Deconstructed Sketch 46 and Hand Stamped Sentiments 112

Happy Easter!

I probably should have made an Easter card to post today, but instead I made a "thank you" card using the yummy colors at Hand Stamped Sentiments and the very cool Deconstructed Sketch.

I waffled a bit about whether to use Very Vanilla or Crumb Cake as my neutral, so I ended up using both!      (Just the leaves are stamped in Crumb Cake).  I found that I still have a few pieces of textured Rich Razzleberry cardstock so I used that for one of the vertical layers as well as the die-cut flower.  I'm not sure the texture shows up very well in the picture, but in real life it looks pretty.

Just a quick post today as I'll be off to my sister's house for Easter dinner.  I have to bring our family's semi-famous raisin sauce for the ham and some biscuits for strawberry shortcake.  Yum!

MOJO 235

The MOJO sketch challenge this week is pretty cool.  It's got rectangles, circles and angles.  How could I resist?

I'm still trying to use up as much of my soon-to-be retiring colors so I chose to use Pear Pizzazz for the big background layer.  The So Saffron pointy banner (apologies, because I don't really know what to call that) is made from cardstock and Sweet Pea DSP.  The sentiment, flowers and leaves are all Verve.

I seem to be out of steam today.  Hopefully I can re-energize and be back soon with a real zinger!

Thanks for stopping by!

Freshly Made Sketches 29

It's Wednesday and that means it's time for a new Freshly Made Sketch.  And since it's our first sketch in April it's also time to introduce our two new guest designers for April.  Kathy Turner of Stamping Still and Lisa Johansen of Snowy Moose Creations will be joining us for a very creative April!

This week, Jennifer Timko has created a sketch that's a keeper for us!

I dug into some of my favorites for this card.  The Early Espresso DSP is from Berry Blossoms and the Kiwi Kiss DSP is from Urban Oasis.  The leafy stamp and pretty flowers are from Growing Green.  These are wonderful colors and are somewhat loosely based on the colors from the colourQ #78 challenge.

Now, head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the newest challenge.  And if that isn't enough to get you to join us then all you need to do is check out the inspiration from the Design Team because they are all very INSPIRING!  We can't wait to see what you do!

colourQ 131

Since Easter is just around corner, it would be remiss of me to not make a card to celebrate.  Since I was a kid I've associated Easter with warm temperatures (hinting at the summer to come) and lovely colors (hinting that the drab colors of winter are behind us).  Luckily the challenge this week at colourQ was chock-a-block full of springy colors and gave me the perfect opportunity to show off my meager stash of Easter-appropriate stamps!

I had actually forgotten about this cute little bunny stamp, but I came across it as I was desperately searching for something I could use that would be even vaguely Easter-like.  I especially like the innocent, wide-eyed expression on his cute little bunny face.  And those ears are beyond adorable.

Actually his ears remind me of the first time I got a look at a real bunny.  When I was a kid, one of my friends had a pet bunny and up until I saw her pet, my only experience with rabbits involved Saturday morning Looney Tunes.  I thought all rabbits looked like Bugs Bunny!  Imagine my surprise when I got a look at my friend's round ball of fluff with ears that did not, in fact, stand up but instead were small and lay flat against his little head.  Oh, the disappointment!

Anyway, enough of this little trip down memory lane.  You should now head on over to colourQ and check out the inspiration from the design team.  Once again, there's some amazing inspiration for you.  I hope you have a chance to play along with us!

Thanks for stopping by!

The Paper Players 89 Humor Challenge

A few months back I got a funny stamp but I hadn't got a chance to put it to good use yet.  Then, lo and behold, the challenge this week at The Paper Players is to make a card with a humorous or punny image or sentiment.  Finally I've got a good reason to ink this stamp up!

I'm not sure who I'm going to give this card to because I know an awful lot of people who would appreciate this sentiment!

Thanks for stopping by!

CCMC195

The color challenge this week at Create With Connie and Mary had me stumped at first.  I started making a card last night but realized after a while that it was absolute rubbish, so I put it aside in favor of sleeping on it.  I went back to my stamp room this afternoon after I discovered a Sketchbook Saturday sketch from a couple of weeks ago, which just screamed at me to use a flower die and would be perfect with these colors.

On the card base I used the Perfect Details texturz plate, something I have not used in ages.  The flowers are cut with the Flower Daisies #2 Sizzix die and the buttons are from a retired set called Fresh Favorites I.  I really like those buttons because they have a lovely matte finish.  Kind of a nice departure from all the shiny buttons SU! has now.  The So Saffron DSP is from my never-ending stash of Sweet Pea.

I had intended to stamp a sentiment on this card but forgot to do it before I embossed the base, so now I think it's too late.  I don't want to add another layer so I guess it stays the way it is!

Thanks for stopping by!

Retro Sketches 4 and Color Throwdown 185

This week retro sketches has got another great sketch for us to try and the color challenge at Color Throwdown was too good to resist.

This card is pretty simple.  I used my favorite impression plate from PTI on the card base.  The main stamped image is from Just Believe and I added the "smile" sentiment from Fabulous Phrases.  Easy peasy and I was done!

Thanks for stopping by!

Freshly Made Sketches 28

The other day while I was looking through my stamp sets, I came across Pocket Silhouettes and realized that it been ages since I used that set.  So when this week's Freshly Made Sketch came around I decided to use it for my card.

I dug into my stash and used some Kiwi Kiss cardstock and a bit of DSP from Walk in the Park.   First I had stamped the image in Kiwi Kiss and thought the overall colors were a little blah so I stamped over that with some Baja Breeze.  Then I added the fabulous Basic Gray corduroy buttons.  I stamped a "thank you" sentiment from Thank You Kindly but now that I've had some time to think about it I wish I had used a birthday sentiment instead because these colors and Lesley's fabulous sketch are perfect for a man-card and I don't have nearly enough of those!

The Freshly Made Sketches design team has made some fabulous cards this week so make sure you stop on by and check them out.  I know you will be inspired to join us with your own creation!

Lesley Croghan

Linda Callahan

Cindy Hall

Tui Nathan

Jennifer Timko

Rita Wright

Allisa Chilton

Narelle Farrugia