Freshly Made Sketches 170

I am tickled pink to be the hostess at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  I always get such a thrill about seeing how you all interpret the sketches and when I actually made the sketch it's even more thrilling!  Wheee, lets get to work!

Usually when I'm dreaming up a sketch I don't have a particular card idea in my head.  I guess I like to be surprised by what I'll come up with when I actually sit down to make my card.  For this sketch I spent a lot of time going over designs in my head.  I was going to use patterned paper, I was going to stamp a big image and split it over the top and bottom layer, but when I got down to business I decided to go with a color combo that I think is so pretty and to separate my "top and bottom layers" with some baker's twine.

It had been a while since I used this pretty flower and since I was using yellow I inked it up and fussy cut it out.  The black leaves are a nod to my friend and teamie Narelle who is never afraid to make leaves out of unusual colors!

I hope you find the sketch inspiring and that you'll join us in the gallery!  The Freshly Made Sketches design team has created some outstanding cards for your viewing pleasure so make sure you check them out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Dream Big, Sweet Scallop Tag (Verve); Hennah Elements (Altenew)

Paper:  Soft Sky, Basic Black, So Saffron, Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  So Saffron (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Sweet Scallop Tag die (Verve); Leaves die (Penny Black); So Saffron button (SU); black seam binding ribbon, baker's twine

colourQ 276

Happy Tuesday!  It's time for a new palette from your friends at colourQ!  The colors are bold and for my card I decided to combine them with the sketch from Pals Paper Arts.

There are some tiny vellum flags that hang from under the thanks sentiment but they are barely visible.  Heck, they are barely visible in real life!  I thought they would be a nice touch for the sketch but after I had them stuck down I realized they didn't look so good.  But I took the picture, uploaded it and proceeded to have second thoughts.  So I grabbed a tiny little chevron stamp and made three flags stamped in dark brown, carefully cut the vellum flags off and stuck the chevron flags down.  And how do you suppose it looked?  Horrible!  The card is now relegated to the recycle bin!  I should have known better than to mess with the original!

The colourQ design team have some beautiful cards to show you so I hope you check them out and then join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Paper:  Kraft (Papertrey Ink); Chocolate Chip, Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush, Coastal Cabana DSP (SU)

Accessories:  Thanks on a Line die (Simon Says Stamp); Banner Trio die (WPlus9); Small Stitched Rectangle die (Lawn Fawn)

It's Okay To Be Different!

I've been enjoying my long weekend so much I forgot to post a card that I made yesterday!  I used the colors at Cupcake Inspirations and the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch to make a simple one layer card.

I was a little intimidated by the sketch but I had been thinking about it for a few days when I got the idea to create Xs using a paintbrush stamp.  So I created the Xs in pink and gray then layered the sentiment over one of the pink Xs in some brown.

I recently bought some pigment inks from Avery Elle and I used them exclusively on this card.   I really like how they give a good, crisp image.  The gray that I used is called Fog and it's sort of a taupe-gray but a very pretty color.

Well that's it for me.  I'm off to make the Olive Garden minestrone soup.  Yum!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  New Day (Precious Remembrance)

Paper:  Ultra Smooth Pure White (Avery Elle)

Ink:  Pixie, Fog, Truffle (Avery Elle)

Thank You, Fusion, SRC262

I had hoped to be a little more crafty this weekend, but I needed get some housework done before football playoffs start today.  The house is clean, craft room organized and all that's left to do is run to the supermarket before the games start.  But I did manage to get inky last night.

My card today features the beautiful colors of the inspiration photo at Stampin' Royalty and the fun sketch from Fusion.

The very old, but still pretty, Marigold Morning was a good match for the flower in the inspiration photo.  The light blue on my card is quite light, but I think you can still see it and it looks nice in real life.

You'll probably see quite a few thank you cards on my blog, since my supply of them after the holidays tends to deplete quickly.  I like to have those on hand because you'll never know when you'll need one!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Dot Spot (Papertrey Ink); Oh Happy Day (Avery Elle)

Paper:  Kraft (Papertrey Ink); Sea Glass (Avery Elle); Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  Marigold Morning (SU); Sea Glass (Avery Elle); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Stitched Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things)

Freshly Made Sketches 169

Are you ready for a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches?  I know I am!  This week our challenge is hosted by the amazing Jen Timko and I just know you are going to love her sketch.  It's got loads of room for your creative interpretation!

Despite my love of earthy colors I have a not-so-secret fascination with bright colors too - especially green when it's something closer to chartreuse.  So when I saw the latest color challenge at ShowCASe Your Style I just knew that I wanted to play along.  At first I tried doing a watercolor background using the lime and turquoise colors but, predictably, when they got too close together they made a green that was definitely not part of the color challenge.  Then I remembered that I had some patterned paper that had some gradient shading in these colors so I used that as the background layer.  The flower and leaves are colored with Copics and I really love how this turned out!

