Hugs & Kisses

I consider it very fortunate that my at-home schedule has recently given me some extra time to venture into my crafty space and make some cards just for fun.  I'm sure no one will blame me if that "extra time" comes at the expense of not doing a little dusting!  So let's get to my card for today.

The sketch at As You See It, along with the "heart" challenge at CAS on Sunday, and the "plaid" challenge at Cupcake Inspirations collide with my card.

And can I just say how much I love the inspiration photo for the Cupcake Inspirations challenge.  When I was a teenager I had a skirt and jacket outfit that was the exact plaid of the cupcake wrapper in that photo and it was one of my favorite things to wear!  And it just so happens that I recently got a pack of patterned paper that has a couple of plaid patterns in it so I just knew that it was a sign that I had to play along in that challenge!  The plaids may be different but the "sentiment" is the same!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  I {Heart} Hearts (Stampin' Up!); Fancy Word Coordinates (Reverse Confetti)
Paper:  Cloud White, True Love (Reverse Confetti)
Ink:  Sweet Blush, Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories:  Heart to Heart Extra Large punch (Stampin' Up!); crochet thread

Tag You're It 64!

It's time for a new challenge at Tag You're It.  This week our featured designer is Lynn Put and she's given us a great tag to be inspired by.  Check it out:

My stash didn't have much in the way of frothy-winter drinks but I did have lots of red and white and snowflakes!  I took my cues from those red and white colors then added a snowflake die cut from sparkly paper.  The layout of my tag was inspired by the sketch challenge at Sketch Saturday.

My Tag You're It teamies have created some great tags to inspire you so be sure to check them out.  I hope we'll see you in the gallery!  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Sentiment Sampler (Paper Smooches)
Paper:  Real Red, Real Red DSP (Stampin' Up!); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink:  Jet Black (Altenew)
Accessories:  Tag Sale Quilted die (Papertrey Ink); Lindemon Snowflake die (Memory Box); Real Red grosgrain ribbon (Stampin' Up!); Peace, Love, Joy sequins (Lawn Fawn); baker's twine

CAS(E) This Sketch 206!

I just checked the calendar and sure enough it's Thursday.  This week is just whizzing by!  And I don't usually say that about weeks when I'm at work!  But Thursday also means it's time for a new challenge from your friends at CAS(E) This Sketch.  So here goes:

For a brief moment I thought about sticking with the inspiration on the sketch and using a bird on my card - but then I came across this cute stamp set full of monsters and knew that would be way more fun!  I grabbed some blue and purple pencils and colored him a-la the challenge at Can You Case It then added some silver embossing paste through a dotted stencil.  I have no idea what occasion I would use this card for but I love the sentiment.  One day I hope I'll find the perfect person to send it to!

The CAS(E) This Sketch design team has some awesome cards to show you this week so be sure to check them out.  I hope you can join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Monsters Ink (Technique Tuesday)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Foil Paper (Recollections)
Ink:  Jet Black (Altenew); Pacific Point (Stampin' Up!); Prismacolor pencils
Accessories:  Blueprints 13 die (My Favorite Things); Dot Fade stencil (Tim Holtz); Metallic Silver embossing paste (Wendy Vecchi)

Freshly Made Sketches 272!

It's Wednesday so that means it's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.  This week our hostess is Cécile and if you love circles you will love her sketch!  Let's get to it.

You say circles, I say anemones!  I had forgotten all about this die that I bought a couple of months ago and stumbled on it when I was looking for something completely different.  Since the petals of the die cut flowers layer together into an approximate circular shape I thought they would be perfect for this sketch.  The bright yellow, plus the green banner, were inspired by the photo at Fusion and at The Paper Players they are looking for CAS with a flower.

I think it's a bit difficult to see in the photo but I used white embossing paste with a stencil to add a scripty texture to the background of my card.  I love how it adds a little tactile interest!

I seem to be on a birthday card kick lately but not so my Freshly Made Sketches teammates.  The cards this week feature an assortment of sentiments and styles so make sure you check them out.  I hope we'll see you in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Just a Number (Close to My Heart)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, Garden Green, Vellum, Daffodil Delight DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Jet Black (Altenew)
Accessories:  Anémones die (4enscrap); Blueprints 21 die (My Favorite Things); Banner Trio die (WPlus9); Scribble Script stencil (Donna Downey); white embossing paste (Wendy Vecchi)

Just Saying Hello

No one was more surprised than me that I had some extra time this weekend to make a card for a few challenges.  I'm trying to be organized and get most of my cards done for the week before the Patriots vs. Steelers game tonight and so far so good.

This card uses the colors from Color Throwdown, the sketch at As You See It (back after a little an unplanned hiatus!) and my butterfly is a nod to the flutter challenge at Inkspirational.

