CAS(E) This Sketch 278

June is almost in the books - can you believe it?  I can't, that's for sure.  But before we march on into July we've got a new challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch.  I used a little artistic liberty with the sketch (haha pun intended)!

Usually when I see three of something on a sketch I run for the hills!  I don't know why - it's just a design element that leaves me stumped most of the time.  So I started poking around blogland for some ideas and found the inspiration challenge at CAS-ual Fridays was about fireworks.  I remembered I had a stamp set that had some fireworks plus the Statue of Liberty so I figured I could somehow make that work. 

The fireworks are the top circle on the sketch and the Statue of Liberty is a combination of the other two!  You can see that, right?  Well, even if you can't that's my story and I'm sticking to it!  I actually love how this came out.  That elegant lady is a perfect foreground for some exciting fireworks!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  My CAS(E) This Sketch teamies did not go rogue with this sketch at all and have some wonderful cards to inspire you to play along with us.  I hope you do!

Supplies
Stamps:  USA 1776 (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah)
Ink:  Caribbean Sky, Sapphire (Altenew); Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink); Nocturne (Versafine Clair)

Freshly Made Sketches 193

Hello!  Wednesday is, of course, Freshly Made Sketches day around here and this week our hostess is Rita.  Her sketch is both a great way to use up some patterned paper scraps and also a great way to think outside the box when contemplating those rectangles!  Here's my card:

I had been thinking about making a 4th of July card for a while and last week attempted one for this very same challenge but failed miserably.  So this week I tried it again and I love how it came out.  I stamped all the images onto a rectangular piece of card stock then cut it vertically and took out a small sliver to make a little void between the pieces.  I love that look but don't ask me to explain why!

Coincidentally the challenge at Retro Rubber is 4th of July too so I'll be adding this over there.  The stamps I used have been in my stash for a while, but maybe not a year as they like to see, so I dug out my crimper for one of the layers.  Nothing says early 21st century like a crimper I like to say!

Once again the design team at Freshly Made Sketches will knock your socks off with their interpretations of this sketch.  I hope you check them out and join us in the gallery!  We love to see you there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps:  USA 1776 (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Paper:  Pure Luxury White (Gina K); Night of Navy, Whisper White (SU)
Ink:  Night of Navy, Real Red (SU); Silvery Shimmer (Delicata)
Accessories:  Real Red button (SU); baker's twine; enamel dots (My Mind's Eye)

colourQ 248

We've got some wonderful patriotic colors this week at colourQ just in time to celebrate Independence Day in the US.  The inspiration comes from this subway art style frame.

This is the only stamp set I have that has fireworks and July 4th sentiments which pretty much guarantees that I'll never get rid of it.  I stamped the images in a random pattern and added the sentiment on a little vellum tag.  It's hard to see in the photo, but it's there!  I recently came across a new-to-me challenge called Match the Sketch so I played along with #26.

We'd love to have you play along with us at colourQ this week.  The design team has got some great cards to inspire you so be sure to check them out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  July Fourth (SU)

Paper:  Sahara Sand, Not Quite Navy, Vellum (SU)

Ink:  Sahara Sand, Not Quite Navy, Marina Mist, Ruby Red (SU)

Accessories:  Banner Bundle die (Verve); Woodland Park button (October Afternoon); Rustic Twine (Papertrey Ink)

colourQ 196

There's just a couple more days until the Independence Day celebrations begin here in the US.  My town has a parade in the morning, a day long celebration for families culminating in fireworks at night.  What better way to commemorate the occasion than with a card I made with the red, white and blue colors this week at colourQ!

I couldn't resist inking up my one and only July 4th stamp set for this challenge.  I used the Fab Friday sketch for my layout adding one of those cool wood veneer shapes that are so popular right now.

I hope you have a chance to check out the challenge this week at colourQ.  The design team has got some great cards to show you!  And this is the last challenge that Kara will be participating in as a member of the design team, so be sure to leave her some comment love!

BE Inspired 29

It's time for a brand new BE Inspired challenge from The Alley Way Stamps!  And that means you could win some free stamps!

This photo made me feel patriotic with the red, white and blue colors.  And if you click on the inspiration photo to enlarge it, you will see that some of the sprinkly bits are actually stars.  So I grabbed my KA-POW stamp set because I thought some of the images looked a lot like fireworks and made a card for the 4th of July.  I'm a little early, but I couldn't resist!

Now, how about those free stamps I mentioned?  Well, all you have to do is make a project using images from The Alley Way Stamps inspired by the photo.  And don't worry if you don't have any TAWS stamps because you can download freebies right HERE!  Then link up your creation HERE.

One lucky person will chosen as the Top Pick and will win a stamp set of their own choosing.  Then another lucky person will be chosen randomly and will also win a stamp set of their choosing.  Easy peasy, right?

I hope you have a chance to play along with us.  The challenge will remain open until 12:00 noon, TAWS time (MDT) on Thursday, June 6th.  Good luck!

Freshly Made Sketches 42

Happy Independence Day to all my American friends!  July 4th is one of my favorite holidays.  There are parades and fireworks, hot summer weather, cookouts with family and friends, and hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill!  I can't wait for all the festivities to start!

But first things first.  Today is also the start of a new sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  I decided to go a little patriotic with my card to celebrate this special day.

