Paper Players 41

Today is the start of a brand new journey for me.  I was asked to be the April Guest Designer at the Paper Players challenge blog, and since I love to participate in their challenges, I jumped at the chance!  Today, is my first challenge and the theme is recycling.

A lot of things came to mind when I saw this challenge.  I could use the oodles of ribbon that I have scoffed from various places but then you, the blog reader, would not be able to tell that these ribbons have been recycled.  I could use the buttons that I have collected over the years from blouses and pants and such, but that wasn't really calling to me either.  Then I suddenly was fixated on a particular item that almost anyone would recognized as recycled and re-purposed.  A beer bottle cap!  And many thanks to my nephew, who courageously offered to drink a few beers so that I could have the bottle caps!

I don't have the heart to tell him that I only ended up using one bottle cap!  But I have the others that he gave me in my stash to use later.  I also managed to squeeze in the MOJO sketch for this card.  The other day, I tried to make a card using this sketch and ended up veering so far off the sketch course, the I didn't link it to the challenge.  This one is a better version, I think.

Thanks for stopping by today and don't forget to head on over to the Paper Players and recycle something!  We'd love to see what you do!

Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge 197 and Inkspirations 64

This week is a color challenge over at Inkspirations.  A self-described "autum-ny" color challenge!  And almost any time I see "autumn" I think of one of my all-time favorite stamp sets:  French Foliage.  If this set doesn't make it into the new catalog this year, I'll be really surprised.  I hope it does, so that anyone who didn't buy it when it was in the holiday mini, will have a chance to.  It's all kinds of awesome!

Anyway, I checked out the Stamping 411 sketch challenge and although I did finally make a card, I had a hard time with that sketch!

It looks so straight-forward, but I just couldn't get it to cooperate with what I had in mind!  I'm not sure what my issue was, but once I started I had to keep going.  My precious autumn leaves were at stake!

It seems funny to make a card like this when spring is (technically) here already, but the weather where I live is not cooperating with what the calendar says.  It actually feels quite autumn-like.  For some reason winter does not want to give up its grip on us yet (it actually snowed here yesterday)!  So, I feel somewhat vindicated making a card with wonderful leaves like this.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

Color Throwdown 135 and Sketchbook Saturday 4

This week, the color challenge at the Color Throwdown had that "wow" factor that I find hard to resist.

These colors are bold and dramatic, and I hoped that I could make a card that would do them justice.  I chose the Sketchbook Saturday sketch to help me along.

There was several things about this sketch that I liked.  I liked the big scallop circle.  I liked the swirly bit peeking out from the bottom, right of the scallop circle.  I liked the flowers that are a little off center.  I thought this was a good sketch to go with the color challenge, so I set to work.

Right away, I remembered that the Newsprint designer paper met two of the colors for the challenge.  The pattern was bold (like the color challenge), and I thought that if I used Real Red and Daffodil Delight, it would really make a statement.  In the end, I was not entirely sure that I liked the card all that much.  I think that what I pictured in my mind did not really translate to the real thing.  It's not bad, just busy.  And I don't usually do "busy."  However, the more I stare at it, the more I like it.  I like the pop of Daffodil Delight against the Basic Black and Very Vanilla, at least!!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

Color Lab Challenge 35

Elegant Eggplant is not a color that I have used very often, but this week the color challenge at the ColorLab pairs it with Old Olive and Chocolate Chip.  Nothing like a couple of great colors to get the creative juices flowing and entice me to try a something new.

I started my card by following the MOJO sketch, which, on the last Monday of the month, is always a choice between a round or square card.

I love round cards, and it's been a while since I made one, so I tried my hand at it again.  What I ended up with is a faithful version of the color challenge and a modified version of the sketch!  I found that my scallop circle was a little small and seemed over-powered by a couple of elements of the sketch.  So I switched the ribbon at the top for some linen twin, and completely left off  the long thin panel that would be next to the button. 

But despite these changes I really like how this card turned out.  The colors are so rich you can't help but like them.  And I can always add a heartfelt sentiment on the inside of the card later. 

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to stop by the Color Lab, check out the fabulous colors and inspiration from the Design Team and create something.  We'd love to see what you do!

ColourQ 78

Aren't the colors this week at the ColourQ adorable?  And that's not the sweet treats talking!!

I used to think that Certainly Celery was the best green ever.  I used it all the time and was constantly having to replenish my stash of it.  Then I discovered Old Olive.  Then came Kiwi Kiss.  Then came Pear Pizzazz.  And I forgot all about Certainly Celery.  But happily, this challenge made me remember how pretty it is and I was glad to use it again.

I wanted to layer the Pink Pirouette flowers but was afraid that it would look too bland, so I very lightly sponged the edges with Early Espresso.  It adds just enough oomph so that the flower is not too boring.  I'm really pleased with how this turned out.  Of course, I pretty much love anything made with Crumb Cake (and Early Espresso) so it was a given that I would like this!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

PPC53

The newest color challenge at the Picture Perfect Creations blog was very interesting to me, so I wanted to give it a try.
 

I thought I probably had some Chocolate Chip and Real Red designer paper in my stash that I could use to pretty up the card I had in mind and I was right.  No matter that the dp I chose was from a collection called "Ski Slope."  I've never subscribed to the belief that you have to use designer paper for the occasion that it was intended.  For example, something called "Ski Slope" should properly be used for a winter theme, or perhaps a holiday theme.  But as you can see, I've used it for something completely different.

My layout is a sketch challenge from the Clean & Simple blog, but (apologies to the folks at the Clean & Simple blog), I could not find the post for this challenge so that I could link to it and show you what the sketch looks like.  I can say that this was sketch 3 and that I've copied it quite faithfully.  My only regret here is that the sentiment and little star that I stamped in Chocolate Chip don't really show up on the photo.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

Sweet Sunday 110

Every Sunday I look forward to the Sweet Sunday sketch challenge.  Karen's sketches are always very inspirational to me.

The other day I made a card using some retired designer paper that I had in my stash and that made me remember that I had oodles of retired dp just begging to be used.  So for this challenge I went on an excavation and found some dp called "Apple Cider."  I'm pretty sure it's pretty ancient and it was wasting away in my stash, so I used some of its polka-dotted River Rock paper.

I admit then when I started this card, I had no idea where I was going to end up.  In stages I decided to use the Inspired By Nature stamp set, followed by the butterflies cut in Daffodil Delight  from the Beautiful Wings embosslits.  I had some more trouble deciding what sentiment to use, but went with one from the So Happy For You set.  In the end, I think it came out OK.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

Paper Players 40 and Color Dare 99

This is the second card I made for the Color Dare challenge.  The first has been relegated to the "what was I thinking?" pile!  The colors for the challenge are Basic Gray (which I love), Cherry Cobbler (which is the best red on the planet) and Marina Mist (which I am coming to realize is a really fabulous blue).  In my mind, I envisioned a really cool card to showcase the blending of these colors.  It seemed like a pretty unusual combo, but I had to give a try.  I just had to!

As I mentioned, the first card was horrible, but I didn't want to give up so I turned to the Paper Players sketch challenge for a little inspiration.

All you need is a great sketch, some time to think about what you are trying to achieve, some inspiration and voila!  A card (that you actually like) emerges.

One of the design team member's card for the Color Dare used three buttons in a row, so I decided to do that on my card where the sketch challenge graphic showed a sentiment.  I put the sentiment on the square panel and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!