CAS(E) This Sketch 219

Well today is an exciting day.  There's a new challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch and yours truly designed it!  It's always a bit of a nail biter when that happens because I don't know if people will like the sketch or not.  But here goes:

Of course, I just had to use a butterfly on my card and the colors are courtesy of the challenge at Sunday Stamps.  I added some paint splatters behind the butterfly as well as some diagonal lines that are distressed a little bit.  Easy peasy!  I think I might use this for my mother's day card this year.  It's simple and colorful, reminds me of spring, and I think my mother will love it!

My CAS(E) This Sketch teamies have made some beautiful cards with my 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:  Papillon (The Stamp Market); Gorgeous Grunge (Stampin' Up!)

Paper:  Solar White (Neenah)

Ink:  Certainly Celery, Garden Green, So Saffron, Peach Parfait (Stampin' Up!)

Accessories:  Papillon die (The Stamp Market)

Freshly Made Sketches 285

My card for this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge ended up looking a lot different that what I had originally planned.  The sketch is designed by Amy, and it's a very straitforward sketch, but for some reason it threw me for a loop!

My first attempt had a whole lot of yellow in it and was going to be full of flowers.  But after a bit I realized what I was making looked horrible so I scrapped it.  Then I briefly thought about using a butterfly, but I had already used a butterfly on another card I made (which will be posted tomorrow) and I didn't want to use another one.  Then out of the blue I thought of the set of dies I ultimately used, all full of superhero style images and sentiments.

There's a navy, pink, and white color challenge at CAS-ual Fridays and I thought it would be fun to use those colors and make a girly card.  I love how these strong images look in pink accents!  I think it's hard to see in the photo but behind the gingham starburst image is a white cloud die cut.  I embossed it with burlap texture so that it would show up better against the white background - guess it didn't work!

Thanks for stopping by!  And be sure to pop on over to Freshly Made Sketches to check out the cards made by our awesome design team.  I hope you'll join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Amazing (My Favorite Things)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!); patterned paper (American Crafts)
Ink:  Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Pow Zap Bam die (Frantic Stamper); Banner Trio die (WPlus9); Rustic Burlap impression plate (Papertrey Ink)

Tag You're It 70

TGIF!  But Friday also means it's time for a new inspiration challenge at Tag You're It.  This time around our featured artist is Kim Heggins who has designed the cutest tag for us.  We are also joined by one of our previous winners Wendy Johnson.  So let's get to it.

I did not have any cute bears in my stash that we small enough for my tag so I had to do a little shopping!  Any excuse, right?  I found this adorable digital image on Etsy and he practically leaped into my cart!  I like how Kim's bear and my bear are both holding something - perhaps a gift for a friend.  I carried Kim's friend theme with my sentiment and kept some similar design elements.

You won't be surprised to know that the Tag You're It design team has gone all out for this challenge and has some adorable tags to inspire us.  I hope you will join us in our gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!]

Supplies
Stamps:  Bear (Blackberry Jellys); Stackem' High (The Alley Way Stamps)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi (Stampin' Up!); X-Press It Blending Card
Ink:  Tumbled Glass (Distress); Jet Black (Altenew); Copics
Accessories:  Tag You're It die (My Favorite Things); Puffy Clouds die (Memory Box)

CAS(E) This Sketch 218

This week sure is whizzing by!  It's Thursday already and that means it's time for a new challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch.  I went a bit literal and a bit colorful with my card this week.

There was a pretty color challenge at Fab Friday this week with five - count 'em - five colors in it.  Normally that kind of challenge would send me running for the hills but since I'd seen this particular stamp set used a few times this past week by some of my stamping friends, and this particular stamp set happened to be languishing un-inked in my stamp room I thought I'd give the challenge a go using it.  The stamp set lends itself perfectly to a colorful abstract design like this, I think.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out the cards the design team has made at CAS(E) This Sketch.  As usual you will be wowed by their creativity!

Supplies
Stamps:  Halftone Circles (Altenew); Big Words (Mama Elephant)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Pool Party (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Pool Party, Peach Parfait, Night of Navy, Perfect Plum, Old Olive (Stampin' Up!); Jet Black (Altenew)

Freshly Made Sketches 284

It's been a busy week with almost no time for stamping but I couldn't miss our Wednesday sketch reveal over at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week our hostess and sketch designer is Karren and her sketch is an instant classic!

My card was inspired by a couple of recent rainbow challenges.  Rainbows aren't normally my thing, especially the arched-with-a-pot-of-gold variety, but then I saw a card made for this CAS-ual Fridays challenge by Ilina Crouse and suddenly I saw rainbows in a whole new way.

If I was going to do this card again I think I would maybe use lighter shades of color because I think my shimmery star accents get lost on these dark ones.  And now you've gone back for a second look because you didn't see those the first time around, right?  The two hearts on the sketch became stars on my card that I die cut from some glimmer paper.  They look pretty in real life but here they are a bit washed out.

And since I missed the deadline for the CAS-ual Fridays rainbow challenge I'm going to enter this in the challenge at Addicted to CAS which has the same theme.  I'm not sure this card is CAS enough for that challenge, though!

 Thanks for stopping by.  And be sure to check out the latest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our design team has whipped up some beautiful cards to inspire you this week!

