sketchy awesome puppy

3 Responses »
Nov 302015

Hello!  Today’s post is just a quick one to share a card made for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge that will be closing this afternoon.  I’m trying to get a few more cards made for the box I want to mail to Send a Smile 4 Kids this week, and this will be included in it.  I felt like most of the cards I’ve made so far have been either feminine or gender-neutral looking, so I purposely chose colors that looked especially suitable for a little boy.  The large star was die cut from shiny silver cardstock.  The star-shaped sequins echo the silver, blue, and green used on the card.  The puppy was stamped, colored, fussy cut, and attached to the star with a couple scraps of cardstock behind him to give him a little more visual separation from the background.

FMS214

Here’s a second photo that really shows off the shine of the silver cardstock:

FMS214 shiny

And here is the challenge graphic:

Thanks for stopping by today!  Comments are always read and appreciated.

Supplies:
Stamps: Skater Kids (Mama Elephant for Simon Says Stamp)
Cardstock: Gable Green, Brilliant Blue, Whisper White textured, Silver Foil (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Nesting Starburst die (QuicKutz); markers (Copic); sequins (Darice)

Posted by PH in VA at 2:00 pm Cards, Freshly Made Sketches, Mama Elephant, Send a Smile 4 Kids, Stampin' Up!

CAS Colours & Sketches #152

6 Responses »
Nov 262015

Hello, and Happy Thanksgiving to all my American visitors!

As usual on Thursdays, there’s a new challenge being presented at CAS Colours & Sketches.  This week it’s a sketch challenge.  I thought the offset half-circles were really interesting!  I’ve used two different designer papers and matted them.  The easy way to make them was to cut them with a circle-shaped die, and then to cut the circles in half.  Since that resulted in two half-circles in each design, I’ve gone ahead and made two cards, which will both be sent in a few days to Send a Smile 4 Kids.  I changed up the orientation of the card and the sentiment, but otherwise all the materials are the same.   The white panel is textured cardstock, which unfortunately doesn’t show the texture in the photos.

CASCAS152 noel

CASCAS152 hello

sketch 152

What will you create with this sketch?  Share your work with us at the CAS Colours & Sketches site by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, December 2.  Be sure to check out what the other design team members have made, too!  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: none
Cardstock: Poppy Parade, Whisper White textured (Stampin’ Up); designer papers from Aspen Frost 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: none
Other: standard circle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders); “Noel” die from Wonderful Wreath Framelits (SU); Simply Said Hello die (Avery Elle)

Posted by PH in VA at 8:00 am Avery Elle, Basic Grey, Cards, CAS Colours & Sketches, Send a Smile 4 Kids, Stampin' Up!

CAS Colours & Sketches #151

3 Responses »
Nov 192015

Hello!  It’s time for another color challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches!  Louise, our challenge hostess, is getting into a Christmas mood, and she has picked a color combo that’s a step off from the traditional red and green and mixed it with a great metallic.

I”ll be honest, I had a hard time figuring out what to do with this color combo, but finally I got it together and came up with this card.  I’ve used the current sketch from The Crooked Stamper Sketch Challenge for my layout.  I used some scrap paper to mask off the middle vertical strip area and blasted it with a pewter-colored pearl mist.  In real life, it’s very shimmery!  I’ve added a second photo below to help show off the shimmer.  Although our CC&S color challenges use the names of Stampin’ Up colors, any company’s products can be used so long as the colors match closely.  So I’ve played into the shimmer concept and used Brilliance ink in colors similar to the other two challenge colors to stamp a few Christmas ornaments.  The ornament panel is attached to the card with dimensional adhesive.  Even though the colors were a bit out of my comfort zone at first, I’m pleased with how the card turned out.

CASCAS151 full

CASCAS151 shimmer

CC&S color151-001

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you’ll join us over at CAS Colours & Sketches with your own take on these colors!  You have until 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, November 25 to link your card at the challenge website.  Also, we’re looking to add some new members to our design team in 2016, so if this is something you’re interested in, be sure to add the letters “DT” to your name when you link your card, and play along in next week’s sketch challenge, too!

