sketchy colorful tulip

6 Responses »
Jan 172020

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)

Posted by PH in VA at 12:30 pm Avery Elle, Cards, Freshly Made Sketches, Stampin' Up!, The Paper Players challenges

sketchy but awesome blue stars

2 Responses »
Jan 142019

Hi there!  It’s been a long time since I’ve played along with a couple of challenge blogs that I like, Freshly Made Sketches and Shopping Our Stash.  Both of their current challenges are ending today, so I decided I’d better get going on something if I wanted to join in them.

It took me a little white to decide what type of “three of something” I could use for the sketch.  Finally I settled on stars because I figured I could make them blue to go along with the Shopping Our Stash theme.  I die cut the stars from scraps of shimmery white cardstock and used a blending tool to add some blue ink to them.  I used plain white cardstock for the focal panel and for the card base.  The focal panel and the largest star have shims of cardstock beneath them to give them just a little bit of dimension.

My furry helper decided he needed to check on things while I was photographing the card:

It’s not one of my better cards, but when I send it to Send a Smile 4 Kids I think it will bring cheer to someone.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamp: So Much to Say (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Cryogen White (Curious Metallic); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Brilliant Blue (Stampin’ Up)
Other: Puffy Star dies, Stitched Rectangle die (Lawn Fawn); blending tool (Tim Holtz)

Posted by PH in VA at 2:30 pm Cards, Freshly Made Sketches, Lawn Fawn, Shopping Our Stash

simple sketchy butterfly

4 Responses »
May 142018

This is a quick and easy card I put together for a few challenges:  The sketch at Freshly Made Sketches (which I’ve turned on its side), the colors at Less is More, and the theme at Shopping Our Stash.  The butterfly was colored with Copics.  It’s such a simple and straightforward card I don’t have much else to say about it!

FMS336

 

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

Supplies:
Stamps: Somebuggy Loves You (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Solar White (Neenah); Brilliant Blue, Daffodil Delight (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic); stitched rectangle die (Lawn Fawn)

Posted by PH in VA at 2:30 pm Cards, Freshly Made Sketches, Lawn Fawn, Less is More challenges, Send a Smile 4 Kids, Shopping Our Stash, Stampin' Up!

sketchy little mouse

1 Response »
Mar 122018

Hello!  I have a few more days to work on Easter cards before I need to send them off to one of the Send A Smile 4 Kids volunteers, and today’s card is the most recent one I’ve made.  I’ve used the current sketch from Freshly Made Sketches but squashed it into a landscape-oriented rectangle.  After I colored and fussy cut the image, I used dimensional adhesive to attach it to the card.  I’m not sure if you can tell in the photo, but the card base is linen-textured cardstock.

FMS327

That’s it for today.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps: Egg-cited Cocoa (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Barely Banana textured, Spring Flowers designer series paper (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Premier colored pencils (Prismacolor); odorless mineral spirits (Gamsol); dimensionals (SU)

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

CAS Colours & Sketches #243

10 Responses »
Oct 032017

Wow – it’s October already!  The start of the month means we have a new hostess at CAS Colours & Sketches.  Emily has come up with some great challenge ideas for us, and we hope you’ll join us for the fun and creativity!

The first challenge of the month is a color challenge, and Emily has picked some great colors for the fall season.  I was able to combine them with the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  I die cut a wreath from kraft cardstock and used that as the base for the other two colors.  I stamped the flowers and leaves and used re-inker with water to color them.  I added some Wink of Stella to the small flowers to give them a little sparkle before I fussy cut all the flowers and leaves.  I used a piece of green seam binding for the wider horizontal element of the sketch.  Since The Paper Players has a theme of “Autumn Florals” this week, my card fits into their challenge, too.

CASCAS243

CC&S color243-001

How will you choose to use this week’s CC&S colors?  Be sure to check out what the rest of the Design Team and our October Guest Designer have done with them.  Then link your own card to the challenge site.  You have until 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, October 9 to share your card.  Thanks for stopping by today, and happy crafting!

Supplies:
Stamps: Flutter By (Lawn Fawn); Trendy Trees (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla textured, Kraft (SU); Artistico Extra White watercolor paper (Fabriano)
Ink: Crumb Cake (SU); Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Other: Pear Pizzazz and Pumpkin Pie reinkers, Pear Pizzazz seam binding (SU); Grapevine Wreath die (Memory Box); Wink of Stella pen (Zig)

Posted by PH in VA at 8:00 am Cards, CAS Colours & Sketches, Freshly Made Sketches, Lawn Fawn, Stampin' Up!, The Paper Players challenges

the happiest of birthdays

10 Responses »
Jun 092017

I have a quick post today to share a card made for an important man in my life – my dad.  He’ll be celebrating his birthday this weekend, and I’ll be lucky enough to visit with him on his special day.  He’s not one to turn down ice cream when it’s offered to him, LOL, so that’s why I thought he’d like the cute little ice cream cone.