Supplies
Stamps:  Awesome (Neat & Tangled); Celebrate Artsy (STAMPlorations)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Basic Black, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Garden Green, Pacific Point (Stampin' Up!); Dark Indigo; Royal Velvet (Papertrey Ink); Jet Black (Altenew)
Accessories:  Awesome die (Neat & Tangled); Stitched Stars die (Lil' Inker Designs)

CAS(E) This Sketch 217

It's funny how inspiration strikes sometimes, right?  Take this weeks challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch.  I spent a lot of time mulling over this sketch and thinking of a superhero in front of a pointy bubble or a city skyline.  I was all set to make that card when I happened to spot a project that I made ages ago using a leafy die with lots of pointy leaves.  And poof!  A brand new idea was born!

Cool sketch huh?  My pointy palm fronds are meant to mimic the pointy elements of the sketch.  And I found a wee sentiment that fit perfectly on the bottom corner.  The background is the last piece I had of some ombre patterned paper.  I guess that means I have to practice making some of that on my own now!

My CAS(E) This Sketch teamies have got some great interpretations of this sketch so be sure to check them out!  I hope you've got time to join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies
Stamps:  Thanks (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Ocean Tides (Papertrey Ink); Black (Simon Says Stamp)
Ink:  Jet Black (Altenew)
Accessories:   Palm Fancy die (Hero Arts)

Freshly Made Sketches 283

It's time for a brand new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week our sketch is designed by Jen Brum and it's got a very cool wavy line, which could be an ocean wave or a view of a landscape or really anything you can dream of.  My imagination lead me to a very boring slanted line!

Now, I do actually own a set of wavy lines dies but I could not find them anywhere in my stash.  I think they ran away with a particular "thanks" die that has also gone missing.  I didn't trust myself to try and cut a wavy line free-hand so I just cut a couple of pieces of contrasting card stock on a diagonal.  I used an embossing plate on the top one to give it a bit of texture.  Then borrowing the feather theme and colors from the April challenge at House of Cards I stamped, embossed, and fussy cut these beautiful feathers from vellum.  The color of the biggest feather is hard to see.  I stamped it in the same color as the darker diagonal layer them embossed it with clear embossing powder, which tends to wash out the color.  Luckily I had some Pool Party embossing powder, which I used on the smaller feather, so that one has a nice rich color.

Our Freshly Made Sketches design team has got some great cards to show you with this sketch to be sure to check them out.  I hope to see you in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Feather Finery (Papertrey Ink); Just Saying (Wow!)
Paper:  Sahara Sand, Pool Party, Vellum (Stampin' Up!); Ocean Tides (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Ocean Tides (Papertrey Ink); Pool Party, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Rustic Burlap impression plate (Papertrey Ink); Pool Party embossing powder, button, linen thread (Stampin' Up!); clear embossing powder

Just a Note

Spring has definitely sprung around these parts.  Last week was nothing but miserable rain but this week the forecast is nothing but glorious sunshine and warmer than normal temperatures.  I plan to take advantage of this good weather and go for a walk on my lunch-hour each day.  A half hour walk with the sun on my face is just the thing to put me in a great mood!

And speaking of spring, the colors this week at Color Throwdown were definitely inspired by the season.  I combined them with the sketch at Fab Friday to create a fun floral card.

It's been a while since I've used these funky floral stamps and I forgot how much I love them!  They may not be elegant like the tulips in the inspiration photo but they have a fun, whimiscal look that I love.  I paired them with a simple sentiment in a no-nonsense font and a bit of washi tape.  I stuck on a couple of enamel dots to take up some of that white space too.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Funky Florals, Keep It Simple: Just a Note (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Pool Party, Wild Wasabi (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Wild Wasabi (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  enamel dots (Studio Calico)

CAS(E) This Sketch 216

I had the absolute perfect stencil to use for my CAS(E) This Sketch card this week.  The sketch calls for some horizontal lines and my stencil has those - wavy lines, yes, but they're horizontal-ish!

Once I had the background settled I searched through my word dies for a good match to the sketch.  Lucky for me the code word at Addicted to CAS is "smile" and I just happen to have this fabulous smile die.  I cut it in some fun green plaid, added some navy blue for contrast and presto I can also play along with the color challenge at Global Design Project.

I hope you have a chance to play along with us at CAS(E) This Sketch this week.  Be sure to check out the inspiration from the design team and then join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!); Perfectly Plaid Rainbow (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories:  Smile Word die (Lil' Inker Designs); Waves stencil (Simon Says Stamp); Itty Bitty Shapes punch, Basic Pearls (Stampin' Up!); embossing paste (Dreamweaver)

Freshly Made Sketches 282

There's a bug going around my office, like the bubonic plague actually, and it has one by one touched everyone that works there.  This past weekend it was my turn so I haven't felt like doing any crafting these last few days.  But our Freshly Made Sketches challenge is like a call to arms so like a trooper I hauled myself into my craft room and colored up a bunny rabbit.  Our sketch this week is designed by the supremely talented Cécile, one of the five people I know who live in France, and incidentally the only one I have never met in person.  Maybe someday we will!

My big-eared bunny rabbit is, in this case, an Easter bunny who has indulged in one too many colorful chocolate eggs.  I love how he has this look of "I couldn't possibly eat another one!"  There's an Easter bunny challenge going on at The Paper Players so that gave me an excuse to color up this fellow.

You are going to be seriously wowed and amazed by the inspiration from our Freshly Made Sketches design team this week.  I hope you are inspired to join us!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Teeny Tiny Wishes (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); X-Press It Blending Card
Ink:  Jet Black (Altenew); Copics