Tis the Season 11

This week at Tis The Season is an inspiration challenge.  The colors and sparkly bits are what inspired me and once I saw the challenge at retro sketches this week was a gift tag I immediately that I wanted to combine these challenges.

I love making Christmas tags so putting these challenges together was a no brainer for me!  The silver glimmer paper provided the sparkle along with the rhinestone bling!  And since shimmery paper and snowflakes go together in my book, I added a couple of those too!

We'd love to see your Christmas inspiration at Tis The Season so come along and create with us!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Warm Words (SU)

Paper:  Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores (Papertrey Ink); Neenah Solar White; Silver Glimmer (SU)

Ink:  Hawaiian Shores (Papertrey Ink)

Accessories:  Snowflake Trio die (amuse studio); Maryanne Snowflake die (Simon Says Stamp); Stitched Circle STAX, Pierced Traditional Tags STAX (My Favorite Things); Banner Trio die (WPlus9); Basic Rhinesones, Pewter Jumbo brads, Pool Party seam binding ribbon, Pool Party baker's twine (SU); washi tape

Freshly Made Sketches 125

This week is our 125th challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  That's quite a milestone, don't you think!  This week's sketch is designed by Narelle and although it is curiously devoid of layers, I somehow suspect that she sneaked a few onto her card anyway.  You better pop on over to her blog to check and make sure!

It's probably no surprise that I kept my CAS card pretty close to the sketch.  The vibrant colors at Dynamic Duos provided the palette and, of course, the always amazing Gorgeous Grunge set the stage for the background.  How did I ever live without that stamp set?  

An awesome sketch, awesome cards from the design team and loads of inspiration!  I hope you have time to join us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  

Supplies:

Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge (SU); Funky Florals, Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)

Paper:  White Linen (Ellen Hutson); Wild Wasabi, Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango (SU); Pitch Black (Adirondack)

Accessories:  Cute Enamel Dots (My Mind's Eye)

colourQ 230

The other day a co-worker asked me to make her a birthday card for her mother.  She wanted something "nautical" as they are a fishing family (her father was a lobsterman).  I had one nautical stamp in my stash, but the images were better suited to a masculine card so I asked my trusty stamping friend Sylvia if I could borrow a stamp set full of fish and shells.  Of course she said yes!!

Luckily the colors this week at colourQ and the sketch at Create With Connie and Mary were a match made in heaven for the card I had in mind!

The kelp made a nice background for the conch shell and a birthday sentiment.  I added the sea horse as an afterthought and I wish I hadn't.  It looks funny to me, but I suppose a sea horse is probably found lurking in sea kelp so maybe it will grow on me!

These colourQ colors are pretty fab if you ask me (not to mention those to-die-for shoes) so I hope you have chance to join us this week.  Our amazing design team has got some pretty fabulous cards to show you so pop on over and check them out!

Supplies:

Stamps:  By the Tide, Sincere Salutations (SU)

Ink:  Crumb Cake, Summer Starfruit, Cool Caribbean, Basic Black (SU)

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

Freshly Made Sketches 124

Happy Wednesday!  It's a happy day here because at least it's not snowing (although we did get a couple of inches yesterday).  But that's water under the bridge.  I hear it's going to be 50-degrees by the end of the week and I am looking forward to that like you can't believe!  But before that I've got  got a fabbo sketch from Freshly Made Sketches to show you.  This one is designed by the super-talented and always funny,  Karren.

Sometimes inspiration from a card comes from somewhere that I can't define.  I walked into my stamp room to get serious about making my card for this challenge and I literally looked down and saw this stamp set (the one with the grass strands).  I haven't used that stamp set in ages but there it was front and center and just begging for ink.  So I stamped it on a square piece of card stock then cut it into three pieces.  Other than some indecision regarding butterflies or bitty flowers the rest of this card came together pretty quickly.  Isn't it funny how you can be inspired by something random that you see whether it's a stamp set, or colors, or patterns or texture.  Then all of a sudden your blank canvas is transformed!

Our always amazing Freshly Made Sketches design team have cooked up some great cards for you to see this week, so head on over there to check them out.  Then join us in the gallery!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Inspired By Nature (SU); Be (Simon Says Stamp)

Paper:  Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Old Olive, Perfect Plum (SU); Lavender Moon (Papertrey Ink); Neenah Solar White

Ink:  Old Olive, So Saffron (SU)

Accessories:  Beautiful Wings embosslit (SU); brads

colourQ 229 and Seize the Sketch 14

It was so nice to have the day off yesterday from work.  I love long weekends and I wish they happened more often.  Alas I won't see another one until the end of May.  It was nice to sleep in, get some housework done and craft at a leisurely pace!

Today I've got a card to show you with the new colors at colourQ and the latest layout from Seize the Sketch brought to you by Amy.

With all the snow we've been having I find myself reaching for floral stamps more and more!  And I know I'm not alone here because everywhere I go in blogland I find someone else who is fed up with this winter!  My fellow colourQ teamie Lisa wants to have Old Man Winter arrested, LOL!  I couldn't agree with her more!

