Freshly Made Sketches 121

I really wanted to put some of the things I learned at my stencil class to good use for Linda's sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  I wanted to gently spritz some color on the background of my card and then layer some embossing paste over it with a fun stencil.  But I don't own any spritzers in the color that I wanted and I was too chicken to make my own so I used a well-loved splatter stamp instead.  It wasn't quite the look I was going for, but it's close.

Don't you just love this sketch?  I predict that the gallery will be chock full of fun and interesting cards this week!  For my card I stuck with the colors over at Dynamic Duos because I loves me some hot pink and black together!  Throw in a butterfly and I am ALL SET!

So now it's your turn to wow us with your creations in the Freshly Made Sketches gallery.  For some fantastic inspiration check out the beautiful cards from the design team first, then link up!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge, Papillon Potpourri (SU)

Paper:  White Linen (Ellen Hutson); Neenah Solar White; Basic Black (SU)

Ink:  Melon Mambo

Accessories:  Chevron stencil (Heidi Swapp); embossing paste (Dreamweaver); black rhinestones (KaiserCraft); enamel dew drops (Freckled Fawn)

colourQ 226

I've been taking an online class for the last few days on how to use stencils on cards and I've learned a lot of new techniques.  I've been a little slow to incorporate some of these new details for my "homework" but I'll get there eventually.  For my colourQ card this week I used a stencil and some embossing paste.

Pink Pirouette and Blushing Bride never looked so similar as they do here!  But I promise you that the sentiment is stamped (and die cut) from Pink Pirouette while the little flowers are accented with Blushing Bride.  The layout is from Unscripted Sketches which I thought was perfect for using some of the new things I learned about stencils and embossing paste in my class.

As always my teamies at colourQ have created some beautiful cards to inspire you with these colors.  I sure hope that you'll pop on over there to check them out!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Happy (Simon Says Stamp)

Paper:  Kraft (Avery Elle); Primrose Petals, Pink Pirouette, Blushing Bride (SU)

Ink:  Primrose Petals

Accessories:  Happy die, Diagonal Stripe stencil (Simon Says Stamps); Boho Blossoms punch (SU); embossing  paste (Dreamweaver); Basic Pearls (SU)

Stenciled Online Card Class Day One

I recently signed up for the Stenciled Online Card Class because I'm determined to learn and try new things this year.  Yesterday was the first class which focused on sponging and spraying colors using stencils.  For my "homework" I did a little sponging while also incorporating the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch and the colors from Color Throwdown.

I really did use Riding Hood Red ink on my card.  I just forgot that when I sponged it over Daffodil Delight I would get orange!  Silly me!  I didn't really deviate from the example in the class for this card in terms of sponging over the stencil and adding a vellum tag.  I just got lucky that I could adapt the same techniques to these two challenges.

The class is four days long and I'm excited to see what else I'll learn.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  DIY (Precious Remembrance)

Paper:  Neenah Solar White; Vellum (SU)

Ink:  Daffodil Delight, Riding Hood Red, Basic Gray (SU); Versamark

Accessories:  Tag Me die (Reverse  Confetti); Honeycomb stencil (Heidi Swapp); Pewter embossing powder (American Crafts); burlap twine 

Let's Be Merry!

Just as I was getting ready to post this card I realized that I made a tactical error.  I have a long tradition of making a card for a specific challenge only to find out once the card was made that I either forgot a crucial element, put the sentiment in the wrong spot, left off a color or otherwise botched the challenge.  Well today's card fits the "forgot a crucial element" category.

I think I did ok with the Cardabilities sketch but I totally forgot the ribbon for the Merry Monday challenge.  I had a look at my card  once I realized my mistake and couldn't figure out how I could add some ribbon without it looking ridiculous so I left it off.  I'm going to enter it over there anyway with a shame face and hope they don't delete me from the gallery!

