CAS(E) This Sketch 307

It's time to bring January to a close and to debut a new challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch.  It's a classic design!

I saw the color challenge at the Color Throwdown and wanted to play along.  I stepped into my stamp room, spied this beautiful butterfly stamp and knew I could make those colors work with this butterfly as my focal point.  I added some patterned paper and a strip of dark brown and easy peasy I was done.

The white space needed some jazzing up so I added a few enamel dots.  Then I added a wee sentiment on that dotted patterned paper. Then I stopped myself from doing anything else.  Sometimes you just have to leave well enough alone!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you can join us at CAS(E) This Sketch this week!

Supplies
Stamps:  Papillon (The Stamp Market); Tiny Words (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!); The Sorbet Collection (Avery Elle)
Ink:  Daffodil Delight, More Mustard (Stampin' Up!); Fallen Leaves (Versafine Clair)
Accessories:  Papillon die (The Stamp Market); enamel dew drops (Freckled Fawn)

Freshly Made Sketches 373

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our sketch this week is designed by Kim and I thought it would make a nice valentine.

Inspired by the colors at Sunday Stamps I created an ombre design with the angled stripes and then dug out a very ancient Stampin' Up! set and stamped the big heart.  And an obvious choice was this valentine sentiment that followed the diagonal perfectly.

The battery died on my camera just as I was about to take the pic of this card.  Not wanting to delay I took the pic on my mobile phone instead.  It is so dark!  I'm embarrassed to show it but didn't have enough time to wait for the battery to charge and take a better one.  So there you have it!

The Freshly Made Sketches design team has created some great cards for this challenge so be sure to check them out for inspiration.  I hope you'll join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Love You Much (Stampin' Up); Love (Hero Arts)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Rose Red (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Rose Red, Regal Rose (Stampin' Up!)

CAS(E) This Sketch Meets Fusion

It's that day when I get to combine the sketch challenge from CAS(E) This Sketch with the inspiration at Fusion.  This week love is in the air!

I love penguins (especially the Macaroni ones) but I didn't have one single penguin in my stamping stash.  So Etsy to the rescue!  I found this adorable digital stamp and since that little guy (girl?) was surrounded by hearts I knew it was the perfect image for the Fusion inspiration.  I added some cute patterned paper in layers a-la the sketch and my little valentine was born!  Lucky for me valentines abound because the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is Have a Heart so this fits well over there too!

Thanks for stopping by!  We've got a great sketch for you at CAS(E) This Sketch and at Fusion you can follow the sketch or the inspiration or both!  I hope you'll join us!

Supplies
Stamps:  Penguin Bundle of Love (Conie Fong); Love (Hero Arts)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); X-Press It Blending Card; Cherry (Avery Elle)
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair); Copics
Accessories:  Love die (Hero Arts)

Freshly Made Sketches 372

Hello!  It's Wednesday so it must be Freshly Made Sketches day!  This week our hostess is Linda and since she recently lived through the first snowmageddon of 2019 my card is an homage to her and all those adorable snowflakes she had to shovel. 😂

I have a little trick of adding vellum to a card when I'm stuck on a design element.  In this case that horizontal layer needed to be subtle so as not to take away from my sparkly snowflakes.  Vellum to the rescue once again!  The snowflakes were cut in shimmery white cardstock and some glimmer paper and with the silver cord behind them and the shiny washi tape we've got one super spectacular snowflake card.  The sentiment, although usually associated with Christmas, is a nod to the winter storms that tend to plague us through the first quarter of the new year here in the northeastern US.

At The Paper Players the challenge is a clean and simple snowy day - and what better than a snowflake or two for that?

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you can join us in the gallery at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  We love to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Ways to Say Merry Christmas (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Shimmery White, Vellum (Stampin' Up!); glitter paper (Recollections)
Accessories:  RyLynn Snowflake die (Simon Says Stamp); silver cord (Stampin' Up!); black embossing powder; washi tape

Silent Night

I've been quietly trying to add to my Christmas card stash this year in an attempt to avoid the mad rush that usually ensues when November rolls around and I realize I don't have enough cards made.  To that end I used a brand new die that allowed me to play along with the Silent Night challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown and the Just Add Something New challenge at Just Add Ink.

