Fusion - Wheel Wreath

We've got a great new challenge for you at Fusion this week!  I was so excited when I saw the inspiration photo for this week for reasons that had nothing to do with a card!  More on that later!

So, the inspiration photo was a ship-lap background, a cluster of wheels and some greenery.  Well, it just so happens that I have an accent wall on my front porch that has some wheels on it very reminiscent of these wheels.  (I think mine are vintage baby carriage wheels).  I painted the porch last summer but recently began to think about adding some faux brick wallpaper to the accent wall.  This challenge has made me think that faux ship-lap would look just as good!  

But on to the card.  I cut strips of white cardstock that were 1/2-inch wide and lightly sponged a pale gray on the edges before adhering them to my card base.  Then I stamped a few circles and added some greenery to them to mimic the inspiration photo.  I added some white "berries" using Nuvo drops.  At the last minute I added a sentiment in red.

Thanks for stopping by!  Come and join us at Fusion!  Play with the sketch or the inspiration photo or both!

Supplies
Stamps:  Bokeh Dots (Essentials); Joy Stamp (The Stamp Market
Paper:  Whisper White, Old Olive (Stampin' Up!) Pinefeather (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Limestone, Crimson (Altenew); Nocturne (Versamark Clare)
Accessories:  Branch punch (Martha Stewart); Gloss White Nuvo Drops

Freshly Made Sketches 483

Hi all!  We've got a great new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches designed by Narelle.  It's one of my favorite themes because it's got a grungy background, which in my book means you can just about anything to complement it and it will look fabulous!

I stayed pretty faithful to the sketch and incorporated a circle, some splatters, a flower and leaves on my card all done in the colors of the Color Hues challenge.  I love those colors!

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow teammates at Freshly Made Sketches have made some amazing cards with this sketch so I am sure you will be inspired to play along with us!

Supplies
Stamps:  Bokeh Dots (Essentials by Ellen); Mini 72 (Paper Artsy); Petite Posies (Technique Tuesday); Leaf Clusters (Altenew); Tons of Type (The Stamp Market)
Paper:  Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Smoky Slate (Stampin' Up!); Citrus Burst (Altenew)

Freshly Made Sketches 462

Forgive me but I've got another Christmas card for you!  We've got a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and Santa has something to say.  Our hostess this week is Narelle and she's got a fun one for us.

I used some patterned paper with a bit of a mod design to make those wonky squares and then topped them off with this ZZ Top Santa.  Another Christmas card off the list and one for The Paper Players challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!  Check out our new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches and the great cards made by the design team.  We'd love to see you in the gallery!

Supplies

Stamps:  Tis the Season (Essentials by Ellen)

Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Sahara Sand, Taken With Teal, Ruby Red, Holiday Lounge DSP (Stampin' Up!)

Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine); Ruby Red (Stampin' Up!); Copics

Freshly Made Sketches 456

Hi!  We've got a great new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches, designed by Jen Timko,  I don't often make cards with a landscape orientation, so it's a real treat when I see a sketch designed that way.  I get to flex my horizontal muscle, as it were!

The second thing I love about this card is the plaid layer.  I don't know why I love plaid so much - I don't own a single plaid piece of clothing - but when it comes to cards I think plaid is the bees knees.  So I was especially happy to see that the challenge at Just Us Girls is to use plaid.  

Thanks for stopping by!  Our Freshly Made Sketches design team has made some great cards to inspire  you to play along with us, so join us in the gallery!

Supplies

Stamps:  Totally Random Sayings (Essentials by Ellen)

Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Truffle (Avery Elle); Marigold Morning, Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up!)

Ink:  Truffle (Avery Elle)

Accessories:  Sunflower die (My Favorite Things)

CAS(E) This Sketch 387

Hey all!  We've got a great new sketch for you at CAS(E) This Sketch!  I did a little masking on my card to get those doodled flowers behind the sentiment "layer."