I should get some points for effort because it took me three days to make this card in between watching episodes of The Walking Dead.  I'm trying to catch up because the new season starts on February 9th and I'd like to be ready for it.  So far I'm only part way through Season 2 so I've got a ways to go.  I suppose I could blame my little ribbon fiasco on being distracted by scary zombies but I don't think that's too believable!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Jingle All the Way (Technique Tuesday); Christmas Carols (CAS-ual Fridays Stamps); Slash Border (Impression Obsession)

Paper:  Kraft (Avery Elle); Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Very Vanilla (SU)

Ink:  Crumb Cake, Real Red (SU); Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink)

Accessories:  First Place Ribbon die (My Favorite Things); Falling Snow Stencil (Simon Says Stamp); 4 Petal Set die (CAS-ual Fridays Stamps); Basic Pearl (SU); Peace Joy Love sequins (Lawn Fawn); washi tape

Freshly Made Sketches 120

Mother Nature has once again reared her ugly head here in New England and dumped a foot of snow in my yard.  This is the second time she's pulled this stunt this winter and I've just about had enough.  The only saving grace for both storms is that the frigid temperatures accompanying the storms ensure that the snow is light and fluffy which equates to easy to shovel.  That doesn't always happen around here so I'm thankful of that at least.  One of the weathermen on TV joked that he was going to use his leaf blower to rid his driveway of snow and I think that's a pretty nifty idea!

Since it's Wednesday you know that there's a new sketch up at Freshly Made Sketches.  This week Rita is the designer and she's incorporated the ever-popular flags in the sketch.  I've got a zillion flag dies but none of them allowed me to layer in quite the way I wanted, so I cut mine by hand.

The colors for this card were inspired by the inspiration photo at Fusion.  I love that color combo and have interpreted the colors to be Daffodil Delight, Basic Gray, Basic Black and Whisper White.

Once again the Freshly Made Sketches design team has created some great cards to help you get your craft on!  Hope to see you in the gallery this week!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Grand Peaceful Wildflowers (My Favorite Things)

Paper:  Basic Gray, Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  Daffodil Delight, Basic Gray (SU)

Accessories:  Stitched Circle STAX, Circle STAX (My Favorite Things)

colourQ Meets Seize the Sketch!

Today is an exciting day here!  A while back Lesley asked me to join the design team at Seize the Sketch and today is my first card for the challenge!  {Insert happy dance here!}  Since today is also the reveal of the new color palette at colourQ I combined the two!

The colors are inspired by this gorgeous bag and the sketch is designed by Stacey.  The colors put me in mind of Christmas so I turned to these awesome modern Christmas trees.  I used them quite a bit last season and I suspect that I'll be using them a lot this year too!

I still can't quite believe that I am a part of the team at Seize the Sketch.  I am among an extremely talented group of ladies and I am so fortunate to be joining them.  I suspect that I'll learn a lot from them as time goes by.

So be sure to check out both colourQ and Seize the Sketch because there is a lot of amazing inspiration to be found in both places!  Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies:

Stamps:  Modern Christmas (Clearly Besotted); Handy Christmas Greetings, Holiday Greetings (Amy R Stamps)

Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Cameo Coral, Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip (SU)

Accessories:  Banner Bundle Die Set (Verve); Embossing Paste (Dreamweaver); Bubble Stencil (Tim Holtz)

Oh Happy Day!

It has been forever since I played along with the CASology challenge.  Every week I check out the challenge and think I'm going to play along but inevitably I get busy with something else and before I know it the challenge is done, a new one begins, and the cycle starts all over again.  This week I made sure that I sat down in my stamp room and got busy.

The "dot" challenge pretty much ensured that I used the best dot stamps that I've got (which have been sitting neglected in my stash for a while).  And since it's the middle of winter and we've been seeing a lot of dreary, wet weather here in New England I used the brightest, cheeriest yellow I could find which happens to look fabulous with Crumb Cake and a tiny bit of black.  Spring is coming, I say to myself!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Dot Spot (Papertrey Ink); Oh Happy Day (Avery Elle)

Paper:  Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  Daffodil Delight (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Freshly Made Sketches 119

I think the recent Freshly Made Sketches break has wreaked havoc on my mojo because it took me FOREVER to make my card this week.  I seem to be a bit rusty because I actually started two other cards before I stumbled across this thank you die and thought it would make a fun take on the sketch.  So I scrapped the other two cards and went with this one.  This week Cindy Lovell is our hostess and I really wanted to do her fun design justice.  Not sure if I did.

