Tag You're It 98

It's fall y'all!  And our latest challenge at Tag You're It celebrates those special colors and leaves that we only see this time of year! I decided to simplify those leaves from the inspiration photo into one big one.

It's been a while since I've used this stamp set from Concord & 9th and I thought it might be good for this tag.  So armed with colors inspired by The Color Throwdown I stamped the base of this leaf with red and yellow and topped the lace overlay with a brown.

I added a few enamel dots for a bit of dimension and twill ribbon tied with some brown crochet thread completed the look of this card.

Thanks for stopping by!  My teammates at Tag You're It have made some fantastic tags this week so be sure to check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Lace Leaf (Concord & 9th); Great Friend (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Truffle (Avery Elle); Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Traditional Tags STAX, Pierced Traditional Tags STAX (My Favorite Things); Antique Brass Jumbo Eyelets, Natural Twill Ribbon (Stampin' Up!); enamel dots (My Mind's Eye); crochet thread

Tag You're It 88

It's time for a new challenge at Tag You're It!  This time around we are looking for spring flowers - my favorite!

I love flowers.  I grow them in abundance around my patio during the summer months.  I like nothing more than relaxing on my chaise lounge and being able to smell them while I read or take a nap!  So this challenge was a no-brainer for me.   I used a leafy sprig and some flowers from a couple of ancient Stampin' Up! sets using the colors at CAS Colours & Sketches.

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow teammates at Tag You're It have made some great tags to inspire you.  I hope you'll join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps: Best Blossoms, Great Friend (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Coastal Cabana (Stampin' Up!); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink:  Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Tag Sale #5 die (Papertrey Ink); enamel drops (Freckled Fawn); white seam binding ribbon, white crochet thread

Freshly Made Sketches 300!

Can you believe it?  We are at challenge #300 over at Freshly Made Sketches!  A whopping 300 challenges!  Way back in the day (around August 2011 to be exact) Lesley (she of Always Playing With Paper fame) conceived of this idea to create a sketch challenge.  How about creating cards that are clean but not necessarily simple.  She invited some talented ladies to join her to provide inspiration each week and here we still are - six years later!

We've got something unique planned this week to celebrate this milestone.  Someone from the gallery - a random someone - is going to take home a special prize:  ALL of the design team cards!  Yep, that's right!  A lucky winner will receive original creations from the Freshly Made Sketches design team!

I wanted something bright and cheery this week (to echo our bright and cheery mood) and luckily the challenge at Fab Friday fit right in with my master plan!

Our resident teacher, Linda, has estimated that over the last six years there have been more than 25,000 cards created for this challenge!  25,000!  Can you believe it?  That's a whole lot of cards!  And a whole lot of inspiration!

At Freshly Made Sketches we can't thank you enough for playing along with us each week.  Without you we wouldn't exist - literally!  The inspiration that you provide week after week is the reason why we do this.  And the enabling that goes on - well, I can't begin to tell you how many things I've added to my stamping stash just because I've visited your blogs and just had to have some new stamp or die or embellishment that I've seen you use.  Thank you from the bottom of my checkbook!

So I hope you can join us for this extra special challenge this week.  Our design team has gone all out and provided some amazing inspiration for you.  And just think:  you could win all of those cards!

Supplies
Stamps:  Great Friend (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Hibiscus Burst (Papertrey Ink); Lemon Lime Twist, Melon Mambo (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Lemon Lime Twist (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Honeycomb Remnant die (Memory Box); Gerbera Daisy die, Pierced Fishtail Flags STAX (My Favorite Things); Leaves die (Penny Black); Banner Trio die (WPlus9)

Freshly Made Sketches 273!

Halfway through the workweek - yay!  February 1st already - say what!?!?!  And it's also time for a new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  This week our friend from the southern hemisphere, Karren Johnson, is our hostess.  I tried to be clever with the three rectangles on the sketch...

I stamped the sketchy floral image of this card twice.  Once on the card base and once on another piece of cardstock that I intended to cut into three rectangles.  The images needed to line up perfectly on each piece in order for this card to work as intended so, of course, after I had the first two layers of images stamped I dropped an ink pad onto one of the pieces and made a big mess.  Back to step one I went {insert angry words here}.

In case you can't see it in the photo there is a popped up layer made from three rectangles of the floral image that I stamped on the card base.  I briefly toyed with the idea of running a black marker around the edge of each of the rectangles so that they would show up better but I was afraid that it wouldn't look good and I'd have to go back to step one AGAIN so I left it as is.  I also managed to find a sentiment that fit PERFECTLY between the stems of those flowers!

The colors for my card come from the inspiration photo at Sunday Stamps.  The darkest color in the challenge looked like a a taupey-gray to me so for the outline images and stem plus the dark matted layer I used Smokey Shadow which is (to my eye anyway) a taupey-gray .  It looks black here - but it's not!

