colourQ 261

Hello everyone!  Tuesday's are all about colourQ and this week we've got a fabulous palette for you.  Inspired by this doormat these colors will surely inspire you!

I love Chocolate Chip so I decided to make it a large layer on my card plus it looked good with the Dusty Durango diagonal layer.  I paper pieced a stamped flower out of Island Indigo DSP and thought it looked awfully plain.  So I added a circle punched out of Island Indigo cardstock to the center of the flower.  But that didn't do too much to jazz this up so I put some Crystal Effects on it.  Perfect!

I loved the angles on the sketch at Viva La Verve this week, so I'm playing along with them too!

These colors have inspired some amazing cards from the colourQ design team.  I hope you have a chance to check them out and to play along with us!  We love to see you in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Lean on Me, Dream Big (Verve)

Paper:  Classic Ivory (Flourishes); Chocolate Chip, Dusty Durango, Kiwi Kiss, Island Indigo, Vellum, Island Indigo DSP (SU)

Ink:  Frost White (Colorbox); True Black (Papertrey Ink)

Accessories:  Sprightly Sprigs die (Verve); On the Diagonal die (Lil Inker Designs); Witch Hazel button (October Afternoon); Crystal Effects (SU); white embossing powder

Merry Monday 128

Happy Monday!  It's that time of the week when I get to add to my ever-growing Christmas card stash courtesy of the Merry Monday Christmas challenge!  This week Katie is our hostess and she'd like us to use stripes or polka dots on our cards.

For my first set of stripes I used a striped stencil and some gold embossing paste.  I've got to tell you that when I bought the gold embossing paste recently, I was none too impressed with how it looked in the jar.  It was gold, but not very vibrant so I really thought that when I used it the look would be kind of washed out.  Well, not so!  When it dried it had this amazing color and sheen!  And bonus, you can actually see it in the photo!

I added some more stripes and even a few dots with my triangular Christmas trees.  I love this stamp set because the trees are modern, simple and graphic.  A little sentiment on a banner later and my card is ready for the layout at CAS(E) This Sketch too!

Be sure to join us at Merry Monday and add a card or two to your Christmas card stash!  The design team have got some great projects to show you!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Modern Christmas (Clearly Besotted Stamps); Jingle All the Way (Technique Tuesday)

Paper:  Kraft (Papertrey Ink); White (Spectrum Noir); Early Espresso (SU)

Ink:  Frost White (Colorbox); Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink)

Accessories:  Banner Trio die (WPlus9); Diagonal Stripe stencil (Simon Says Stamp); gold embossing paste (Wendy Vecchi)

Freshly Made Sketches 155

This week at Freshly Made Sketches our hostess Karren has given us a sketch with one of my favorite things:  a tag!  Of course, you don't need to use a tag on your card when you play along, but I jumped at the chance!

Karren lives in New Zealand where spring is coming up all over, but where I live it's all about fall.  So when I saw the inspiration photo at Viva La Verve had some sunflowers in it that's the direction I went with my card.  And I've made another thank you card because I always need lots of these at the end of the year.  Where I work we get quite a few customers who give us gifts at Christmas time and I always donate the thank you cards to be sent to them.  So every January I'm wiped out of cards.  This year I thought I'd be smart and make lots of them so I'd be ready!  So far so good!

Our always amazing Freshly Made Sketches design team have created some beauties for you to see!  Stop by and check them out.  We hope to see you in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Bloom &  Grow (Verve); Label Love (Altenew)

Paper:  Classic Ivory (Flourishes); Natural White (Neenah); Early Espresso (SU)

Ink:  Crushed Curry, Early Espresso, Old Olive (SU)

Accessories:  Tag Sale #5 die (Papertrey Ink); Elegant Leaves die (Verve); Early Espresso seam binding ribbon, Early Espresso baker's twine (SU); burlap, jumbo brad

colourQ 260

I love the palette at colourQ this week!  Every time I see some navy blue paired with orange, yellow or kraft I get a little giddy!  The colors are based on this adorable little boy's outfit.  Once I settled down to make my card for this week's challenge it was long before I realized the layout at CAS(E) This Sketch was the perfect companion.