I've been obsessed with Nativity scene dies lately and have purchased a few recently.   This one I got after the 2018 season but I think it's a great addition to my stash and am looking forward to using it this year.  I love how it makes a great silhouette when cut in black.  I layered it onto this fabulous watercolor wash patterned paper and with the gold glimmer star I think I've got a great Christmas card!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Black Licorice, Watercolor Wash Brights (My Favorite Things); gold glimmer (Recollections)
Accessories:  Wise Men die (Tim Holtz/Sizzix); Holy Stars die (Simon Says Stamp)

CAS(E) This Sketch 305

We've got a great new sketch for you this week at CAS(E) This Sketch.  And it was perfect for me to use a die I've had in my stash for a while.  This proves that no craft purchase is wasted!  I may not have used this die right away when I bought it, but it was the perfect purchase because one day it was the perfect solution to this sketch challenge!

This card is so fun and I got to use all of the colors from the challenge at The Paper Players.  I cut the die once in black to create the outline then cut it three more times in the colors of the challenge and filled in the circles with those colors.  Looooove it!  And the big and bold "hello" finishes this off nicely!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you've got a chance to join us at CAS(E) This Sketch!  Our design team has got some great inspiration for you and we'd love to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Little Notes (The Stamp Market)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Groovy Guava (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair)
Accessories:  Sketchy Rings die (Memory Box)

Freshly Made Sketches 371

It's my turn to be the hostess at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  And you might have guessed already that I designed a square sketch!  But don't worry if squares aren't your thing - you can use whatever shape you are comfortable with.

The colors I chose for my card were inspired by a couple of other challenges.  Inkspirational is looking for kraft and at the The Card Concept they had a photo with the prettiest pink flowers.  On my card I watercolored two pretty flowers in shades of pink and decided to add a bit of yellow and black.  Well I got a bit carried away with the yellow in my zeal to use up some very old patterned paper and sort of forgot about all that white space!  But I love how this turned out - even though I think I botched the intent of The Card Concept challenge!

Thanks for stopping by and please stop by Freshly Made Sketches to check out our design team creations.  I got a sneak peek of them 😉and am swooning in delight over their clever interpretations of this sketch!  I hope we'll see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Blossom (Precious Remembrance)
Paper:  Kraft (Papertrey Ink); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); So Saffron, Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Vellum, Spring Flowers DSP (Stampin' Up!); watercolor (Strathmore)
Ink:  Versamark
Accessories:  Leafy die (Reverse Confetti); black embossing powder

Let it Snow

I'm here today with a snowflake card.  As is well documented here I only like snowflakes when they appear on a card.  I don't want them on the street, in my driveway, or anywhere else that creates an inconvenience or work for me!  BUT I have strange fascination with snowflakes and have multiple snowflake dies in my card stash - go figure!  So I was especially pleased to see the snowflake challenge at Addicted to CAS.

And at Cupcake Inspirations they are looking for something new.  This snowflake stamp set is a new one to me, having joined my stash this past Christmas season.  I loved how the snowflakes are surrounded by a little bit of sprinkles.  I have the companion die to this set so once I stamped the image and embossed it in silver I cut the companion snowflake in silver glimmer paper and popped it up on top of the original embossed image.  This pic in no way gives justice to how sparkly this is but I'm really pleased with how this turned out.

 Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Blizzard Hugs (The Ton Stamps)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Silver Glimmer (Recollections)
Ink:  Versamark
Accessories:  Blizzard Hugs die (The Ton Stamps); silver embossing powder

CAS(E) This Sketch 370 Meets Fusion

It's a march of the butterflies for my card today!  I'm combining the latest challenges from CAS(E) This Sketch and Fusion.

That sketch threw me for a loop initially until I realized that adding some chevron shapes with embossing paste and a stencil would be a great way to take care of those angled layers.  The subtle background of the embossing paste would be a nice way to show off some butterflies a-la the Fusion inspiration.  So I sponged some ink onto cardstock then cut the base of the butterflies.  The outlined top of the butterflies were die cut with some shimmery vellum.  To add to my shimmery theme I put on a few pearl accents too.

This is our 5th anniversary challenge at Fusion and in keeping with tradition all of the design team have invited a guest designer.  I invited Lisa Elton to join us.  I have long admired Lisa's fearless knack for combining eclectic patterned papers with stamped images with a certain vintage appeal.  Her cards often call to my mind a simpler time and a sweet innocence.  I'm thrilled that she's joining us at Fusion!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); vellum (Grafix)
Ink:  Fossilized Amber, Candied Apple, Salty Ocean, Broken China, Crushed Olive (Distress Ink)
Accessories:  Emelia Butterfly Trio die, Devyn Butterfly Trio die (Poppystamps); Basic Pearls (Stampin' Up!); Chevron Pattern stencil (Simon Says Stamp); white embossing paste (Dreamweaver)

Freshly Made Sketches 370

Hello!  It's Wednesday so that means it's time for a new challenge from Freshly Made Sketches.  This week our sketch is designed by our frequent flyer Jen Timko.  As soon as I saw it I knew exactly what stamp set I wanted to use!

