Freshly Made Sketches 596

Hold on to your hats folks, because we've got a fun new challenging sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is Judy and she has challenged us to keep the bottom part of our sketch completely BLANK!  Say what???!!!

I flipped my card to horizontal to accommodate these mountain dies.  I stumbled across them as I was searching my stash to find something suitable for the sketch.  I feel like this card is a tribute to my fellow design team member Jen as she is a bad-ass mountain climber!  Check out her Instagram and you'll see what I mean.  And at Just Us Girls they are looking for three of something and I've got three mountain ranges here, so I'm going to add this to their challenge as well.

At Freshly Made Sketches there's lots of inspiration so I hope you'll play along with us!

Supplies
Stamps:  For the Graduate (SugarPea Designs)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Gray Granite, Buckaroo Blue, Midnight Muse (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Mountain Landscape Layers die (Impression Obsession)

Freshly Made Sketches 565

Tis the season!  I was inspired by the latest Freshly Made Sketches challenge to make another Christmas card.  Our hostess is Karren and her sketch is classic!

This is a Santa from and old stamp set that I've had in my stash for a long time.  He's a jolly old elf - but don't color him after you've had a few cups of coffee!  LOL!  He's featured on a festive ho-ho-ho background stamped in Christmas green with a few spots in red to be interesting.

And speaking of Santa, at The Paper Players they are searching for him.  Luckily I found him!  LOL!

Thanks for stopping by!  Check out my fellow Freshly Made Sketches teammates cards.  I have no doubt they will inspire you to play along with us!

Supplies
Stamps:  Jolly Holiday (Stampin' Up!); Ho Ho Ho Background (My Favorite Things)
Paper:  Whisper White, Shimmery White, Call Me Clover (Stampin' Up!); Vellum (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Just Green (Altenew); Real Red (Stampin' Up!); Copics
Accessories:  Merry Christmas die (Impression Obsession)

Freshly Made Sketches 536

Pardon my late entry (again) for our newest Freshly Made Sketches challenge.  I've got to say that the circles on the sketch initially put me in a bit of a panic, but after poking around in my stash I came up with a card that makes me so happy!  Karren is our hostess and her sketch got me thinking out of the box!

So, when I first saw the sketch I was thinking about something along the lines of three flowers, or maybe three geometric shapes, or maybe three butterflies.  But as I was looking through my stash I stumbled on this JUMBO stamp set from The Ton which had three poinsettias in roughly the same placement as the circles.  Perfect!

I embossed the background with some subtle burlap texture because I didn't like the flowers against a plain white background.  The poinsettias and leaves have amazing dimension - perfect with the textured background - and the black die-cut sentiment just makes the whole thing pop!  I love this card!

Thanks for stopping by!  The amazing Freshly Made Sketches design team has some fabulous cards to inspire you to play along with us, so I hope you do!

Supplies
Stamps:  Boundless Poinsettia (The Ton)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Whisper White, Basic Black (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Frosty Pink, Coral Berry, Ruby Red, Frayed Leaf, Forest Glades (Altenew)
Accessories:  Rustic Burlap impression plate (Papertrey Ink); Merry Christmas die (Impression Obsession)

Freshly Made Sketches 514

I'm late again for a blog post!  😢 I was up bright and early this morning so that I could get some work done (I'm on vacation from said work, but still find myself working from time to time) and get this blog post ready.  I was doing some dishes when I turned the faucet to the left a bit and out it popped and practically fell into the sink!  Uh oh!  Turns out the lock nut that secures the faucet to the counter had completely rotted away and today was the day that it decided to fall over.  So I spent the majority of the day trying to fix it.  (I didn't by the way and I'm picking up a new faucet tomorrow).  Good times...

But the show must go on so here I am a few hours late with my card for Freshly Made Sketches.  Our hostess this week is Cécile and as always her sketch has me dreaming that I can design cards the same way she does!

Those silver blobs in the center are pinecones, by the way.  I thought for sure that I had a pinecone stamp in my stash somewhere but apparently not, so I had to use this pinecone die cut, which is too small for what I wanted, but did the trick anyway.

The inspiration for this design came from a catalog that I got at work which has bulk Christmas cards with custom printing for companies to send to their customers.  The catalog is chock full of inspiration, which I knew would come in handy, so I brought it home and it now resides in my craft room.  I found an eye-catching card done in silver and black with green leaves and a pinecone and modified the design a bit to fit the sketch.  

