Color Throwdown 146 and Sketchbook Saturday 16

This week the color challenge at the Color Throwdown features one of my all-time favorites Kiwi Kiss, so I was powerless to resist that siren's call.  Fortunately I was recently able to buy a whole package of cardstock from someone who apparently didn't want it (crazy, I know), so I no longer have to be so stingy when I use it.  As you'll see from my card, I didn't go crazy with my new supply.  Baby steps, I say to myself!  Anyway, I thought the Sketchbook Saturday sketch was pretty interesting so I combined these two challenges.

I love the scallops on this sketch and the little button accents.  I think I'm a sucker for buttons!

I used the wonderful Tangerine Tango embossing powder on my flowers, rather than stamping them with ink.  I love that shiny goodness you get with embossing powder, and I was so happy to see that there are some new embossing powders in the upcoming catalog.  Fun, fun!

The weather has finally taken a turn for the better here.  I spent a very happy weekend puttering around my garden planting flowers and enjoying the fabulous weather.  I even spent some time sitting on my patio getting some sun.  Unfortunately, I neglected to turn my chaise lounge so that  I was facing the sun directly, so as a result I've got some nice summer color on one side of my face!  Next weekend I've got to remember to give equal treatment to the other side!

Thanks for stopping by!

PPA98 and Inkspirations 74

When I saw the color challenge this week at Inkspirations, I knew immediately that I wanted to participate.

Ooh La La!  What a fabulous color combo.  And the inspiration from the design team was luscious.  I couldn't wait to get started and I thought it would be a good idea to pair this with the sketch challenge at Pals Paper Arts.

My mother's birthday is Sunday and I had a card already made for the occasion.  But I liked this color/sketch combo enough to try my hand at another birthday card to see if I could make something that I liked even better.

Although, I really like this card I'm not sure my mother will.  She's a little traditional when it comes to colors and styles, so I'm not sure she'll appreciate an eclectic color combo like this.  I think I'll sleep on it, and decide in the morning!

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Color Dare 105 and Unscripted Sketches 110

I decided to try my hand at a new (to me) sketch challenge called Unscripted Sketches.  I thought it had a very nice CAS layout.

And I thought that it would be a nice layout for this weeks Color Dare challenge to use Elegant Eggplant, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, and Sahara Sand. 

Elegant Eggplant is not a color that I use very often, but after using it here, I'm coming to appreciate it.  And look how great it looks with these other colors!  I even managed to use some brads that are a very deep purple (they look black in the photo, but trust me they are as eggplant as they can get)!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Color Lab Challenge 45

This week the color challenge at the ColorLab is divine!

There's been a lot of Melon Mambo and Daffodil Delight going around lately and I love it!  It's no secret that I mostly favor earthy colors, but I LOVE Melon Mambo and it looks fabulous with Daffodil Delight and Tempting Turquoise.  In order to do this fabby challenge justice, I searched around the blogosphere until I found a sketch that I thought would be perfect for it.  I found it in the Verve challenge forum on Splitcoast.

I liked the clean and simple layout and that nice bit of white space around the edges, which I thought would nicely show off these bright colors.

I've been on a butterfly kick lately.  (When I'm not making flowers with the faux-mother-of-pearl technique, that is).  There's just something really lovely about them.  I once went to a butterfly conservatory in Canada and it was the most wonderful experience.  There were all these beautiful butterflies flying around you and you really got to observe them up close.  They are amazing creatures and I really enjoy putting them on my cards!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you'll venture over to the ColorLab and try out our fabulous challenge this week.  The design team has some great stuff to inspire you!

MOJO195 and Paper Players 51

I feel like I'm so behind on my stamping!  I've been so busy lately I haven't had time to fit in all the challenges that I'd like to, but today I managed to squeeze in the latest MOJO sketch along with The Paper Players color challenge.

What a delightful color combo!  It's especially nice to see bright and cheery colors like these because the last few days here have been kind of dull and dreary.  The sun came out today, which was a welcome change.

I wish I had stamped a little more whispy leaves because I think it needs a little more "something."  But it will have to do.  And I can't go back and stamp more, because I've got to watch the last game of the Stanley Cup finals.  My hometown team, the Boston Bruins, are trying to win their first Stanley Cup in I don't know how many years, and it's my duty to root them on!

Go Bruins!

SSSC121 and Color Dare 104

This week the color challenge at The Color Dare is very unusual.  The challenge was to use Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze and Cajun Craze.  I had to think long and hard about this one, and I'm still not sure about what I came up with.  I decided on the Sweet Sunday sketch for my layout.

Once again, I did quite a bit of waffling about what I wanted my stamped image to be.  At first I was going to use one of the animals from the Fox & Friends stamp set, but that would have made the card a little kid-friendly and I just don't have any kid-friendly sentiments.  So, I went the butterfly route.

I think the circle is too big and would have looked quite a bit better if I had some Cajun Craze dp.  Despite all the things I don't like about this card, I do think the colors are really great together.  And I took a little liberty with the ribbon.  It's actually some left-over Dusty Durango, but the color is really close to Cajun Craze.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sketchbook Saturday 15 and Creative Sketches 36

I'm kind of new to the Creative Sketches challenge blog but I liked these colors and thought I'd give their latest challenge a try.

With colors like these I should really use the opportunity to get a head start on my Christmas cards, but I ended up going in a different direction.  I paired the colors with the cute square Sketchbook Saturday sketch.

I love making square cards, I just wish that the post office didn't charge extra postage when you mail something square.  I don't really know what the point of that is, but I usually make cards like these 4 1/4 inches so they fit in an A2 envelope.  And that size is super cute to boot!

I know that you're shocked to see these faux-mother-of-pearl flowers, but I can't seem to help myself.  I'm fast dwindling my supply of glossy card stock because I keep making these, too!  I actually end up wasting a bit of the cardstock, because it's very slippery when you try to stamp on it with an inked-up stamp.  You have to be very careful that the stamp doesn't slide around and leave a bad impression.  That's the voice of experience there!

The weather here this weekend has been absolutely terrible.  We went from sunny, 90+ degree weather a few short days ago to wet, soggy 50-degree weather.  It's been a good opportunity to stay in the house and get some cleaning done, but I've had enough.  Why is it that we get all the good weather during the week when I'm at work and can't enjoy it and the lousy weather comes when I'm home on the weekend?  Grrrrr!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge 207

I've made a few graduation cards lately, but none of them were exactly what I was looking for when I thought about the card I wanted to give my nephew (who graduated from high school last week).  I had been kicking around some ideas in my head, but hadn't setlled on one.  Then tonight I looked at the Stamping 411 sketch challenge and I thought that it would be absolultely perfect for what I {thought} I had in mind.

And for (what I think) is the first time ever, I have flipped a sketch!  This is big for me.  I'm not usually a rule breaker!  If I see a sketch in landscape format, I dutifully make a card in landscape format.  But today I really wanted to use this sketch, only I wanted they layout to be portrait.  So, with apologies to the folks at Stampin 411, I present my (slightly altered) card.

My nephew has graduated from my old alma mater, and our school colors are orange and black.  So, of course, I made a card using those colors.   Although Pumpkin Pie would probably be a better choice for the orange, I really wanted to use the designer paper that looked sort of like notebook paper and that only came in Peach Parfait.  I stamped the "congratulations" from the Go Graduate stamp set, and followed it up with some phrases from the Happy Grad stamp.

He'll be off to Boston College in the fall to begin a whole new chapter in his life. I can hardly believe that he's old enough to be on his own, but there you have it.  I'm sure he'll be just fine, even if he does leave behind a weepy aunt!

Thanks for stopping by!