a match made in heaven!

The fabulous design team at Create With Connie and Mary has got some amazing inspiration for you so pop on by to check them out.  I hope you can join us this week!

Freshly Made Sketches 57

With Halloween so close, I couldn't resist squeaking in one last Halloween card before I start getting serious about Christmas.  I think I began my Halloween cards this year with the witch from Best Fiends.  A week ago I inked up the vampire from the same set, and today for the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches I put Herman Munster to the test.

This week, our sketch comes from our super-talented guest designer LeAnne!  A keeper for sure and one I thought would be perfect to show off this pretty Vintage Violet DSP from Halloween Night.  I paired it with the spider web paper from the same set.  (I think you can see the spider web is you look closely).

But the real star of the show here is the guy I call Herman Munster!  He's got this fantastic "I Love Bats" shirt on.  He's clearly trick-or-treating because his bag says so!  And he's got a face only a mother can love!

Our super-fabulous Freshly Made Sketches design team has got some great cards to inspire you this week, so be sure to head on over and check them out.  Then ink up those stamps and join us.  We can't wait to see what you create!

colourQ 159

I'm back in the Halloween mode, just in time for the newest color challenge at colourQ!  This week Arielle has brought us some great colors inspired by this chair backer from Pottery Barn.  My card uses these great colors as well as my interpretation of the layout at retro sketches.

In real life, I HATE spiders, but in fantasy-card-making-Halloween-world I love them!  In fact, as soon as I saw this sketch I thought of this little guy (from Best Fiends) because he's already hanging by a thread - perfect for the sketch!  I was undecided at first about what I wanted the spiders to hang from, then I remembered this Sizzlet Decorative Strip die (which is actually for Christmas) that I have adapted as a scary perch for my equally scary spiders.

I think I may have (at least) one other Halloween card that I want to share (***SPOILER ALERT***) so come on by tomorrow to see it!  In the meantime, thanks for stopping by and I hope you can join us for the colourQ challenge this week.  The design team has quite an eclectic blend of cards to share, and if you like cornmeal, then pay special attention to Noelle's project!

Dynamic Duos 24 and Unscripted Sketches 180

The color challenge this week at Dynamic Duos is so pretty and after seeing the awesome samples from the design team I knew that I wanted to participate.  The sketch at Unscripted Sketches gave me some ideas for snowflakes, of all things!

I think I've got snowflakes on the brain because I've been thinking about Christmas cards lately and I usually like to throw in a snowflake or two when I'm making cards for my holiday stash.  This card uses the retired stamp set Snow Burst, which has kind of modern, funky looking snowflakes.  I fussed for a ridiculous amount of time on what do for a bow before deciding on some Very Vanilla seam binding and an Antique Brad.  The sentiment and tag are from the aptly named Tiny Tags.

It's rainy here today (again) so I'm off to run some errands than to sit down in the craft cave and crank out some cards for the upcoming week.  Thanks for stopping by!

CAS(E) This Sketch #1

I think that clean and simple sketches are going to take over the world!  I was thrilled to find another CAS sketch challenge blog, the brand-spankin' new CAS(E) This Sketch, so I anxiously got to work on their inaugural challenge to make a Christmas card.

Now that it's approaching mid-October I'm starting to get a little worried that I haven't got that many Christmas cards done.  If I was smart I would have been making them all throughout the year, but then I might miss out on some of the new cool Christmas stamps that are released each year!  So to kick-start my Christmas card mojo I used this new-to-me stamp of adorable reindeer from Paper Smooches.  And, of course, I made sure that Rudolph made an appearance!

Well, I've got a busy day ahead.  It's crisp and cool today and I'm heading outside to get the garden ready for it's long winter's nap.  Plus I've got a million other things I want to get done so I better get busy!  Thanks for stopping by!

Create With Connie and Mary 222

This week at Create With Connie and Mary we have got a great color challenge.  I think a lot of people have strong feelings (and not all good ones) about Summer Starfruit, but I actually think it's a pretty cool color so I sort of made it the focal point of my card.

When I started perusing blogland for a great sketch to go with these colors, I stumbled on iSpy Sketches where they are having a Friday Free For All.  You can pick any one of their past sketches for your card and I found one that I thought would be perfect to show off my pretty Summer Starfruit DSP.  This is the first time that I've participated over there so I thought it was pretty cool that I got to pick my own layout!  I chose #20.

I stamped my tag with the text stamp from Daring Adventure in Chocolate Chip.  Then I stamped the leaves from Summer Silhouettes in Gumball Green over that.  I added the small flower from the same set stamped with both Summer Starfruit and Chocolate Chip.  A couple of Gumball Green circles for an accent and some Summer Starfruit ribbon across the top and I had a card that absolutely loved!  Isn't that great when that happens?

The DT at Create With Connie and Mary have got some great cards with these colors to inspire you so be sure to head on over there and check them out.  I hope you can join us!