colourQ 124

Happy Valentine's Day!

I don't mind saying that I went back and forth several times as I made this card for the latest colourQ challenge.

I waffled about the sentiment, I waffled about the number of hearts on the card, and I waffled about how to best add in the Cool Caribbean.  I'd already decided on using a large Cool Caribbean square as a base to all the red layers, but I thought the card needed that splash of color somewhere else.  Originally my sentiment used both Cool Caribbean and Real Red, but I couldn't make it work the way I wanted so I ended up with a Real Red sentiment and a small Cool Caribbean heart.

I inked up my new P.S. I Love You stamp set which has these fabulous heart stamps that are made up of tiny hearts.  I stamped them in Versamark then heat embossed them with some ancient Stampin' Up! embossing powder that I have in my stash.  They fit perfectly in the Full Heart punch, so I punched them out (of course).  The sentiment and the tiny row of stamped hearts are from the same set.

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day.  And after you're done celebrating I hope you have time to head on over to the colourQ and make a card using these fabulous colors!

Less is More 54 and Sketchbook Saturday 49

Somehow I have myself all discombobulated.  I made this card on Saturday with the intention of posting it Sunday night.  But when Sunday night rolled around I got distracted by watching (what I thought was the 2012) Westminster Dog Show on television.  Turns out I was watching a re-run of last year's show.  Now, as I post this I'm watching the current show and find myself distracted all over again!

Those dogs are so cute, but I promise to concentrate enough to tell you about this card.  The inspiration for my layout comes from Chupa's latest Sketchbook Saturday challenge and from the Less is More challenge to make a one layer card with stripes.

I tried to channel my inner Vicky and create a sponged layer for one of my stripes.  Although I did sponge the layer with some Pear Pizzazz, it looks nothing what she whips up with some color and a few sponges, so I'll be heading back to the drawing board.  I added some lines, drawn with the help of a ruler, to the edges of the sponged section then drew some other lines a smidge away from those.  Then I stamped the leafy image in Wild Wasabi from the My Friend stamp set.  I added the "hello" stamped in Wild Wasabi because nothing else I had would fit in the small space!

Thanks for stopping by!  And so far, none of the dogs I've liked, have won their category!  I'm too sentimental.  I pick my favorites based on how cute they are!

Color Throwdown 178 and FTL 177

Today was a lazy, rainy day and I was anxious to get in my stamp room.  But after running a few errands this morning, I found myself puttering around the house doing some cleaning so I didn't have a chance to be creative until late this afternoon.

I thought the Color Throwdown challenge this week was a little unusual for this time of year, but it's got all sorts of colors that I love so started my card there.  I don't have any Summer Sun so I substituted Crushed Curry, which is pretty close.  I even substituted Daffodil Delight for the little flower buttons.  In real life these are so close it's hard to tell they're not the same color!

Then I checked out the sketch at Clean&Simple and thought it was pretty unusual so I wanted to give it a try.

I almost ran into a snag right away.  My card is 4 1/4-inches square and I didn't have a scallop Nestie big enough to create that partial circle.  Then I had an a-ha moment.  (It was actually more like a "duh" moment).  For Christmas I got an electronic cutter that I had been dreaming about for at least a year.  I've been experimenting with it, but I hadn't used it in a few weeks and actually sort of forgot about it.  Thank goodness I remembered it, because the great thing about it is that you can take any shape and make it whatever size you want!  So I just used a scallop circle and made it big enough fit my card!

Thanks for stopping by!

The Paper Players 81 and MOJO 227

This week the challenge at The Paper Players was to make a project with a flower.  How could I possibly resist this?  I'm all about flowers!  I hardly ever make anything without a flower!

I used the awesome MOJO sketch and broke open a couple of new things for this one.  I used the Twitterpated designer paper along with a Twitterpated button to highlight the center of my flower.  The flower, leaf, label and sentiment are from Verve.  And the embossed background is from a PTI impression plate that my nephew got me for Christmas!

I really like this one despite the fact that I made a mess of the bow.  I scrunched up the totally awesome seam binding ribbon which usually translates to a fool-proof bow (because any messiness looks intentional), but it still looks awful.   Hopefully whoever gets this card will think that I meant it to look that way!

Thanks for stopping by!

Freshly Made Sketches 21

It's Wednesday and time for another great sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.

I recently got some new goodies and decided to break them out for my card.  I just love trying out new stuff!

I used one of the sheets from the Everyday Enchantment designer paper available for FREE in the Sale-A-Bration catalog.  I'm not sure I would have thought to put Pool Party and Poppy Parade together, but they look great together.  All the papers in this pack have a lovely tea-stained, vintage look to them that is so pretty.

For the longest time, I couldn't decide what I wanted for my circular layer.  I wanted to use one of my new stamps, but nothing was clicking for me.  In the end I went with an old favorite, Raining Flowers.  I added a simple "thank you" sentiment stamped in Pool Party that shows up much better in real life.  All in all, I think this is a simple card with some interesting colors.

Now don't forget to check out the other fabulous Freshly Made Sketches design team creations, because they are really something to see.  Lots of inspiration there, I'm telling you!

Lesley Croghan

Linda Callahan

Cindy Hall

Tui Nathan

Jennifer Timko

Rita Wright

Kim Singdahl

Tracey Vidal 

colourQ 123

I don't mind saying that the colors Arielle picked this week for us at colourQ were pretty tough!  I went back and forth several times before I settled on this card.

I chose a lovely Regal Rose dsp from a pack called Patterns Pack II for the larger layer because I thought it would set the stage nicely for the Greenhouse Garden flowers which I stamped in Peach Parfait and Poppy Parade.

And did you notice that the scalloped edges of the Regal Rose cardstock and DP don't match up?  For reasons I have yet to figure out, I did not match up these two things when I cut them out using my very awesome new Edgelit Die.  But luckily when I put the two together, their very asymmetry was interesting to me and I put them together anyway.  The result is what you see here.

I hope you have an easier time with these colors than I did, so be sure to check out the colourQ challenge and show us your creation!

Color Throwdown 177 and MOJO 226

I loved the colors for the challenge at Color Throwdown this week.  I've made no secret of the fact that I love adding a Basic Black accent to a card and when I get to pair it with a vibrant color such as Melon Mambo I'm in heaven!

My layered flower is from a PTI stamp.  I added a Melon Mambo brad from Sweet Stitches in the center.  The sentiment is from Verve.  The layout is from the MOJO sketch challenge this week.

Well, today is a big day.  My home-town team the Patriots are playing in the Superbowl against the Giants tonight.  I'm hosting a Superbowl Festival at my house and I've been busy making assorted snacks for everyone.  A little bit later I'll make some chili (yum)!  I'm nervous about the game, but I wouldn't miss it for the world!

Thanks for stopping by!

Paper Players 80 and Cards & Things 106

Tuesday night I sat down in my stamp room and started to put together a card for The Paper Players sketch challenge.  But somehow everything got all balled up (as my grandmother would say).

First, my little flower accent had to go on the bottom left of the square layer rather than the top left because of the layout of the Dream Big sentiment.  Speaking of that sentiment, just before I was ready to lay down the double-sided tape and afix these layers for all eternity, I realized that the sentiment is actually supposed to go on the bottom!  So I had to cut down the dsp layer to accommodate something.  I ended up choosing the "dreams" sentiment from Fabulous Phrases because it kind of, sort of makes a nice thing to say:  "dream big dreams." Sheesh!

The colors are courtesy of the latest Cards & Things challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!