Happy Birthday and Some Cat Hair

When you have pets crafting can be somewhat challenging.  I have two cats who like to be in my stamp room when I am in there (and sometimes when I'm not).  One of them is not happy unless he is laying down on my desk in the exact spot where I work.  The other one is not happy unless she is sitting on my lap and occasionally pawing at my chin.  Neither is happy unless they leave a trail of fur wherever they go.  Today that trail of fur lead to one of the stamps on my card, which lead to a little squiggly line because, of course, that fur picked up ink.

I'm hoping that you can't see the squiggly line, but in case you are looking it is on the right side of the "a" in "happy."  :(

I made my card using the colors at Color Throwdown and the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch.  When I first saw that sketch I was stumped but the more I looked at it the more I wanted to try it.  At first I was going to use some floral images but then I spied this set of random circles in my stash (that had yet to see ink) so I switched gears and used that instead.  And the sentiment is an oldy-but-goody from Stampin' Up!  I had forgotten all about it and stumbled across it the other day when I was organizing and resolved to use it soon.  And soon is now upon us!

I've been trying to get my vegetable garden going over the last couple of weeks and last weekend I finally got just about everything planted.  I hadn't been down to check on things for a few days and when I went down there today to water discovered that the woodchuck, who has been the bane of my existence since last year, got in there and ate everything except the peppers.  I reinforced the fencing around the garden last fall so now I'm not sure how he's getting in there, but I'm now ready to call the pest control guy to get rid of this little son-of-a-gun.  Grrrrr.

But enough of that!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Happy Everything (SU); Sunburst (Clearly Besotted)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir)
Ink:  So Saffron, Cameo Coral, Old Olive (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Freshly Made Sketches 188

TGIW!  Is that even a thing?  It is for me because Wednesday is when there's a brand new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week Karren is our hostess and she's given us a sketch that I'm pretty sure you will love.  When I saw it I immediately thought of a shaker card.

That big old square was perfect for my bouncing sequins!  So that it wouldn't look so bare I stamped a little grungy image in the background then loaded up the sequins.  A little flower and some soft yellow leaves and I was done!  The colors come from the inspiration week photo at Just Us Girls.

As you can expect there are some great cards to be seen at Freshly Made Sketches so make sure you check them out.  I hope to see you in the gallery!  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Summer Silhouettes, Thank You Kindly (SU); So 80's (WPlus9)
Paper:  Baja Breeze, So Saffron (SU); Classic White (Flourishes)
Ink:  Baja Breeze, Dusty Durango (SU)
Accessories:  Curvy Leaves die (Elizabeth Craft Designs); Nesting Squares die (Lifestyle Crafts); Winter Wonderland sequins, Fall Mix sequins (Neat & Tangled)

colourQ 292 Reminder

Hi crafty friends!  I don't have a card to share today but I do want to tell you that the our latest colourQ challenge has been extended for another week!  So if you were planning to play along and thought you had missed the deadline you still have time to join us!

Judging by the gallery so far, this is a pretty popular color combo!  So I hope we'll see you in the gallery too!

As You See It and Fusion

I had some extra time last night so I made my way into my craft room to try and make something with the pretty colors at Fusion.  I used the sketch from As You See It.

Isn't the cake in the inspiration photo beautiful?  I love how the aqua background looks with the flowers.  I didn't use quite as many flowers because I can never get those clusters to look right and instead went with a solitary bloom that I colored with pencils.  I went over the flower and the die cut sentiment with my Wink of Stella pen to give it some shimmer.  So pretty IRL!

Just a quick post today, as I've got loads to do.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Artful Flowers (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Hawaiin Shores (Papertrey Ink); Smoky Shadow, Daffodil Delight, Vellum (SU); Neenah Solar White
Ink:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Prismacolor Pencils
Accessories:  Thanks Script die (Mama Elephant); Pierced Fishtail Flags STAX (My Favorite Things); washi tape (SU); Wink of Stella pen

Tag You're It 22

Thank goodness it's Friday!  And thank goodness it's a long weekend!  But before I get to that we've got a new challenge up at Tag You're It.  This week our inspiration comes from a very colorful, fruit-filled tag from Lynn Put.

Well, I didn't have any fruit but I was inspired by the colors and the way Lynn layered two tags together.  The floral stamp is quite artsy and I had a grand idea to add some splashes of color to the petals leaving lots of white space and generally making a grand statement.  But, as expected, things didn't quite pan out the way I wanted so I ended up coloring in the petals instead.