For this card I used some simple leaves and flowers.  And I couldn't resist stamping some grungy color under the focal point - it looked too plain without it!  It's hard to see in the photo, but the dot splatter was stamped in Apricot Appeal and the grungy lines are Peach Parfait.  They really look nothing alike in real life but here they look the same!

I sure hope the winter blues don't have you down and you have time to join us at colourQ and Seize the Sketch.  We'd love to have you join us!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Summer Silhouettes, Gorgeous Grunge, Another Thank You (SU)

Paper:  White Linen (Ellen Hutson); Apricot Appeal, Always Artichoke, Whisper White, Wintergreen DSP (SU)

Ink:  Apricot Appeal, Peach Parfait, Summer Starfruit, Always Artichoke (SU)

Accessories:  Stitched Circle STAX (My Favorite Things); Bluebell Smile enamel dots (My Mind's Eye)

Thanks - It's Snowing Again

The winter that won't quit has reared its ugly head again and is dumping another foot of snow in my yard.  I took this opportunity to clean the house and make a thank you card.  Later I'll watch another episode of The Walking Dead.  I had a lot more fun making the card than I did cleaning the house in case you're wondering.

The card is a thank you card which I needed to replenish my stash.  I've been concentrating on those a lot lately because I was wiped out.  At my office we tend to receive lots of candy and other assorted gifts from customers at the end of the year and I always donate the thank you cards to be sent.  Once I did that I realized that I really didn't have all that many left so I'll be making quite a few of those as time goes by.  Today's card was made with the colors at Color Throwdown and the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch.

I think it's been a while since I inked up this pretty Verve flower.  It's one of my favorites so that's a real shame.  It's so easy to get caught up with the latest new stamping stuff and neglect the things that we already have.  So I like to peruse my stash every so often and see what's been gathering dust.  This flower is timeless and classic and I'll never part with it so it's only fitting that I take it out and give it some ink every so often!

This crazy winter weather seems to be affecting lots of people across the country so I hope that wherever you are you are safe and holed up with your stamping supplies!  Spring is coming - it's only a matter of time - so hang in there!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Dream Big, Making a Statement (Verve); Off the Grid (SU)

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

Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Basic Gray (SU); Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink)

Accessories:  Dreamy Leaves die, Scalloped Flower die (Verve); Real Red button (SU); Sugar Blend sequins (Avery Elle); baker's twine

Tis the Season!

Today I have the special honor of being guest designer at Tis the Season.  I think the fates are shining on me because early on this year I decided to create Christmas cards all year long so that I wouldn't be crazy come December frantically making cards for my stash.  Then Holly asked me to be a guestie at Tis the Season and I took this as divine intervention!

This week is a versatile sketch because those hexagons could be interpreted so many ways!  I went a pretty literal with this one because it occurred to me that I hadn't quite embraced the hexagon craze as much as I should.  I dug out some of my favorite Christmas DSP, Holiday Thyme, and used these traditional colors.  A few sequins thrown in for some sparkle and easy peasy, I was done!

Hop on over to Tis the Season and join us!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Contempo Christmas (SU)

Paper:  Old Olive, Cranberry Crisp, Holiday Thyme (SU)

Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Berry Blend sequins (Avery Elle)

Freshly Made Sketches 123

Happy Wednesday!  It's the day for a new sketch reveal at Freshly Made Sketches and this week Jen Brum is our hostess.  She's designed a fun sketch and if the cards the design team have come up with this week are any indication (and I think they are), then the gallery will be full of awesomeness once again!

I pondered this layout quite a bit before I made this card.  I contemplated several ways to do those circles before I saw this hexagon stencil sitting to the side on my stamping table.  All of a sudden the light bulb went off and I grabbed the stencil, my brand-spankin' new colored pencils and went to work scribbling on my card front.

The colors and graphic design of my card were influenced by the BE Inspired challenge too.  I loved the bold design of the inspiration photo and the pop of yellow so I tried to incorporate that on my card.

The talented ladies of the Freshly Made Sketches design team have created some fantastic cards this week with this sketch, so be sure to check them out.  I hope you can join us in the gallery this week!  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Spell Check (The Alley Way Stamps)

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

Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Honeycomb stencil (Heidi Swapp); colored pencils (American Crafts); baker's twine

colourQ 228

colourQ day has dawned bright here in Massachusetts!  Cold, but bright!  After all the reds and pinks I've been seeing lately it was lovely to take out some blues and get to work on my card this week.  I challenged myself a bit this week by trying to follow the Cardabilities sketch without strictly adhering to the layers in the sketch..  Instead I used ink to simulate some of those layers.

Instead of a circular layer at the bottom, I used a stencil and sponged the color on (part of my "homework" for my recent online card class in stenciling).  I tried to keep the stenciled images in the shape of a half circle then added some splotchy images in the colors of the challenge.  The Ruby Red butterfly adds a pop of color, I think, to break up all those blues.