You probably imagine that the Freshly Made Sketches design team has got some fabulous cards to show you this week and you wouldn't be wrong.  Do stop by and check them out.  And I hope you have time to join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Esther's Garden (Art Gone Wild); Label Love (Altenew)

Paper:  Soft Stone (Papertrey Ink); Tempting Turquoise (SU); X-Press It Blending Card; Adorbs (My Mind's Eye)

Ink:  Tempting Turquoise (SU); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Onyx Black (Versafine); Copics

Accessories:  Enamel dots (Studio Calico, My Mind's Eye)

colourQ 275

I don't know about you, but I find it hard to believe that it is January 13th already.  It's so cliche but time really does fly!  And speaking of time flying, it's now time for a brand new color palette over at colourQ.  This week the colors are inspired by this beautiful tapestry.

I had a grandiose idea that I could make a card that echoed the patterns and colors of the tapestry, but then I woke up from that dream and realized I'd never be able to pull that off!  LOL!

Instead I focused on the colors and combined them in a way that is familiar to me.  A few splatters, some card stock in the colors of the challenge and a big ol' flower.  Of course, I got some help from the layout at retro sketches.

We're off to a crafty good start this year at colourQ so I hope you'll join us!  The design team has, as usual, outdone themselves this week so there's lots of inspiration to be had there!  See you in the gallery!

And thanks so much for stopping by.

Supplies:

Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge (SU); Funky Flowers (Waltzingmouse Stamps); Strictly Sentiments 5 (WPlus9)

Paper:  Classic White (Flourishes); Marina Mist, Night of Navy, Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  Wisteria Wonder (SU); Enchanted Evening (Papertrey Ink)

Accessories:  Blueprints 13 die, Pierced Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things); enamel dots (My Mind's Eye)

Hashtag THX

This weekend I discovered that it really hard to try and be crafty while also watching football.  Mostly this is because I need my glasses to see the TV but not to see anything on my desk.  So I'm constantly tilting my head up so that I can see through my glasses and what's happening on the TV and then down and under the frames to see my desk!  And no way am I breaking down to get bi-focals!

But anyway on to my card.  This one uses the monochromatic color palette at Pals Paper Arts and the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch.  It's not very artsy but it's today's Mona Lisa* so I'm going with it!

The hashtag is a very cool die and on my card it takes the place of the little floral image on the sketch.  I was having some trouble deciding what image to use when I remembered that I recently got that die.  It was like a light bulb moment for me.  It's modern, fresh and a little bit fun!

*The whole Mona Lisa thing is advice I got from my friend Linda who got it from her friend Mary Fish.  I'm paraphrasing but the advice is basically no matter whether you like what you've created or not post it anyway as if it was the Mona Lisa and move on to the next card.  That's good advice, don't you think?

Thanks so much for stopping by!  And for all you football fans out there GO PATS!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Bokeh Dots (Essentials by Ellen); Big Words (Mama Elephant)

Paper:  Soft  Sky, Island Indigo, Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  Soft Sky, Pool Party, Island Indigo (SU)

Accessories:  Social Media die (My Creative Time); Pierced Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things)

Thank You

Today I'm playing along with three challenges that are new for me.  The Challenge had a nifty sketch with some layers that are askew (and who can resist an askew layer), City Crafter is looking for burlap and Retro Rubber is looking for the crimping tool that I'm sure hasn't seen the light of day in a long time.  So I put all this together and this is what I came up with.

I love to use burlap and since the color is so close to kraft I used that as my card base and then accented it with some bright yellow and black.  I stamped a simple zig zag pattern on white which I hoped wouldn't detract from the die cut sentiment that I layered over it.  All this is layered over a crimped layer and as I was busy crimping my card stock I remembered why I don't use that tool:  it's really difficult to get that card stock to stay straight as it's passing through.  The longer the paper is the worse the effect gets.  It's a cool tool, but better equipped for small pieces I think.

It's very cold here.  And I mean really cold.  There's no snow, which is a good thing in my book, and I'll take a cold day over a snowy day any time.  But I'm dreaming of spring.  I keep telling myself that it will be here soon!  Stay safe if you live in a cold place too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Borders and Backgrounds 4 (WPlus9)

Paper:  Kraft (Papertrey Ink); Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  Daffodil Delight (SU)

Accessories:  Pierced Square STAX (My Favorite Things); Thanks Script die (Mama Elephant); Small Circle Burst die (Simon Says Stamp); enamel dots (My Mind's Eye); burlap