FMS291

I’m combining several challenges here:  Less Is More, Freshly Made Sketches, AAA Cards, and The Paper Players.

 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Here’s the Scoop (Lawn Fawn); Cake & Candles (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Pure Luxury White, Pure Luxury Ivory (Gina K. Designs); Close to Cocoa (Stampin’ Up); scraps from Blush 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Close to Cocoa (SU)
Other: birthday embossing folder (ProvoCraft)

Posted by PH in VA at 1:00 am AAA Cards challenges, Avery Elle, Basic Grey, Cards, Freshly Made Sketches, Lawn Fawn, Less is More challenges, The Paper Players challenges

Christmas Card Throwdown - June stash challenge

5 Responses »
Jun 032017

Hello!  At Christmas Card Throwdown we’re starting 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 triple item find – gems, pearls, and/or sequins.  You can use any combination of those types of embellishments.

I’ve combined our stash challenge with the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge, rotating the sketch 180° to turn it upside-down.  It’s hard to tell in the photo, but the red half-oval is cut from textured cardstock.  The tree takes the place of the banner element of the sketch.  I stamped it on a scrap piece of cardstock and fussy cut it, adhering it to the card with dimensionals.  I used some pearls to decorate the tree and added a star-shaped, pearl-embellished sequin to top it off.

52CCT 06-03-2017

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 CCT design team has made.  Then share your card with us, linking it at the CCT site by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, June 16.  We’d love to have you join us!

All supplies are from Stampin’ Up unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Season of Joy, Short & Sweet
Cardstock: Mellow Moss, Naturals Ivory, Real Red Core’dinations
Ink: Mellow Moss, Close to Cocoa
Other: white pearls, dimensionals; plain petite ovals Nestabilities die (Spellbinders); red pearls (Queen & Co.); star sequin (source unknown)

Posted by PH in VA at 1:00 am Cards, Christmas Card Throwdown, Freshly Made Sketches, Nestabilities, Stampin' Up!

happy graduation

3 Responses »
May 222017

My younger son graduates from high school tonight.  From a mom’s perspective, it’s bittersweet.  It’s so easy to remember him as a playful, smiling little boy, but now he has grown up to be a witty, handsome young man.

So today’s card is the one I made for my husband and I to give to our son.  I’ve used the ending-soon Freshly Made Sketches challenge for layout inspiration and used the school’s colors of blue, white, and black for the color palette.  (I purposefully stocked up on this blue cardstock when it retired because it’s perfect for the school color!)  My son has been active in both band and choir, so using a musical score background seemed like a no-brainer.   Coloring the digital image of the graduate was a little daunting.  Trying to get the shadows/shading to look realistic isn’t my forte, especially when working with colors that are dark to begin with.  This is actually my second attempt because I didn’t like the way the first one turned out.  If you look closely, you can see that I’ve included a golden yellow to represent my son’s honor graduate stole, and a bit of pink around the collar to take the place of the pink music honors cords he’ll wear.  After the time I spent coloring the image, I didn’t dare attempt to fussy cut to the exact edges of the image.  The white border blended in with the background, so I decided to back the image with a black rectangle.

FMS288

Doggone it.  I have Pandora on and right now they’re playing a song that my son played with the marching band as part of the pre-game shows before football games last season.  Cue sentimental feelings.

Thanks for stopping by today!  I’d best get off the computer and go iron the fold creases from my son’s gown…

Supplies:
Digital Image: The Boy and The Dog 007 (Heather Ellis)
Stamps: Happy Everything (Lawn Fawn); musical score (JudiKins)
Cardstock: Brilliant Blue, Basic Black (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); printer ink
Other: stitched rectangle die (Lawn Fawn); markers (Copic)

Posted by PH in VA at 2:00 pm Cards, Freshly Made Sketches, Lawn Fawn, Stampin' Up!

combining challenges

4 Responses »
May 122017

Hello!  Just a quick post today to show the card I made combining the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge with the Less is More challenge that is expiring shortly.  I needed to make another Mother’s Day card for this year, so I decided to go with a floral theme because that seemed to work with the color challenge.  I’ve slightly amended the size of the panels on the sketch and lowered the placement of the sentiment strip, but I think it’s pretty obvious that my card was inspired by the sketch.  I used textured cardstock in a retired Stampin’ Up color for the base of the card.

