CAS(E) This Sketch 177

Almost done with the work-week!  Who hoo!  But before Friday rolls around we've got Thursday to get through and that means a new challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch!

I went quite literal with the sketch, unless you count the placement of my sentiment which is decidedly lower than it ought to be.  I've had this leafy die cut forever and have never used it so I put it to work here.  The actual arrangement of the die was too wide to fit on my card base so I snipped it in the middle and stuck it down so that it fit in the corner.  The sentiment was die cut with some black card stock and fun foam to give it some dimension.

As you can imagine, the CAS(E) This Sketch design team has made some pretty amazing cards with this sketch so be sure to check them out.  I hope you can join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Pear Pizzazz, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black (SU)
Accessories:  Lavish Branch die (Memory Box); The Big the Bold and the Happy die (Winnie & Walter)

Freshly Made Sketches 241!

Wednesday again.  How did that happen?  It's so cliché but true.  Every day seems to go by faster and faster and before you know it it's your birthday and you are one year older!  Good thing a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches is enough to cheer me up.

This week our sketch comes to you from Karren.  It is the kind of sketch that inspires just about any combination of color, pattern, or texture.  I combined her sketch with the colors at Cupcake Inspirations to come up with this.

Apparently a while ago I used the stencil with some sponged color before using it on today's card.  I don't think I cleaned it very good because traces of yellow showed up on my embossing paste.  I love how it gives a bit of subtle color to the rays so I decided to use.  Luckily yellow is one of the colors I was supposed to use!

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out the inspiration from our Freshly Made Sketches design team.  I hope we'll see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Neenah Solar White; Vintage Jadite (Papertrey Ink); Hello Honey, Basic Black (SU)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Shine stencil (Memory Box); Daphne Butterfly die (Poppystamps); white embossing paste (Dreamweaver); Blueprints 13 die (My Favorite Things)

colourQ 346!

This week the palette and patteres at colourQ are perfect for a masculine card.  I probably should have made a birthday card, but for I came across an old stamp set and  decided to make a graduation card instead.

I used the layout from Sunday Stamps and although I really like how this card came out I have no idea what I am going to do with it!  I don't know anyone graduating this year.  And I usually try to make my graduation cards match the school colors of the recipient.   I think I'd be hard pressed to find school colors as eclectic as this!

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to pop on by colourQ and check out the inspiration from our fabulous design team.  I hope to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Grads and Dads (The Craft's Meow); Ink Splats (IndigoBlu)
Paper:  Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Old Olive, Whisper White, Basic Gray (SU)
Ink:  Old Olive, Basic Gray (SU)
Accessories:  Pierced Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things)

CAS(E) This Sketch 176

This has been such a crazy week at work and I am so glad that it is nearly over and that it is Thursday.  Happily it is also the day where we debut a new sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch.

There were so many ideas swirling around my head for this sketch.  That wide open layer leaves much to the imagination.  After tossing around a few ideas in my head I decided to go with some purple colors from the Less is More challenge and a bokeh design for the background.  The sentiment banner was cut with Vellum and the sentiment itself was cut multiple times in my shades of purple and glued together to give this some dimension.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you have a chance to join us at CAS(E) This Sketch this week!

Supplies:
Paper:  Sweet Tooth (My Favorite Things); Concord Crush, Perfect Plum, Whisper White, Vellum (SU)
Ink:  Wisteria Wonder, Perfect Plum, Concord Crush
Accesories:  

Freshly Made Sketches 240!

Hello, hello and welcome to the latest edition of a card I made for Freshly Made Sketches.  The sketch this week is designed by Jen Brum who makes some seriously beautiful cards.  I pondered this sketch for a while then I was telling a friend at work about it.  I showed her the sketch and, without blinking, she said it looked like a cake.  Never one to ignore a perfectly good idea I turned the sketch on its side and went with it.

At first I was going to make the cake using layers in the colors of the challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches.  I got it all assembled then began looking for some images of candles in my stash to finish it off.  I didn't find any candles but I happened to spy an old wedding stamp set which had a very simple tiered cake with a few flowers on it for decoration.  So I scrapped my original idea and went with an all white cake and added a few wee flowers in the colors instead.

