Tag You're It 90

Today I've got a tag to show you that I made for the latest Tag You're It Challenge.  The twist with this challenge is that the tag has to be interactive.  I'm not very good in the "imaginative" department so I relied heavily on the inspiration tag and created a tag with a "floating" snowflake.

The base of my tag is an old favorite color, Baja Breeze, which looks great with silver accents.  I simply punched out a circle in the middle of the tag and filled the negative space with a silver sparkly snowflake suspended on silver cord.  I added a simple Christmas sentiment and a few sequins for good measure and I was done!  I'm also going to add this to the Jingle Belles challenge where they are looking for snow.

Thanks for stopping by.  There is still time to play along with Tag You're It so I hope you can join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Christmas Carols (CAS-ual Fridays)
Paper:  Baja Breeze (Stampin' Up!); Silver Glimmer (Recollections)
Ink: Nocturne (Versafine Clair)
Accessories:  Let It Snow Too die (My Favorite Things); Basic Bookmark 2 die (Papertrey Ink); Midnight Blend sequins (Avery Elle); silver cord (Stampin' Up!); white seam binding ribbon

CAS(E) This Sketch 328 Meets Fusion

I've got a new card today that combines the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch with the inspiration challenge at Fusion.

I loved the idea of doing a geometric themed card based on the inspiration at Fusion so I grabbed some triangle stamps and arranged them near the top to mimic the CTS sketch.  Then I found a long stamp that would be perfect for that vertical line on the CTS sketch.  It's been a while since a card came together so quickly!

My fellow design team members at CAS(E) This Sketch and Fusion have made some amazing cards for their respective challenges so I hope you'll be inspired to play along with us.

Supplies
Stamps:  Sohcahtoa (Altenew); Hashtag Everything (Papertrey Ink); Fonds Grunge #2 (4enScrap)
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair); Onyx Black (Versafine); Crushed Curry, Cameo Coral (Stampin' Up!)

Freshly Made Sketches 394

Hello!  It's Wednesday so that means it's time for a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  This week our sketch is designed by Jen Timko - and what classic lines it has!

That horizontal layer became a one-layer line of spots on my card a-la the Less is More challenge and the colors were inspired by the Color My Heart Color Dare challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you will join us in the Freshly Made Sketches gallery! 

Supplies
Stamps:  Circles Circles Circles (Whimsy Stamps); Keep It Simple Birthdays (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir)
Ink:  Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, Pacific Point (Stampin' Up!)

CAS(E) This Sketch 327

Sometimes, out of the blue, I am inspired to make a Christmas card.  This is a good thing because if the mood doesn't strike me at random moments throughout the year I'm scrambling come November to make a whole bunch at once!  Luckily our newest sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch this week inspired one!

The colors for my card come from the latest challenge at Sunday Stamps.  Despite the fact that the challenge is called "summer adventure" Those screamed "Christmas" to me so I grabbed my new favorite poinsettia die and got to work assembling those colors into a Christmas card.  To add a bit of texture I used some burlap twine behind the poinsettia.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you get a chance to play along with us at CAS(E) This Sketch!

Supplies
Stamps:  Tiny Words Christmas (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Fine Linen (Papertrey Ink); Baja Breeze, Night of Navy, Vellum, Twitterpated DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Layered Poinsettia die (Penny Black); linen thread, enamel dot (My Mind's Eye)

Freshly Made Sketches 393

Hello!  Today we've got a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches to play along with!  Our hostess this week is Lee Ann and I love her sketch!  It's got classic lines that are perfect for many different designs.

After I made this card I realized that I put the sentiment in the wrong place!  The worst part about this is that I print out the graphic for the sketch so that I can follow it when I'm actually making the card.  I think I was so focused on the horizontal layers that I assumed the sentiment was to go on one of them.  It wasn't until I had this done that I realized I made a major miscalculation!  Forgive me Lee Ann!

I chose blues to color these blooms so that I could join the Color My Heart Color Dare challenge then I picked light, medium, dark tones to play along with Just Us Girls.  Whew!

Thanks for stopping by!  My Freshly Made Sketches teammates have made some fantastic cards with this sketch so I hope you check them out and are inspired to join us!

Supplies
Stamps:  Fine Line Florals (Concord & 9th); Painted Sayings (Whimsy Stamps)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Marina Mist, Bashful Blue (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Soft Sky, Bashful Blue, Marina Mist (Stampin' Up!); Nocturne (Versafine Clair)

CAS(E) This Sketch 326 Meets Fusion

It's that time when I get to combine the sketch challenge from CAS(E) This Sketch with the inspiration at Fusion Card Challenge.  The groovy VW van was a bit of a challenge for me so I chose to use some of the colors in the photo instead.