I fully intended this card to have some color but things didn't work out that way!  I started by masking off a rectangle with some frisket film and then stamped my doodled flowers around it.  I ended up hand drawing the rectangle - squiggly lines in all.  Then I decided to stop.  I really liked how this looked in black and white.

My card was also inspired by the "Doodles" challenge at Less is More.  My doodled flower images are from a set that I've had for ages and haven't used all that much.  It's nice to ink up the oldies-but-goodies once in a while!

Thanks for stopping! My CAS(E) This Sketch teammates have made some great cards with our sketch this week so be sure to check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Doodlie-Doo (Papertrey Ink); Totally Random Sayings (Essentials by Ellen); Tiny Words (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  White (Spectrum)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)

Freshly Made Sketches 438

We've got a great new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our challenge hostess this week is Karren and her sketch was perfect for me to use some of the patterned paper in my stash.

I already had patterned paper in my mind for those vertical stripes when I stumbled upon the challenge at Just Us Girls which was to use at least two different patterned papers.  Obviously that was a sign that I was on the right path!  I dug into my stash of old papers and found some that managed to fit the colors of the Color My Heart Color Dare challenge.  A butterfly took the place of the diamond on the sketch and I embossed the bottom solid layer of that butterfly to give it some texture.  I added a few little pearls just because it looked pretty!

Thanks for stopping by!  We'd love it if you joined us at Freshly Made Sketches!

Supplies

Stamps:  Totally Random Saying (Essentials by Ellen)

Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Peach Parfait, Vellum, Sweet Pea DSP, Everyday Enchantment DSP (Stampin' Up!)

Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Subtle embossing folder, Basic Pearls (Stampin' Up!); Vivienne Butterfly die, Darla Butterly die (Memory Box)

Less Is More 411

Today is a big day for me!  I am so pleased to be joining the designers at Less is More as a guest for their new one layer challenge!  I am a big fan of their one layer challenges so this one was right up my alley.  The twist with this one was "off center."

I did some crafty shopping lately and got some gorgeous botanical stamps so I thought they would be perfect for this challenge. I stamped the solid image to the left of my card base (the off center part) and then added a silver embossed dotted version just a bit to the right.  A small sentiment on the bottom completes the card.

 Heartfelt thanks Less is More for inviting me along with them week.

Supplies
Stamps:  Dot Botanicals (Altenew); Totally Random Sayings (Essentials by Ellen)
Paper:  Pure Luxury White (Gina K Designs)
Ink:  Jet Black (Altenew); Versamark
Accessories: silver embossing powder

CAS(E) This Sketch 337

I had a few ideas swirling around in my head for our latest CAS(E) This Sketch challenge.  I thought of using bright colors or possibly patterned paper.  In the end I chose a rather eclectic blend of Christmas patterned paper!

I think my card is fun.......in a sort of "say what???" kind of way!  I like the juxtaposition of the cute, traditional Santa images with the sassy Santa sentiment!  I'm not sure anyone on my list of Christmas card recipients would appreciate this card, but I'll tuck it away for future use just in case!

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow CAS(E) This Sketch design team members have made some great cards with this sketch so be sure to check them out! 

Supplies
Stamps:  Tis The Season (Essentials by Ellen)
Paper:  Soft Stone, Smoky Shadow (Papertrey Ink); Heidi Swapp patterned paper
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair)

Freshly Made Sketches 359

I'm a wee bit late with my post today...forgot to click "Publish!"  But I'm here with a new card and I am continuing my fall theme again with a card made using the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and a couple of other challenges -- more on that later.  Our FMS hostess this week is Narelle and her sketch is clean and simple with lots of possibilities.

I chose to use the colors from the Paper Players challenge on my card and although it seems like a lot of challenges are jumping on the fall themed bandwagon I'm adding this to the foliage cue word challenge at Addicted to CAS because this is a pretty CAS card!