That's it for me.  I'm simultaneously super excited and super scared for the football game tonight.  It's going to be a good one!  Go Pats!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Painted Butterflies (Altenew)
Paper:  Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Going Gray, Urban Garden DSP, Crumb Cake DSP (Stampin' Up!); White (Spectrum Noir)
Ink:  Grapevine, Ruby Red (Altenew); Basic Gray (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Painted Butterflies die (Altenew); Labels Two die (Spellbinders); Sentimental Strips 2 die (My Favorite Things); enamel dots (Freckled Fawn)

Tag You're It 63!

Our first challenge of 2017 is still going on at Tag You're It.  I'm joining in this week with a wee tag I made using a new Christmas die that I got recently.  Our inspiration tag is by our featured designed Karin Akesdotter.

Karin's tag is so adorable!  I took my cues from the soft blue background and the round white tag.  I didn't have the tag die that she used so I made my own!  Mine is just a small circle that I sponged blue ink on layered on top of a slightly larger pierced circle.  I added a small circle at the top for a ribbon to be looped through.  And it occurs to me that this tag could also be used as an ornament for my Christmas tree!  And by the way there's an "anything but a card" challenge going on at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge so I'll be adding this over there as well.

Thanks for stopping by!  And don't forget about our challenge at Tag You're It.  We'd love to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir)
Ink:  Chipped Sapphire, Stormy Sky (Distress)
Accessories:  Pierced Circle STAX (My Favorite Things); Standard Circles Large die (Spellbinders); Manger die (Penny Black)

CAS(E) This Sketch 205!

Happy Thursday!  It's time for a new sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch!  It's a fun one designed by Chrissy.  (Just ignore the fact that I put the sentiment in the wrong place).....

My card is bigger than what I normally make because I wanted to use this heart stencil and I needed a piece of cardstock that was at least 4 1/4-inches wide.  So I started with the white layer and added the rest of the layers around it.

I used sparkle medium on the stencil, some glimmer paper for the sentiment and one of the layers and I can tell you that this has got some really fun sparkle and shimmer in real life!

The cue word this week at CASology is "cut" which, of course, made me think of a die cut which fit perfectly with my sparkly sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by!  And check out the amazing inspiration from the design team at CAS(E) This Sketch.  We'd love to see your design in the gallery!

Supplies
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Black (Simon Says Stamp); Real Red, Red Glimmer (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Family is Everything die (My Creative Time); Mosaic Heart stencil (Simon Says Stammp); Silver Sparkle Medium (Imagination Crafts)

Freshly Made Sketches #271

Well this week is whizzing by!  It's already Wednesday which means it's time for a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches!  This week Cindy Hall is our intrepid hostess and her sketch is an absolute classic.  There are so many ways to interpret this sketch!

The other day I got one of those Pinterest notifications that someone liked a card I had made.  It was one that I made a long time ago using this stamp set embossed in gold on vellum.  I had forgotten all about it and when I saw it again I thought to myself "that's a really cool card!"  Then along comes the Everything Turns to Gold challenge at CAS-ual Fridays and I knew that this was a sign that I should emboss those flowers all over again.  The flowers don't look very vellum-y here but they are (and the leaves too).

I haven't made a birthday card in forever so I found a nice birthday sentiment that tucked into the space between the leaves perfectly.  This card is very elegant in real life (if I do say so myself)!

Thanks for stopping by and head on over to Freshly Made Sketches to check out the inspiration from our amazing design team.  I hope to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Henneh Elements (Altenew); Friendly Flowers (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Kraft Core Metallic (Tim Holtz); Vellum (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Versamark
Accessories:  gold embossing powder

CAS(E) This Sketch 204!

Excuse my tardiness!  I have no idea where my brain has got to, but it suddenly occurred to me today that I never posted the card I made for the latest CAS(E) This Sketch challenge!  Oops!  So here it is!

I wanted to make a valentine without using reds or pinks so I took my cues from a couple of current color challenges.  There's one at Cupcake Inspirations that is looking for black, white, and silver and CAS on Sunday is looking for black, white, plus one other color.  The silver paper that I used to cut one of the sketchy hearts is very shiny in real life but it looks a little gray here.  And you'll have to trust me when I say that this looks better in person!

So I guess I'm better late than never with my CAS(E) This Sketch card (she said rather sheepishly).  I hope you have a chance to join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Label Love (Altenew)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Basic Black (Stampin' Up!); Silver Kraft Core (Tim Holtz)
Ink:  Jet Black (Altnew)
Accessories:  Scribble Heart die (Simon Says Stamp); Midnight Blend sequins (Avery Elle)

Freshly Made Sketches 270!

Happy Wednesday!  The last two weeks were four-day work weeks for me because of the holidays and I think I could get used to that!  I'm only halfway through a regular five-day week and I'm already burnt out!  But luckily we've got a new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches to cheer me up.  This week our hostess is Kim and she's given us such a creative sketch and I know you will love it.

