Hello!  It’s color challenge week again at CAS Colours & Sketches.  Tomorrow is Earth Day, and this week’s colors were inspired by the green of grass and leaves, the yellow of the sun, and the blue of sky and water.

Besides the colors, I’ve put an Earth Day twist into my card with the image I chose.  I searched online and found a heart-shaped globe digital clip art image to download.  I used Microsoft Word to size it for my card front and add a sentiment.  Then I printed it out, colored in the globe with blue and green Copics, and attached it to a yellow mat and a card base.  I followed the sketch from AAA Cards, but flipped it mirror image because it looked better to me that way.  It ended up coming together pretty easily and quickly.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you’ll check out what the rest of the CC&S design team members have made, and then share your own creation with us at the CAS Colours & Sketches site! You have until 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, April 27 to link your card.

Supplies:
Digital Image:  World Clipart Black And White #31825  (wikiclipart.com)
Cardstock: Solar White (Neenah); Yoyo Yellow (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: printer ink
Other: markers (Copic)

Hello there!  I hope you and your family are staying safe and healthy during these uncertain times.   Despite our being under stay-at-home orders, April seems to be flying by.  It’s hard for me to believe the month is nearly half over!

It’s sketch challenge week at CAS Colours & Sketches, and we have a nice little one for you this time.  It’s been a while since I made a birthday card so I went with that for my theme.  My panda stamp fit well stamped three times in the rectangular focal panel area.   I wanted to use a stitched rectangle die for that portion of the sketch and it’s a bit smaller than as shown on the sketch, but the idea of the sketch is still very evident.  I chose the colors for the party elements from the scrap of designer paper I used for the background area of the card.  In retrospect I think the card would have felt more balanced (or something like that) if I’d used the designer paper at the bottom of the card, but it’s too late to change that now.  Oh well.

What will you do with this sketch?  I hope you’ll try out something and share what you create with us!  Link your work to the CAS Colours & Sketches blog by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, April 20.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Party Panda, Party Animal (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock:  Solar White (Neenah); Cool Caribbean (Stampin’ Up);  scrap from Blush 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other:  markers (Copic)

Hello there!  I’m excited to be the challenge hostess at CAS Colours and Sketches during the month of April!  I hope you’ll join in the fun and creativity of our color and sketch challenges.

We have a soft, light trio of springtime colors for you to work with this week.  I couldn’t resist doing something floral with them.  I decided to try something I hadn’t done before – coloring a die cut image and mounting it over a stenciled background.  It wasn’t difficult to do, but I’m not sure I really like how it turned out.  This is actually my second attempt at the stenciling; the first turned out too dark and the die cut didn’t show off against it very well.  The second time I trimmed the tape holding the stencil in place to give it an irregular edge, which looks more natural.  Overall I don’t think it’s one of my better cards, but it’ll do.

Be sure to check out what the rest of the CC&S Design Team has made! Then create your own clean and simple styled card with these colors and link it to the CC&S site by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, April 13. We’d love to see what you make!

Supplies:
Stamp: Delightful Dozen (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Sahara Sand, Smoky Slate (SU)
Other: Wildflowers #1 die, Slate layering stencil (Tim Holtz); markers (Copic)

Hello!   March has five Tuesdays, and that means it’s time for a double challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches!  This week we’re asking our challenge participants to combine the given colors with the given sketch.

I have to admit that I usually find orange-y colors hard to work with, unless I’m doing something autumnal.  After tossing a few ideas around in my head I finally decided on these cute birdies with a variety of speech balloon sentiments.  At first I was going to arrange the card vertically, like the sketch is drawn, but something about that seemed weird with these stamps so I ended up turning the sketch on its side.

Be sure to check out what the rest of the CC&S Design Team has made.  Then get your craft on and link your own card to our challenge post!  You have until 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, April 6 to share your card with us.  We’d love to see what you can do with our double challenge!

Supplies:
Stamps: Chit Chat, A Birdie Told Me, So Much to Say (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Peekaboo Peach, Wild Wasabi, Very Vanilla (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie (SU); Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic)

Well hi there!  It’s sketch week again at CAS Colours & Sketches.  We have a really simple one that can be interpreted in multiple ways.