FMS287

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

All supplies are from Stampin’ Up.
Stamps: Painted Petals, Messages for Mom
Cardstock: Barely Banana textured, Smoky Slate, Whisper White
Ink: Smoky Slate, Barely Banana

Posted by PH in VA at 4:00 pm Cards, Freshly Made Sketches, Less is More challenges, Stampin' Up!

sketchy birthday wishes

5 Responses »
Apr 152017

Hello!  Today’s post is just a quick one to show off a rather clean and simple card using the current sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.  Well, actually, if you look carefully at the curved area, I’ve used the mirror image of the sketch.  I had an embossed, curved piece of cardstock left over from another card I’d made some time ago, so all I needed to do with it was attach it to the card base and trim it down (it was originally about 5″ wide).  The sentiment fit nicely in the “dip” of the curve.  In an attempt to use some products I’ve had stashed around here for a long time, I’ve added some Prima flowers and glued Dew Drops in place for the centers of the flowers.  I’m not sure why the color is coming off of the Dew Drops but I like the variegated look it gives.  The soft color scheme and the flowers make me feel that the card also fits into the theme for the current challenge at AAA Cards so I’ll enter it there, too.

FMS283

Thanks for stopping by today, and enjoy your weekend!

Supplies:
Stamps: Sincere Salutations (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Pure Luxury Ivory (Gina K. Designs); Pink Pirouette (SU)
Ink: Pink Pirouette (SU)
Other: flowers (Prima); Dew Drops (Robin’s Nest); Victoria embossing folder (ProvoCraft)

Posted by PH in VA at 12:00 pm AAA Cards challenges, Cards, Freshly Made Sketches, Stampin' Up!

Christmas Card Throwdown - March color challenge

8 Responses »
Mar 182017

Hello there!  It’s color challenge time at Christmas Card Throwdown.  This time we have a sort of modern twist on the traditional red and green and white, with burgundy, lime green, and cream.

I had this wreath stamp set out the other day for my card for the current challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches, so I decided to use it again for my card for CCT.  I pulled out two retired Stampin’ Up greens for the lime part of the color combo and went with more of a dark cherry red rather than a true burgundy.  The vanilla card base and image panel were the easy way to work in the cream part of the challenge.  Although it doesn’t show well in the photo, the card base is textured cardstock, while the image panel is smooth.  The bow was stamped and cut from a scrap of vanilla, and it’s raised from the image panel with shims of scrap cardstock for just a bit of dimension.  The layout comes from the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge, but I’ve turned the sketch 90° on its side.  Since it’s holiday challenge time at Addicted to Stamps and More, I’ll enter this card there, too.

52CCT 03-18-2017

And now it’s your turn to show us what you can create!  We’d love it if you joined our challenge this fortnight.  You have until 7:00 pm Eastern time Friday, March 31 to link your card at the CCT site.  Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you’ll come back again soon.

All supplies are from Stampin’ Up.
Stamps: Wondrous Wreath
Cardstock: Very Vanilla textured, Gable Green, Green Galore, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla
Ink: Gable Green, Green Galore, Cherry Cobbler
Other: Wonderful Wreath die

Posted by PH in VA at 1:00 am Addicted to Stamps and More, Cards, Christmas Card Throwdown, Freshly Made Sketches, Stampin' Up!

birthday balloon

4 Responses »
Feb 032017

Just a quick post this afternoon to share a card I’ve made for the Less is More challenge that will be ending soon, as well as the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge.  There are several birthdays coming up soon in my family, so I thought I ought to get started on cards for them. For the blue and the yellow, I added ink to white cardstock using a blending tool.

FMS273

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Hats Off to You (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Confetti White (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Baja Breeze, Summer Sun (SU)
Other: linen thread, dimensionals (SU); Party Balloons die (Lawn Fawn)

Posted by PH in VA at 4:00 pm Cards, Freshly Made Sketches, Lawn Fawn, Less is More challenges, Stampin' Up!

awesome little animals

6 Responses »
Nov 212016

I’m just writing a quick post today to show a card I’ve made for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge that will be closing soon, as well as the current AAA Cards challenge.  The two challenges worked together so well that I couldn’t resist joining in them.