Of course using this die on my card means my sentiment is in the wrong place (again)!  I don't seem to follow directions very well :(  My little "oops" aside I can hardly wait to see all the fun interpretations of this sketch that I know will fill up the gallery at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our super design team has made some pretty fantastic cards this week so make sure you pop on over to check them out.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Beautiful Blooms II (Papertrey Ink)

Paper:  Soft Suede, Bermuda Bay, Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Thoroughly Modern DSP (SU)

Ink:  Bermuda Bay (SU)

Accessories:  Thanks on a Line die (Simon Says Stamp); Beautiful Blooms #3 die (Papertrey Ink); Basic Pearls (SU)

colourQ 224

Hey there stamping friends, it's Tuesday which means it's time for a new color palette from colourQ!  This week the colors are inspired by this cool blouse from ModCloth.  Arielle always finds the coolest inspiration!

I got these new ink splatter stamps and was itching to try them.  They seemed like they were a good fit for the sketch at Fusion.  I already participated in that challenge last week with a card inspired by the colors of the inspiration photo, so this time around I used the sketch.  I was going to score some lines at the bottom of my card like the sketch suggests, but I needed the room for my ink splats and the sentiment.  So I wrapped some crochet thread around those layers instead.  I think it adds some interesting texture!

I planned on sending this card to my niece to thank her (and some of her friends) for hauling my new incredibly heavy treadmill into my house and I stupidly left the card sitting on my desk in my stamp room.  Well, yesterday the inevitable happened and the card tipped over onto on open ink pad and I got a little spot of Bermuda Bay ink on the front of the card.  I hate when that happens!  Luckily Bermuda Bay kind of matched these colors and the spot kinda-sorta looks like another intentional ink splat!  There are no mistakes in stamping, right?!?!

As always, my fellow teamies at colourQ have got some wonderful cards to share with you so don't forget to check them out. I hope you can join us in the gallery!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Abstract Art, Jumbo Abstract Art (My Favorite Things); Papillon Potpourri (SU)

Paper:  Basic Gray, Poppy Parade, Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  Pool Party, Island Indigo, Basic Gray (SU)

Accessories:  Basic Rhinestones (SU); crochet thread

Never Give Up for CTD274 & CTS59

I finally managed to find some time to venture in the old stamp room and see what I could cook up.  All of my favorite challenges were calling my name, but I had a busy week with no time to stamp.  Saturday I found some time before the Pats game and I made a couple of cards.  This one uses the beautiful colors from Color Throwdown and the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch.  (You'll have to wait until Tuesday to see the other)!

I went quite literal with the sketch and used these grungy feathers on my card mainly because I got a new stamp set that I wanted to ink up.  Nothing says inspiration quite like some new goodies!

Today I've got errands to run, I'm going to try and start putting together the new treadmill that I got (which, as I understand it, is a huge job) and then I have to venture back into my stamp room.  I feel like I've been lacking inspiration lately with my cards which I have attributed to not enough stamping time so I'm going to sit down with my mojo and have a long talk after which I hope to get busy with some paper and ink!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  DIY (Precious Remembrance)

Paper:  Crumb Cake, Island Indigo, Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  Baja Breeze, Island Indigo, Peach Parfait (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Freshly Made Sketches 118

And we're back!  That's right after a little holiday hiatus, the gals at Freshly Made Sketches are back and raring to go with a brand new sketch and a brand new gal!  I am fortunate enough to be the hostess for this first sketch of 2014 and I kept it simple for you.  I love seeing how you all take a simple sketch and create something fantastic out of it!  We are also welcoming the newest member of the Freshly Made Sketches design team Karren Johnson!  We love her work and know that if you don't already, you soon will too!

I was oddly stymied as I attempted to make my card this week.  I started out making something altogether different with this sketch before I scrapped it, and made this using the colors from Dynamic Duos.  I dug out a favorite flower stamp and layered it over a favorite flourish die.  The other day I came across a die that I had forgot that I had and realized I probably have a lot of stuff that I don't use simply because I've forgotten all about it.  So I've started an unofficial crafting resolution to make an effort to use long-neglected supplies.  This flower and flourish fit that bill!