My red, white, and blue colors were a no-brainer but I added a bit of Daffodil Delight to symbolize some of the color of fireworks.  In fact that's what that little flourish is supposed to represent!  (That's what you thought it was, right)?  I added some wide Real Red grosgrain ribbon tied with some red baker's twine (that I got for a real bargain at TJ Maxx.  You never know what you're going to find at that store)!  A cute little Real Red button balances the whole thing off nicely!  The stars are from Seeing Stars (both SU! and Verve).

Our super-amazing Freshly Made Sketches design team has created some fantastic cards to spur your imagination so be sure to stop on by.  Then link up your own fantastic card so we can all see!

And have a safe and happy 4th of July celebration!

Cindy Hall

Tui Nathan

Jennifer Timko

Allisa Chilton

Jen Sannes

Ann Schach

Linda Suarez

Jennifer Brum 

colourQ 143

Over at colourQ, the color palette seemed a bit patriotic and since Independence Day is just around the corner, I thought I'd make something with fireworks.

I ended up using the retro sketches challenge for my layout and I went a bit subtle on the fireworks in favor of making the stars be the focal point.  I think you can just see the fireworks from July Fourth are there, stamped in Poppy Parade on Poppy Parade cardstock.  One of the stars is from that same set and the others are from Seeing Stars.  

I hope you have time to join us this week at colourQ.  The design team has been busy creating some great cards to inspire you so be sure to head on over and check them out.  You have until Sunday, July 1st at noon CST to link up your project and be considered for colourQueen.  You know you want to.

Color Lab Challenge 47

We are all about patriotic colors this week at the ColorLab!

As soon as I saw this color challenge I knew that I was going to make some kind of July 4th card.  I poked around blogland and eventually, after much deliberation, decided that the Sketchbook Saturday sketch would be a good fit for what I had in mind.

And here's my version of my patriotic version of this sketch challenge.  I'll admit that when I first saw this sketch, I was a little unsure about how I wanted to proceed.  But once I decided to combine it with the ColorLab challenge it was like the light dawned and it all came together very quickly.

I know it doesn't seem so in the photo, but I really did use Not Quite Navy here.  All of the blue that I used to stamp the stars is Not Quite Navy.  I wish it showed up better!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a chance to pop on over to the ColorLab, check out the inspiration from the design team, and join our challenge this week.  We'd love to see what you do!

ColourQ 90 and Viva la Verve

I was, of course, in a very patriotic mood when I saw the colors today at the Colour Q.

So I poked around until I found a sketch I liked that would give me a good layout for all of these colors.  I settled on the Viva la Verve! sketch for week 3. 

I had high hopes for this card, but I ended up changing my mind a lot while I was putting this together, so I'm not entirely sure that I like what I ended up with! 

I think it's ok, but I spent so much time fussing over it that at this point my eyes are crossed and I have no objectivity.  I think I'll send it to my Dad and see what he has to say!

Thanks for stopping by!

Oh My Stars!

I think the ladies over at the Pals Paper Arts challenge blog have it right when they say that Margaret Moody makes fabulous sketches.  As soon as I saw this one, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  I paired it with the Curtain Call Color Challenge and came up with this fabulous card (if I may say so myself).  I'm going to send this to my Dad, who is a Marine Corp veteran, because he really enjoys all things patriotic.  

I hope everyone has a chance to enjoy July 4th celebrations this year.  It's one of my favorite holidays because there are parades, fireworks, and cookouts with family or friends.  This year my sister is pairing a July 4th cookout with her son's college graduation party.  I can hardly wait!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

More July 4th Greetings

I may be crazy, but I think there is a card thief in my house. 

The other day I was perusing my Splitcoast gallery because I needed to make some cards fast and I figured it would be easier to copy something I've already made rather than start from scratch.  What I found was a couple of cards that I made within the last couple of weeks and decided to just use those instead of making new ones.  Except, I can't find the cards anywhere!  I know I don't have the neatest stamp room (who does?), but they've got to be somewhere!  Eventually I gave up looking.  I don't know where they've gone but hopefully they'll turn up some time.

Which brings me to this card.  I love this stamp set.  It makes such fun cards.  I made this one the other day, took the picture, but forgot to post it.  So this morning I go looking for it and surprise, surprise it's no where to be found!  I am 100% positive that I have not sent anyone a July 4th card in the last couple of days, so the only explanation is that there's a ghost in my house that has an unreasonable fascination with hand-stamped cards, the mice down cellar have finally taken over and are slowly confiscating all my possessions, or someone is stealing my cards!  It couldn't possibly be that these cards are buried under something in my stamp room and that if I just spent a few minutes tidying up, I'd find them.  No way!

Fourth of July Greetings

I don't make a lot of round cards, but they're kind of fun.  The last MOJO sketch of the month is usually to make either a round card or a tradtional square/rectangle one.  So for this one I decided to go out of my comfort zone and try something different.  And since I went to the Memorial Day parade in my home town on Monday, I was in a patriotic mood.  I made this July 4th card using somewhat non-traditional colors.  I stayed with the red, white, and blue theme but used baja breeze and riding hood red for an updated look.  I'm so glad these are being added to the standard line of SU! colors.  I always loved them!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

July 4th Celebration

Nothing like being ahead on your holiday cards, I've always said.  Of course, I always SAY this.  I don't actually do this.  (If I did, I'd be halfway through my Christmas cards by now!!).  However, this is the first July 4th stamp set I've ever owned and as I contemplated what stamp set I wanted to use for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, I realized it would work really well with the sketch and at the same time take the pressure off making some cool July 4th cards well ahead of the holiday.  I hope it's not too busy!!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!