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CAS - Colours and Sketches #95

Oct 092014

Hello again! This week at CAS – Colours and Sketches we have a simple little sketch challenge up for the offering.

I’ve stretched the sketch out into a 4.25″ x 5.5″ rectangular card. I resisted the urge to use cute birdies for a third week in a row, LOL – but I did stick with a cute image. I’ve combined the sketch challenge with the “Spoonful of Sugar” Hope You Can Cling To challenge at Splitcoaststampers.com, using this ice cream cone for my something sweet. The ice cream cone is paper pieced. Although it’s not the most imaginative use of designer paper, it does fit the theme of the current Lawnscaping challenge. It felt good to use up some scraps!

I hope you’ll join us at CAS – Colours & Sketches for the sketch challenge, which closes at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, October 15. I also hope you’ll consider playing along in Hope You Can Cling To – there will be one challenge presented each day of October, and the deadline for participating is noon Central time Friday, November 7.

Supplies:
Stamps: Here’s the Scoop (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Blushing Bride, Very Vanilla textured (Stampin’ Up); designer papers from Blush 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: corner rounder, dimensionals (SU)

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - September stash challenge

8 Responses »

Sep 272014

Hello! At 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown we’re closing out the month with stash challenge week, where we invite our challenge participants to use particular items from their crafting stash to create a Christmas or wintry card. This time it’s a double item find – diamonds and pearls. OK, so we honestly don’t expect anyone to actually use real diamonds, but rhinestones make a perfect substitute for them.

I’ve decided to use one of my favorite Christmas themed digital images, of Rhubarb the teddy bear decorating his Christmas tree. I’ve used rhinestones and pearls to cover up the ornament shapes in the image. I also added a star-shaped brad to the top of the tree. The sentiment is a Lawn Fawn stamp.

The layout for this card is Splitcoaststampers.com sketch challenge #507. However, I can’t share the card on the site there yet because it just might be giving you a sneak peek of one of the SCS Hope You Can Cling To challenges coming up in the month of October! 😉

Now it’s your turn to show us how you can make your card sparkle and shimmer! If you’d like some more inspiration, be sure to see what the rest of the 52{C}CT design team has made. Then share your card with us, linking it at the 52{C}CT site by 1:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, October 3. We’d love to have you join us!

Supplies:
Digital Image: Rhubarb Trims the Tree (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Sentiment Stamp: Pa-Rum-Pa-Pum-Pum (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Blushing Bride, Basic Black (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); designer papers from Nordic Holiday 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); printer ink
Other: markers (Copic); rhinestones (SU); Pearl and Blush half pearls (KaiserCraft); star brad (The Paper Studio)

birthday piggy

2 Responses »

Sep 222014

This is just a quick card I made to squeeze into the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge right before it closes. I noticed my Operation Write Home stash is lacking birthday cards suitable to send to kids, and our curious kitten found this little piggy image on my desk, so I put the pig into the sketch and made a birthday card. Yay! This card also works for the current Lawnscaping challenge.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Critters on the Farm, Hats Off to You (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Naturals White (Stampin’ Up); designer papers from Ambrosia 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: corner rounder punch (SU); marker (Copic)

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - September sketch challenge

6 Responses »

Sep 062014

Hello! We’re starting off another month of challenges at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown with a sketch challenge. This one has some fun circles as well as rectangles and the chance to add a ribbon bow.

During September our challenges are being sponsored by Deedee’s Digis, and I’ve used one of their image sets for my card. The set comes with an outline version of the image as well as a pre-colored version. Because our color printer is out of ink, I’ve used the outline version and colored it myself. Since I put a sentiment in one of the circular elements, I added a few rhinestones where the sketch suggested to put the sentiment. The rhinestones started out clear, but I colored them with a Copic marker to coordinate with the deep red designer paper I’d used for the mats.

Now it’s time for you to show us what you can do with this sketch. If you need more inspiration first, be sure to check out the 52{C}CT site to see what the rest of the design team has made. Then link your card there by 1:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, September 12. We’d love to have you join us!

Supplies:
Digital Images: Meowy Christmas (Deedee’s Digis)
Cardstock: Naturals Ivory (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); designer papers from Fruitcake collection pack (Basic Grey)
Ink: printer ink
Other: rhinestones (Bazzill); markers (Copic); standard circle and big scalloped circle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders); Pear Pizzazz seam binding (SU)

Cards in Envy - Best of Friends

3 Responses »

Aug 182014

Hello, and welcome to another Monday! Since it’s the third Monday of the month, it’s time for a new challenge at Cards in Envy. For the next couple of weeks we’re focusing on a theme of “Best Friends”.

I went through my stamps trying to figure out just what I would make for my design team sample card for this challenge, and I wasn’t coming up with anything I liked. Finally I browsed through my digital images and landed upon this cute digi set that had several different images of foods that always seem to go together – salt & pepper, milk & cookies, you get the idea. I decided to go with coffee & doughnuts. (OK, so the actual image says “donuts”, but I prefer the longer spelling.) I remembered I had this designer paper with lots of circles against the brown background, and thought that might work well with the image. I borrowed the layout idea from the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge, added a few mats and embossed the horizontal strips, and colored the image to coordinate with the designer paper. Once I had all my pieces completed, it didn’t take long to assemble.

I just realized as I’m typing this that the designer paper I used is from the very first 6″ x 6″ paper pad I bought… back in 2007! Eeep! I guess it’s about time I used it, LOL!

So, how will you interpret our Best of Friends theme? Create an A2 sized card, being sure not to use any lumpy, bumpy embellishments that would prevent your card from fitting into an envelope and being mailed at the standard postage rate. Share it with us at the Cards in Envy site by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, August 31. We’d love to see what you create!

Supplies:
Digital Images: You & Me (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Blushing Bride, Cool Caribbean (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury Ivory (Gina K. Designs); designer paper from Blush 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: printer ink
Other: markers (Copic); Swiss Dots embossing folder (ProvoCraft)

CAS - Colours and Sketches #87

3 Responses »

Aug 142014

Hello again! This week is sketch week at CAS Colours and Sketches. I hope you’ll consider joining in the fun and creativity there by creating a card of your own with this sketch!

I couldn’t decide between making the tilted rectangular portion of the sketch into a window of sorts or more like a Polaroid photograph. It ended up kind of a combination of both ideas. This stamp set has been wanting to be inked, so I figured I’d make it look like the little angel is leaning on a windowsill. First I die cut the window and added designer paper to create the sky background. I stamped the angel on a scrap of cardstock, colored him, fussy cut him, and glued him to the sky so his arm slightly overlaps the die cut. The wing and the heart have a bit of glitter on them from a new-to-me product called a Wink of Stella pen. It was super easy to use, but I’m disappointed in how easily the glitter rubs off.

Be sure to visit the CAS – Colours and Sketches blog to see the terrific cards the rest of the design team has made. I’m sure they’d love it if you left them comments, too. Then show us what you can do with this sketch! Link your card to the CAS – Colours and Sketches site by 1:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, August 20.

Supplies:
Stamps: Love From Above (Mama Elephant)
Cardstock: Naturals White (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K Designs); designer papers from Blitzen collection (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic); Say Cheese and Critters in Costume dies (Lawn Fawn); Wink of Stella pen (Zig)

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - August sketch challenge

6 Responses »

Aug 022014

Hello! It’s time for a new month of challenges at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown! Our Christmas in July blog hop was loads of fun, and the prize winners will be announced on the 52{C}CT blog on Wednesday, August 6. But now we’re getting back into our normal challenge routine with a sketch challenge.

This is a pretty fun sketch showcasing banners that are so the thing right now. I had done some online shopping while the 52{C}CT design team had its break, and some of my new stamps were begging to be used. The set I used for today’s card is from Technique Tuesday, and it’s actually been retired, so I guess I was pretty lucky finding it when I did. I thought if I rotated the sketch and stretched it out to a rectangle, the long sentiments would work well on the banners. These sentiments are done in an outline font, and I decided to color in the letters with a black marker to make them more legible since the banners are fairly dark colors. (I also added in an apostrophe at the beginning of the word “’tis” – yes, I am *that* grammar fanatic, LOL.) I chose words that I felt worked best with one of the scripty sentiments in the set. The two snowflake stamps were perfect for the little embellishment parts of the sketch. I added rhinestones to the centers of the snowflakes and a line of hand stitching down the left side of the card.

What will you do with our sketch? Please show us by linking your own Christmas or wintry card at the 52{C}CT site by 1:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, August 8. Be sure to see what the rest of the design team has made, too. Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Magic of Christmas (Technique Tuesday)
Cardstock: Smoky Slate (Stampin’ Up); designer papers from Blitzen collection and Aspen Frost 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: rhinestones (SU); Multiliner brush pen (Copic); embroidery floss (DMC)

Cards in Envy - Happy Birthday to You

1 Response »

Jul 212014

Hello again! It’s time for another challenge at Cards in Envy. For the next two weeks, we have a super easy theme for you to follow: Happy Birthday to You. That’s right – all you need to do for this challenge is to make an A2 sized birthday card (4.25″ x 5.5″) with no lumpy, bumpy embellishments so that it could be mailed at the standard postage rate.

I’ve gone with a fairly simply design that could be used for pretty much anyone of any age, although the color scheme does lean a bit toward the masculine side. This platypus image always makes me smile. The birthday hat was stamped on a scrap piece of cardstock. I colored in the polka dots, cut out the hat and glued it into place, and drew in the frills on top.

If you need additional inspiration, please go check out the Cards in Envy site and see what the rest of the design team has made. Then create a birthday card following our challenge guidelines and share it with us on the Cards in Envy site. We’d love to have you play along with us! Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies:
Stamps: Critters Down Under, Hats Off to You (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Garden Green, Elegant Eggplant, Very Vanilla (Stampin’ Up); designer papers from Fusion collection (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic); Labels Five Nestabilities die (Spellbinders)

Cards in Envy - Stars and Stripes

4 Responses »

Jul 072014

Hello, and welcome! Today marks the beginning of a new challenge at Cards in Envy. For the next two weeks, we’re going to be seeing stars and stripes. Cards for this challenge should be A2 sized (4.25″ x 5.5″) and be thin enough to be mailed at the standard postage rate – and have both stars and stripes on them.

I decided to combine my stripes with my stars by die-cutting stars from striped designer paper. I wanted to add another birthday card with a masculine feel to the box I’m filling for Operation Write Home, so that determined my color scheme and the sentiment I chose. I used the sketch from the current CAS(E) This Sketch! challenge for the design of the card.

So now it’s your turn! Check out the Cards in Envy site for all the challenge details and to see what the rest of the design team has made. Then share your starry, stripey creation(s) with us by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, July 20. We’d love to have you play along with us!

Supplies:
Stamps: Bannerific, Hats Off to You (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Tangerine Tango, Basic Gray, Very Vanilla, Whisper White (Stampin’ Up); designer paper from Ambrosia 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: star die (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps); dimensionals (SU)

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - June theme challenge

6 Responses »

Jun 212014

Hello there, and happy Saturday to you! It’s time for another theme challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown, and our hostess, Louise, has chosen a fun one – reindeer and/or Rudolph.

I was excited about this challenge because it gave me the opportunity to use this cute Lawn Fawn image again! To be completely honest, I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be just a “regular” deer (such as the white-tailed deer common in most of the United States) or a reindeer, but for the sake of the challenge I’m calling it a reindeer. I stamped it onto two different colors of brown designer paper, fussy cut the parts, and glued the antlers onto the reindeer’s head. I colored in the nose and created hooves. The background for my little reindeer is pieced together from blue designer paper and white cardstock that was painted with white shimmer paint. I originally planned to use OWH Stars & Stamps sketch #43 for the layout of this card, but in mirror image so the reindeer wouldn’t be frolicking off the edge of the card. Since I couldn’t decide on a sentiment to pair with the image that also balanced out the size of the image panel, I opted to go sentiment-less and move the panel toward the center of the card. The panel is attached with dimensional adhesive to give it a little more visual separation from the card base.

Although my card doesn’t have stars, it does have stripes that qualify it for the current Lawnscaping challenge.

Go see what a-deer-able creations the rest of the 52{C}CT design team has made! Then create your own wintery or Christmasy card showcasing Rudolph or any of his other reindeer friends, and share it with us at the 52{C}CT site by 1:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, June 27. We’d love to have you join us!

Supplies:
Stamps: Critters in the Snow (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); designer papers from Blush collection (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Frost White shimmer paint, dimensionals (Stampin’ Up)

Cards in Envy - Winged Things

2 Responses »

May 192014

Hello! It’s the third Monday of the month, which means it’s time for a new challenge at Cards in Envy! For the next two weeks, we will be focusing on a theme of “Winged Things”. Show us your A2 size cards that feature something with wings – birds, butterflies, dragonflies, bees, fairies or other winged mythical creatures, even airplanes! So long as it has wings, it counts! Remember to keep your cards less than 1/4″ thick – after all, the “in envy” part of our challenge name means that the cards should fit in an envelope and be mailable at the standard first class postage rate.

I decided to use butterflies for my winged things. I kept my card really clean and simple, following the current layout from CAS(E) this Sketch. I chose some (kind of old) designer paper as the background for my butterflies, and luckily had enough of this coordinating long-retired Stampin’ Up cardstock color to use for the butterflies and the card base. Yay for using up some older products, right?! 😉 For the largest butterfly, I glued the middle down to the designer paper, and gently folded up the wings before attaching them with dimensional adhesive. This gives the card more visual interest. I also dressed up the butterfly by adding some pearls for the body.