The challenge at Retro Rubber is May Flowers so I thought I'd add this over there too.  The sentiment I used is one I've had in my stash for a while and they like us to use stuff that's at least a year old over there.  I'm pretty sure I've had this for a year, but just in case my memory is faulty I used some ancient Stampin' Up! red gingham ribbon that is probably about 10 years old!

The Tag You're It design team has made some great tags to inspire you this week, so be sure to check them out.  We love to see your tags or your tags on cards or whatever other clever ways you can think of to use them!  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Blossom (Precious Remembrance); Hello You (My Creative Time)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Cherry (Avery Elle); Old Olive (SU)
Ink:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Old Olive (SU); Copics
Accessories:  Tag Die, Tag Layers Die (My Creative Time); red gingham ribbon (SU); washi tape

Freshly Made Sketches 187

Hey there!  It's Wednesday so that means it's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.  This week our hostess is Cindy Lovell who has designed a terrific sketch.  It's fresh and fun, just like Cindy's cards, and has got lots of room for interpretation.  If you take a peek at the design team cards you'll see what I mean!

I kept with Cindy's butterfly theme, although mine aren't 3D.  Instead I inked up these layered butterfly images in the colors of the Sunday Stamps challenge (along with some grays and black in the background).  I actually used PTI's Smoky Shadow for the dark layers which in the photo looks nearly black.  But in real life it's this wonderfully dark taupe-like gray.

Be sure and check out the Freshly Made Sketches design team cards for some great inspiration this week.  You won't be disappointed!  And thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Painted Butterflies (Altenew); Blossom (Precious Remembrance)
Paper:  Soft Stone, Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink); White (Spectrum Noir)
Ink:  Tempting Turquoise, Taken With Teal (SU); Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories:  Blueprints 13 die, Stitched Squares STAX (My Favorite Things); Winter Wonderland sequins (Neat & Tangled); washi tape

colourQ 292

Hello and welcome to my latest addition to colourQ!  This week our palette is quite bold and is inspired by this wall art.

How's that for a bold color palette?  I took the inspiration colors one step further and used some rays on my card to mimic the rays in the photo.  I did the inlaid die technique and substituted Coastal Cabana for the rays of the sun.  I also added a slim black border around the focal layers to make them pop a bit more.

The CAS challenge this month at Happy Little Stampers is to use die cuts or punches so I'm going to add this over there too!

As usual our colourQ design team has made some beautiful cards with these colors so be sure to check them out.  You won't be sorry!  And thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Hashtags (Tim Holtz)
Paper:  Classic White (Flourishes); Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Strawberry Slush, Tangerine Tango, Coastal Cabana (SU)
Ink:  Tangerine Tango (SU)
Accessories:  Sunshine die (Simon Says Stamp)

Cupcake Inspirations 310 and Surprise Sweetie

A little bit ago I got an email from Nina from Cupcake Inspirations inviting me to be their Surprise Sweetie this week.  Since I love playing along with their challenges there was no way I was going to say no!

Ooh boy, I love this color combo!  I think the lime green is what gets me.  It just makes a fantastic contrast with just about everything!  For my card I created a grungy background using the blue and gray shades then topped it off with the beautiful butterfly.

Special thanks to Nina and the Cupcake Inspirations design team for having me along this week. What a treat for me!  And thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge (SU); Java Spills (Stamping Bella); Hashtags (Tim Holtz); Family is Everything (My Creative Time)
Paper:  Classic White (Flourishes); Basic Gray, Lucky Limeade, Vellum (SU)
Ink:  Basic Gray, Bashful Blue (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accesories:  Cheviot Butterfly die, Delaney Butterflly die (Poppystamps); Basic Rhinestone (SU)

Freshly Made Sketches 186

It's time for a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches!  This week Jen Brum is our hostess and in a strange twist she put a circle on her sketch!  If you play along with us regularly at Freshly Made Sketches you know that Jen does not like circles on her cards, so imagine our surprise when we saw this sketch!  But rest assured, if you have a fear of circles too you can substitute something else in its place!

I don't have a fear of circles but I still substituted a poinsettia!  I'm woefully behind in making Christmas cards this year so I've resolved to try and make at least one a week and for some reason this sketch put me in mind of this poinsettia die.  This, of course, lead to kraft card stock and a splash of color which seem to be my go-to choices for Christmas cards.