As you can imagine the Freshly Made Sketches design team are ready and raring to go with this first sketch of the new year.  They've created some awesome designs with very creative interpretations of the sketch so make sure you check them out.  I can't wait to see you in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Another Thank You (SU); Dream Big (Verve)

Paper:  Summer Starfruit, Garden Green, Whisper White, Patio Party DSP (SU)

Ink:  Summer Starfruit, Garden Green (SU)

Accessories:  Fancy Flourish die, Circle STAX, Pierced Circle STAX (My Favorite Things); Scallop Flowers die (Verve); Garden Green button (SU); crochet thread

colourQ 223

Tuesday has dawned with a new color challenge at colourQ!  I think my stamping mojo is still on holiday break because I had more trouble with this challenge than I ought.  I really liked the sketch at Just Us Girls and figured that some vellum (as suggested by the sketch graphic) would make a mighty fine addition to my card.  When I was done, I discovered a whole world of trouble.  

I have long admired stamping images on some card stock, then cutting that card stock up into rectangles to be spaced apart on a card front.  The look is somewhat modern and zen and with the right images creates a pretty artistic scene.  I think in this case I'm unhappy because the images are a little too small.  And the fact that the left piece of vellum is mounted upside down.  Oops.  That would be why the images don't line up.

Well, this card is destined for the scrap heap (no pun intended) but don't let my little boo-boo discourage you.  I can assure you that the colourQ design team has got some great projects to inspire you so head on over there to check them out.  I hope you can join us in the gallery this week!

Oh, and the other day I think I mentioned that I was blogging during a big snowstorm.  By the time the storm was done I was left with about 13 inches of snow and with frigid temperatures after, a whole lot of ice.  Well fast forward a couple of days and I awoke to temperatures in the high 50s and rain enough to obliterate the snow.  Weather is a fickle thing, I say to myself.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Atfully Asian (SU); Circular Sayings (Verve)

Paper:  Neenah Solar White; Basic Gray, Vellum (SU)

Ink:  Bravo Burgundy, Poppy Parade, Summer Starfruit (SU); Jet Black (Stazon)

Accessories:  Pierced Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things)

Let it Be

Fusion Card Challenge is back with some old friends and new faces (YAY) and I just had to play along.  I usually go for the sketch but today I decided to make a card inspired by the colors.  The sketch came to me from Unscripted Sketches.

Sometimes the inspiration for a card comes to me by accident.  I had decided early on that I wanted to use a butterfly on my card and as I was flipping through my dies to find the one that matched the butterfly stamp, I found this flower outline and I thought it would make an interesting layer under the butterfly.  This made me realize that it's probably a good idea to periodically check out what I've got in my stash because it's easy to forget what I have.  Hmmm, I think this might be a good crafting resolution for the new year.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Beautiful Butterflies (Papertrey Ink); Let it Be (Verve)

Paper:  Smoky Slate, Groovy Guava, Basic Gray, Ginger Blossom DSP, Urban Oasis DSP (SU)

Ink:  Groovy Guava (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Beautiful Butterflies die (Papertrey Ink); Tilth Floral die (Memory Box); black rhinestones (KaiserCraft); washi tape

Carpe Diem

As I sit here typing this, the snow is not-so-gently falling outside.  I am in the middle a really big snow storm and, according to the weathermen, I am lucky enough to live in a little pocket of southeastern Massachusetts that is predicted to get about 15 or more inches of snow.  This, of course, is great news if you like to ski, snowshoe or have a day or two off from school.  For me I'll just be happy if I am able to dig my car out so that I can get to work on time.  Wish me luck!

So as the snow was falling I got to work in my stamp room (a room I have been neglecting lately) and made a card for CAS(E) This Sketch, Color Throwdown, and One Layer Simplicity.

The challenge at One Layer Simplicity is to restock your stash.  I always like to have cards on hand that have inspirational messages so I took the opportunity to make this card using a sentiment from a new stamp set that I got for Christmas.  I had a hard time deciding which sentiment to use from this set (because there are a lot of great ones in it) before I realized that there was a bit of a connection between the "seize the day" sentiment and the clock (which I chose as a symbol of the passage of time to the new year).

By the time you read this the big snow storm is sure to be over and I will hopefully be happily ensconced at my desk at work.  If you don't hear from me it may mean that I got lost in the snow and am now a human popsicle!  Seriously, stay safe if you are anywhere in the path of this storm.

Supplies:

Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge, Clockworks (SU); Words of Wisdom (Verve)

Paper:  Neenah Solar White

Ink:  Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Tempting Turquoise

Accessories:  Into the Woods sequins (Lawn Fawn); Midnight Blend sequins, Winter Blend sequins (Avery Elle)