Thanks for stopping by!  And be sure to check out our challenge at Freshly Made Sketches plus all the inspiration from our amazing design team.  We love to see you in the gallery!

Supplies

Stamps:  Abstract Poppies (Rubbernecker Stamps); Lace Leaf (Concord & 9th)

Pape:  Solar White (Neenah); Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink)

Ink:  Sweet Blush, Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink); Calypso Coral (Stampin' Up!)

Accessories:  Blueprints 21 die (My Favorite Things); enamel dots (Studio Calico)

colourQ 150

When I first saw Arielle's colors for the challenge this week at colourQ I was very nervous.  (Actually, I will confess that this happens to me frequently but I think I hide it well).  For a few days I was mentally tossing a few ideas around in my head and then I just decided to throw caution to the wind and make a card with no clear direction using the latest Deconstructed Sketch as my layout.  For me, this is generally a very daring thing to do, because there's no telling what I'm going to end up with.  But I gamely grabbed cardstock and patterned paper, a few stamp sets, some Nestabilities, ribbon and whatever else I could find within easy reach and started layering them on.  Luckily halfway through this card, I realized that I actually liked it.

The Daffodil Delight DSP is from Beyond the Garden and I chose it because it's a relatively soft version of a very bright yellow and wouldn't overpower the other elements of the card.  The pretty rose and leaves are from a PTI set and the ribbon is the delightful Daffodil Delight Seam Binding.

I sure hope you have time to check out the cards my fellow design team members at colourQ have made this week.  Once again, they will amaze and delight you.  You might even find a scrapbook page to get your creative juices flowing.  And don't be afraid if you don't have the exact colors.  Even Ryan knows that you can use something close!  Just don't forget to join in and link up your project!

Freshly Made Sketches 34

I think I mentioned the other day that the impending end of the current Stampin' Up! catalog has apparently got me feeling a little nostalgic about some other retired supplies I have in my stash.  Well, as I contemplated making my card for Freshly Made Sketches this week, I came across some retired designer paper called Berry Bliss.  And this lead me to one of the companion stamps sets for this paper called One of a Kind.  And this in turn lead to my card this week.

The DSP that I used primarily uses Close to Cocoa, but I didn't have any of that cardstock or ink so I used Chocolate Chip instead.  I did have some Purely Pomegranate so I used some cardstock and stamped the image a couple of times with that ink color.  One image was stamped directly onto to DSP and cut out to layer over the same image stamped onto some Whisper White.  The little Chocolate Chip center of the image was inked in Versamark then clear embossed.  And in the center is a Build a Brad. I wish those had never retired because I always thought that it was so cool to make your own brad!  Add a little Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon and I was done!

Lesley has given us a great sketch this week.  It's got all kinds of shapes that I love to combine.  And the design team has got some FABULOUS cards this week to light your creativity on fire, so run right over to Freshly Made Sketches and check them out.  I hope you can find some time to join us this week!

Lesley Croghan

Linda Callahan

Cindy Hall

Tui Nathan

Jennifer Timko

Rita Wright

Erna Logtenberg

Tara Murphy Bourgoin 

colourQ 135

There are some gorgeous colors over at the colourQ challenge this week.  Arielle has got such an eye for capturing colors that not only look fanstastic together, but also for making me think outside the box.  This week was no exception.  I used Early Espresso as the anchor color that brought everything else together.

I think I must miss my little Janome Sew Mini because I've been doing a bit of sewing on my cards lately.  I dragged it out for this card because I just love the bit of texture that stitching gives.  For this card, the patterned paper is some Pool Party DSP, the flower and leaves are PTI, and the sentiment is from Great Friend.

Don't forget to pop on over to colourQ and check out the inspiration from the design team.  Then I hope you create something of your own to share with us!

Color Throwdown 188 and CCMC198

At least once a month I've got a week where I'm too busy to even venture into my stamp room.  Well, this week was that week.  I haven't set foot in there since Monday, so when I got home from work tonight I was determined to get in there and create something.  No matter how long it took.  It ended up taking way longer than I thought because I couldn't decide what challenges I wanted to participate in.  There are too many that I love!!!

I eventually decided on a couple of challenges, so even though I'm holding my eyelids open with toothpicks right now I'm posting this picture of a card I made for the color challenge at Color Throwdown and the sketch challenge at Create With Connie and Mary.

I dug deep into my stash and used some DSP called Wintergreen which was a Christmas paper from a few years ago featuring Always Artichoke.  I layered this on some Certainly Celery cardstock that I embossed with the Stripes embossing folder.  The flower from Array of Sunshine was stamped first in pretty in pink then sponged with Melon Mambo after I fussy cut three layers.  

