Christmas in May

It's been a while since I've played along with Color Throwdown and Viva La Verve but the two were calling to me so I combined them on this card.

Those Color Throwdown colors may say poppy but when I saw them I thought "Christmas."  That red and blue combo just happens to be a favorite of mine when it comes to Christmas cards so I dug out some patterned paper from an old Stampin' Up! patterned paper pack and used a couple of patterns for the background layers.  Then I cut a poinsettia, a classic Christmas image, and sponged a bit of ink on the edges of it to create some depth. Another Christmas card to add to my stash!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies

Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Baja Breeze, Real Red, Ski Slope DSP (Stampin' Up!); glitter cardstock (Recollections); Vellum (Graphix)
Ink: Real Red
Accessories:  Layered Poinsettia die (Spellbiners); Blooming Poinsettias die (Memory Box)

colourQ 339!

Here we are at Tuesday again and, of course, that means it's time for a new palette at colourQ.  This week's color combination always makes me think of a more masculine card and so that's what I did.  I'm pretty sure that I've made variations of this card before with similar colors, but I just love how these bold colors lend themselves so well to a bit of a color-block design.

I used the April sketch from Viva la Verve as my layout and gave the two background layers some texture with this awesome new embossing folder that I got recently.  The die cut sentiment was cut three times and glued together for a bit of additional dimension.

Be sure to pop on over to colourQ and check out these gorgeous colors and the inspiration from the design team.  It's our last week that design team member Amy will be with us so be sure to pop on over to her blog and give her a little colourQ farewell!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Painted Sayings (Whimsy Stamps)
Paper:  Sweet Tooth (My Favorite Things); Pear Pizzazz, Marina Mist, Night of Navy, Tangerine Tango (SU)
Ink:  Night of Navy (SU)
Accessories:   Weathered embossing folder (Taylored Expressions); Wonderful Words Birthday die (Papertrey Ink)

Holiday Cheer Tag

I should be concentrating on my Christmas cards since I'll need to get mine addressed and mailed in a few weeks, but I got distracted by the Tag challenge at Addicted to CAS.  So I took the colors and sketch from Viva La Verve and made them into a tag.

I added a bit of falling snow with some embossing paste then layered on some card stock and patterned paper in the layout of the sketch.  The trees were stamped over a couple of grungy background stamps.  I wanted them to have some texture and I didn't have any patterned paper in Cherry Cobbler or Mossy Meadow so I improvised.  My stash of patterned paper is already bursting at the seams and I don't want to add to it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Textures 1, Textures 2 (Florileges Design); Joyous Noel (Verve); Jolly Holiday (The Alley Way Stamps)

Paper:  Kraft (Papertrey Ink); Naturals White (Neenah); Cherry Cobbler, Mossy Meadow (SU)

Ink:  Cherry Cobbler, Mossy Meadow (SU)

Accessories:  Pierced Traditional Tags STAX, Pierced Circle STAX (My Favorite Things); Falling Snow stencil (Simon Says Stamp); Antique Brass jumbo eyelet, Crumb Cake seam binding, Cherry Cobbler baker's twine (SU); white embossing paste (Dreamweaver)

colourQ 261

Hello everyone!  Tuesday's are all about colourQ and this week we've got a fabulous palette for you.  Inspired by this doormat these colors will surely inspire you!

I love Chocolate Chip so I decided to make it a large layer on my card plus it looked good with the Dusty Durango diagonal layer.  I paper pieced a stamped flower out of Island Indigo DSP and thought it looked awfully plain.  So I added a circle punched out of Island Indigo cardstock to the center of the flower.  But that didn't do too much to jazz this up so I put some Crystal Effects on it.  Perfect!

I loved the angles on the sketch at Viva La Verve this week, so I'm playing along with them too!

