Freshly Made Sketches 257!

It's time for a new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches and this week I am the hostess - always a nerve-wracking experience.  I think I've created a sketch that gives you some leeway with your design.  My design was inspired by all those sponged backgrounds that I see by my fellow card-makers that are so beautiful.

I've had this Halloween stamp set for ages.  I got it at TJ Maxx and I think it cost me all of three bucks.  There's a bunch of fun images in it and I chose these little robbers since I was set on sponging a background which created a spotlight on them.  There's a Halloween challenge at The Paper Players too so my little thieves will find themselves there as well!

We've got a new blog look at Freshly Made Sketches and also Cécile Ribon is staying on with us as a permanent design team member!  Lots of exciting stuff this week in addition to our new sketch so be sure to check us out!  I hope we'll see you in the gallery.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Ghouls & Goblins (Inkadinkado); Bite Me (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Black (Simon Say Stamp); Lemon Grass (Avery Elle); Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Mustard Seed, Crushed Olive, Chipped Sapphire, Dusty Concord (Distress); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Halloween Sprinkles (Doodlebug Design)

colourQ 362!

October already.  Are you sure?  Before I know it my Christmas Club will come due and I'll have to start shopping!  But before that happens I've got a new palette to show you from colourQ.  And since October is breast cancer awareness month we've got some appropriately pink colors.

I think glitter was in order for my card so I used some old glimmer paper to frame one of the layers.  The sentiment is from a freebie stamp set that I got from a.muse studio a while back and I FINALLY got a pink ribbon die.  There was a lot of white space on my card, which made me unusually squeamish, so I added some embossing paste strategically placed around the sentiment and ribbon.  My layout comes from the latest sketch at Fab Friday.

My way-cool and super talented teamies at colourQ have made some great cards this week using these colors (no surprise there).  You should really check them out!  Then join us in the gallery!  We'd love to see you there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Fight Like a Girl (a.muse studio)
Paper:  Black (Simon Says Stamp); Berry Sorbet (Papertrey Ink); Silver Glimmer, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Jet Black (Altenew)
Accessories:  Hope die (Paper Smooches); Dot Fade stencil (Tim Holtz); white embossing paste (Wendy Vecchi)

CAS(E) This Sketch 192!

Hello, hello!  It's Thursday which means it's time for an new challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch!  The sketch, designed by Sam Simpson, is classic and simple and wide open to your interpretation!

For my card I got to use some super fun wide washi tape that I've had tucked away in my stash forever which I used as my horizontal layer.  Since it looked lonely all by itself I added a sunflower, a favorite fall design.  Below the washi I added some brads.  Brads!  Who even remembers those!  Nowadays it's all about enamel dots and who remembers brads?  Me, that's who!

The challenge at Just Us Girls this week is all about fall inspiration so my sunflower is perfect.  A stitched background and some stitched leaves and I can add my card to the Addicted to CAS challenge as well!

Thanks for stopping by.  Our CAS(E) This Sketch design team has got some amazing cards for you to see so be sure to check them out.  We love to see you in the gallery!

Stamps:  Everyday Mini Sentimens (Whimsy Stamps)
Paper:  Ivory (Flourishes); Crushed Curry, Garden Green, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Blueprints 13 die, Sunflower die (My Favorite Things); Stitched Leaves die (My Creative Time); washi tape, brads

Freshly Made Sketches 256!

I'm back with a Christmas card for the latest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  This week Jen Timko is our hostess and she gave us a big ol' banner that was just screaming for me to use some patterned paper!  That lead me to this really old Christmas DSP I have in my stash and I found an interesting corner of one piece to use as my banner.

I die cut the sentiment out of some champagne glimmer paper and twirled some gold cord behind the poinsettia.  Unfortunately all that sparkle doesn't really show up, despite my stellar photography skills!  There's an "anything goes" challenge this week at Christmas Card Challenges and at Retro Rubber we are to use lace, ribbon, or twine.  The gold cord is my twine and I have had it for years.  It's the first metallic cord that Stampin' Up! introduced many years ago and, lucky me, I have it in gold, silver, and copper.  They are the kinds of supplies in my stash that I'll never get rid of!

Our Freshly Made Sketches design team has really made some beautiful cards this week so be sure to check them out.  I hope to see you in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Champagne Glimmer, Deck the Halls DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Jumbo Fishtail Banner STAX (My Favorite Things); Blooming Poinsettia die (Memory Box); Hand Lettered Holiday die (WPlus9); gold cord (Stampin' Up!)

colourQ 361!

The weather has taken a turn for fall here so the palette this week at colourQ was perfect for my mood!