Thanks for stopping by today! Go see what kinds of winged things the rest of the Cards in Envy design team used. Then create a card of your own and link it to the Cards in Envy site by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, June 1. We’d love to see what you make!

Supplies:
Stamps: Everyday Sayings (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Mauve Mist, Chocolate Chip (Stampin’ Up); “Apple Blossoms” designer paper from LilyKate collection (Basic Grey)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU)
Other: Beautiful Wings Embosslits die, dimensionals (SU); lemon half pearls (KaiserCraft)

happy balloons birthday

6 Responses »

Mar 012014

Tonight’s card combines a couple of challenges right before they close. The layout is from Seize the Sketch, but I’ve turned it on its side. The theme is from a brand new challenge blog, AEIHeartU. It’s really a rather straightforward card so I’ll just cut the chitchat and get right to it:

Thanks for stopping by! I read and appreciate every comment – and I apologize for the spam catcher’s tendency to flag comments from blogs outside the United States.

Supplies:
Stamps: Fill in the Blank (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: River Rock, Basic Black (Stampin’ Up); designer papers from Out of Print 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Icon Fill in the Blank Die (Avery Elle); standard circle Nestabilities die (Spellbinders); dimensionals (SU); twine (Really Reasonable Ribbon)

Cards in Envy - Red, Pink, and/or White

1 Response »

Feb 172014

Hello! It’s Cards in Envy challenge introduction day, and we have a great color challenge this time! We’d like to see you use red, pink, and/or white as the main colors of your A2 sized card that can be mailed at the standard first-class postage rate.

I’ve used the current sketch from CAS – Colours and Sketches for my layout, and I let some designer paper do most of the rest of the work for me. I added some sponging to the edges of the triangle and the heart. The heart is popped up from the card base with dimensional adhesive, but it’s still flat enough to be mailed without needing additional postage.

Be sure to check out the Cards in Envy site to see what the rest of the CIE design team has done with these colors! Then create your own card with this color scheme and share it with us by 7:00 p.m. Sunday, March 2. We’d love to have you join us!

Supplies:
Stamps: Short & Sweet (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); Riding Hood Red (SU); designer papers from Two Scoops 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Riding Hood Red (SU)
Other: heart dies (Sizzix); sponge

CAS - Colours and Sketches #61

2 Responses »

Feb 132014

Hello! It’s time for the first sketch challenge of the month over at CAS – Colours and Sketches! When I drafted this one, I thought about how so many sketches have a lot of rectangular or square elements, so I wanted to break away from that trend. So there’s a large triangle that takes up one entire side of the card, and a place to use any non-rectangular shape.

I ended up turning the sketch on its side. I let designer papers do a lot of the work for me, and ended up with the only stamping being the sentiment. I felt the angles of the hexagon played along with the angles of the triangle, and I’ve used dimensional adhesive to set the hexagons off a bit from the card front. The mats add a little more color to the card.

So now it’s your turn! We’d love to see what you can create with this sketch! Share your card with us at the CAS – Colours and Sketches site by 1:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, February 19.

Supplies:
Stamps: All Guy (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Naturals White (Stampin’ Up); “Cannon”, “Peapod” and “Ivy” designer papers from Oh Baby! Boy collection (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: hexagon Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders); dimensionals (SU)

sketchy valentine

4 Responses »

Jan 022014

Hello! Today’s post is just a quick one to share a card I made using the current Freshly Made Sketches layout. It’s a fantastic sketch for using up some paper scraps! I actually made this card last week so I could send it off to Operation Write Home before their December 31 Valentine deadline, but I didn’t have a chance to blog it until now. This also works with the current Inkspirational challenge theme of “Anything Inkspirational Goes”.

Thanks for stopping by today! Comments are always welcome – I read each one, and they brighten my day! 🙂

Supplies:
Stamps: So Much Love (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Whisper White (Stampin’ Up); scraps of designer papers from Two Scoops 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Riding Hood Red (SU)
Other: Riding Hood Red pleated satin ribbon (SU); sponge

Older Entries Newer Entries

CAS - Colours and Sketches #95

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - September stash challenge

birthday piggy

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - September sketch challenge

Cards in Envy - Best of Friends

CAS - Colours and Sketches #87

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - August sketch challenge

Cards in Envy - Happy Birthday to You

Cards in Envy - Stars and Stripes

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - June theme challenge

Cards in Envy - Winged Things

happy balloons birthday

Cards in Envy - Red, Pink, and/or White

CAS - Colours and Sketches #61

sketchy valentine

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Really great links

Really great shopping

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Thank you for visiting!

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