These colors have inspired some amazing cards from the colourQ design team.  I hope you have a chance to check them out and to play along with us!  We love to see you in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Lean on Me, Dream Big (Verve)

Paper:  Classic Ivory (Flourishes); Chocolate Chip, Dusty Durango, Kiwi Kiss, Island Indigo, Vellum, Island Indigo DSP (SU)

Ink:  Frost White (Colorbox); True Black (Papertrey Ink)

Accessories:  Sprightly Sprigs die (Verve); On the Diagonal die (Lil Inker Designs); Witch Hazel button (October Afternoon); Crystal Effects (SU); white embossing powder

Freshly Made Sketches 155

This week at Freshly Made Sketches our hostess Karren has given us a sketch with one of my favorite things:  a tag!  Of course, you don't need to use a tag on your card when you play along, but I jumped at the chance!

Karren lives in New Zealand where spring is coming up all over, but where I live it's all about fall.  So when I saw the inspiration photo at Viva La Verve had some sunflowers in it that's the direction I went with my card.  And I've made another thank you card because I always need lots of these at the end of the year.  Where I work we get quite a few customers who give us gifts at Christmas time and I always donate the thank you cards to be sent to them.  So every January I'm wiped out of cards.  This year I thought I'd be smart and make lots of them so I'd be ready!  So far so good!

Our always amazing Freshly Made Sketches design team have created some beauties for you to see!  Stop by and check them out.  We hope to see you in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Bloom &  Grow (Verve); Label Love (Altenew)

Paper:  Classic Ivory (Flourishes); Natural White (Neenah); Early Espresso (SU)

Ink:  Crushed Curry, Early Espresso, Old Olive (SU)

Accessories:  Tag Sale #5 die (Papertrey Ink); Elegant Leaves die (Verve); Early Espresso seam binding ribbon, Early Espresso baker's twine (SU); burlap, jumbo brad

colourQ 250

There's a great new palette over at colourQ and guess what?  You get to pick some of the colors!  You start off with some black and white then add one other color, or five colors, you decide!

I went with the orangey-red color which I thought looked a lot like Poppy Parade.  Not to mention I love the color combo of black, white and red!  I paper pieced the flowers and the circles are nothing more than the cut out center of the flower.  I thought the flower looked a little bland so I added some Crystal Effects to the center (something I had completely forgot that I even owned, but was reminded of when I saw my colourQ teamie Lisa use a similar product on a recent card here).  I like the look so much that I wish I had done it to the other circles.

The layout for my card comes from the Week Two challenge at Viva La Verve. I loved the way the large rectangular layer was divided in two and thought it would be a perfect opportunity to use some black embossing paste.  (I love this stuff)!  Incidentally, the name of the leafy die (from Verve) is Sprightly Sprigs but for some reason every time I see the die in my stash the name that comes to mind is Spacely Sprockets.  What do you think - too much of The Jetsons when I was a kid?

The design team at colourQ were not so squeamish as me about using all of the colors in their projects this week, so be sure to make time to hop on over there and see what they've created!  And thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Lean on Me (Verve)

Paper:  Basic Black, Poppy Parade, Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Sprightly Sprigs die (Verve); Diagonal Stripes stencil (Simon Says Stamp); black embossing paste (Studio 490); My Girl enamel dots (My Mind's Eye); Crystal Effects (SU)

Thanks a Bunch

My mojo deserted me this week.  Every night I'd get home from work and had no desire to set foot in my stamp room.  I still checked out my favorite challenges but I had no ideas and couldn't rustle any up.  By Saturday I knew I had to get in there because I felt like my card-making skills were getting rusty.  While I was in there I realized what the problem was.  Today is Father's Day and this is the first one since my Dad passed away last year.  I've been thinking about that a lot this week and didn't realize that my sadness had spilled over into my card making.  I don't mean to dampen the mood, but it feels good to "say" that out loud.  Thanks for listening. :)

Anyway, although the first card I made yesterday did not turn out right at all, the second one looks pretty good.  I used the colors from Color Throwdown (although I substituted Lucky Limeade and Pool Party) and the June Viva La Verve sketch.