Supplies:
Stamps: Holiday Baubles (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Peacock and Aurora Brilliance three-color ink pads (Tsukineko); Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: pewter Perfect Pearls Mist (Ranger); dimensionals (SU)

Posted by PH in VA at 8:00 am Cards, CAS Colours & Sketches, Inkspirational challenges, Send a Smile 4 Kids, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, The Crooked Stamper Sketch Challenge

Cards in Envy - Put Some Extra Layers On

5 Responses »
Nov 162015

Hello!  It’s time for a new challenge at Cards in Envy – where we make cards that fit in envelopes!  Cards for our challenges should be A2 sized (4.25″ x 5.5″) and have no lumpy, bumpy embellishments more than 1/4″ thick, so that the cards can be mailed at the standard first-class postage rate.

We’re getting ready for cooler weather with a challenge theme of “Put Some Extra Layers On”.  This can be depicted either by having a number of layers of cardstock or designer paper on your card, or by using images that show layers in some sort.  Be sure to check out the challenge blog to see what the rest of the design team has made!

For my card, I decided to let some designer paper do most of the work for me.  I’ve matted it with a coordinating solid color cardstock, and the card base serves as a mat for the main panel.  The layout comes from the current challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.

CIE 11-16-2015

We hope you’ll have fun with this challenge and join in the fun and creativity!  Link your card at the Cards in Envy site by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, December 6.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamp: So Much to Say (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Red Hot, Moonlit Fog, Poppy Prints designer papers (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Poppy Parade (Stampin’ Up)

Posted by PH in VA at 1:00 am Cards, Cards in Envy, Gina K Designs, Lawn Fawn, Send a Smile 4 Kids

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - November color challenge

6 Responses »
Nov 142015

Hello there!  It’s the second Saturday of the month, which means it’s time for another color challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.

I have to admit that this week’s colors, purple and green, are not a combination I would have thought to put together, so I struggled with it at first.  I finally decided to use an image of an evergreen tree decorated with purple ornaments.  This week’s challenge at CAS(E) this Sketch! seemed like it would work well with my idea.  I stamped the tree with a combination of VersaMark and green dye ink and then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  Then I did a wash over it with a drop of purple reinker mixed with some water.  The heat embossing resisted the wash, creating a background for the tree.  The sentiment was also heat embossed in green.  I added some coordinating enamel dots to the tree, along with a silver star-shaped brad.  Cutting the focal panel with a stitched die wasn’t so easy because the wash and the embossing had both warped the cardstock somewhat.  I ran it through my Big Kick several times, with as thick a “sandwich” as I could easily put through the machine, to try to flatten it.  That did help a little bit, but not nearly as much as I would have liked.  I layered the panel with a thin purple mat and then attached it all to a card base.

52CCT 11-14-2015

What will you create with these colors?  Neutrals can be used, but the purple and green should be the dominant colors of your card.  Link it up to our 52CCT challenge post by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, November 20.  We’d love to have you join us!

Supplies:
Stamps: Season of Joy, Short & Sweet (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Pure Luxury Ivory (Gina K. Designs); Perfect Plum (SU)
Ink: Garden Green (SU); VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Other: Elegant Eggplant reinker, clear detail embossing powder, Regals candy dots (SU); star brad (The Paper Studio); Stitched Rectangles die (Lawn Fawn)

Posted by PH in VA at 1:00 am Cards, CAS(E) this Sketch!, Christmas Card Throwdown, Gina K Designs, Lawn Fawn, Stampin' Up!

CAS Colours & Sketches #150 Birthday Bonanza!