I knew that I wanted to use these confetti corners in place of the snowflakes but I didn't know what kind of sentiment I wanted in the center.  I chose this Mr & Mrs for no reason other than it was small enough to not take up too much space and still allow the corners to be the star!  I have no particular need for a wedding card, but when I do I'll be all set!  After I made this I saw that the challenge at Time Out Challenges is Loving so I call that serendipity!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope we'll see you in the gallery at Freshly Made Sketches!  Just pop on over there for all the details plus some amazing inspiration from our design team.

Supplies
Stamps:  Holiday Confetti (The Ton); Congratulations (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Classic Ivory (Flourishes)
Ink:  Versamark
Accessories:  gold embossing powder

Happy Birthday

I LOVE the color combo at Color Throwdown so I set aside some time to play along.  I always seem to be drawn to these challenges when there is black and a couple of other bright colors thrown in.  In this case the yellow was calling to me to make a floral card.

I used a turnabout stamp to create the dotted background.  I really love those stamps.  I have a few now in my stash and I like how easy it is to create a fun background with them.  Then I simply cut a few leafy sprigs and stamped a couple of layered flowers in a few shades of yellow and I was done.  Easy peasy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Bitty Burst Turnabout (Concord & 9th); Beautiful Blooms III (Uniko)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Simply Chartreuse (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair); Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Sprightly Sprig die (Verve)

CAS(E) This Sketch 303

We've got a retro sketch for you this week at CAS(E) This Sketch.  I have to admit the card that I made the first time around for this sketch was not one my favorites, so as I was contemplating my redux (over several days I might add) thoughts of that card were haunting me and thwarting new ideas.  But simultaneously I was also plotting and planning a giant head start on my 2019 Christmas card stash and had some cards pinned that I was going to CASE.  One of those cards inspired this card.  So using a brand new set I set to work.

I just love this Santa!  He comes with multiple facial expressions but I think this angry one is my favorite.  That look is especially great with these naughty and nice sentiments! 

At CASology the cue word for their first challenge of 2019 is Fresh.  That words means many things to me as I start 2019.  It's a fresh perspective on my card designs, a fresh desire to try new things, and as for this card a sincere, fresh desire to use stamps sets that I've had and have remained un-inked for a while!  I have a few other fresh ideas that I want to accomplish in 2019 but they will remain silent for now.  I have found, oddly, that once I mention something here on my blog that I want to accomplish the exact opposite happens.  I think I jinx myself!  So in order to preserve my goals, they will remain close to my heart for now!

So how will our CAS(E) This Sketch inspire you?  Our design team has created some fantastic cards so you can check them out for ideas.  I highly recommend that you do and then join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Moody Santa (Lil' Inker Designs)
Paper:  Desert Storm, Solar White (Neenah); Jungle (Avery Elle); Bristol Smooth (Strathmore)
Ink:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Nocturne (Versafine Clair); Copics
Accessories:  Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things)

Freshly Made Sketches 369

Happy new year everyone!  I am back after a bit of a blogging hiatus to kick off the new year with a new sketch from your friends at Freshly Made Sketches!  We closed out the year with a design team call and we are so happy to announce that we've got three new design team members to welcome to our challenge.  So please hop over to the blogs of Lee Ann Barrett, Judy Rozema, and Jacquie Southas to give them a hearty welcome!  This week our sketch is designed by Amy so let's get to it!

It had been a while since I used a butterfly on a card of mine so I was happy to dig out an old butterfly from my stash.  The colors that I used are inspired by the latest challenge at Sunday Stamps.  I created those vertical layers by using some ancient ribbons in my stash.  Hooray for using up old supplies!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope we'll see you in the gallery at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  Our design team has created some great cards to inspire you!

Supplies
Paper:  So Saffron, Calypso Coral (Papertrey Ink); Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink); Vellum (Graphix);Watercolor Wash (My Favorite Things)
Accessories:  Vivienne Butterfly die, Darla Butterfly die (Memory Box); Natural ribbon, Victoria ribbon (Stampin' Up!); Winter Wonderland sequins (Neat & Tangled)