I had seen a couple of cards lately featuring leaves that had some lovely "dew" on them so I dug out my old Crystal Effects to add some droplets on my leaves.  Emphasis on "old" here because when the Crystal Effects dried my drops looked a little wrinkled.  Not sure if that stuff goes bad or not!

Well that's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a chance to join us at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  Our lovely design team has made some beauties for you to see!

Supplies
Stamps:  Bokeh Dots (Essentials by Ellen); With Gratitude (Altenew)
Paper:  Classic Ivory (Flourishes); Mossy Meadow, Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Mossy Meadow (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Leaves die (Impression Obsession); Crystal Effects (Stampin' Up!)

Freshly Made Sketches 345

Hello hello!  We're back at Freshly Made Sketches with a brand new challenge this week designed by little ol' me!  I used a tilted layer *gasp* in the sketch so I hope you like it!

I decided to make a Christmas card with a kraft card base (one of my Christmas faves) and finally inked up this stamp set that I've had for at least a couple of years.  That's my cool-dude Santa!

The Jingle Bells challenge is looking for stars and stripes this time around and I used a bit of both here and at AAA Cards it's Christmas in July.  It's kind of fun to think of snowy things when it's 90-degrees outside!

Thanks for stopping by!  And I hope that you will join us at Freshly Made Sketches this week!

Supplies
Stamps:  Tis the Season (Essentials by Ellen)
Paper:  Desert Storm (Neenah); Riding Hood Red (Stampin' Up!); Marker Paper (Strathmore); Heidi Swapp patterned paper
Ink:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Nocturne (Versafine Clair); White (WPlus9); Polychromos pencils
Accessories:  white embossing powder

Freshly Made Sketches 338

We've got a fantastic sketch for you this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  It was designed by Kim and has got lots of possibilities.

I decided to do a little ombre coloring on those vertical images.  I also meant to do them dark to light - bottom to top - but forgot that my stamp positioner was a mirror image and after I applied the ink what I got was light to dark.  Oops!  No worries - I like it just the same!  The colors, by the way, come from the latest challenge at Sunday Stamps.  And they are looking for birthday cards at CAS on Friday so I'll be adding this over there as well.

Thanks for stopping by!  We are so happy to have you join us at Freshly Made Sketches.  I hope you check out the inspiration from the design team and join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Abstract Art (My Favorite Things); Totally Random Sayings (Essentials by Ellen)
Paper:  White (Catherine Poolr)
Ink: Regal Rose, Rose Red, Pacific Point (Stampin' Up!)

CAS(E) This Sketch 264

It's Thursday so that means it's time for a new sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch.  The horizontal blocks put me in mind of my brick wall stencil.

Sometimes uber CAS is just what the doctor ordered.  Here I was helped along by the AAA Cards challenge to use just one third of the card front.  I chose to use green as my accent color so I could play along with the CAS-ual Fridays challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!  And head on over to CAS(E) This Sketch to see the amazing cards from the design team.  I hope you can play along with us! 

Supplies
Stamps:  Totally Awesome (Essentials by Ellen)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Old Olive (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Old Olive (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Mini Bricks stencil (The Crafters Workshop); Positive Word die (Essentials by Ellen); white embossing paste (Dreamweaver)

Freshly Made Sketches 297

It's Wednesday so that means there's a new sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches.  This week, yours truly is the hostess!  So let's get to it, shall we?

There's a lot of Christmas in July going on right now.  Have you noticed?  I've already taken advantage of one Christmas themed stamp sale and obviously had Christmas on the brain when I sat down to make my card this week.  Of course, that's the theme at CAS-ual Fridays right now and although the color challenge at Sunday Stamps is called a "salute to summer" it put me in mind of snowflakes!  Go figure!

I took the liberty of adding some sparkly bits to my card because the color of that glimmer paper is pretty close to the neutral on that color challenge.  Plus who doesn't love some sparkle on a Christmas card?  The snowflake is actually one that is layered with three different die cuts.  The bottom is probably my all-time favorite and it is followed up with a vellum one (that is hard to see) and a wee sparkly one on top.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you can pop on over to Freshly Made Sketches and take a look at our challenge and the design team cards.  I hope we'll see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Tis the Season (Essentials by Ellen)
Paper:  Soft Stone (Papertrey Ink); Midnight Muse, Silver Glimmer, Baja Breeze, Vellum (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Real Red (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Snowfall/Speckles embossing folder (Tim Holtz); Lindemon Snowflake die (Memory Box); Funky Flakes die (CAS-ual Fridays Stamps)

Freshly Made Sketches 259!

Even though we've seen the return of spring here in New England, with temperatures nearly 80-degrees, I made a Christmas card this week for Freshly Made Sketches!  Nothing puts me more in the Christmas mood than a short-sleeved t-shirt I always say!  Our hostess this week is the devilishly clever Linda Callahan.

What to do about those horizontal stripes?  Well, I had already decided that I wanted to make a Christmas card and I was planning on using the colors from Cupcake Inspirations when I spied some sparkly glitter tape on my desk.  It was pretty wide so in the spirit of the sketch I broke it up with some green and red strips to simulate a separation between the wide and narrow layers on the sketch.  Clear as mud, right?  Incidentally, it's really hard to make things stick to that glitter tape and my totally awesome Christmas tree die cuts keep lifting up.  I will have to bring out the seriously sticky glue dots to rectify this!

Our Freshly Made Sketches design team has made some beautiful cards this week so be sure to check them out!  I can't wait to see you in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Tis the Season (Essentials by Ellen)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Pine Feather (Papertrey Ink); Real Red (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Jet Black (Altenew)
Accessories:  Sapins die (Simply Graphic); glitter tape (Heidi Swapp)

colourQ 326!

Happy Tuesday!  I hope all of you who were hit with Snowmageddon on the east coast made it through ok!  And if you are cooped up in the house because your street is covered in snow then feel free to join us at colourQ where we have some new colors to tempt you into a crafting mood!

I wanted to make a pretty floral card, especially since everything is covered in snow, but I got distracted by this big butterfly die that I haven't used yet.  It's been a while since I stuck a butterfly on a card!

I took some inspiration from the Just Add Ink sketch and took a little poetic license from it as well but I think you can still see the sketch in there!

Thanks so much for stopping by and don't forget to check out the beautiful inspiration from my colourQ teamies!  These gorgeous colors have inspired a plethora of gorgeous cards from them!

Supplies
Stamps:  Bokeh Dots (Essentials by Ellen); Hand Lettered Thanks (WPlus9)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Daffodil Delight, Vellum (SU)
Ink:  Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink); Wisteria Wonder, Old Olive (SU)
Accessories:  Vivienne Butterfly die, Darla Butterfly die (Simon Says Stamp); Basic Pearl (SU)

colourQ 285

This week at colourQ we've got some great spring time colors inspired by these Easter baskets to play with.  Despite these colors telling me I should make a card with pretty flowers my crafting mojo fell asleep and I couldn't come up with a single idea so I went in a bit of an abstract route instead.

The scribble-y circles are fun and a pretty popular image right now.  I stamped mine in the colors of the challenge then added some solid ones too.  I went over those with a Wink of Stella pen and they have a pretty shimmer to them in real life.

There's a one year anniversary "anything goes" linky party going on at The Challenge this week, so to celebrate the milestone I'm playing along there as well!

My colourQ teamies have some beautiful cards to show you this week so hop on over there to check them out.  I hope you can join us in the gallery!  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Bokeh Dots (Essentials by Ellen); Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)

Paper:  Classic White (Flourishes); Cool Caribbean (SU)

Ink:  Cool Caribbean, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Kiwi Kiss (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Blueprints 13 die (My Favorite Things); Wink of Stella