I stamped the sentiment on the vellum using pigment ink because it stays wet long enough to zap it with clear embossing powder.  Dye ink seems to smudge while it dries and I heard about this little trick somewhere or other.  I also stamped the flowers, created a mask, then stamped the leaves so that they would appear as if they were behind the flowers.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Dream Big, Sunny Days, Bloom & Grow (Verve)

Paper:  Classic White (Flourishes), Whisper White, Pool Party, Vellum, Everyday Enchantment DSP (SU)

Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, Pool Party (SU); Onyx Black (Versamark)

Accessories:  Pierced Square STAX (My Favorite Things); Tag Me die (Reverse Confetti); Cakewalk button (October Afternoon); clear embossing powder, thread

Tis the Season

It's been a while since I've added a Christmas card to my collection so I was feeling in a festive mood as I checked out some of my favorite challenges last night.  It just so happens that the flower challenge at Merry Monday, the inspiration photo at Festive Friday and the week four sketch at Viva la Verve all went together in my mind.

For some reason I make a lot of Christmas cards using kraft cardstock.  I like how it gives warmth to a design.  And the inspiration photo from Festive Friday definitely had some warm colors to my eye, like kraft, off white, and red.  I added some silver glimmer paper too because that little deer looked kind of shimmery to me.

Today is the start of a nice long weekend here and I am really looking forward to that extra day off from work.  I've got tons to do outside and so far it looks like the weather will cooperate!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Memorial Day to all my US friends!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Think Big Favorites #8 (Papertrey Ink)

Paper:  Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Silver Glimmer, Deck the Halls DSP (SU); Natural White (Neenah)

Ink:  Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)

Accessories:  Pierced Oval STAX (My Favorite Things); Banner Bundle die (Verve); Blooming Poinsettia die (Memory  Box); Berry Blend sequins (Avery Elle)

Hello You!

The other day on Facebook I saw a post that the Gallery Idol audition was open for 2014.  Last year my friend Lesley participated (and made it all the way to the top five!!).  I had never heard of it before but cheered her on and voted for her all the way through it.  When I saw that it was beginning again I briefly thought about trying out.  I asked some of my stamping friends if they were going to do it and was met with a chorus of resounding "no."  But it was my friend Sylvia who (inadvertently) convinced me to try.  When I told her about it she just smiled and called me a "card dork."  That's when I knew that I had to do it.  If nothing else for all the card dorks out there.  So for better or worse here's my entry..

For the audition we have to use decorative tape on our card and since I've got a rather large supply of washi tape I figured I was up to the challenge.  We can actually enter up to three cards for this first round so this probably won't be the only card I make, but we'll see.  I've got an idea or two kicking around in my head so I hope to find some time to make at least one more.

For this card I followed the first week of May challenges at Viva la Verve.  There's a sketch and a color combo and I combined both on my card. 

Thanks for stopping by!  (And wish me luck)!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Papillon Potpourri (SU); So 80's, Hand Lettered Hello (WPlus9)

Paper:  White Linen (Ellen Hutson); Smoky Slate, So Saffron, Whisper White, Vellum (SU)

Ink:  So Saffron, Smoky Slate, Tempting Turquoise (SU)

Accessories:  Pierced Square STAX (My Favorite Things); Stitched Mats:  Rectangle (Lil' Inker Designs); Basic Rhinestones (SU); washi tape

colourQ 234

Ready for another gorgeous palette from colourQ?  This week the colors come to you from this pretty hair comb.  The flowers on the comb inspired me to make a little spring-time floral card.

The week 3 sketch at Viva La Verve had some interesting layers which I thought would work well with these colors.  For the little circle layer I found myself wishing I had a doily die (or even some doilies) but then I started looking through my dies and found this "circle burst" one.  The light bulb went off and I cut the Coastal Cabana card stock with it just behind where the tag sits.

I don't know about you, but I was hoping that the end of March would find some signs of spring here in New England.  Not so!  Not only is it still quite chilly, there's a big snow storm headed this way for Wednesday.  As is often the case, the forecast is a bit undecided since the track of the storm could change, but some folks around here might see a foot of snow!  Yuck!  I think I'm one of the lucky ones who will only get a few inches, but any snow is too much in my book!