Thanks for stopping by!  My Freshly Made Sketches teammies have some fabulous cards to inspire you to play along with us so be sure to check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Holiday Messages (Mama Elephant)
Paper:  Basic Black, Whisper White, Wild Wasabi (Stampin' Up!); Pinefeather (Papertrey Ink); foil paper (Recollections)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Festive Greenery Sizzlit (Tim Holtz); Pine Sprig Cluster die (Impression Obsession); Subtle Dynamic embossing folder (Stampin' Up!); silver cord (Stampin' Up!)

Freshly Made Sketches 472

We've got a great new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches.  It's an uber clean and simple design brought to you by Narelle.  As much as I'm a clean and simple girl, sometimes all that white space confounds me!  Go figure!

I ended up doing a combination of a sketchy stamp and some washi tape for the two horizontal lines and then added a delicate butterfly and a sentiment.  I'm sure you can't see it in the picture, but the cardstock that I cut the butterfly from has got a lovely shimmer to it.  It's from an old specialty set from Stampin' Up! that I use sparingly because it's so pretty.  Yes, I'm a hoarder!

I chose to do this card in all brown because of the Chocolate challenge at Less is More.  I'm a little unclear about whether I need to use an image of chocolate (as in the edible kind) or whether I can use chocolate colors so I'll let the LIM design team decide whether or not to chuck me from the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!  Our Freshly Made Sketches design team has interpreted this sketch is fabulous ways!  I'm sure you'll be inspired to play along with us!

Supplies
Stamps:  Easy Expressions Thanks (The Ton); Slash Border (Impression Obsession)
Paper:  Whisper White, Taste of Textiles (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Truffle (Avery Elle); Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories:  Delaney Butterfly die (Poppystamps)

Freshly Made Sketches 448

Hey all!  It's time for a brand new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week our hostess is Jen Brum and I'm not surprised to see that her straight-forward sketch has not a circle to be found on  it - she hates circles for some reason!

Honestly, I think I've made some variation of this card a million times before but this stamp set of flowers and leaves is a long-time favorite of mine and I love how it pairs so well with a bit of a grungy background.  That diagonal line on the sketch was perfect for the sketchy chevrons stamp and I added a few grungy dots to make things a bit more interesting.  Then I chose a nice orange sherbet color for the flowers and complemented them with a bright green for the leaves.  The challenge at Less is More is calling for summer flowers which is why I chose to round out this sketch with some!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a chance to join us at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  Our wonderful design team has made fantastic cards to inspire you to play along with us!

Supplies

Stamps:  Sketchy Chevron Border (Impression Obsession); Distressed Patterns (My Favorite Things); Summer Silhouettes  (Stampin' Up!); Spheres & Spirals (Altenew)

Paper:  Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)

Ink:  Silver Stone, Fresh Leaf, Orange Cream, Jet Black (Altenew)

Accessories:  Blueprints 21 die  (My Favorite Things)

CAS(E) This Sketch 262

Ok, so I wanted a good CAS card for this week's entry in our newest challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch.  A little background, a big sentiment and I was done.  I love it when an idea comes to fruition so easily!

The monochrome challenge at Less Is More fit into my plans perfectly so I made this card using the same shade of ink and cardstock against a white background.

My CAS(E) This Sketch teamies have some amazing cards to inspire you to join our challenge this week so be sure to check them out.  We hope to see you in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: 
Sketchy Chevron Border (Impression Obsession); You Matter (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Simply Chartreuse (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Simply Chartreuse (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: You die (Simon Says Stamp)

CAS(E) This Sketch 241

For some strange reason the hot weather here has put me in mind of a cold bear for the latest challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch.  Maybe I need some cooling off!

For our sketch this week  I wondered what to do about those angled stripes until I looked through my stash of stamps and found this wide splattered image.  I stamped it in a cold, wintery blue then added my little scarf-wearing bear.  I had bought this stamp recently but hadn't the chance to ink it up until I saw the "bear" challenge at Cupcake Inspirations.  It seemed to fit perfectly with the sketch.

Thanks for stopping by.  My CAS(E) This Sketch teamies have made some fabulous cards using this sketch.  I know that you will be inspired by them and I hope that you can join us in the gallery with your own interpretation of this sketch!