I went quite literal with the sketch except for the horizontal sentiment line which I chose to do with a combination of a splotchy image with a sentiment stamped on top.  I love these bold colors because I think you can do so much with them.

Just wait until you see the cards the colourQ design team have made with these colors.  Gorgeous as always!  Hopefully you'll have a chance to join us in the gallery this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  So 80s (WPlus9)

Paper:  Classic White (Flourishes); Night of Navy (SU); Solar White (Neenah)

Ink:  Crumb Cake, Night of Navy, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango (SU)

Accessories:  Notable Cute enamel dots (My Mind's Eye)

Merry Monday 127

I have been a bad stamper because I've been neglecting my stamp room all week!  One thing after another prevented me from getting in there and doing anything productive but Sunday I marched myself in there, sat down and made three cards!

The first is a card for the Merry Monday challenge where Kathy has given us a little Christmas Bingo where we get to choose the elements we want.  I went diagonal and chose Sparkle, Ribbon or Twine, and Buttons or Brads.

Now, you're going to have to believe me when I say that there is sparkle on this card because I know it doesn't show up in the photo.  The "merry" was die cut from some Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper which is just chock full of sparkle but sadly you can't see it.  And to make matters worse, I stamped the sentiment in white pigment ink then embossed it with Iridescent Ice embossing powder and all that shimmer doesn't really show up either.  

Over at As You See It there was a great sketch so I used that as my layout.  It had a nice CAS look and I thought the bottom of the sketch would be a great place to showcase the "merry" die cut.

The Merry Makers over at Merry Monday have some beautiful cards to show you so make sure you check them out.  I hope to see you in the gallery this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Playful Christmas 2 (Kitchen Sink Stamps); Wonderful Words:  Holiday (Papertrey Ink)

Paper:  Midnight Muse, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Ppaer (SU); Solar White (Neenah)

Ink:  Midnight Muse (SU); Frost White (Colorbox)

Accessories:  Femme Frames (Mama Elephant); Wonderful Words:  Holiday die (Papertrey Ink); Vintage Faceted button, Iridescent Ice embossing powder (SU); crochet thread

Freshly Made Sketches 154

Hi all!  It's Wednesday so that means it's time for a new sketch reveal at Freshly Made Sketches.  This week Cindy Lovell is our hostess and her sketch has got all the design elements that remind me so much of her fun, clean, and simple designs.

As soon as I saw this sketch I wanted to incorporate washi tape as part of my design.  From there it was a short leap to the Math washi tape that I love so much.  One of the colors in that tape is a dead ringer for Pool Party so I made my card with that color as well as some So Saffron for contrast.

The Freshly Made Sketches design team have some fabulous cards for you to see this week so be sure to check them out.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Kinda Eclectic (SU); Jumbo Abstract Art (My Favorite Things); Many Thanks (Simon Says Stamp); Sketchy Chevron Border (Impression Obsession)

Paper:  Classic White (Flourishes); Neenah Solar White; Pool Party (SU)

Ink:  Pool Party, So Saffron (SU); Onyx Black (Verafine)

Accessories:  Basic Pearls (SU); washi tape

colourQ 259

This week at colourQ the colors are little bold, a little sassy and a whole lot of eclectic.  They are inspired by this pair of wellies that are far to pretty to wear outside in the garden and get dirty!  I decided to do a little watercoloring, which happens to be the trend week challenge at Just Us Girls and to incorporate the layout from Sketch Saturday too.

I started with a watercolored background using Blushing Bride and Summer Starfruit but wasn't entirely happy with how it turned out so I went back over the colors with a grungy stamp or two.  Much better looking to my untrained eye!  Then I over stamped it in black with this wispy floral stamp, which happens to be a new favorite.  The little "thanks" circle is from one of the new Simon Says Stamps sets for the #Stamptember celebration.