Don't forget to check out the lovely cards made by the colourQ design team.  Lots of inspiration there!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Bloom & Grow, Dream Big, Sweet Scallop Tag (Verve)

Ink:  Smoky Slate, Calypso Coral (SU)

Paper:  Classic White (Flourishes); Coastal Cabana, Apricot Appeal, Whisper White, Apricot Appeal DSP (SU)

Accessories:  Sweet Scallop Tag die, Elegant Leaves die (Verve); Small Circle Burst die (Memory Box); Basic Gray satin ribbon (SU); Cute Enamel Dots (My Minds Eye)

Color Throwdown 176 and Viva la Verve

I started making a Valentine's Day card for the Color Throwdown challenge, but I wasn't happy with how it turned out, so I turned it into a birthday card with a flower.  Shocking, I know.

I love this flower from Array of Sunshine.  It's perfect for fussy-cutting and layering.  I stamped it twice in Rose Red then cut out different sizes and layered them together.  The leaf from the same set is stamped in Crumb Cake and then rock-n-rolled on the edges with a bit of Chocolate Chip.  The colors are a little bit non-traditional for a leaf, but I think it looks pretty good (and I don't have to step outside the precept of the color challenge).  My layout is courtesy of one of the January Verve sketch challenges.

Thanks for stopping by!

PPA126 Color Challenge

The new year has brought a return of the challenges that I can't seem to live without!  Today I've made a card for the Pals Paper Arts color challenge.

I embossed the vertical Not Quite Navy layer with the Elegant Lines embossing folder.  Then I added a couple of layers of Baja Breeze.  I sponged the layers before adding a scrap from the Walk in the Park dsp to the top layer.

The flower was cut from the Sizzix Tattered Florals die and then stamped with Stitched background stamp. I sponged the edges then crinkled them up before I attached them with an Antique brad.

The layout for my card comes from a February Viva La Verve challenge.  As I've mentioned before I've got a binder where I've printed out several compendiums of sketch challenges.  I turn to it whenever I need a little inspiration, which is how I came up with the layout for this card.

I thought about stitching the vertical layer (as in the sketch), but decided to dry emboss it instead.   I only wish that I had run the cardstock through the embossing folder twice so that the top of this layer wasn't so plain.  (Why do I always think of these things too late)!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Paper Players 68

This week the challenge at The Paper Players is to make a clean and simple Christmas card using the colors red and green.

I think I can do that.  I've been trying to make Christmas cards lately in the hopes that I'll stumble upon the one design that I think I can easily replicate for this Christmas card season.  It has not happened yet, but I'll keep plugging along!  As is my usual, I like to combine a couple of challenges, so I chose one of the October Viva La Verve challenges for my sketch.

I love square cards, and I love circles on cards because it gives me an excuse to use my scallop nesties, so I jumped on this sketch challenge right away!

The designer paper I used comes from the retired Merry Moments set which gave me a chance to use Garden Green, a color I like but don't use very often.  The stamped swirl is from Snow Buddies and the sentiment is from Christmas Greeting.  I cut a couple of the snowflakes from the Northern Frost decorative strip die and finished them off with a glimmer brad.  Oh, I almost forgot that I used a bit of the velvet ribbon from the holiday mini.

Lately I've had to find some creative ways to get to do some stamping.  A couple of months ago, I adopted a couple of kittens from a local shelter and I have found that they like to be wherever I am.  For one thing, they like to climb up my legs when I'm standing at the kitchen counter trying to make dinner.  And when it comes time to get some stamping done, they see this as an opportunity to take a nap on my laptop, or right in the middle of the work area on my desk, or on my lap!  They're really quite adorable and I've put a cuddly pet bed in my stamp room, so that they can nap there when I'm working, but that doesn't always work and sometimes I have to just give up for the night!

This is a picture I took of them watching Top Gear shortly after they adopted me(!)  They're a bit bigger now, but just as adorable!

Color Throwdown 152

I thought I'd attempt the Color Throwdown challenge this week because the colors are awesome!

So then I searched around until I found an interesting sketch.  One of the July Viva La Verve sketches caught my eye.

I know it doesn't look like it, but the flowers are really not the same color!  The larger flower layer is colored with Rose Red and the smaller one with Melon Mambo.  I was really surprised to see that the colors are so close, even in real life.  I think maybe I should have watercolored them to make them seem more different.

Well later today I've got a bridal shower to go to at my aunt's house.  It's supposed to be a lovely day and I think we'll be outside in the garden.  Should be a great time!

Thanks for stopping by!