MOJO189 and PPC57

Usually on Thursday I'm showing off a card for the ColorLab challenge.  But this week we're taking  break because Julie, our challenge hostess, is grieving over the loss of her grandmother.  I hope you'll stop by and show her some love.  Next week we'll be back with a new challenge and I hope you'll join us then.

So today I decided to show you a card I made for the MOJO and Picture Perfect Creations challenges.

I loved the layout and I loved the color challenge, so I had no trouble putting them both together here!

And finally I found a use for those Sweet Stitches buttons! So cute!

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

Color Throwdown 140

Gosh I've been busy the last few days and this is the first opportunity I've had to tap away at the keyboard here.  But I couldn't miss posting today and sharing some exciting news!  Today I get to show you the first card I made as the May Guest Designer for the Color Throwdown!  Whoo hoo!!  I've always loved participating in their challenge and I could hardly believe it when Laura asked me to be their guest designer for May.  How could I refuse?  And what a fabulous batch of colors I get to work with!

Now, these are colors I can wrap my hands around!  I got a little help from the Sweet Sunday sketch challenge and put this little number together.

I usually try to fill my cards up with flowers but today I wanted the sentiment to take center stage against that dreamy Crumb Cake background.  Nothing like a clean and simple layout to show off a particular element on your card.  I colored the sentiment with my Early Espresso and Blushing Bride markers and I really like how it came out.  A little button to balance things out and I've got a cute card that I think I'll save for my cousin's high school graduation in a few weeks.  (As I wrote that I realized that this is already May and her graduation is probably only weeks away!  It sounds trite, but time really does fly by)!

Thanks for stopping by today and don't forgot to head on over to the Color Throwdown and show us what you've got!  For a lot of inspiration, here's what the amazing design team has created:

Tammy Hershberger
Kristin Eberline
Broni Holcombe
Barbara Anders
Danielle Kennedy
Cathy Indelicato
Kisa Peters
Laura Pryor
Carole Burrage

Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge 201

So far May is shaping up to be a very busy month for me.  Later today I'll be going to my cousin's wedding then on Tuesday is my nephew's confirmation.  I wanted to make a card to congratulate him, so I turned to the Stamping 411 sketch challenge for a layout.

I chose Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, and So Saffron as my colors because I figured they weren't too girly.  But on second thought, I love those colors so they must be girly!

I've had these corduroy buttons hiding in my stash for quite a while and I think they're so cute.  My nephew is always teasing me about embellishments that I put on my card.  He doesn't understand that buttons are not just for shirts!  And a corduroy one is even better!

Well, it's back to the drawing board for me.  I've got a 50th wedding anniversary party to go to in a couple of weeks, so I'll need to make a card for that.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!

Sketchbook Saturday 9

Today I went to the bridal shower for my cousin's fiancee.  Tomorrow I will go to their wedding and though I made a card for the occasion many weeks ago, I didn't really like it.  So when I got home from the shower, I was determined to sequester myself in my stamp room until I made something that I liked.

I checked out a bunch of sketches and then I realized that the Sketchbook Saturday challenge just might fit the bill!

I took a bit of liberty with the sketch so that in my card the main image layer is not as wide as the layer in the sketch.  (I hope this doesn't disaqualify me).

I had this very cute stamp of a bride and groom so I really wanted to use it for my card.  I embossed the bride and groom as well as the sentiment in copper embossing powder since that seemed to match the colors the bride and groom had chosen.  I'm actually basing the colors of my card on the colors of the wedding invitation that I got.  It was mostly blue and a deep shimmery brown and I had some cardstock that seemed to be pretty close to the colors of the invitation.  I thought it would be a good idea to make a card that coordinated with that.

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

Color Throwdown 139 and Stampin Royalty 69

The color challenge this week at the Color Throwdown was all about colors that I love!  And (as a bonus) I got to dig out the retired (but still awesome) Crushed Curry.  I paired it with the Stampin' Royalty sketch challenge and I was all set to go!

I ended up making a card in the very adorable 4 1/4" square size.  I really like this size for a square card because the size itself is so cute and also it fits into a regular A2 envelope so you avoid the postage surcharge when mailing a square envelope.

I stamped the butterfly image directly onto the white layer, then stamped it again on a scrap and cut it out.  I attached the cutout with a glue dot directly over the image I stamped on the white layer and raised the edges so in real life it is 3D. 

And I'm rather pleased with myself because I actually managed to use all five colors in the challenge.  The challenge hostess suggested that we use at least three or four colors, so I'm pretty happy that I managed to squeeze them all in.  The colors look pretty close in the picture, but the scallop panel and ribbon is Dusty Durango and the "Love is like a butterfly..." sentiment is Tangerine Tango.

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

Color Lab Challenge 39

I'm not sure where my brain has been this week!  It's definitely not here with me.  Thursday is, of course, ColorLab challenge day and I usually have my post scheduled in advance to post when I'm still sleeping!  But for some reason this week, I completely forgot about it.  But better late than never!

What fabulous colors Julie has for the challenge this week.  And here's my card:

I had some pumpkin pie designer paper from the retired Island Oasis paper pack which I thought would make a cute background for my card base.  And I think it's been a few days since I've used my Fabulous Florets stamp set.  I'm pretty sure I was suffering from withdrawal, so I figured the only cure was to take it out and stamp with it!

Thanks for stopping by today.  And don't forget to head on over to the ColorLab and check out this color challenge as well as the inspiration from the design team.  We'd love to see what you do!

ColourQ 82 and Sketchbook Saturday 8

There's a whole lot of green goodness going on over at the ColourQ this week.

Isn't it wonderful?  It is if you like green (which I do).  And that little bit of Baja Breeze is a perfect complement.  I was anxious to try this challenge, so I quickly chose the Sketchbook Saturday as a layout for my card.

I think I have a weakness for scallop circles because I always seem to want to make cards with them!  I thought this was interesting because the bottom of the circles is hidden.

The stamped image I used is a little bit outside of what I normally choose.  It's from the Flower For All Seasons stamp set.  I got it as a freebie during Sale-A-Bration because it seemed like a good stamp set for watercoloring.  I don't watercolor all that often, but every time I see a card that is watercolored, I love it.  This is the first time I've used this set and I actually colored most of the image with my blender pens, so I'm not sure that is technically considered watercoloring.  There are three other images in the set, so hopefully they'll see some ink as the seasons progress!

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

MOJO 188 and Picture Perfect Creations 56

I love the color blue, so there was no way I was going to miss participating in the Picture Perfect Creations color challenge this week.  I paired the color challenge with the MOJO sketch challenge.

The last MOJO challenge of the of the month is always a choice between a round or square card and this month I've chosen square.

Luckily I had some scraps from the Urban Garden designer paper, which had both Not Quite Navy and Baha Breeze among its pages, so I was able to use them here.  That beautiful butterfly is from the Simple Frienship stamp set that I have been eyeing for some time and finally decided to buy!  I inked it up in Pear Pizzazz then embossed it with clear embossing powder to make it a little more special!

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