Our Freshly Made Sketches design team has made some real beauties this week with this sketch.  Be sure you check them out!  I hope we'll see you in the gallery this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Handy Christmas Greetings (Amy R Stamps)
Paper:  Kraft (Papertrey Ink); Real Red, Vellum, Red Glimmer (SU)
Ink:  Real Red (SU)
Accessories:  Blooming Poinsettias die (Memory Box); Blueprints 20 die (My Favorite Things)

colourQ 291

Happy Tuesday!  Today we've got a pretty new palette up at colourQ inspired by these garden stakes.   I thought the colors would be perfect for a sweet little flower with a little grungy background.

I got some further inspiration from the latest CAS(E) This Sketch.  As per my usual, I substituted some stamps for the banner layers in the sketch - some on top, some on bottom.

I added some Wink of Stella to the flower petals but, of course, you can't see that unless you look very closely.  Rest assured, it is there and it looks fantastic!

Thanks so much for stopping by and please pop on over to colourQ and see the fabulous design team creations there.  We love to see you in the gallery

Supplies
Stamps:  All Holidays (SU); Textures 1 (Florileges Design); Family is Everything (My Creative Time)
Paper:  Classic White (Flourishes); Hello Honey, Gumball Green (SU)
Ink:  Bashful Blue, Poppy Parade (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Petal Party die (Memory Box); Curvy Leaves die (Elizabeth Craft Designs); enamel dots (Studio Calico)

Freshly Made Sketches 185

Wednesday is definitely my favorite day of the week because I get to show off a new sketch from your friends at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week our sketch is designed by the talented Cindy Hall.  I love her sketch because it's got lots of room for interpretation!

I hemmed and hawed a little bit on whether I wanted flowers for my focal point or butterflies.  As you can see flowers won!  One thing I didn't hesitate over was stamping my sentiment crooked.  I was so intent on getting the "smile" straight I failed to notice that I should have been looking at the "you make me" part instead.  I'm such an amateur!  And to make matters worse I wanted to use the colors of a particular color challenge but after I put this altogether I realized that I missed two of the colors.  TWO!  I think I need a nap!

My Freshly Made Sketches teamies obviously did not have the same kinds of problems as I did with their cards this week because they are GORGEOUS!  Be sure to check them out!  I hope to see you in the gallery this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge (SU); Funky Florals, Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Classic White (Flourishes); Perfect Plum (SU)
Ink:  Fog (Simon Say Stamp); Going Gray, Basic Gray, Wisteria Wonder (SU); Onyx Black (SU)
Accessories:  Dot Fade stencil (Tim Holtz); white embossing paste (Dreamweaver); Pierced Square STAX (My Favorite Things)

colourQ 290!

Spring has finally arrived in New England!  After a blah Saturday and a not-so-promising start to Sunday the sun finally broke through the clouds, the temperatures warmed up and I actually wore short sleeves outside!  Woo hoo!  But alas I had to eventually go back inside to get busy with the latest palette from colourQ.  The colors, inspired by this apron, are perfect if you have flowers on your mind!

I actually didn't have flowers on my mind, as you can see!  I was feeling the butterfly instead.  The colors seem awfully close in my photo (a professional photographer I am not), but I can assure you that the horizontal stripe is Calypso Coral and the butterfly is layered with Blushing Bride and Poppy Parade.  I went over the intricate details of the Poppy Parade layer of the butterfly with my Wink of Stella pen because that makes everything better, of course!

I've used a liberal interpretation of the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge this week.  I started out with some card stock for the horizontal layers and decided that they were a little too blah, so I created those "layers" with some new grungy stamps I recently bought.  And I'm pleased as punch to say that I was chosen over there last week for the Sweet Sunday SPOTlight!  Yay me!

I can't wait to see how you light up the colourQ gallery this week with these beautiful colors.  The design team has outdone themselves with their creations!  I hope to see you over there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Mixed Media Grunge (Stamplorations); Live, Love, Laugh & Be Happy (My Creative Time)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Blushing Bride, Poppy Parade (SU)
Ink:  Coastal Cabana, Calypso Coral (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Chrissy Butterfly die, Leanna Butterfly die (Simon Says Stamp); enamel dots (My Mind's Eye); Basic Pearls (SU); Wink of Stella