I chose to emboss a flourish a-la the Just Us Girls challenge for my backgroud, but that was a challenge in itself.  I used a flourish die to make my own stencil out of cardstock.  But the cardstock proved too flimsy for this intricate die because when I spread the embossing paste over it a whole lot seeped underneath my "stencil" creating a messy blob.  So I created a new stencil out of the material that commercial stencils are made...but had the same result.  So I cleaned the messy parts up as best I could and hid the rest under my colorful letters.

Speaking of those colorful letters, that's my nod to the colorful VW van.  I didn't have anything in my stash that even remotely resembled a groovy van from the 1960's so I used some of the colors instead on my die cut sentiment

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you can check out CA(E) This Sketch and Fusion for some inspiration and play along with us!

Supplies
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah): Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Call Me Clover, Real Red (Stampin' Up!); Raspberry (Avery Elle)
Accessories:  Medium Fancy Flourish die, Little Letters die (My Favorite Things); white embossing paste (Dreamweaver)

Freshly Made Sketches 392

Hello, it's Wednesday so that means we've got a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week our hostess is Jacquie and after some consideration I decided her sketch was perfect for a birthday card for my great-nephew who will be one in a few days.

I made a shaker accented with a big ONE and some cute animals.  Then I layered a birthday sentiment and I was done.   I figure that Baby G (that's what we call him) will like the sound of the sequins moving around the card!

Thanks for stopping by!  My Freshly Made Sketches teammates have made fabulous cards with this sketch so I hope your are inspired by their cards to join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Wild About You (My Favorite Things); Simple Sentiments (Avery Elle)
Paper: Bashful Blue, Prints Pack (Stampin' Up!);l Enchanted Evening (Papertrey Ink); Bristol Smooth (Strathmore)
Ink:  Nocturne (Verafine Clair); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Copics
Accessories:  Double Stitched Rectangle Frame (Poppystamps); King's Sapphire Couture Mix sequins (The Ton)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

CAS(E) This Sketch 325

Our new sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch got me thinking about a technique that I've never tried before.  The sketch has six buttons but I was thinking less about buttons and more about something that resembled a quilt!

I have long admired, but never tried, the technique of using dies to emboss rather than cut.  I watched a couple of "how-to" videos on YouTube, both with slightly different sandwiches using a BigShot, and tried them both.  I settled on one that gave a slightly deeper impression that I hoped would be more visible in a photo.  This particular die had shapes in the middle of those embossed squares so I ran the die back through the traditional way and cut those shapes in a bright yellow and adhered them to them the squares.  One of the squares was blank so I chose that one to stamp a simple sentiment - not exactly in keeping with the sketch but close!

I recently came across a new-to-me challenge called Watercooler Wednesday.  They've got a feminine challenge this week and I couldn't help but think that a woman, especially one who makes quilts, would appreciate this card.

Thanks for stopping by!  My CAS(E) This Sketch teammates have got some fantastic designs to inspire to you play along with us.  I hope you'll join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Hashtag Everything (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Pineapple Punch (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair)
Accessories: Blueprints 20 die (My Favorite Things)

Freshly Made Sketches 391

Sometimes I forget to actually hit "publish" when I do these blog posts!  😬So without further ado my card for the latest Freshly Made Sketches challenge follows.

We've got a great new challenge for you at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our hostess this week is our resident color-master Amy.  I love this sketch!

It seems weird to think about making sympathy cards but I do like to have some on hand when the time comes that I need one.  Amy's sketch gave me the perfect design.  I used the colors from the latest FabFriday challenge, although I will admit that my Soft Seafoam is a stretch.  I didn't have any colors that were terribly close to the right one so I chose the best one that I had.  I'll completely understand if they throw me out of their gallery!  Obviously I need to go shopping to fill this gap in my cardstock collection! 

Thanks for stopping by!  My Freshly Made Sketches teammates have made some terrific cards to inspire you.  I hope you'll join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Botanical Silhouettes (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Aqua Mist (Papertrey Ink); Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White (Stampin' Upp!)
Ink:  Pear Pizzazz, Regal Rose (Stampin' Up!); Nocturne (Versafine Clair)
Accessories:  Stitched Rectangle die (My Favorite Things); Subtle 3D embossing folder (Stampin' Up!)