There's an ombre challenge going on at Less is More and I thought that vertical layer was perfect for that.  I sat at my desk contemplating my inks and sponges and whether I could color a halfway decent ombre background.  But then I remembered that I had a stack of patterned paper with some ombre coloring and as luck would have it I found a scrap that was the perfect size for the sketch!  I arranged some intricate butterflies on that scrap, added a quick sentiment and I was done.  I love it when details come together without too much fuss!

Be sure to pop on over to Freshly Made Sketches and check out our latest challenge - the design team has really got some great ideas for this sketch!  I hope to see you in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Butterflies (7Gypsies); Simple Sayings (Tim Holtz)
Paper:  Soft Stone (Papertrey Ink); Taken With Teal (Stampin' Up!); Adorbs (My Mind's Eye)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)

With Sympathy

Today I'm posting a card that I made for a couple of challenges.  I loved the colors at House of Cards and I thought I could pair them with the sketch at Sketch Saturday.

I started layering colors on in a way that looked pleasing to me without really having an idea of how I was going to fill that focal layer on top.  Once I had the colors done I poked around in my stash of dies for something interesting and I chose these leafy ones.  The colors seemed a little moody to me so I chose to make this a sympathy card.

I'm not sure if you can see it in the photo but I stamped that top layer with a really old background stamp that I dug out from my stash.  It's funny how everything old is new again, isn't it?  I've got quite a few of these big background stamps and I never purged them from my stash because I really like them and I just knew that I'd use them again, even if only occasionally.  And look, I was right!

We had our first snowstorm here in Massachusetts over the weekend.  I think I got about a foot of the light fluffy stuff.  And in a few days it's supposed to be 50 degrees.  Go figure!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  French Script, Warmest Regards (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Bravo Burgundy, Vellum (Stampin' Up!); Smokey Shadow, Soft Stone (Papertrey Ink); Cement Gray (My Favorite Things)
Ink:  Smokey Shadow, Soft Stone (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories:  Feuillage die (4enscrap); Petit Assortment d'automne die (Simply Graphic); Washi Tape die (My Favorite Things); clear embossing powder  

CAS(E) This Sketch 203!

It's time for our first new challenge of the year at CAS(E) This Sketch.  The holiday hiatuses are over at some of my favorite challenge blogs so I'm excited to dive back into my craft room and see what I can come up with.  This week our sketch is designed by one of the sweetest stampers around Michele Ferguson. 😀

I had an a-ha moment when I was contemplating my design for this card.  I knew that I wanted to use a bold, contrasting patterned paper for the bottom part of the sketch when all of a sudden I remembered that I had a small piece of this black and white gingham paper in my stash.  Eureka!  I added a pretty layered flower, some crimped leaves (yes, I dragged out my crimper for those)! Then I stretched the sentiment a bit to follow the curve of the white layer somewhat.

I am also playing along with the Color Throwdown challenge.  It has been almost one year since I played along over there!  I used to play along a lot more frequently but my usual stamping schedule means that I just miss their challenge window.  So it was a fun treat to join them this week!

Be sure to check out the amazing cards from the CAS(E) This Sketch design team.  There is a lot of inspiration there!  I hope you can join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Artful Flowers (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Old Olive, Melon Mambo, Basic Black (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Jet Black (Altenew)
Accessories:  Blueprints 21 die, Plentiful Petals die (My Favorite Things); Dotted Borders die, Modern Leaves die (Avery Elle)

Freshly Made Sketches 269!

Happy new year!  It's been two whole weeks since I've posted anything on my blog!  It was a nice distraction to take a break from my craft room, but now I'm ready to get inky again.  And I'm starting off 2017 with a card I made for the new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our first sketch of the year is designed by the talented and oh-so witty Linda Callahan.

Those stripes were a bit of a stumper for me at first but once I decided to stamp a sentiment vertically on a piece of vellum the rest of the card just fell into place.  I chose this birthday themed stamp set and took some of my cues from the challenge at Global Design Project.  The navy blue and rose color (the ribbons on my gifts) plus the brown bear (which was supposed to look more like the caramel color in the inspiration photo but ended up more brown and tan) were inspired by the photo.  Plus the celebratory theme of the balloons was what inspired me to make a birthday card.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you enjoyed a wonderful holiday and a happy new year.  Make sure to pop on over to Freshly Made Sketches, if you haven't already, to see the fantastic cards made by the design team.  I hope you'll join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Birthday Bears (My Favorite Things)
Paper:  Soft Sky, Night of Navy, Vellum (Stampin' Up!); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Jet Black (Stazon)
Accessories:  Birthday Bears die (My Favorite Things); sequins