And, of course, in true fashion, I put the sentiment in the wrong place.  I actually spent some time deciding where to put the stupid thing and if I had only looked at the sketch I would have known exactly where it goes!  

So where will all these blues take you this week?  Hop on over to colourQ to see what the girls have created over there then join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Textures 1, Textures 2 (Florileges Design); Slash Border (Impression Obsession); Botanical Silhouettes (Papertrey Ink)

Paper:  White Linen (Ellen Hutson); Neenah Solar White; Soft Sky, Ruby Red, Soft Sky DSP (SU)

Ink:  Soft Sky, Cool Caribbean, Pacific Point (SU)

Accessories:  Splatters stencil (Tim Holtz); Leanna Butterfly die (Simon Says Stamp); Pool Party baker's twine, Basic Pearls (SU); 

Freshly Made Sketches 122

Wednesday has dawned here with more snow!  It snowed on Monday, it's snowing today and it's going to snow again on Sunday.  **blech**  I've had enough and spring can't come soon enough for me.  But in the meantime I've got a brand new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches to cheer me up!  This week the extremely talented Cindy Hall is our hostess.

Since I took my Stenciled Online Card Class I can't seem to stop using stencils and embossing paste.  When I saw this sketch and that big horizontal layer across the center of the card I envisioned these diagonal stripes done with some embossing paste.  Then I remembered the new color palette challenge at the MFT blog and their colors of pink, black and white fit into my plans for this card nicely.

One of the incidental things I learned at my Stenciled class was that sometimes little things you add to your card can make an impact.  One instructor used little ripped pieces of tissue paper as a layer behind a focal point, and another used a little ball of thread.  When I started to put this card together I thought this pretty die cut flower needed a little something else so I cut a length of black thread, smooshed it together and stuck it down on the cardstock under the flower.  It's a simple detail but I think it breaks up the white space nicely.

So you know the drill.  Our always amazing design team at Freshly Made Sketches have put together some pretty cool cards for you this week so don't forget to check them out.  Then join us in the gallery because we love it when you do!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Distress Background Blocks, Grand Peaceful Wildflowers (My Favorite Things)

Paper:  Bubblegum, Black Licorice, Sweet Tooth (My Favorite Things)

Ink:  Pink Pirouette (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Sunflower die, Pierced Square STAX (My Favorite Things); Diagonal Stripe stencil (Simon Says Stamp); black embossing paste (Wendy Vecchi); black thread

colourQ 227 and Seize the Sketch 13

It's Tuesday which means it's time for another melding of challenges here.  colourQ meets Seize the Sketch here every other week and this week we've got Arielle's colors inspired by this dish towel and a fab sketch from Sherry.

This time of year colors like these provide great inspiration for Valentine's cards but I wanted to try something a little different.  I stamped the leafy images in Raspberry Ripple (stamping off so they wouldn't be so dark) then added the butterflies in Melon Mambo.

The gals at colourQ and Seize the Sketch have created some pretty fantastic cards for you to see, so be sure to head on over to check them out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Turning a New Leaf, Beautiful Butterflies (Papertrey Ink); Group Hugs (Paper Smooches)

Ink:  Raspberry Ripple, Melon Mambo (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Paper:  White Linen (Ellen Hutson); Ruby Red, Blushing Bride, Raspberry Ripple (SU); Neenah Solar White

Accessories:  Stitched Circle STAX (My Favorite Things); Sugar Blend sequins (Avery Elle)

Sparkly Stuff

I am very happy to say that here it is February 3rd and I already have three Christmas cards made for 2014.  Yay me!  Last season I was so far behind making cards that I had myself all stressed out as it got closer to the middle of December.  I was frantically making cards and I don't like to work under pressure like that so I promised myself that this year I would do things differently.

Today I've got a card for the Festive Friday challenge where I was inspired by all the glitter in the inspiration photo as well as the Sketch For You to Try challenge.

I used the super pretty glimmer paper from SU.  I thought it was gold but I think it's really a cross between copper and gold.  I first inked up the sentiment in gold and it didn't look right so I did it again in copper and it matched fine.  But the cord is gold and the organdy ribbon is gold and I think they match too so I don't know what color this is!

I used some embossing paste to jazz up the tag with raised circles then I dusted some Perfect Pearls on them for a little shimmer.  It doesn't show up in the photo, but it's there!

As I'm writing this blog post I'm watching the Super Bowl.  I hope your team won (as long as it's not the Broncos)!  LOL!  I know I'm in the minority rooting for the Seahawks (as I'm reminded all the time by my fellow blogging friends on Facebook) but being from Boston I couldn't possibly root for them!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  tinsel 'n trim (Reverse Confetti)

Paper:  Ultra Smooth Pure White (Avery Elle); White Linen (Ellen Hutston); Champagne Glimmer (SU); Neenah Solar White

Accessories:  Tag Me die (Reverse Confetti); Bubble stencil (Tim Holtz); embossing paste (dreamweaver); Kraft Blend sequins (Avery Elle)