I can't wait to see how you interpret these colors in the colourQ gallery this week.  As usual the design team has got some great cards to show you so be sure to check them out!  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Many Thanks (Simon Says Stamp); Going to Seed (Woodware); Gorgeous Grunge (SU); Grunge Me (Papertrey Ink)

Paper:  Blackberry Bliss, Summer Starfruit, Whisper White (SU); Distress Watercolor (Tim Holtz)

Ink:  Blushing Bride, Summer Starfruit (SU); True Black (Papertrey Ink)

Accessories:  White Taffeta ribbon (SU)

Merry Monday 126

Happy Monday everyone!  It's time for a new challenge at Merry Monday.  This week Karren is challenging us to make the sentiment be the showcase of our Christmas card.  Well, it just so happens that I had recently come across this beautiful card and thought I could easily adopt the design as a Christmas card.

I guess this is kind of a take on the bokeh look that I keep seeing across blogland.  I don't know that it technically qualifies as bokeh but I think the look is pretty cool.  I added a ho-ho-ho sentiment that I cut in black with my Silhouette Cameo.  I love how it stand out against the circles.

The Merry Monday design team have got some amazing inspiration for you this week so be sure to check them out.  We hope to see you in the gallery! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Paper:  Dove Gray (WPlus9); Old Olive, Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  So Saffron, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler (SU)

Accessories:  Ho Ho Ho cut file (Silhouette Cameo)

Colour Me.....Hello!

It's been a dog's age since I posted anything here so I figured I'd better pop in with a little tag I made so you all didn't think I ran away!  I started making this last night and then put it aside while I waited for some embossing paste to dry.  I finished it up this afternoon and am just now getting around to posting it.

The colors of my tag are from the very cool palette at the Colour Me challenge.  Just eyeballing the design team cards and the gallery I was so impressed with how pretty these colors looked together that I wanted to make sure I played along.  The layout is my somewhat liberal interpretation of the Deconstructed Sketch.  I followed the layout of the sketch, but instead of a square base I used a tag!

Well that's it for me.  Back to the old craft cave I go to get a head start on this week's projects.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Paper:  Soft Stone (Papertrey Ink); Coastal Cabana, Hello Honey, Basic Black (SU); watercolor paper

Ink:  Hello  Honey

Accessories:  Traditional Tags STAX, Pierced Traditional Tags STAX (My Favorite Things); Hand Lettered Hello die (WPlus9); Chevron stencil (Heidi Swapp); Speckles stencil (Tim Holtz); Make it Merry button, Springs Sprinklers (October Afternoon); white embossing paste, black seam binding ribbon, crochet thread

Freshly Made Sketches 153

Hello, hello!  Wednesday's around here mean a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week our hostess is Jen Brum who has given us a fantastically versatile sketch. 

I've been seeing a trend toward warm fall colors and leaves as I poke around blogland lately and since I just picked up a new stamp set with pretty leaves I decided that I would use it this week for my card.  Funny thing is that once I had this card all made and ready to photograph, I felt there was something missing.  So I grabbed a piece of burlap ribbon and stuck it behind the leaves.  It was a quick fix and I think it looks pretty good!

It just so happens that the challenge this week at The Paper Players and Just Us Girls is to use leaves on our cards so I'm going to enter this card over there too.  

Don't forget to check out the cards over at Freshly Made Sketches.  It's no surprise that they are pretty amazing!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Fall Colors (Precious Remembrance)
Paper:  Kraft (Papertrey Ink); Early Espresso, Very Vanilla (SU)

Ink:  Dark Chocolate, Ripe Avocado, Canyon Clay (Papertrey Ink); Early Espresso, Crumb Cake (SU)

Accessories:  Blueprints 13 die (My Favorite Things); Linen Thread (SU); button, washi tape, book binding tape, burlap, homemade enamel dots

colourQ 258

Tuesday means a brand new color palette reveal at colourQ. This week our colors are inspired by this lamp shade.  I was struck by the subtle differences in the yellows of this palette and knew that I wanted those to be the focal point of my card.

