SCS - Colour Challenge #214, 2 Sketches 4 You Challenge

I decided to make two cards for today's SCS Colour Challenge. The colours were Pink Pirouette, So Saffron and Bordering Blue.

For the above card, I used a Sunshine Designs stamp that I purchased when Cathy had The Ink Spot. You can pretty much do anything with this stamp. I stamped Black Stazon onto watercolour paper and used the challenge colours to watercolour it. I added stickles in coordinating colours around the rim and on the bottom portion of the cup. I layered that onto So Saffron (textured) and then onto a bigger Bordering Blue panel and tied 5/8" Pink Pirouette grosgrain ribbon. I used a Hero Arts sentiment. My card base is Gina K. 120 lb. card stock. I layered that with Pink Pirouette that I ran through the Script Cuttlebug. For my second card, I used the 2 Sketches 4 You Sketch Challenge. Bordering Blue as my card base. I stamped Seeing Spots in the challenge colours on a piece of Whisper White card stock and layered that on a Pink Pirouette panel then tied some Saffron ribbon from the retired Ribbon Originals (Sherbet). I punched out the thank you sentiment with the 1 1/4" punch and layered that on the Saffron 1 3/8" circle. I punched out the centre flower (stamped in Bordering Blue) with the 3/4" punch. I also punched out the scallop in Pink Pirouette. I punched a small hole through all layers and adhered a pink rhinestone brad in the centre. I used a rub-on from the Chit Chat package on the bottom right and that finished it off. I hadn't used the Seeing Spots set in a very long time so I'm glad I could make my own patterned paper out of it. Thanks for lookin'.

Corrosive Challenge #7

Did Christmas come early?

Nah! I just decided to do a Christmas card for Janet's Corrosive Challenge. Here's the image:I used the beautiful deer from The Magic of Christmas set (Rupa Shevde) by Gina K. Designs. I stamped it on watercolour paper in Timber Brown Stazon and used various shades of brown from S-U with my aquapainter. I cut it and layered it with my oval nesties. My card base is Blush Blossom and has a Kiwi Kiss panel on top of that. I layered some patterned paper with Chocolate Chip. I added some Old Olive brads and ribbon on the patterned paper panel. I stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set on the bottom right of the card. I hope you like it!

SCS - Sketch Challenge #195

Thank goodness I have lots of friends (or at least I think I do!!) - I've been making a lot of friendship cards lately. I actually have been giving a lot of my cards away to friends and my MIL was recently visiting for Easter and she went home with a bunch (boy was I happy - I've been a stamping machine lately and I'm glad she can make use of them). Here is my submission for sketch challenge 195 over at Splitcoast:

The card base is Whisper White. I used Blossoms Abound for my main image (it was collecting lots of dust in the cupboard) in Pale Plum and Perfect Plum. I used two kinds of stickles to make the grapes really pop (it is so glittery IRL - I love it). I used patterened paper for my other panels and layered them with card stock (kiwi kiss and perfect plum). I used the Oval All set for my sentiment and layered it with the Oval Scallop punch. I also added a little prima flower and rhinestone brad (there was a little gap in the DSP and I thought it needed a little something). Again, a pretty simple card, but I'm happy with it. Thanks for having a look!

SC193 - Glad we're friends

I was just catching up on a couple of older sketch challenges on SCS. This is my submission for challenge #193:

I realized I've been using this stamp a lot lately, but it is so lovely and can really be used for any occasion. My card base is Whisper White and I layered some DSP over that. I cut a strip of Chocolate Chip for the left side panel. My three horizontal panels are Kiwi Kiss and I've wrapped some Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon around them. I coloured the flower with Blender Pens using Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red & Kiwi Kiss inks. I layered that on a Pink Pirouette panel. I used the Best Yet set for my sentiment and punched it out with a 1 3/8" circle punch. I layered that with Chocolate Chip scallop circle punch. I finished the card off with a few dew drops. A pretty simple card, but it took me forever!