I decided to rotate the sketch 180° and use some rainbow dies I hadn’t used before.  I cut the rainbow stripes from shimmery white cardstock and colored them with Copics, so when the light shines on the card just right, you can see a hint of sparkle in the rainbow.

I hope you’ll go see what the rest of the CC&S design team and our March guest designer have done with this sketch.  Then make a card of your own and share it with us by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, March 30.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Simply Said You (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Basic Black, Soft Sky (Stampin’ Up); Cryogen White (Curious Metallic)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Rainbow Builder dies (SU); markers (Copic)

Hello there!  It’s time for another color challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches, and we have some pretty springtime colors for you to work with.

I decided to combine the color challenge with the current sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch! to create an Easter card.  Even though I don’t usually think of Easter as a card-sending holiday, I do like to send a few Easter cards to Send a Smile 4 Kids.  With the current COVID-19 crisis, SAS4K has asked that cardmakers hold off on sending in cards, so this one will have to wait for next year.  Anyway… I chose a subtle floral print for the strip along the right side of the card.  I stamped the eggs on a scrap piece of cardstock, colored them with Copics, and fussy cut them.  After I stamped the sentiment, I glued the eggs into place.  Easy peasy and quick!

We’d love to see what you can create with this week’s colors! Share your card at the CC&S website by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, March 23. Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Happy Easter (Lawn Fawn); Egg-Cited Cocoa (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Solar White (Neenah); Prints Sampler designer series paper (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic)

Hello there!  It’s sketch challenge week at CAS Colours & Sketches.

I went the easy route (for me) and did some paper piecing for the images on my card, rather than stamping and coloring.  It was a fun way to use some scraps of designer paper!  After I stamped the kitty, I stamped her head a couple more times, so that I could stack them and give her a little dimension.  After I had everything stamped I realized that the cat bed was actually shorter than the sentiment strip, which is opposite of the way the rectangular elements of the sketch are drawn, but I do think the sketch remains recognizable in my card.

What will you create with this sketch?  Share your work with us at the CAS Colours & Sketches site by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, March 16.  Be sure to check out what the other design team members have made, too!  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Furry Friends (Avery Elle); Meow You Doin’? (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Solar White Classic Linen (Neenah); scraps from Blush 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: stitched circle die (Lawn Fawn)

Hello!  It’s time for a new month of challenges at CAS Colours & Sketches!  Jeanne is our hostess this month and she has some fun challenge ideas in store for us!

As always, we start the month with a color challenge.  I decided to use them for an Easter themed card.  This card is so straightforward there isn’t much for me to say about it.  I used colored pencils blended with odorless mineral spirits to color the image, and I offset the main panel onto the card base so more of the pale green color would show around the two edges.  I think the difference in sizes between the image and sentiment qualify this card for the current Less is More challenge so I’ll be entering the card there.

How will you use these colors?  Be sure to check out the CC&S blog to see what the rest of the design team and our March guest designer have made.  Once you’ve made your own card, be sure to link it at the challenge post by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, March 9.  We’d love to have you join us!  Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies:
Stamps: Egg-cited Cocoa (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Pistachio Pudding (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Other: Premier colored pencils (Prismacolor); odorless mineral spirits (Gamsol)

Hello there!  After taking a little break last week, my creativity is back in the saddle again for this week’s challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches.  We have a sketch to follow this week.

I originally planned to make another Easter card that I could donate to Send a Smile 4 Kids, but none of my Easter stamps seemed to fit the sketch very well.  As I was browsing through my stamps I rediscovered a set of fruit and vegetable stamps I hadn’t used in a long time.  The beet seemed like it would work with the sketch, if I flipped the sketch mirror-image.  So I decided to roll with that idea.  For the circular element, I thought about using a different color, or even a patterned paper, but in the end I went a much more CAS route by piercing the circular shape on the card panel.  Then I stamped the beet and the sentiment, and I colored the sentiment with colored pencils blended with odorless mineral spirits.  I attached the panel to a card base that matches the colored pencil better in real life than the photo makes it look.

I’m going to enter this into the current AAA Cards challenge.  I concede that the corner idea might be a bit of a stretch, but since the last time I used this stamp set was 2015 I think I’ve gotten the twist of using older supplies.

 

What will you do with this sketch?  There are so many possibilities!  Be sure to go see what the rest of the Design Team has made.  I hope you’ll try out something and share what you create with us!  Link your work to the CAS Colours & Sketches blog by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, March 2.  Thank you for stopping by today!  Comments are always welcome and appreciated!

Supplies:
Stamps: Punny Fruits & Veggies (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Berry Burst (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Other: Premier colored pencils (Prismacolor); odorless mineral spirits (Gamsol); Paper Piercing Pack Essentials (SU); piercing tool

Hello there!  It’s time for the first CAS Colours & Sketches sketch challenge for the month of February.  Any shapes can be used in place of the hearts on the sketch.

I don’t need to make any more valentines this year, so I decided to make a birthday card that I can donate to Send a Smile 4 Kids.  I kept the colors fairly neutral so the card could be used for either a boy or a girl.  The card base has a very subtle linen texture, which shows up much better in person than in photos and gives the card a little extra visual interest.  I used Copics to color the birdie, the bear, his hat, and his present; all those elements were fussy cut and glued into place on the card.  I flipped the sketch mirror image because the bear looked better facing toward the inside of the card front rather than looking off the edge.

What will you create with this sketch?  Share your work with us at the CAS Colours & Sketches site by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, February 17.  Be sure to check out what the other design team members have made, too!  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Party Animals, Happy Happy Happy (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Barely Banana textured, Certainly Celery (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic)

Hello there!  It’s time for a new month of challenges at CAS Colours & Sketches.  Our host this time is Samantha and she has some fun ideas in store for us!  As always, we start off the month with a color challenge.

I opted to get into February’s Valentine season for my card, using a die I bought a few weeks ago.  I started by using the die along the edge of a card front cut from shimmery cardstock.  I was careful to keep all the hearts that were cut so that I could use markers to color them in the pink and red of the challenge combo.  I added more layers of color to some of them to give some depth to them.  I stamped the sentiment on the card front, opting not to heat emboss it so it would better match the metallic silver cardstock I attached to the edge of a pink card base.  I added a shim of the pink cardstock to the other side of the card to make up the difference in layers before carefully attaching the white card front into place.  Then I glued the colored hearts back into place.

The card layout is more or less based on last week’s CC&S sketch challenge.  I didn’t put a ruler to it to measure it for exactness, but I think it’s close enough to count for the current challenge at AAA Cards.  It definitely includes their optional twist!

I just realized my card also fits the current CASology challenge so I’m going to enter it there, too.

 

Of course, just because we had Valentine’s Day in mind at CC&S, it doesn’t mean that you need to create a Valentine card in order to participate in our challenge!  Let your creativity take you wherever it wants to go.  Just be sure to share your card with us at the challenge site before the linky tool closes at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, February 10.  We’d love to have you join us!  Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies:
Stamps: Happy Everything (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Flirty Flamingo, Metallic Silver (Stampin’ Up); Cryogen White (Curious Metallic)
Ink: Silver (ColorBox)
Other: Cascading Hearts Border die (Technique Tuesday); markers (Copic)

We have an interesting sketch for you to try this week at CAS Colours & Sketches!  I’m looking forward to seeing what our challenge participants make with it.

The card I’m sharing today is actually my second attempt at this sketch.  I wasn’t pleased with the way my first card turned out, so I went back to the proverbial drawing board.  The shapes coming off of the lower portion made me think of this die.  In the past I’ve used it with a blue sky background, but I wanted something different this time.  I decided to go with a sunrise type of background.  I made the background by scribbling orange and yellow gel sticks on my card base and blending them with a damp paper towel.  I cut the panel with the trees from another piece of cardstock, stamped the sentiment at the bottom, and assembled the panel to the card base.  I like using shimmery white cardstock for this type of card because the gel sticks blend on it nicely and because the shimmer adds kind of a glistening snow effect to the card, but it’s hard to capture the shimmer in photographs.  And yes, I know the snowy effect doesn’t seem to fit in with summertime Father’s Day, but oh well.

Oops.  Now that I’ve put the card right next to the sketch, I see that I left out the border around the panel.  But I think the other sketch elements are pretty obvious in my card.  After how badly my first card turned out, I’m willing to overlook that!