The first two times I tried to make a card for this challenge resulted in what can only be described as a "hot mess."  I had attempted an artsy watercolor background with a floral stamp and what I got was a giant blob of indiscriminate color.  I tried to fix it by trying the whole thing all over again and what I got was a slightly less giant blob of indiscriminate color.  What I took away from this experience is that watercoloring is hard work, that I need to practice more, and that I need to win the lottery so that I can stay home every day and master techniques such as these. 

For this card I took some inspiration from the Cardabilities sketch although I'm sure my little CAS design is not what they are used to seeing over there!  But I loved the lines of the sketch and thought I'd adapt it to my own style.

These gorgeous colourQ colors are sure to inspire you so I hope you can play along with us this week.  As usual our design team have some beauties for you to see so hop on over there to check them out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Kinda Eclectic, Secret Garden (SU); Hashtags (Tim Holtz)

Paper:  Classic White (Flourishes); Hello Honey, Smoky Slate, So Saffron (SU); Strathmore watercolor paper

Ink:  So Saffron, Hello Honey, Smoky Slate, Blackberry Bliss (SU)

Accessories: Burlap Stencil, Bracket die (Tim Holtz); Basic Pearl (SU)

Merry Monday 125

It's Monday so that means it's time for a new challenge at Merry Monday.  This week Debbie is challenging us to use a vehicle or some kind of transportation on our card.  Well that was a stumper for me as I didn't have anything like the cute images the design team used.  But as I perused my stash I stumbled on an image that is connected to transportation in a fictional, fantasy-land kind of way.  Don't judge me!

The image you see is a reindeer.  And reindeer are what Santa use to pull his sleigh all over the world on Christmas Eve.  And a sleigh, of course, is a type of transportation.  And this particular reindeer is so good at what he does that he won first place, as is evident by the red ribbon he wears!  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

The layout for my card comes from the latest Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge and my only regret with my interpretation of the sketch is that I wish my circle was a bit smaller.  I think it would have shown up my reindeer friend a little better.  

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you get the chance to add to your Christmas card stash by joining us this week at Merry Monday.  The design team has got some great cards to inspire you so be sure to check them out!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Christmas Carols (CAS-ual Fridays Stamps)

Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Real Red, Brushed Silver, Ski Slope DSP (SU)

Ink:  Versamark

Accessories:  Pierced Circle STAX (My Favorite Things); Large Stitched Rectangle Stackable (Lawn Fawn); Christmas Reindeer Silhouette (for Silhouette Cameo); gold embossing powder

Watercolor and Three Challenges

You might want to put your sunglasses on for this one!  Last weekend was a long one so I had plenty of time to check out some challenges and get crafty.  I made this card on Monday and saved it until today to post.  Since I've been on a bit of a watercolor kick lately it should be no surprise that I tried it again on today's card.

I've got a challenge three-fer going on here since I was inspired by the colors, the watercolor background and the butterfly on Vicki's Muse card as well as the layout of the latest Mojo sketch.  (Incidentally I knew it had been a long time since I joined in the Mojo challenge so I looked it up and September 18th of last year was the last time I played along!  I can't believe it's been nearly a year!  Will work on rectifying that because they've always got terrific sketches).  And finally, the icing on the cake, is the AAA Cards challenge which is, you guessed it, watercoloring!

This card came out much brighter than I thought it would.  I used Melon Mambo and Tangerine Tango to watercolor the bigger layer.  Then I used a lot more water with the same colors to create a softer look on the second layer.  Then while it was still wet I put a stencil over it so that the ink would pool around the pattern of the stencil.  That was a little trick I learned the first day of the watercolor Online Card Class and the look is very cool.  The layered butterfly was created with a bit of the leftover watercolored paper and some black card stock.  I love how the bits of black add some nice contrast to the bright colors.

Well that's it for me.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Words of Wisdom (Verve)

Paper:  Soft Stone (Papertrey Ink); Basic Black (SU); Strathmore watercolor paper

Ink:  Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Delaney Butterfly die, Cheviot Butterfly die (Poppystamps); Dot Fade stencil (Tim Holtz); Basic Rhinestones (SU)