MOJO 206 and Inkspirations 84

Over at Inkspirations, we were warned not to be afraid of their color combo challenge this week!

Although, I don't usually make cards with such vibrant colors, I wanted to give this challenge a try.  I paired it with the latest MOJO sketch challenge.

As always, the last challenge of the month is a choice between a round or square card.  Or if you're feeling really ambitious, you could do both.  I opted for the square.

I think it actually hurts my eyes when I look at this card!  My intention was to really make the bright colors be the focal point of the card and then throw in a smidge of Concord Crush to round things out.  I'm not entirely sure that I like the Concord Crush rectangle, but I do like the row of circles.  They're easy to do.  I just punched a 1/2-inch hole then punched a 3/4-inch hole around it.  And I've just noticed as I'm writing this that I didn't use a single stamp on this card!  I haven't done that in a long time, but there's plenty of space on the Tangerine Tango layer to add one later.

Thanks for stopping by!

FTL155 and ColourQ 100

This week the sketch challenge at Clean & Simple Stamping added a color challenge twist.  They've teamed up with the ColourQ and want us to check the ColourQ archives and pick a color combo to use with our card.  I decided on #32 from May 2010.

I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that I picked a color combo that included Kraft, Kiwi Kiss and Basic Black!

I found some Groovy Guava designer paper from a set called Afternoon Tea.  That was a favorite of mine and I was glad to see that I had a bit left to use on this card.  The butterfly was stamped on Vellum and colored on the reverse side.  My "buttons" were made using the Sweet Buttons embosslit.  That is one terrific little gadget to have!  I wanted to use buttons for the circles, but I didn't have any buttons in the colors that I needed.  Then I remembered that I had the handy-dandy embosslit and my problem was solved! If you don't have a button in a certain color, you can just create one.  How cool is that?

Well today is the day that Hurricane Eileen is expected to create all kinds of havoc around here.  Later it's going to get quite windy and rainy.  We already had quite a bit of rain yesterday and I'm ready with my flashlights and candles in case the power goes out.  The good news is that even if the power goes out, I can still spend some time in my stamp room!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Color Throwdown 156

A funny thing happened on the way to making this card.  First, I chose to make a card using the latest color challenge at the Color Throwdown.

Then I spied a sketch challenge that I had printed out and put on my desk in my stamp room.  Frequently, I will print out a sketch challenge then keep the sketch within my eyesight in case the inspiration bug hits me.  Well, in this case it was the PPA107 sketch that inspired me to make a card.

So, armed with my assignment, I set to work!

The funny this is that the PPA challenge was from a week ago.  Somehow I lost track of time and thought I was making a card for this week's challenge.  Oops.  But anyway for this card, once again, I turned to the only Perfect Plum designer paper I own, which is from a Halloween series from a few years ago.  Layered against some Perfect Plum cardstock, it looks terrific and I set the basic layout of my card.  I stamped the big flower from the Fabulous Flowers stamp set in So Saffon then rock and rolled it with a bit of Perfect Plum on the edges.  After I cut the big flower into squares and mounted it on Perfect Plum and So Saffron squares, I added a Perfect Plum button in the middle.  Sweet!

We are expecting some bad weather tomorrow because of Hurricane Eileen that will be passing over us on Sunday, so today I have to concentrate on putting away some of my patio furniture that might start blowing around if I don't secure it in some way.  I hope that anyone reading this on the east coast stays safe during the storm and that it passes by without causing too much damage.

Thanks for stopping by today and BE SAFE!

Friday Mashup Challenge 21

Lesley has cooked up quite a challenge for us this week at the Friday Mashup!

How about this for a fabulous sketch?  And to make things interesting, you've got a bonus challenge to add some dry embsossing.  So here's the Mashup Challenge:

1. Create a project using the provided “Sketch”
2. Create a project that uses "Dry Embossing.”
3. Or "Mash it Up!" and create a project using the "Sketch and Dry Embossing"!

