Freshly Made Sketches 99

I'm not sure if my card this week for Freshly Made Sketches is a Halloween card or a macabre Valentine.  Since I used some of my favorite Halloween papers I know which way I'm casting my vote!

This week the sketch is designed by Rita.  Those three circles are just wide open for interpretation and I can't wait to see how they turn up on your card!  On my card I used the fun bat and sentiment from the brand new Bump in the Night stamp set to fill those circles.

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to check out the cards from the amazing Freshly Made Sketches design team for some inspiration then link up your own creation!

colourQ 202

Tuesday around here means a new palette is up at colourQ and a card of mine to share using those colors.  This week Arielle found a pillow and some bedding with some great colors that inspired some pretty awesome cards from the design team.  Here's mine:

A few days ago I had seen the new-to-me Wanna Sketch challenge and liked the layout. I began to design some cards in my head then realized that the colourQ colors would be perfect for what I had in mind.  I waffled a bit about what to do for the main image on my tag before deciding on layering this Verve flower.

Be sure to check out the cards from the colourQ design team, then link up your own creation!

Supplies:

Stamps: Bloomin' Marvelous (SU); Dream Big (Verve)

Accessories:  Lorelai Outline Leaf die (Poppystamps); Scallop Flowers die (Verve); Tag Sale #5 die (Papertrey Ink); Daffodil Delight button (SU); baker's twine (American Crafts); crochet thread

Summer Silhouettes for Fab Friday and i {heart} sketches

I feel like I've been wandering around my stamp room for days trying to make this card.  One day I was distracted about some nonsense on Facebook, then another day I was distracted by the telephone.  Today I was determined to finish my card and get it posted this morning.  I met the "today" deadline but not the morning.  I'm happy that at least I finished!

Now that I've had a chance to see this here I think I used a little too much Crumb Cake.  It's funny how seeing a card in a blog post gives it a totally different perspective than seeing it in your hands!  I used the colors from the latest Fab Friday challenge as well as the sketch from i {heart} sketches.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Summer Silhouettes (SU); Textures 1 (Florileges Designs)

Accessories:  Stitched Mats Square die (Lil' Inker Designs); Epic Day This and That washi (SU); button (PTI)

Something Fun

This is not a new card but I had some fun news to share regarding it.  Some months ago I was asked by Beate to do a tutorial for Splitcoast Stampers on the "bordered sentiment."  To say I was flabbergasted would be a huge understatement.  But I agreed and nervously put together my humble instructions.  The tutorial debuted yesterday and you can find it here.

This is the card I made:

I have a new appreciation for those of you who do tutorials on a regular basis.  It's hard work trying to take pictures of what you are doing while you are doing it, as well as come up with a commentary that is not overly wordy yet still conveys the instructions clearly.  But, I did it and I'm so grateful to Splitcoast Stampers for the opportunity.  I didn't invent this technique, but I do love how it looks and have used it often.

So thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you enjoy the tutorial! 

Freshly Made Sketches 98

It's my turn to be the hostess at Freshly Made Sketches and this week I thought I'd give you all a square card.  Those happen to be my favorite and I don't really know why!  I actually had a bit of stamper's block when I sat down at my desk to make my card this week.  After two tries and a long break, I made a third finally settled on that one.

The colors are from Dynamic Duos and they are totally fabbo together!  And I especially love how they look with Crumb Cake.  But who am I kidding?  Everything looks better with Crumb Cake!

I sure hope you can join us in the Freshly Made Sketches gallery this week.  And don't be put off by the square card.  If rectangles are more your thing, then by all means turn the sketch into a rectangle!  The design team has created their usual fantastic samples so be sure to check them out.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Nature's Elements (Stamper's Anonymous)

Accessories:  Stitched Mats Square die (Lil' Inker Designs); sequins (Studio Calico); crochet thread

Trick or Treat and RS75

The weather has turned decidedly fall-like here in New England the last couple of days, even though it's still summer when I look at the calendar.  This got me thinking about fall colors and Halloween so I decided to make my first Halloween card of the season.

How stinkin' cute are these feet?  I'll tell you.  They are stinkin' cute!  They are from the brand new Funky Feet stamp set from The Alley Way Stamps, but you can't buy it.  You can, however, get it for FREE if you spend $40 or more in the TAWS store during the month of August!  How cool is that?

For my card, I dug out an old favorite DSP set called Halloween Night.  It features my all-time favorite candy corn sprinkled all over it and I thought that would make a fun background for these monster feet.  The layout of my card is an upside-down, slightly crooked version of the latest retro sketch.  You can see the sketch there, right?  LOL!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Funky Feet (The Alley Way Stamps)

Accessories:  Chevron Stripes die (My Favorite Things); black grosgrain ribbon (SU)

colourQ 201

It's good to be back on the colourQ bandwagon!  This week Arielle has found these great colors for us inspired by this fab apron.  (It's so pretty, it looks like a dress)!  When I first saw them I thought of making a masculine themed card but then I stumbled on the Sketchbook Saturday sketch and was overcome with the urge to use butterflies!  Apparently, I'm very susceptible to suggestion!

It took me a while to find this butterfly die, but when I did I used it to cut these beautiful images.  It took me longer to find the Soft Sky designer paper which I used to cut the smaller butterfly but I'm so glad I kept searching because I think the colors layered together this way are so eye-catching.  I had second thoughts about cutting off the butterfly on the right side of the card, but obviously there wasn't a whole lot I could do about it once I had done the deed!

Eclectic colors like these mean you've got lots of eclectic cards to see from the always amazing colourQ design team!  So hop on over to check them out.  I hope you can join us this week in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Thoughtful Florals (Verve)

Accessories:  Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die (SU); Banner Trio die (WPlus9); baker's twine (American Crafts)

Hey Friend, Cardabilities #80, CTD253

Hello!  I'm back to my blog after a pretty tough week for me and my family.  Before I get to the reveal of my card today, I just wanted to thank everyone who was kind enough to offer heartfelt condolences on the death of my Dad.  The outpouring of love and sympathy from people I have never even met is truly humbling and I am reminded again what wonderful people are part of this world-wide stamping community.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Now on to my card for today that features one of the cute robots from Crazy Circuits and a sentiment from Stackem' High.  The layout of my card is based on the Cardabilities sketch and the colors from Color Throwdown.

I think it's been a while since I did some sewing on a card so I dragged out my Janome mini.  I wasn't feeling the scallops on the sketch graphic, so I thought a zig zag stitch would be a good compromise to add some visual interest.

Short and sweet for me today.  I'm still feeling my way around my stamp room after such a long absence.  But thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Crazy Circuits, Stackem' High (The Alley Way Stamps)

Accessories:  Argyle embossing folder, Dimensionals (SU)