Three Clovers Thursday Color Challenge #8 and Clean and Simple Sketch Challenge

The color combo for the Three Clovers Thursday Color Challenge #8 is: Rose Red, So Saffron, Always Artichoke and this is the sketch for the Clean & Simple Challenge from last week:

The card base is Whisper White and I layered a piece of Saffron patterned paper on Always Artichoke. I stamped the flower from Echoes of Kindness with Black Stazon on watercolour paper and coloured it with Rose Red and Always Artichoke. The sentiment is a rub-on from S-U. I layered the main panel with Always Artichoke and So Saffron. I tied a Rose-y red satin ribbon with a little buckle around the patterned paper panel. This really is a clean & simple card - my favourite kind!

Mojo Monday Week 82

What a fantastic layout!

As soon as I saw the sketch, I knew I wanted to use this DSP from Stampin' Up. It matches perfectly with the Dreams du Jour stamp set, and the Love You stamp was the right size for the square image. I toyed around with how I was going to layer it, but wanted to give it a little punch with black. I coloured the flower with Blender Pens using Baja Breeze ink. I cut out the square and mounted it on Baja Breeze and Basic Black. The square panel behing it is Whisper White and Baja Breeze. The card base is Baja Breeze too. I used the Eyelet Border punch on both layers. I used the sentiment from the Always set and punched it with the large oval punch. I sponged around it with Baja Breeze and used another layer in Black to tie in the black again. I used the beautiful Whisper White Satin ribbon to finish it off. Thanks for having a look.

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #63

Cathy is right - I have been blurfing a lot lately! I really love doing the Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge and this is my second attempt at this one. I didn't like my first try at all, so am not going to post it. I think I did a better job with this one:

I haven't used this beautiful pear from Stampers' Anonymous for a long time. I decided to pull out my pastels too, which have also been collecting dust. I stamped the pear in Versamark and rubbed various colours of pastels over it. I sponged So Saffron around the edges. I added a the "hello" sentiment. I layered it with Kiwi Kiss and Chocolate Chip panels. My card base is also Chocolate Chip and I used a Kiwi patterned paper over that. I wrapped some chocolate satin ribbon over a Saffron panel. I added a flower from the Flower Fusion kit and used a polka dot brad from the Dollar store.

Feeling a Breath of Spring...

Donna has been "blurfing" her little heart out, discovering all kinds of wonderful challenges for us to play. I really like this challege from Our Creative Corner. I knew immediately that I wanted to so something with a soft spring feel to match the sunny day outside my window today!

I've had this stamp from Club Scrap for a few years and I thought it would fit my vision perfectly!

It's been a while since I indulged my love of Asian images and I really enjoyed making this card. The image is stamped with Black Dye Ink, but I used a red marker to pick out the Japanese characters. I coloured the whole lightly with art pencils and used a bit of gamsol to blend just the background. Although you can't really see it in the picture, I used several shades of Art Institute Glitter to highlight the bird, the flowers, and the top edge of the largest leaves. It really added a pretty shimmer to the card!

I cut the circle with my nesties then embossed it with my favourite Cuttlebug floral embossing folder for texture. A prima flower, a pearlized brad and a sentiment panel and it was done! I particularly like this colour combo - you might see it again (and again) from me!

Just in Time for Easter!

Hi everyone! I am still experiencing problems with my computer, so at the moment I can only post if I visit Donna and use hers! So until I find another solution, my posts might be a little sporadic! Today's card is in response to Taylor's Cupcake Challenge. The sketch looks like this:

But I had to flip it and fiddle it a bit in order use these images for a fun Easter card!

I used a branch from a Pink Paislee Clear Stamp Set "Autumn" and the eggs and bunny are from the SU set, "An egg-cellent Easter." I initially stamped the branch with dye inks but it didn't look so hot and I ended up filling it in and adding some shading with my Copic markers. I masked the branch and stamped the egg three times, also colouring these with Copics. The lines are drawn with a gold gel pen and then I added some dimension with brads and ribbon. I felt like the white background was a bit flat so I stippled it with some pale blue dye ink.