Supplies
Stamps:  Boo Bear (Impression Obsession); Rugged Edge (Indigo Blu); Holiday Hugs Snowman (My Favorite Things)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir)
Ink:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Bashful Blue (Stampin' Up!); Prismacolor Pencils

CAS(E) This Sketch 171

The month of May has started off dull and dreary around here.  We are having lots of rain and the temperatures are chilly -  more like November than May!  Hopefully things will turn around soon and we can progress to warm temperatures and some beautiful sunshine to get those flowers and trees blooming!  And speaking of blooming, my card for this weeks challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch has a little blossom on it!

I went quite literal with the sketch and inked up a new little grungy stamp for the background, added some wee paint splatters, a flower (which took me three tries before I liked what I saw) and a sentiment tucked into one of the folds of the flower.  The colors I got from a recent color challenge but the challenge was closed before I could get this posted - drat!

As you can imagine the cards from the CAS(E) This Sketch design team are amazing so be sure to check them out.  I hope you'll join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Artful Flowers (Simon Says Stamp); Screen Print (Impression Obsession); Textures 1 (Florileges Design)
Paper:  Sweet Tooth (My Favorite Things); Whisper White (SU)
Ink:  Cameo Coral, Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana, Basic Gray (SU)

Hashtag Grateful

I took a break from some Christmas themed projects I've been making lately to make one with some warm, fall colors courtesy of the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge.  Sometimes you just have to mix things up right?  The layout for my card today comes from the sketch at Cardabilities.

This card looks a little messy to me.  I was trying to create some trailing leaves while incorporating some color but I think I went overboard.  Plus I wish I had layered the little flag with the sentiment on some Baked Brown Sugar so that it showed up a little more.  Am I the only one who sees things that should be different after the whole card is put together??

Thanks for stopping by and special thanks for leaving a comment!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge, French Fusion, Off the Grid (SU); Hashtags (Tim Holtz)

Paper:  Dove Gray (WPlus9); Chocolate Chip, Baked Brown Sugar (SU); Vellum (Papertrey Ink)

Ink:  Hot Fudge (My Favorite Things); Baked Brown Sugar, Pumpkin Pie (SU)

Accessories:  Leaves die (Penny Black); Chloe Stem die (Memory Box)

Freshly Made Sketches 154

Hi all!  It's Wednesday so that means it's time for a new sketch reveal at Freshly Made Sketches.  This week Cindy Lovell is our hostess and her sketch has got all the design elements that remind me so much of her fun, clean, and simple designs.

As soon as I saw this sketch I wanted to incorporate washi tape as part of my design.  From there it was a short leap to the Math washi tape that I love so much.  One of the colors in that tape is a dead ringer for Pool Party so I made my card with that color as well as some So Saffron for contrast.

The Freshly Made Sketches design team have some fabulous cards for you to see this week so be sure to check them out.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Kinda Eclectic (SU); Jumbo Abstract Art (My Favorite Things); Many Thanks (Simon Says Stamp); Sketchy Chevron Border (Impression Obsession)

Paper:  Classic White (Flourishes); Neenah Solar White; Pool Party (SU)

Ink:  Pool Party, So Saffron (SU); Onyx Black (Verafine)

Accessories:  Basic Pearls (SU); washi tape

You Made Me Smile

Last night I got into my stamp room pretty late and somehow scrounged up enough energy to make a card inspired by the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch and the colors of the inspiration photo at Just Us Girls.  I was watching television while I made this (sometimes not a good idea) and since it was late by the time I finished I waited until this morning to photograph and post it.  Well I must have been dreaming of this card because in the light of the morning I was prying things apart so that I could re-do parts of it!

It's a glorious day today with the sun shining so I'm headed outside to putter around the garden and then do a little relaxing with a book on the patio.  One thing I discovered since being on vacation this past week is that I can't wait until I retire and I can putter around to my heart's content!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Textures 2 (Florileges Design); Sketchy Chevron Border (Impression Obsession); DIY (Precious Remembrance); Petite Posies (Technique Tuesday); Take Note (Verve)

Paper:  White Cardstock (Papertrey Ink); X-Press It Blending Card

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid (My Favorite Things); Going Gray, Basic Gray (SU); Copics

Accessories:  Enamel Dew Drops (Freckled Fawn)

colourQ 246

Today I've got the new color palette from colourQ to show you!  The colors are warm and I dove head first into them!  I attempted a three-fer on my card by combining the colors with the splatter challenge at Keep It Simple and the 200th challenge at The Paper Players (which I actually completely screwed up).  More on that later!