3 Responses »
Nov 122015

Hello!  It’s an exciting time at CAS Colours & Sketches this week!  Today we are presenting our 150th challenge – what a milestone!  Our blog’s third birthday is later this month.  So we are combining both events into one big celebration.  We even have prizes for three lucky participants in this week’s challenge!  Uniko and Crafter’s Companion are each offering a gift certificate, and Spectrum Noir is giving away a set of 12 Aqua Markers.  How cool is that?!?

Our sketch this week features a number.  Although the number “1” is shown on the sketch, any number can be used in order for your card to be eligible for our usual Weekly Winners voting.  However, in order to be considered for one of the prize drawings, you must use the number 1, 5, or 0, or any combination of those three numbers.

When I first saw that the sketch had an aperture element, my immediate reaction was to create a suspension card.  Since I don’t know anyone who is celebrating a major birthday or anniversary any time soon, I had to think of other ways to use the number element.  The phrase “you’re one of a kind” came to mind, and with winter coming soon and the thought that no two snowflakes are alike, I decided to incorporate those ideas into my card.  I figured it could be a card of encouragement to send to Send a Smile 4 Kids.  In order to best fit all the elements onto the card, I had to “squash” the sketch from a portrait-oriented rectangle into a landscape-oriented one.  I cut the card front and the horizontal strip from designer paper.  I decided to add a curve to the horizontal strip, to play along with the idea of snowflakes blowing in the wind.  I fit the pieces together and attached them to the card base with temporary adhesive to stamp the sentiment and cut the aperture, to make sure all the layers lined up perfectly together.  The snowflake element was cut from two scraps of a solid blue cardstock that coordinates with the outline of the snowflakes on the horizontal strip.  The scrap of the card front left from cutting the aperture was just big enough to cut two smaller snowflakes from it, so I decided to do that and add them to the solid blue snowflakes.  I sandwiched a single strand of embroidery floss between the two compound snowflake elements and adhered it tautly to the back of the card front.  Then I attached the card front to the card base.  The snowflake appears to be suspended in the aperture and can twirl around.  How fun is that?!?  The number 1 was also cut from the scraps of solid blue cardstock that I’d used for the larger snowflakes.  I stacked two of them together and attached them to the card front to finish the card.

CASCAS150

CASCAS150 angle

sketch 150

We’d love to see what you can create with this week’s sketch, and to have you join in celebrating with us! Share your card at the CC&S website by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, November 18. A big hug of appreciation goes out to all of our CAS Colours & Sketches challenge participants who have made our blog such a wonderful gathering place for fun and creativity!  We hope you’ll continue to join in our challenges.  Thank you to our fantastic sponsors for this week, who have generously offered prizes.

https://uniko.co.uk/blog                      

Supplies:
Stamps: Jesse’s ABCs (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Blue Bayou (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); designer papers from Fruitcake collection (Basic Grey)
Ink: Blue Bayou (SU)
Other: Stitched Snowflakes, Stitched Rectangles, and Stitched Square dies (Lawn Fawn); Landscape Trio die (Mama Elephant); Best Friends Forever number die (Ellison Design); embroidery floss (DMC)

Posted by PH in VA at 8:00 am Basic Grey, Cards, CAS Colours & Sketches, Lawn Fawn

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - November sketch challenge

4 Responses »
Nov 072015

Hello there!  Christmas is quickly approaching, but if you’ve been joining in the challenges at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown throughout the year, you should have a nice stockpile of Christmas cards ready to be signed and sent!  If you’re new to our site, that’s OK, you can let this week’s challenge spark your creativity.

We are starting the month with a sketch challenge.  For my card, I’ve turned the sketch on its side and created a little scene. I freehand cut the “snowbank”. The snowman was stamped, colored, fussy cut, and adhered to the card front with dimensional adhesive. The three little snowflake embellishments have a bit of glittery Stickles around them.