The rest of the card us just some layering with cardstock and some fun flocked sky paper from Heidi Grace. I didn't have room for the embellishment as placed in the sample, so I trimmed out the bunny, coloured with Copics and slipped it behind the main panel up top I thought it turned out pretty cute!

SCS - Sketch Challenge #199

Here is the birthday card I'll give my sister tomorrow. I think this Golden Oldies set from Stampin' Up is so adorable! I am sure I'll get lots of use out of it. I used an old sketch challenge from SCS for my layout. I stamped the old lady (sorry Sharon!) on watercolour paper with Black Stazon. I used aquapainters and various inks (bashful blue, baja blue, kiwi kiss, gray, brown, blush) to colour her. I layered her on Baja Breeze and Kiwi Kiss panels. I added flower photo corners on two sides. The card base is Whisper White and I layered a flower patterned paper on Baja Breeze to the left side of the card. The sentiment is from Verses Rubber Stamps and is called "Old". I layerd that on Baja Breeze. The lady is popped up with dimensionals. Thanks for having a look!

Prairie Paper and Ink Sketch Challenge #56

Happy Easter! This is a new challenge for me this week. I made this card for my boys to give to their Auntie Sharon for her birthday on Tuesday. I'll make another card for her using a different sketch challenge that I'll make and post later today. I stamped the cupcake from Crazy for Cupcakes in Black Stazon on watercolour paper. I paper pieced the cupcake wrapper with some DSP and coloured the icing with chocolate chip ink using an aqua painter. The candle was watercoloured with YoYo Yello and Regal Rose. I layered the main image with Chocolate Chip and rounded the corners on both panels. I added stickles for a little bling (after the card was put together). I used Gina K. 120 lb. card stock as my card base. I layered a Regal Rose panel that I ran through the Birthday Cuttlebug folder. I added some S-U DSP and wrapped Regal Rose 5/8" ribbon around the card. I added a few buttons. Thanks for having a look.

K Werner Color Challenge 46, Kerin Sylvester Sketch Challenge #8

During my recent "blurfing", I came across a number of new challenges that I am really interested in participating in. Although this is absolutely wonderful, there are not enough hours in the day for me to create a card for every one of them unless I combine the challenges when possible. Most of the challenges I have flagged are sketch challenges, but I know I'll find other colour and inspiration challenges out there to help me along! I combined the K Werner Color Inspiration Challenge #49 with Kerin Sylvester's Sketch Challenge #8. I used Hero Arts Asian Frames for my main image and used blender pens to pick up ink and colour in the image. I layered it with Basic Black and Kiwi Kiss. I added Rose Red brads to the corners. I used various S-U DSP's and one non S-U patterned paper behind the main image. My card base is Basic Black and I layered it with Whisper White. I inked part of a sentiment with a black marker and punched it out with oval punches. I used Pacific Point around the sentiment. That's it! Thanks for having a look.

Truly Scrumptious Sketch Challenge #4

Here is my submission for the Truly Scrumptious Sketch Challenge #4. This is another sketch that is quite out-of-the-box for me. I don't usually make square cards, but I've just purchased some envelopes that will fit these puppies, so I'm all set! I inked the Inspired by Nature flowers with my S-U markers in Barely Banana, So Saffron and More Mustard and used Close to Cocoa and Black on the top. I used Certainly Celery and Old Olive on the stem & leaves. I misted the stamp with a little water and stamped it on Whisper White card stock. I cut it out and layered it with my oval nesties. I used circle nesties for the two side panels in More Mustart & Old Olive. The card base is Basic Black and I used some DSP over that. I used some retired "Jersey" S-U ribbon across the centre. The sentiment is a rub-on from S-U. I used a few of Baba's buttons (are you sick of hearing that yet?) to finish it all off. Thanks for having a look.

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 12 (even though it's Thursday)

I found a few more sketch challenges yesterday and created a few cards last night. You know this hobby is becoming an obsession when it's midnight and you know you have to go to bed in order to get up in time to get the kids off to school. Maybe I didn't want to go to bed to listen to my DH snore his head off! See, he's put a few pounds on over the past few months and this leads to what I call the "snore build-up". He starts off breathing normally, but within a minute, his breathing turns into a light snore and progresses until he's in full-blown snore mode. Now, I'm a really light sleeper - always have been - and I just can't ignore this. I have to LISTEN for the "snore build-up" and then I just get mad. He tells me he isn't sleeping, so how can he be snoring? Huh?? I decided last night that to save my sanity and maybe get some sleep, I'd just sleep in the spare room. Of course, because I wasn't in my own bed next to my warm hubby, I couldn't sleep! Why bother? I'd rather be stamping anyway!
Ok - onto the card. This sketch comes from the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge. It's a simple layout, but I think those can be the most challenging. I used Gina K. 120 lb. card stock for my base card and layered Blush Blossom over that. In retrospect, I think I should have used an embossing folder on that layer to give it a little more visual interest. The middle panel uses Sage Shadow and the patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye Tres Jolie line called "Beauty" Floral. The sentiment is from Verses Rubber Stamps and is called "Souls in this World". I used S-U markers in Close to Cocoa and Mellow Moss (I messed up - I thought I pulled out Sage Shadow!). I popped it with dimensionals. I added some of Baba's buttons and voila!

Paper Pretties Sketch Challenge 42

Isn't this a cool sketch? It's definitely a little different for me. I came across this sketch from Paper Pretties when I was "blurfing" - that is the most disgusting name for blog surfing I have ever heard - anyway, I thought I'd try my hand at it. The card measures 5x5. I used Very Vanilla as my card base. I layered some lovely patterned paper on top (I can't recall who makes this paper - I want to say DCVW, but I'm not certain). My hydrangea is by Anna Griffin for All Night Media. I used my S-U markers in various colours and randomly inked it up. The leaves used Certainly Celery and Mellow Moss. I used my nesties to cut out the oval and scallop oval. I layered that over the Pale Plum and Perfect Plum strips. I tied some organdy ribbon I bought at the dollar store over the Perfect Plum pane. I added some pewter brads, also from the dollar store around the scallop. I am super pleased how this turned out. Thanks for taking a look!

Corrosive Challenge #6

This is my submission for Janet's Corrosive Challenge #6 - to make a card that had a Spring/Easter theme. I thought I'd use flowers as I don't have any in my garden yet but they scream spring to me. The sentiment was a rub-on. I used one of Baba's buttons (you'll see that a lot over the next little bit -I'm on a roll with them). I coloured the flowers in with markers. I added a couple of brads in the corners. A pretty simple card, but good for almost any occasion.

By the way, Cathy's computer is "on the blink" (as my Baba used to say). She wanted me to let you know that she hasn't forgotten about all of you (or me). She mentioned she has lost a little of her mojo, but I'm sure she will get her creative streak back very soon and Brian will be able to fix her computer (he is the go-to guy after all).

Mojo Monday Week 81

This is my submission for today's Mojo Monday challenge. I had the birds already coloured and the sentiment done so I just separated the birds and layered them with Tangerine Tango and Chocolate Chip. I found some cord buttons from my Baba's stash (long story but if you want to find out, read down in my posts a few entries, and you'll find out all about Baba). My card base is Gina K. 120 lb. white card stock. I layerd the Good Morning Sunshine DSP with Chocolate Chip. The birds were watercoloured. Have a terrific day everyone!