The label is from the Matchbox die and stamped with the companion stamp and sentiment from Great Friend.

Well, I have officially had it tonight.  It's late, I'm tired and I would like very much to get some sleep.  So I'm signing off.  But thanks for stopping by.  Tomorrow, at a reasonable hour, I hope!

CCMC193 and MOJO232

I had to go to work on Sunday because we had a major upgrade to one of our systems.  I thought it was going to be a very simple "get in, test a few things, and get out kind of day," but as luck would have it there was HUGE problem and I spent most of my afternoon there trying to get it resolved.  So as a result, I wasn't nearly as productive in my stamp room as I wanted to be.  But once I got home I did manage to put a little something together for the color challenge at Create With Connie and Mary and the latest MOJO sketch.

I used a couple of patterns from the Everyday Enchantment DSP then I colored directly on one of the stamps from Fresh Vintage to create the floral focal point.  Unfortunately I stamped the "for you" sentiment from All Holidays in Lucky Limeade and it looks a bit lost, I think.  In hindsight I wish I had inked it in Peach Parfait.  Live and learn, I say to myself!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Skektchbook Saturday Challenge 43

Last April, for my sister's birthday, I made her a lovely box (following the Stamping 411 tutorial here), that I filled with cards of various sentiments.  If you're like me you've got loads of cards hanging around, so it's nice to be able to give them to someone who can use them.  As luck would have it, shortly after I gave it to her she needed an "emergency" gift so she gave the box and cards to someone else.  Now, I have finally made a replacement for her.

She's been patiently waiting for me to have enough cards in my stash to make a suitable replacement.  I feel guilty that it took me almost eight months, though!  This is the lid, which I made from Rose Red cardstock and embellished with some designer paper from Thoroughly Modern designer series paper.  The inspiration for the layout is from Chupa's Sketchbook Saturday challenge.

For the flower I stamped En Francais onto some Very Vanilla cardstock, then cut out three flowers from the Sizzix Tattered Florals die, crumpled them up, sponged them with Soft Suede, and stuck them all together with an antique brad.  The "for you" sentiment on the scallop circle is from Great Friend.

The base of the box is Soft Suede, which I think looks fabulous with Rose Red.  And the crumpled flower?  I think it looks terrific and I'm pretty sure that my sister will like it too.  It looks so much better in real life, which seems to be always the way when I try to photograph these things.

I'm so glad that the Christmas craziness is over now, and life can get back to normal.  I'm looking forward to trying out some of the fun stamping things that Santa Claus brought me.  I got an awesome storage rack for my ink pads that I hope to have ready for some pics later this week.  Stay tuned.  I think you're going to want one for yourself!

And in the meantime, thanks for stopping by!  I really appreciate your visits!

FTL164 and CCMC173

Just a quick post today to show you a card I made for the sketch challenge at Clean & Simple combined with the color challenge at Create with Connie and Mary.

For some reason I almost never remember to use Island Indigo even though I really love its deep and rich color.  And these challenge colors look great together.

I used a square scallop nestie to cut the Island Indigo square then layered some Baja Breeze and a small scrap of designer paper from Urban Garden on it.  The sentiment is stamped inside a Framed With Love stamp.  The sentiment itself and the big bold flower is from a Verve set called Great Friend.

Thanks for popping by.  I'm off to Borderland State Park to be a judge in our Canine Howl-o-Ween Costume Parade.  We got some snow last night (ugh!) so I hope it's not too muddy over there.  I only got about an inch of snow, but just an hour or two west of here got almost two feet!  I hope this doesn't set the stage for another bad winter!

Color Throwdown 158 and FTL157

This week the color challenge at the Color Throwdown features an old favorite and a new one.

The old favorite is the light gray for which I used SU's retired Going Gray.  I was so disappointed when that color was retired, especially since there was nothing to replace it.  I have small amounts left but that was enough to use on my card.  And my new favorite?  The delicious Island Indigo, of course! 
A little help from the Clean and Simple Stamping challenge and my card was born.

I really love how the Peach Parfait looks against the Island Indigo.  I keep looking at this card and thinking tht it reminds me of Moroccan colors.  I don't know why, I've never been to Morocco, but these colors (especially Island Indigo) seem to bring to my mind the vibrant and rich colors of a bazaar.
The flowers here are from the gorgeous Raining Flowers stamp set.  The larger flower was stamped off once so that it wouldn't be quite as dark as the smaller flower layered on top.  Both were mounted on dimensionals.  The sentiment is from another old favorite, the retired Great Friend. 

The weather here is beautiful after several days of gloomy rain.  I hope to spend some time outside with the sun on my face, but I also hope to spend some time in my stamp room getting a head start on some cards I need to make.  I wish the weekends were longer and that I didn't have to work on Monday, but we do what we can!

Thanks for stopping by today!