52CCT 11-07-2015

We’d love to see what you can do with this sketch!  Link your card to the 52CCT challenge post by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, November 13.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Be Jolly (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); designer papers from Blitzen collection (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic); Frosted Lace Stickles (Ranger); snowflake eyelets (source unknown)

Posted by PH in VA at 1:00 am Avery Elle, Basic Grey, Cards, Christmas Card Throwdown, Send a Smile 4 Kids, Stampin' Up!

CAS Colours & Sketches #149

10 Responses »
Nov 052015

Happy Thursday!  It’s time for a new month of challenges at CAS Colours & Sketches and we’re getting it started off with a color challenge.  Our November hostess, Louise, has chosen some autumnal colors for us.

I have to admit it took me a while to figure out what I was going to do with these colors.  I looked around online to see if any of the many sketch challenges would help inspire me.  The one at Freshly Made Sketches looked like it could easily be kept clean and simple in style, so I decided to give it a try.  Then I had a couple different ideas for what stamps to use.  In the end, this puppy image won out.  I figured since one of the challenge colors is called “Chocolate Chip”, that this could be a chocolate labrador.  Heh heh.  Rather than trying to color him, I stamped him onto some chocolaty brown designer paper and fussy cut him from that.  I stamped his head a second time so I could cut that out and pop it up over the whole dog image with a shim of scrap cardstock, to give him some dimension.  I pieced his dog bed together from cardstock in the remaining two challenge colors.  I’m hoping this is enough paper piecing to make my card count for the current Less is More challenge.  I played with my photo editing stuff the best I could to try to show the deep purple blackberry color correctly.  I’m not sure how well the photo shows that the main panel of the card is textured cardstock, either.  At any rate, I think the card will serve well for Send a Smile 4 Kids.

CASCAS149

CC&S color149-001 Be sure to check out what the rest of the CC&S Design Team has done with these colors!  Then share your own card with us by linking it to the challenge post by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, November 11.  We’d love to have you join us!

Supplies:
Stamps: Furry Friends (Avery Elle); A Birdie Told Me (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Pure Luxury Ivory (Gina K. Designs); Blackberry Bliss, More Mustard, Autumn Vine designer series paper (Stampin’ Up); scrap from Pyrus 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: petite scalloped circle Nestabilities die (Spellbinders)

Posted by PH in VA at 8:00 am Avery Elle, Basic Grey, Cards, CAS Colours & Sketches, Freshly Made Sketches, Lawn Fawn, Less is More challenges, Nestabilities, Send a Smile 4 Kids, Stampin' Up!

Cards in Envy - Gratitude

6 Responses »
Nov 022015

Hello there!  It’s the first Monday of the month, which means it’s time for a new challenge at Cards in Envy.  Our challenge theme for the next two weeks is Gratitude.  There are so many things in our lives for which we can be thankful – so make a card showing your thankfulness, and share it with us!  Keep in mind that cards for our challenges must be A2 sized (4.25″ x 5.5″) and must not have any thick embellishments that would prevent the card from being mailed at the standard first-class postage rate.

It’s been a long time since I made a starburst card, so I picked out some designer papers in colors that I felt represented the autumn season and went to work with them.  Since the papers had a lot of blue in them, I chose to stamp a bird in the circle element so I could color it to coordinate with the papers.  The sentiment is from a long-retired stamp set.

CIE 11-2-2015

The Paper Players also has a thankfulness theme going on, so I’ve decided to enter my card in their challenge.

Be sure to check out what the rest of the Cards in Envy design team has made!  Then we’d love to see your creativity!  Share your card using the linky tool at the Cards in Envy site by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, November 15.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Love Quotes (Mama Elephant); Simple Sayings II (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Naturals Ivory, Blue Bayou (SU); designer papers from Pyrus 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Early Espresso (SU)
Other: markers (Copic); standard circle and petite scalloped circle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders); sponge

Posted by PH in VA at 1:00 am Basic Grey, Cards, Cards in Envy, Mama Elephant, Nestabilities, Send a Smile 4 Kids, Stampin' Up!, The Paper Players challenges
© 2019 Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha