CAS(E) This Sketch 161

Here we are at Thursday again and time for a new sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch.  I loved the balloon and string imagery in the sketch but didn't want to copy it exactly so I spent some time mentally going through my stamps sets to see if I had something I could substitute.  Insert some divine intervention and I remembered that I had a set with some butterflies and their little fluttering trail.

The CASology cue word this week is "distress," and for me that means inserting a grungy image wherever I can, so inked one up to serve as a background to the sentiment.  The colors I used were inspired by a color challenge that didn't have a chance to play along with last week, but I loved them all the same.

The cards this week from the CAS(E) This Sketch design team are so awesome this week (but you didn't need me to tell you that)!  I hope to see you in the gallery there!

Supplies
Stamps:  Mixed Media Elements (Stamplorations); Live, Love, Laugh and Be Happy (My Creative Time); Many Thanks (Simon Says Stamp)
Ink:  Going Gray, Cherry Cobbler (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Freshly Made Sketches 225

Hello, hello!  This week I am the hostess at Freshly Made Sketches and I've got squares on my mind!  Of course, you don't necessarily need to use squares, any shape is just fine.  As long as we can see the sketch in your card it's all good!

I never know quite what to do with my own sketch.  Weird, huh?  I added some texture with embossing paste, some faux texture by sponging through a stencil then added some pretty pink leaves dotted with blue.  The first version of the card was sans button, but it looked a little plain so I added that with some baker's twine to jazz things up a bit.  My colors come from the inspiration photo at Fusion.

Well, as you can imagine the Freshly Made Sketches design team has cooked up some fantastic cards this week.  Pop on over to see how they interpreted the sketch.  No ordinary squares for those gals!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Feather Finery (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Soft Sky, Night of Navy, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White (SU)
Ink:  Pretty in Pink, Night of Navy (SU)
Accessories:  Diagonal Stripe stencil (Simon Says Stamp); Grid stencil (The Crafter's Companion); translucent embossing paste (Dreamweaver); Pierced Square STAX (My Favorite Things); Woodland Park button (October Afternoon); baker's twine

colourQ 330

Happy Tuesday!  Today there's a new color palette over at colourQ and it's a bright and cheery one!  Spring is only 25 days away and I am preparing myself mentally by digging out some of my floral stamps!

Isn't that a cool color combo?  It sure is!  I can't wait to see the gallery this week because whenever we have a color combo like this the gallery positively lights up!  For my card I also used the sketch at As You See It and dug into my long-neglected stash of patterned paper.  Recently, I was looking back  at some old cards I had made and was amazed at the number of times I used patterned paper.  I love how the cards look so I think I am going to channel my old card-making self and try to use it more often.

Just wait until you see the beautiful cards my fellow teamies made at colourQ this week.  They are amazing, for sure!  Pop on by to check them out, then join us in the gallery.  We'd love to see how you interpret these colors!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Modern Blooms (My Favorite Things); Words of Wisdom (Verve)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Kiwi Kiss, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Island Oasis DSP (SU)
Ink:  Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Scallop Border dies (The Stamps of Life); Leafy die (Reverse  Confetti)

colourQ 329 and CAS(E) This Sketch 160

I wasn't able to get my colourQ post up on time for the new challenge on Tuesday so I thought I'd wait and combine those colors with the latest sketch challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch.

This is the second week in a row that I made a black on black card for CAS(E) This Sketch.  I'm normally a white card-base kind of girl but I really like how the different textures show up when you have an all black card.  This week I took those horizontal stripes and turned them into horizontal bricks.  Then following the colourQ challenge I added a big sentiment die cut in bright yellow and a butterfly stamped in the same colors with a vellum overlay.  Unfortunately, my butterfly is a tad over-exposed so it looks somewhat like an indistinct blob, but you get the idea (I hope)!

These are two great challenges and I hope you have a chance to play along with them this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Papillon Potpourri (SU)
Paper:  Black (Simon Says Stamp); Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Vellum (SU)
Ink:  Daffodil Delight (SU)
Accessories:  Smile Word die (Lil' Inker Designs); Mini Bricks stencil (The Crafters Workshop); Basic Pearls (SU); black embossing paste (Wendy Vecchi); 

Freshly Made Sketches 224

I don't know about where you live, but this winter has been really strange around here weather-wise.  Over the weekend we were hit with some sort of polar vortex (don't you just love the names the weathermen come up with!) and it was 10 below zero then yesterday it was 55 degrees! Talk about crazy!

But crazy we are not over at Freshly Made Sketches where our resident pilot, Jen Timko, has cooked up a fabulous sketch for you this week.  All you fans of white space are going to love it!

I really like the colors this week at The Paper Players and the cue word at Addicted to CAS is "bloom" so I combined the two and clustered some flowers on one corner of my card.  To jazz things up I put a bit of some grungy images behind the flowers and used some washi for that teeny little layer on the right.  I like how this is all sun-shiny and bright.  Spring is only 31 days away after all so that's cause for celebration!

It's no surprise that our Freshly Made Sketches design team has created some beautiful cards with our sketch this week, so be sure to hop on over there to check them out.  We'd love for you to join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Blossom (Precious Remembrance); All Kinds of Happy (Unity Stamp Company); Mini 72 (PaperArtsy)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir)
Ink:  Pool Party, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango (SU); Onyx  Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  enamel dots (Doodlebug Designs); washi tape

The Challenge #60

Happy Monday!  Today is a holiday for me so I'm home from work.  The weather has been uncharacteristically frigid so I haven't really enjoyed my long weekend with any special outdoor activities, but it's nice to be home relaxing all the same.

A few weeks ago one of my cards was chosen as a top pick at The Challenge so today I'm joining the ladies there as a guest designer!  The color challenge inspired a Valentine - a day late and a dollar short!

I actually had no intention of doing another Valentine, but I saw the sketch at CAS Colours & Sketches and thought the word "love" would look pretty good scrawled across the front of my card.  Then the challenge at Just Add Ink was to add a "V" so I had that covered too.  I'm pretty sure that this is the last Valentine that I'll make this year!  Finally it's one layer week at Less is More, where I haven't played along in a while so I'm adding this over there as well.

Thanks so much for stopping by and a big thanks to Lesley and the rest of the Design Team at The Challenge for inviting me along this week!

Supplies
Stamps:  Circles Circles Circles (Whimsy Stamps); The Big the Bold and the Happy (Winnie & Walter)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir)
Ink:  Real Red, Pink Pirouette, Basic Gray (SU)

CAS(E) This Sketch 159!

I thought I was all done making Valentines then along came a new challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch  plus a couple of Valentine challenges at CASology and Just Us Girls and this card was born!

I took a little liberty with the sentiment on my card but I think those little hearts are a sentiment all on their own!  I wasn't sure if it was a little weird to make a Valentine with a black base but I thought the criss-cross background would show up better as black on black plus I really liked the contrast of the red and pink hearts on black.  I think it's a little dramatic and kind of cool.

My fellow teamies at CAS(E) This Sketch have really rocked the sketch this week so I hope you have time to check out their cards and join us in the gallery.  We'd love to see you there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Paper:  Basic Black, Real Red, Pretty in Pink (SU)
Accessories:  Criss Cross die (Paper Smooches)

Freshly Made Sketches 223!

Hello! We've got a fantastic new sketch for you this week at Freshly Made Sketches brought to you by our intrepid color mix-master Amy!

 

I thought a tag would be a good substitute for the circle and a butterfly on that tag would be lovely.  What I didn't count on was card-makers block when it came down to those criss-cross layers.  I thought of washi tape and several different stamped images before I remembered that my fellow teammate Jen Timko's card featured some scrunched up thread instead.  So borrowing her idea I arranged some gold cord behind the tag.  The whole thing looked a little plain to me so I stamped a distressed grid on the background to give this some faux texture.

The colors this week at Color Throwdown are too pretty to pass up - I love the bit of gold!

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to stop by Freshly Made Sketches and check out the sketch and the inspiration from the design team.  I hope you'll be inspired to join us in the gallery!

Supplies

Stamps:  Painted Butterflies (Altenew); Distressed Grid (Creative Embellishments)

Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Whisper White, Blushing Bride (SU)

Ink:  Regal Rose, Rich Razzleberry(SU); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Golden Glitz Delicata

Accessories:  Anytime Tags 2 die (Lil' Inker Designs); gold cord (SU)

colourQ 328!

Well, we've swung all the way around to Tuesday again.  The weeks go by so fast don't they?  Except when I'm at work, it seems!  Tuesday, of course, means there is a new color palette up at colourQ and this week it made me think of spring and flowers.

I arranged the floral images, stamped in the colors of the challenge, then added some leaves that I die cut out of gold foil.  It's hard to tell they are gold in the picture but they look really pretty in real life!  I also used a stencil with some matte embossing paste to create a design on the pink background but it's impossible to see in the photo.  It's nearly impossible to see in real life! I don't know what possessed me to buy that stuff but the effect is so subtle that I'm not sure I'll be using it all that much in the future.

I have not played along in the Pals Paper Arts challenge in a dog's age, but my friend Linda is the sketch hostess this week and I really liked her sketch and wanted to play along.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have some time to check out our latest colourQ challenge and play along with us.  We love to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Modern Blooms (My Favorite Things)
Paper:  Sweet Tooth (My Favorite Things); Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Whisper White, Gold Foil (SU)
Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, Calypso Coral (SU); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things)
Accessories:  Circle Tile stencil (Stencil Girl); Horizontal Stitched Strips die (My Favorite Things); Foliage 3 die (Paper Smooches); Matte Texture Paste (Ranger)

Tag You're It 40

Finally it's Friday and it also happens to be the day for a new challenge at Tag You're It!  I am the hostess this week and I hope that my tag inspires you in one way or another!

We are so close to that special holiday on February 14th that I couldn't resist making a tag to celebrate Valentine's Day!  I used a heart stencil to emboss some iridescent embossing paste first then added the scribble heart on top. A hashtag sentiment and I was done.  Easy peasy!

The design team at Tag You're It has created some fun tags to inspire you this week so I hope you will check them out.  And I hope you'll join us in the gallery this week!

Supplies
Stamps: Hashtags (Tim Holtz)
Paper:  Kraft (Papertrey Ink); Pink Pirouette, Real Red (SU); Neenah Solar White
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Gift Card Holder die (Reverse  Confetti); Scribble Heart die, Mosaic Heart stencil (Simon Says Stamp); iridescent embossing paste (Dreamweaver); Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon (SU); baker's twine

CAS(E) This Sketch 158

Here I go again with a card using my new, favorite heart die.  This time I'm using it on my CAS(E) This Sketch card!

When I sat down at my desk to make this card I fully intended to use some flowers.  But then I saw the glitter challenge at CASology and the colors at Stamp Ink Paper and got distracted!  Those challenges were a great opportunity to use this scribble heart die cut from some gold glimmer paper and it was easy to add some black embossing paste, a red sentiment, and a few red sequins (yes, they are red even though they look black in the photo) to round out this fabbo sketch.

The CAS(E) This Sketch design team has cooked up some great designs with this sketch so hop on over to check them out.  I hope we'll get to see you in the gallery this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Everyday Mini Sentiments (Whimsy Stamps)
Paper:  Sweet Tooth (My Favorite Things); Champagne Glimmer (SU)
Ink:  Real Red (SU)
Accessories:  Scribble Heart die (Simon Says Stamp); Graph stencil (Sheena Douglass); black embossing paste (Wendy Vecchi); sequins

Freshly Made Sketches 222!

We're halfway through the work week (yay!) and it's time for a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  This week Narelle, our resident layers expert, has provided the sketch!

For one of my layers I used washi tape.  It's been a long time since I've done that and I've got to admit it felt good!  It's fun stuff, looks way cool when the edges are ripped, and it generally makes me smile.  I think I'm going to try and use it more often.  I certainly have enough of it!

The code word this week at Addicted to CAS is RED so I thought I'd play along and make a Valentine.  Apologies if you are sick and tired of seeing this heart die because I've been using it a lot lately and if you stop by here on Thursday (and Friday for that matter) you'll see it again!  I can't help it.  It's a fun die!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you've got time to play along with us at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  Our amazing design team has got some beautiful cards to share with you this week in order to jump start your creativity, so please check them out!  I hope to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Paper:  Sweet Tooth (My Favorite Things); Real Red (SU)
Accessories:  Scribble Heart die (Simon Says Stamp); washi tape, Dymo label maker

colourQ 327

I can hardly believe it's Tuesday already and time for a new color palette from colourQ.  Where does the time (and by that I mean the weekend) go?   But here we are back in the saddle and we've got some very pretty colors for you.

This is one of my favorite color combos.......for a Christmas card.  However, I wanted to try something a little different so with some help from the sketch at As You See It I put this card together.  I love the scalloped layers together, although I really wish that I had made the top blue layer much thinner.  By the time I took a good look at it and realized how it looked everything was stuck down and it was too late to fix it!

My colourQ teamies have made some beautiful cards this week so be sure to check them out.  I hope to see you in the gallery this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Be (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Ruby Red, Pool Party (SU)
Ink:  Cherry Cobbler
Accessories:  Scallop Border die (The Stamps of Life); Seriously die (Lil' Inker Designs); Pool Party baker's twine (SU); Berry Blend sequins (Avery Elle)