I had to substitute the sadly-now-retired Baja Breeze for the also sadly-retired Bordering Blue, but I got all the other colors right.  I really wanted to throw in some bits of washi tape here and there but none of the ones I have were exactly the right color.  Shocking, I know, considering the over-sized stash I've got.

Now, on to my screw up.  I mistakenly thought that the 200th challenge at The Paper Players invited us to choose any previous challenge and make a card inspired by it.  So I dutifully studied all the past challenges (I've got them all saved on my PC) and chose the sketch that was number 184.  Then last night as I sat down to compose this post I saw that I was supposed to make a card inspired by the DT cards posted for the 200th challenge, not one of the past 200 challenges!  Sheesh.  Talk about an epic fail.  But I still like the sketch and The Paper Players so I thought I'd share that little story!  200 challenges is quite an accomplishment and I can't wait for the next 200!

As usual, the colourQ team has made some beautiful cards this week so head on over there to check them out.  Can't wait to see you in the gallery!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge, Papillon Potpourri (SU); Hand Lettered Hello (WPlus9); Sketchy Chevron Border (Impression Obsession)

Paper:  Classic White (Flourishes); Whisper White, Vellum (SU)

Ink:  Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze,  Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive (SU)

Accessories:  Basic Rhinestones (SU); Berry Blend sequins (Avery Elle)

Kick Some A$$

Did you ever start to make a card and nothing goes right.  The way you use the colors is wrong, the images are wrong, pretty much everything is wrong.  But you keep on trying and before long you realize that what you've got is total crap and you don't know why you even bothered.  Well this is one of those cards.  But I tried for so long to get a card I was happy with that I figured I'd show you what I ended up with anyway.

I thought the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch was so interesting and I really wanted to play along.  Plus the colors at Color Throwdown were a perfect monochromatic blend.  I thought for sure these were a match made in heaven.  Alas, for me it wasn't to be and I will unashamedly admit that I made at least five versions of my card before I settled on this one.  I don't hate this card, but it's definitely not what I had in mind when I started!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Abstract Art (My Favorite Things); Slash Border (Impression Obsession); So 80's (WPlus9)

Paper:  Solar White (Neenah)

Ink:  Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Bravo Burgundy (SU)

Bravo!

I've been busy making some graduation cards for a friend and needed to squeeze one in for my niece too.  I was actually kind of tired of looking at sentiments that proclaimed that the graduate would soon conquer adventures the likes Christopher Columbus had hardly seen.  So I went in a bit of a different direction.

"Bravo" could mean a lot of different things, but in this case it's a celebration of all that my niece has accomplished.  She deserves a hearty congratulatory sentiment and this one sure sums it up!  The colors at The Card Concept merged with the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch for this one.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Beautiful Botanicals (a.muse stamps); Oh Happy Day (Avery Elle); Textures 2 (Florileges Design); Sketchy Chevron Border (Impression Obsession)

Paper:  Classic White (Flourishes); Solar White (Neenah); Basic Black (SU)

Ink:  Basic Gray, Daffodil Delight (SU); Pitch Black (Adirondack); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Notable "Cute" enamel dots (My Mind's Eye); washi tape

Hello Sunshine!

I am cautiously optimistic that spring has not only made an appearance around these parts but she is here to stay.  It is, after all, May 3rd and up until yesterday the temperatures here were well below average.  But I think we've turned the corner so to celebrate I made this card using the sketch at As You See It and the colors from Color Throwdown.

I got some new stamps and this "hello" die recently so I was anxious to put them to use. I tried the whole layered die thing here by cutting out four layers of the "hello" and gluing them together to create some dimension. It looks pretty good in person!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge (SU); So 80s, Hand Lettered Hello (WPlus9); Sketchy Cheveron Border (Impression Obsession)

Paper:  Ultra Smooth Pure White (Avery Elle); Harvest Gold (Papertrey Ink); Basic Black, Cool Caribbean (SU)

Ink:  Cool Caribbean, Cameo Coral (SU); Harvest Gold (Papertrey Ink); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Tag Me die (Reverse Confetti); Hand Lettered Hello die (WPlus9)