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #61

I thought this sketch was so cute, I decided to make two cards for this challenge. What can I say, I'm on a MAJOR card-making roll today. The card below was made with a Very Vanilla base. I layered on some patterned paper from Junkits' Grandparents Collectionz called "grandma's flowers". Most of it is hidden, but trust me, it's gorgeous paper! I layered two 1-1/2" slightly different coloured brown panels on the top and side. I absolutely love the Thoughts and Prayers tree/flower and thought the tree would go well with the paper. I added the sentiment from the new Great Friend set from S-U. I layered that with the same brown as on the side panel (non S-U; GASP!). I added some ink to the sides of the tree image to mirror the texture in the patterned paper. I layered a bunch of different flowers that I've had in my stash for ages & added a brad to secure them.

For my next card, I used Regal Rose as my card base. I added some S-U DSP on top of that. I added a Regal Rose panel and Certainly Celery panel (both 1-1/2" inches wide). I ran them both through the Texturz plate and adhered them. I stamped a sentiment from the retired Friendship Flowers set and layered it on Celery and Regal Rose. I used the ticket corner punch on the sentiment and Celery layers and added Celery brads on the Rose layer. I sponged around the sentiment as well to add a little depth. I layered a bunch of paper flowers together and secured them with a green rhinestone brad.

I'm heading to bed. I'm sure I won't post as many tomorrow. Night, night.

Second Shot at the Stamp TV Sketch Challenge #6

Here's my second try at the Stamp TV Sketch Challenge #6. This time, I used a Gina K. stamp from Down on the Farm for my focal image. I watercoloured it and layered it on some circle punches. I added some doodling (again) with my signo white gel pen. I tried to blow on the end to get the ink to go down to the tip, but all I got was light-headed! After 15 minutes, I finally got enough to go around the scallop. Cathy told me she HATES red cards - well, honey, this one's for you! My card base is Riding Hood Red and my panels are chocolate chip and DSP from Stampin' Up. I used the sentiment from the new Great Friend set from S-U. I used two buttons from the collection I was given by my Baba. Here's the story - Baba was my grandmother on my dad's side and she lived to be 98 years old. She used to darn and crochet things all the time. She lived through some pretty hard times, especially the depression. She saved everything! I remember her saving bacon fat (I have to admit I do that once in awhile - roasting potatoes with it is amazing!), little ends of the soap that she'd put in the end of a nylon once she had enough to make another bar, plastic milk bags that she would reuse to freeze things in (they are pretty sturdy), and many other things. I have hundreds of buttons of various shapes and sizes. One night, I spent hours sorting through them into like-colours and put them in baggies. Often, I can't quite get the right fit for my cards, but today, I hit pay-dirt twice! I cut off the nubs on the underside to make them a little flatter. I ended up pinching my hand with the tool I used when I squeezed the handle. Nobody told me this craft was DANGEROUS! I love the way they look. Unfortunately, I stuck the top one down in a spot I wasn't quite happy with, and when I tried to pull it off, it ripped the paper. Well, back down it went! Despite my toil and labour, I think the card is kinda cute!

Stamp TV Sketch Challenge #6

I think I'm going a little wonky - I felt almost COMPELLED to do another challenge today. Not only that, I knew I had more polka dot paper, so wanted to do The Cat's Pajamas Inspiration Challenge AGAIN! So, here is my submission for that challenge, coupled with the Stamp TV Sketch Challenge #6: My card base is Sage Shadow and the background panel is Chocolate Chip. My patterned paper (not sure who made it) went on the top part of the card and the bottom two panels are Tangerine Tango and Kiwi Kiss. I used the Trendy Tree stamp and layered it with various size circle punches. I added dots with chocolate chip and white signo gel markers. I popped the circle up. I initially had stamped the sentiment directly on the tangerine and kiwi panels, but it wasn't straight so I put it on vanilla CS and punched it with the word window punch and added some to each coloured panel. As my final touch, I added two of Baba's buttons with some vanilla satin ribbon tied through the holes. I think this is happy card - at least I'm happy with it!