Be sure to check out what the rest of the design team and our guest designer have made.  Then give the sketch a try and share your card at the challenge site.  You have until 6:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. time Monday, February 3 to link your card.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Happy Happy Happy (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Cryogen White (Curious Metallic)
Ink: Only Orange (Stampin’ Up)
Other: gel sticks (Faber Castell); Wide Open Spaces die (Memory Box)

Hello!  It’s another Tuesday, which means it’s new challenge day at CAS Colours & Sketches!  This week we have a trio of colors for you to work with.

The colors initially spoke nature and flowers to me, and when I was starting to work on my card yesterday, I noticed that several of my CC&S design teammates had used floral images for their cards.  Then I felt like I wanted to go with something different to add some variety to the mix.  I saw that the AAA Challenge was to create a one layer card with an optional twist of including a polar animal.  Even though one layer cards are not my favorite (because there’s nowhere to hide any mistakes!) I decided I’d try combining the challenges.  Since I don’t own any ink or cardstock in the challenge colors, I knew I’d have to do some coloring with either markers or colored pencils in similar colors.  I hadn’t used this polar bear image for a while, but it’s a great image to color and it fit into the AAA challenge twist.  My original thought was to use all three colors on the scarf, but then I realized the blue would make a nice sky color for the background.  Using colored pencils blended with odorless mineral spirits means no color bleed through to the inside of the card (another reason why I shy away from one layer cards).  The sentiment comes from a different stamp set that I haven’t used in years.  I chose it because it filled out the space on the card better than any of the sentiments in the set with the image.  I rounded the bottom corner for two reasons – to give a little extra visual interest following the curve of the image, and to trim off a corner of the cardstock that had gotten slightly bent.

 

After browsing around some more challenge blogs, I believe this card also works for the current challenges at Less is More and Addicted to CAS.

                                                         

We’d love to see what you can create with this week’s colors! Share your card at the CC&S website by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, January 27.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Cozy Friends (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps); Year Round Sentiments (Hero Arts)
Cardstock: Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Other: Premier colored pencils (Prismacolor); odorless mineral spirits (Gamsol); corner rounder punch (EK Success)

As usual for me in January, I start out the year thinking that I’m going to join in more cardmaking challenges throughout the year like I used to, and then something happens that takes the proverbial wind out of my sails.  Oh well.  Anyway, here’s this year’s first attempt at this endeavor.

I’ve combined the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches with the color scheme provided by The Paper Players.  I felt like the tulip followed the lines of the mirror image of the sketch pretty well, and I stamped it using the colors from the color challenge.  Unfortunately, my Poppy Parade ink pad wasn’t as inky as I thought, and that’s the darkest I could get that color ink to work with just one impression from the stamp.  (I needed to get the card in the mail so I didn’t take the time to re-ink the ink pad or do multiple impressions with the stamp.)  It’s not one of my best cards but I really do like the sketch.

 

Thanks for stopping by today! Comments are always welcome and appreciated!

Edited on January 24, 2020 to add:  Thank you to Claire at The Paper Players for choosing my card as “A Cut Above”!  What an awesome surprise!

 

Supplies:
Stamps: Terrific Tulips (Stampin’ Up); Everyday Messages (Stampendous)
Cardstock: Pure Luxury Ivory (Gina K. Designs); Rich Razzleberry (SU)
Ink: Old Olive, Poppy Parade, Rich Razzleberry (SU)
Other: Custom Panels die (Avery Elle)

Hello there!  January seems to be flying by; it’s hard to believe the month is nearly half over!

It’s sketch challenge week at CAS Colours & Sketches, and we have a nice little one for you this time.  The scrap of designer paper I used for one of the rectangular elements determined the color scheme for my card.  This little koala makes me smile every time I use this stamp set!  The hat and present come from a different stamp set.  I stamped them onto a scrap of white cardstock, colored them, fussy cut them, and glued them into place.

What will you do with this sketch?  I hope you’ll try out something and share what you create with us! Link your work to the CAS Colours & Sketches blog by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, January 20.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Party Koala, Party Animal (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Season of Style designer series paper (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic)

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