Paper Players 53 and Color Dare 107

This week Lesley has cooked up quite a sketch for us at the Paper Players.

I thought long and hard about this sketch before I attempted it.  I had a hard time deciding on a color scheme until Wednesday when I saw that the color challenge this week at The Color Dare was Marina Mist, Certainly Celery and So Saffron.

I had a hankering to do a little sewing so I got out my Janome Sew Mini and stitched each of the So Saffron layers.  Then I had a hankering to use the retired Heartfelt Thanks stamp set.  Sometimes these things just hit me and I have no idea why. 

That's not exactly true.  Usually, when I have not decided on what stamp set I'm going to use for a sketch or a color challenge, I will get up close and personal with ALL of my stamp sets.  I methodically go through each one until I find the perfect one.  And sometimes, if I'm lucky, I'll have that " A HA" moment, where I stumble on a stamp set that is absolutley perfect for what I have in mind.  In this particular case I wouldn't call it an "A HA" moment so much as a "hey, I haven't used that stamp set in a while" moment.  And so this card was born.

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

Color Lab Challenge 47

We are all about patriotic colors this week at the ColorLab!

As soon as I saw this color challenge I knew that I was going to make some kind of July 4th card.  I poked around blogland and eventually, after much deliberation, decided that the Sketchbook Saturday sketch would be a good fit for what I had in mind.

And here's my version of my patriotic version of this sketch challenge.  I'll admit that when I first saw this sketch, I was a little unsure about how I wanted to proceed.  But once I decided to combine it with the ColorLab challenge it was like the light dawned and it all came together very quickly.

I know it doesn't seem so in the photo, but I really did use Not Quite Navy here.  All of the blue that I used to stamp the stars is Not Quite Navy.  I wish it showed up better!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a chance to pop on over to the ColorLab, check out the inspiration from the design team, and join our challenge this week.  We'd love to see what you do!

UDI42 and Cards & Things 85

From Erna, I've discovered a new challenge website, Cards & Things.  I'm a challenge junkie, so today I've combined their latest sketch challenge with the color challenge at Utah Divas International.

I actually found this color challenge a little challenging!  I suppose that's the point, but sometimes I wish I didn't have to think so hard about how I wanted my card to end up!  I wanted a "hello" card, but ended up with a thank you card, because I didn't have a stamp that said "hello."

Obviously, I am going stamping shopping soon in order to rectify my lack of a "hello" stamp.  I still can't believe I don't have that sentiment, or something like it.  Unthinkable!  But fortunately, "thank you" is always a sentiment that I have no trouble using.  It seems like I've always got some reason to thank someone for something!

Thanks for stopping by today!

This Was Supposed To Be a Wedding Card

I've been neglecting my duties lately.  I've got my nephew's wedding on July 17th and my cousin's wedding on July 31st, and I haven't made a card for either one.  Oh the shame!  But today I took a look at the color challenge at Picture Perfect Creations and thought it would be perfect for one of those cards.

I know at first glance it may seem a little non-traditional for a wedding, but the bride has chosen red for her color and I thought that with a lot of white space and a little Basic Gray thrown in for good measure I could make something really nice.  I had seen a wedding card on Splitcoast that I absolutely loved and I intended to make my own version of it.  Then I saw the latest MOJO sketch challenge and saw a match made in heaven!

So I set to work and after about 15 minutes I realized that the layers I created were ALL WRONG!  It seems I was paying more attention to the card on Splitcoast than on the acutal sketch.  As a result, the sizes were all off and I couldn't possibly re-do what I had started to fit the sketch.  So I put what I was working on aside (I actually like what I've done and I'll finish it later) and put this little number together.

Even though my little flourish goes up when it should go down, I think it fits the sketch better than my first attempt!  And I must be feeling a little nostalgic for some of the retiring sets because I've used two here:  Fast & Fabulous and Priceless.  I've got one in my stash to keep and one in my eBay pile.  Time will tell if the one I intend to keep will actually see some ink in the future.  I hope it does!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge 209

Once the weather turns summery I always have a hard time bringing myself to stay inside and spend some quality time in my stamp room.  I like to be outside with the sun on my face and there always seems to be a weed or two, or a million, that need pulling up!  So today after doing some yardwork outside, I found that I had time to wander inside and make a card for the Stamping 411 sketch challenge.

I love a sketch that has big, bold geometric designs like this.  I decided to pair it with the Utah Divas International color challenge to use Early Espresso, Rose Red, Crumb Cake and Pretty in Pink.

I'm not sure why, but when I see these particular colors together I want to do a little distressing.  So I very lightly distressed the edges of all the layers including the round ones with some Early Espresso.  I used the sentiment from the soon to be retired Simple Friendship stamp set.  This is one of the sets that I consider to be a keeper because the butterly stamp included in the set is absolutely gorgeous and there's no way I'm giving it up!
Thanks for stopping by!

Color Throwdown 147 and Deconstructed Sketch 7

This week the fine and talented ladies at the Color Throwdown brought out an old favorite of mine:  Sage Shadow.

Last year, when Stampin' Up! retired loads of colors there were a few that I couldn't bring myself to part with and Sage Shadow was one of them.  I've got my stamp pad, some cardstock and even some designer paper so it was fun to get out all three for this challenge!  I've recently come across the Deconstructed Sketch challenge and this week they've got another adorable sketch.  So, off I went to combine the two challenges.

I love square cards and I love rounded edges, so this sketch had it all going on for me!  Plus that round layer said "button" to me, and I can't say no to a button!

I just love adding small touches of black to a card.  It always seems to give it a bit of depth.  I did a little bit of rock-and-roll on my flowers.  I stamped them first in Blushing Bride then rolled the edges with Cherry Cobbler.  There are actually two flowers here in graduated sizes, but it's tough to see them layered on top of one another when they are the same color.  So I layered them with dimensionals and combined with the rock-and-roll coloring, they look quite distinct.  At least in real life they do!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Color Lab Challenge 46

A funny thing happend when I sat down to make my card for the ColorLab challenge this week.  (Paired with the MOJO sketch challenge).

I was busy going along making my card, arranging my layers and I knew that I wanted to stamp the butterfly from the Great Friend stamp set in Bravo Burgundy.  But when I pulled out the Bravo Burgundy stamp pad (which I don't use all that often), I discovered it was nearly dry!  EEK!

I managed to pounce my lovely butterfly on the stamp pad until I got enough ink on it to create a decent impression, so all is not lost!  But I'm definitely buying a re-inker at the earliest opportunity!

So, thanks for stopping by today and I hope you'll give the ColorLab a chance.  Our design team has loads of inspiration to get you started on the right foot!

Color Dare 106 and FTL145

I had been contemplating the FTL sketch from last Friday for a while, but I found the sketch a little intimidating and couldn't seem to figure out how I wanted my card to look.  After poking around the blogosphere for some inspiration, I thought that the color challenge at The Color Dare was pefect for the sketch challenge, so I set to work.

After looking at this card, I still can't believe that I made it!  This is pretty far outside the realm of what I'm used to making, but I think these colors are fabulouos together.  And I love how the vellum panel doesn't cover everything completely, but gives the stamped images underneath a very soft quality.

Thanks for stopping by!