I really liked how the big "H" on the inspiration photo was a bright blue color (against all those neutrals) so I really wanted to create something along the same lines.  So for my card I used everything but the blue and orange to create the background.  I then die cut the sentiment in Tempting Turquoise, a couple of the leaves in Tangerine Tango, layered them on and I was done!  I got a lot of help from the sketch at Sunday Stamps!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you've got time to play along with us at colourQ this week.  Our design team has made some beautiful cards to inspire you so be sure to check them out.  I hope to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  French Foliage, Gorgeous Grunge (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Tangerine Tango, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Thanks die (Simon Says Stamp); Feuilles Tropicales die (Simply Graphic); Stitched Leaves die (Lawn Fawn)

CAS(E) This Sketch 191!

Time for a new sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch!  If you like wonky layers you are going to love this one!

I used this sketch as an opportunity to make my first Halloween card of the season.  The off-kilter squares were a good way to use the colors from the Cupcake Inspiration Challenge (although I added some gray as a background because this just didn't look right on a white background).  

That skull image is from an old Stampin' Up! set and it's one of my favorite Halloween images.  It's appropriately scary and cool looking all at the same time!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to join us in the CAS(E) This Sketch gallery this week.  The design team has cooked up some amazing inspiration for you so be sure to check the challenge out!

Supplies

Stamps:  From the Crypt, Bite Me (Stampin' Up!)

Paper:  Basic Gray, Basic Black, Elegant Eggplant, Pumpkin Pie (Stampin' Up!); Pinefeather (Papertrey Ink)

Ink:  Jet Black (Altenew)

Freshly Made Sketches 255!

Wednesday again!  Seems like just yesterday it was time for a new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches and here we are again.  This time around Amy is our hostess and I love her sketch.  It's got a classic look that you will go back to time and time again, I'm sure.  Let's get to it.

I went quite literal with the layout of the sketch and used that big layer to highlight a pretty sunflower - one of my favorite images for late summer and early fall.  I embossed the background using an impression plate from Papertrey Ink and I think I finally found the correct sandwich to get a good impression.  I dug out my Sizzix Crease Pad and used that as the bottom layer of my sandwich (instead of a cutting plate) and what a difference it made in the quality of the impression.  I seldom used those PTI plates because I was never happy with how they looked, but now that I've cracked the code I'll try and use them more often!  The challenge this week at The Paper Players is a taste of fall so I'll be entering this card over there as well!

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to stop by Freshly Made Sketches if you haven't already done so.  Our design team has made some cards that will surely inspire to you to play along with us.  I hope to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Much Appreciated (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Crushed Curry (Stampin' Up!); Naturals White (Neenah)
Ink:  Crushed Curry, Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Stitched Rectangle die, Sunflower die, Layered Leaves die (My Favorite Things); Guide Lines Grid impression plate (Papertrey Ink); Fall Assortment sprinkles (Doodlebug Designs)

colourQ 360!

I am on vacation this week from work and other than cleaning out the refrigerator I have no real plans.  I guess you can call this the ultimate relaxing stay-cation!  I have tentative plans to add crafting to my daily routine but I don't want to talk about it too much in case I jinx myself and it doesn't happen.  I usually spend a big chunk of my Sundays making all of my cards for the week but because I'm on vacation I didn't have to do that so this past Sunday I took my time and made just one!  Ooh-la-la!  The extra time allowed me to really think about my design and make a card that was a little more complicated than I usually do.

All of this is my lead up to the shaker card that I made using the new palette at colourQ.  I made a shaker because 1) I got a cool new stamp that is tailor made for shakers; 2) I have some cool sequins mixes that have names like Autumn Harvest and Festive Fall which fit perfectly with the colors of the challenge; 3)  shakers are way cool; and 4) the challenge this week at Can You Case It is, you guessed it, shakers.

Lessons learned on this card is to cut the circle from the cardstock first then stamp that bokeh burst image around the hole.  I did the opposite, and it was difficult to line up my circle die with the stamped image since it's done upside down.  If you look closely you'll see that it's off a bit.  It probably won't be all that noticeable to whoever receives this card, but I know it's not quite right!  I'm sure you can relate!!

Thanks for stopping by and wish me luck cleaning out the fridge.  I am sure I'll find some expired salad dressing in there somewhere!

And don't forget to pop on by colourQ and check out our latest challenge.  There's loads of inspiration to be found there and I hope to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Bokeh Burst Round (The Ton)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Soft Suede, Hello Honey (SU)
Ink:  Soft Suede, Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie (SU)
Accessories:  Blueprints 13 die (My Favorite Things); Thanks Script die (Mama Elephant); Autumn Harvest sequins (Pretty Pink Posh); Festive Fall Mix sequins (Neat & Tangled)