For my last week as the Guest Designer at the Friday Mashup I thought it was only fitting that I Mash It Up and create a card using the sketch and some dry embossing. 

I used a card base of Crumb Cake then followed it up with some Chocolate Chip and Blushing Bride.  It's hard to see in the picture, but the vertical Chocolate Chip layer is paper pierced along the edge.  It adds a nice touch!

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

MOJO 205 and ColourQ 99

Wowza!  The color challenge over at ColourQ this week is quite a challenge!

Even though the graphic called to mind Christmas, I couldn't help but think of Halloween when I first saw this challenge.  The colors are autumn-inspiring but that little bit of Island Indigo makes it somewhat unusual.  But what really made me want to give this challenge a try was this week's MOJO challenge.

To me this is the perfect layout to give the ColourQ color challenge a try.  It's got a lot of different layers going on which will help to showcase the colors.  And the colors are somewhat eclectic so no matter how you lay them down, you'll create something interesting to look at.  

 For my card, I went with a pumpkin graphic.  It could be Halloween or it could just be autumn.  Or it could just be that I was thinking of how yummy pumpkin pie is!  In any event, I think these colors make a pretty cool card!

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

Paper Players 60 and CCMC163

I wanted to participate in the latest Create With Connie and Mary color challenge because it included Pacific Point, a color I don't use nearly enough.

But I was also a little afraid of it, because the colors are so diverse.  But I reminded myself that sometimes being scared of a challenge is just what the doctor ordered.  Then I saw the sketch challenge at The Paper Players and realized that these two challenges would be perfect for each other!

Often when I attempt a color challenge that has just three colors I try to use a layout that is pretty clean and simple.  This beauty gave me plenty of opportunity to leave a lot of white space.

Initially, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for the focal point of my card and after some deliberation decided on the small flower from the Fabulous Florets stamp set.  I embossed it with Tangerine Tango embossing powder then popped it up on some dimensionals.  The sentiment is from the Bring On the Cake stamp set.

Despite my original misgivings about this tough color challenge, I'm actually pretty pleased with how this turned out.  And I love using that rickrack.  It's so Charlie Brown!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Color Throwdown 155 and Sketchbook Saturday 25

Today is my sister's birthday and I wasn't inspired by any of the birthday cards I had in my stash so I decided to combine the latest Color Throwdown challenge with the Sketchbook Saturday challenge and make a new card.

It's nice to see Kiwi Kiss make an appearance now and again.  All in all this is a terrific color challenge and I think the sketch was a great way to show the colors off.  The only thing I had to change was the Barely Banana, since I didn't have any of that color.  I substituted So Saffron instead.

I tried something a little different when I stamped the flowers so that the layers would show up.  The first, largest layer is stamped in Rose Red.  Then I inked the flower again in So Saffron, and before I stamped it I drew some lines on the edge of the stamp with a Rose Red marker.  I wasn't sure how it would come out, but I like it.  At least it shows a little contrast between the layers.  The smallest layer is just stamped in So Saffron.

Thanks for stopping by today! 

ColourQ 98

I think it's been a couple of weeks since I made a card for the ColourQ challenge and I've missed it.  The challenge always seems to feature colors that inspire me to think outside the box so I like to participate when I can.  Last night I was determined to make a card for this week's challenge.

This graphic grabbed my attention right away because the colors are gorgeous and those crocheted flowers are adorable.

I started out making this card armed with the ColourQ challenge and a particular sketch challenge, but after I'd made it I realized that the sketch was supposed to feature a Christmas card.  Oops!  Since there was no way I could pass this off to represent any holiday, I have decided to create my own Hello Friend group so that we can celebrate our own holiday whenever we want.  The first meeting will be on the second Tuesday of......Never mind.  Probably not a good idea!

Seriously, I really enjoyed this color challenge.  It's got all the sorts of colors that I really love, especially the new Island Indigo.  I haven't had much chance to play with it, but I hope to rectify that in the future!

Thanks for stopping by today!