The top layer of my cake has some dripping icing that is actually a punch in the style of dripping goo.  I got it about a hundred years ago when I used to make little treat boxes that looked sort of like Herman Munster.  The dripping goo made a perfect set of bangs for ol' Herman!  I don't use that punch very often but it's one of those things I'll never get rid of (like my electric fry pan) because it comes in handy every so often!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll hop on over to Freshly Made Sketches to check out the amazing cards from our design team.  There are so many cool renditions of this sketch you will surely find loads of inspiration there.  I hope to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Paper:  White Linen (Ellen Hutson); Rose Red, Blushing Bride, So Saffron, Whisper White (SU)
Accessories:  Basic Pearls (SU); Drippy Goo punch (Martha Stewart)

colourQ 345!

June is off to a quick start!  It's the 7th already and here we are with our first colourQ challenge of the month!  I love the color combo this week!

Isn't that distressed heart pretty!  It's been a while since I've done any sort of distressing on a card and I kind of wish that I had done that here.  Instead I went with a classic design using the sketch at Fusion.  I stamped the flowers in Taken With Teal but my ink pad has obviously taken a turn for the worse because the color doesn't resemble anything anywhere teal!

Oops!  Now that I've uploaded the challenge graphic I see that I left off that little banner.  I hope the ladies there don't throw me out, but I'll understand if they do!

Thanks for stopping by!  And you won't be surprised to know that my colourQ teamies have made some beauties with the colors this week.  I hope we get to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Modern Blooms (My Favorite Things)
Paper:  Soft Suede, Buckaroo Blue, Basic Gray, Whisper White (SU)
Ink:  Taken With Teal, Going Gray, Smoky Slate (SU)
Accessories:  Pierced Square STAX (My Favorite Things)

CAS(E) This Sketch 175

I got some new stamps in the mail the other day and was anxious to fire them up with the newest challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch.  This very awesome sketch is designed by Hannelie.

I used my Clarity Stencil Brushes with a stencil to brush on some color behind the sentiments.  I am so glad that I found these brushes because compared to sponging, it is SO much easier to put down even, consistent color.  No spongey-swirl marks here!

The colors for my card come from this gorgeous palette at Fab Friday.  The Blackberry Bliss is really dark on the card stock I used and looks almost black here but I assure you it is that deep, rich blackberry color we all know and love!

Thanks for stopping by!  And don't forget to check out the amazing inspiration from the CAS(E) This Sketch design team this week.  Those gals will knock your socks off!

Supplies
Stamps:  Awesome (Neat & Tangled)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir)
Ink:  Hello Honey, Bermuda Bay, Blackberry Bliss (SU)
Accessories:  Chevron Pattern stencil (Simon Says Stamp)

Freshly Made Sketches 239!

The Monday holiday has really messed me up because I can't believe it's Wednesday already!  But it is and that means that it's time for a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  This week Cindy is our hostess and she's given us a fabulous one.

What a shock to find a butterfly on my card!  But that diamond shape put me in mind of either flowers or a butterfly and since I hadn't used this butterfly stamp set in a while I decided that this was the time to!  This is the biggest butterfly in the set and I think it makes a great substitute for that diamond.

There's tic-tac-toe challenge this week at the Paper Players and I chose to play along with the top row and used yellow, twine, and a birthday sentiment.  The linen thread that I used was a little hard to shape into an artsy tangle that didn't look like I spent too much time fussing over and as a result I spent too much time fussing over it.  This lead to an internal discussion with myself of what exactly twine is and whether it would have been easier to work with.  The debate is still ongoing so I have no answer!

My Freshly Made Sketches teamies have made some beautiful cards with the sketch this week so be sure to check them out.  I hope we'll get to see you in the gallery this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Painted Butterflies (Altenew); Making a Statement (Verve); Script (Indigo Blu)
Paper:  Sweet Tooth (My Favorite Things); So Saffron, Whisper White (SU)
Ink:  So Saffron, Hello Honey (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Painted Butterflies die (Altenew); linen thread (SU)