I thought it would be cute to have animals peeking through round windows.  I created the front panel of the card first by adding a strip of light green cardstock to the bottom of a 4.25″ x 5.5″ piece of white cardstock and adding a sentiment.  Why green?  Because it was a scrap that was lying on my desk, and because it seemed like it would work as a “ground” or “grass”.  And because I used a scrap, I’m going to enter this into the Shopping Our Stash challenge, too.  Then I used my circle dies to cut the circles from the panel.  I laid the die cut panel over a white card base and traced the outlines of the circles so I’d know where to position the animals.  After I stamped them, I colored them with colored pencils blended with odorless mineral spirits.  The colored pencils tend to give a softer look than my Copic markers do, plus the pencils don’t bleed through the cardstock like Copics often do.  Once I was done coloring, I attached the die cut panel to the card base.  I think it turned out pretty well, considering I was running out of the odorless mineral spirits!

FMS263

 

And there’s another any occasion card for the stockpile I’m creating for Send a Smile 4 Kids.  Thanks for stopping by today!  Comments are always welcome and appreciated.

Supplies:
Stamps: Skater Kids (Mama Elephant)
Cardstock: Solar White (Neenah); Certainly Celery (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Premier colored pencils (Prismacolor); odorless mineral spirits (Houston Arts); standard circle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders)

Posted by PH in VA at 2:30 pm AAA Cards challenges, Cards, Freshly Made Sketches, Mama Elephant, Send a Smile 4 Kids, Shopping Our Stash

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - October technique challenge

5 Responses »
Oct 222016

Hello!  This week is technique week at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown, and we have one that I think will be appealing to a lot of people: embossing.  You can choose to use heat embossing, dry embossing, or even both on your card.

I’ve used both types of embossing on my card.  Once again, I’ve used the color scheme from CAS Colours & Sketches and followed the layout from Freshly Made Sketches.  The cherry red panels were dry embossed using one of my favorite embossing folders.  I used the same ink pad for all of the leaves on the wreath, but I stamped off one set to create the lighter shade of green.  The red berries on the wreath are heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  I can never get textured cardstock to show well in photos, but the card base is linen textured.  A shimmery copper sentiment finishes the card.

52CCT 10-22-2016

 

CC&S color196-001

I’m really looking forward to seeing what our challenge participants at 52CCT create this week!  Be sure to link your card at the challenge post by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, October 28.  Thanks for stopping by today!

All supplies are from Stampin’ Up unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Wondrous Wreath
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Brushed Copper; Solar White and Solar White Classic Linen cardstock (Neenah)
Ink: Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler; VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Other: Wonderful Wreath dies, detail clear embossing powder; Victoria embossing folder (ProvoCraft)

Posted by PH in VA at 1:00 am Cards, CAS Colours & Sketches, Christmas Card Throwdown, Freshly Made Sketches, Stampin' Up!

CAS Colours & Sketches #196

9 Responses »
Oct 202016

Hello!  It’s time for another color challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches!  This time we have a great color combo that’s a small step off from the traditional Christmas red and green, and mixed it with a great metallic.

Although the colors seemed Christmassy, I’m not quite there yet mentally, so I decided to go with something more autumnal.  The current challenge at The Paper Players is to create a clean and simple styled card with the theme of leaves, so I’ve tied that into the color challenge.  I turned to the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge for the layout of my card.  After choosing my color scheme for my card, I stamped the sentiment on the card base and heat embossed it.  The “thanks” stamp is a freebie I received in an order from Lawn Fawn about five years ago.  The embossing didn’t turn out as smooth and “clean” looking as I would have preferred, but in the end I decided it had a rustic look that complemented the leaf idea.  I stamped some leaves onto watercolor paper using Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green inks.  Then I softened the color inside of the leaves by “painting” them with a slightly damp paintbrush.  I cut the watercolor paper in strips to go along with the sketch and attached them to the card.  Next I die cut a larger leaf several times from copper cardstock and stacked them together.  When I placed them on the card, I wasn’t quite pleased with the look, so I decided to use dimensional adhesive to lift the die cuts from the card base.  That was better, and I called the card done then.

CASCAS196

CC&S color196-001

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, October 26 to link your card at the challenge website.  Also, we’re looking to add some new members to our design team, 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: “thanks” (Lawn Fawn); unnamed leaf stamps (StampCraft)
Cardstock: Kraft, Brushed Copper (Stampin’ Up); watercolor paper (Artist’s Loft)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green (SU); copper (ColorBox)
Other: copper embossing powder (Ranger); Stitched Leaves die (Lawn Fawn); dimensionals (SU)

Posted by PH in VA at 8:00 am Cards, CAS Colours & Sketches, Freshly Made Sketches, Lawn Fawn, Stampin' Up!, The Paper Players challenges
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