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CAS Colours & Sketches #478

Jul 122022

Hello! It’s sketch challenge time this week at CAS Colours & Sketches and we have a good one for you!

When I first decided on using this image of the little girl, I thought of some of my designer papers that look like flowers on a grassy background. But as I browsed through them, they all seemed too “busy” for a card that’s supposed to be clean and simple in style. So I ended up going big time simple with plain green cardstock for the hill, set against a plain sky blue background. I stamped the girl on a scrap of white cardstock and colored her with Copics before very, very carefully fussy cutting her and gluing her into place. Her outstretched arms look to me like she’s reaching out for a hug, so that’s how I decided on the sentiment I used.

What will you create with this sketch? We would love to see your clean and simple card submitted for our challenge! You have until 6:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. time Monday, July 18 to link your card at the challenge site. Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: In My Heart (Mama Elephant)
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic); Speech Trio die (Mama Elephant)

CAS Colours & Sketches #344

1 Response »

Oct 222019

Hello there! It’s the fourth Tuesday of the month, which means we have a new sketch challenge to present to you today at CAS Colours & Sketches.

I took a little liberty with the sketch by using a scalloped, cloud-like die to cut a curved edge, rather than a smooth curved edge as shown on the sketch. This played into the images I decided to use for my card. The angel and the cloud are two separate stamps from the same set. I stamped the cloud directly onto the white panel. I stamped the angel onto a scrap of cardstock, colored him, and then fussy cut him. I added some Wink of Stella pen to his wings to give them some sparkle. While I waited for that to dry, I cut a couple of shims out of scrap cardstock to put behind the angel, to give him a little bit of dimension over the cloud. I’m not sure how well that shows in the photo because I was concentrating on trying to capture the shimmer on the wings.

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, October 28. Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Love from Above (Mama Elephant)
Cardstock: Bashful Blue (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic); Landscape Trio dies (Mama Elephant); Wink of Stella pen (Zig)

CAS Colours & Sketches #323

1 Response »

May 282019

Hello! It’s time for one last challenge for the month of May at CAS Colours & Sketches. This time it’s a very simple sketch that puts focus on the sentiment.

After looking through my stamps and dies, I chose to go out of season and make a Christmas card, splitting up the “Merry Christmas” sentiment with a die and a stamp. I cut the “merry” twice from red cardstock so that I could stack the two diecuts for dimension. After I placed them on the card front, I stamped the word “Christmas”. It’s actually from a stamp that says “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” but I was able to ink up just the one word. I like the contrast of the curly, scripty “merry” and the simple, clean lines of “Christmas”. I chose linen textured cardstock for the card front to give some subtle visual interest (which unfortunately is probably too subtle to see in the photo). For the embellishments, I chose some shiny star-shaped brads that I’ve had for years; I didn’t have enough gold or silver ones so I used copper. I used dimensional adhesive to attach the card front to the card base, partly for a little extra interest and partly to accommodate the prongs of the brads. I considered using a green card base to bring out more of that color, but the card didn’t look as CAS as with a white base.

Be sure to check out what the rest of the CC&S Design Team has done with this sketch – they’ve made some awesome cards! Then give it a try yourself. You have until 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, June 3 to link your card at the challenge site. Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamp: Merry Messages (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Solar White, Solar White Classic Linen (Neenah); Real Red (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Emerald Envy (SU)
Other: Merry Script die (Mama Elephant); star brads (The Paper Studio)

CAS Colours & Sketches #310

3 Responses »

Feb 262019

Hello there! It’s time for another sketch challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches.

I’ll admit my card didn’t turn out exactly the way I’d envisioned it in my mind, but I suppose it’s okay and that the sketch can be seen easily enough in it. I deviated a bit from the simple curved lines, turning the bottom one into ground for my two animal friends, and turning the top one into a cloud-shaped speech balloon. I moved the sentiment up into the speech balloon, but I think the animals help to fill in the middle area where the sentiment is indicated on the sketch. I did get to use up some scraps for this card – in fact, even the card base was the leftover piece remaining in my cardstock folder from an earlier card.

And there ya have it. We’d love to have you join in our challenge at CC&S! You have until 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, March 4 to link your card at the challenge site. Thanks for visiting today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Furry Friends (Avery Elle); So Much to Say (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Soft Sky (Stampin’ Up); Cryogen White (Curious Metallic); scraps from Ambrosia and Green at Heart 6″ x 6″ paper pads (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Speech Trio die, Landscape Trio die (Mama Elephant)

CAS Colours & Sketches #288

3 Responses »

Sep 042018

Well hi there! It’s Tuesday, which means it’s time for a new challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches. This time we have some bold, bright colors for you.

I decided to create a little scene for my card, which isn’t always easy to do while keeping it clean and simple. I wanted a nighttime scene, so I started off by making a wash of navy blue on watercolor paper. When it was dry, I sponged some more navy ink on it to give it a little shading and depth. I stamped some buildings in black, adding a few shadowy ones for more depth. I ran this panel through my Big Kick with a scenic die that was supposed to cut stars around the top – but even though I ran it through twice, the stars didn’t cut all the way through. I guess the watercolor paper was a bit too thick for it. So I decided to go old school with a handheld star punch and cut some stars with that. To add more of a starry effect, I also splattered some shimmery white paint onto the top half of the panel. After I stamped, colored, and fussy cut my little super hero, I positioned him where I wanted him and then stamped the sentiment. Finally, I attached the panel to a golden yellow card base.

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 Monday, September 10 to link your card at the challenge website.

Supplies:
Stamps: Super Duo (Mama Elephant for Simon Says Stamp)
Cardstock: Crushed Curry (Stampin’ Up); watercolor paper (Artist’s Loft)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic); Night of Navy reinker (SU); Starburst cover die (Mama Elephant); Frost White shimmer paint (Tsukineko); star punch (Fiskars)

CAS Colours & Sketches #256

10 Responses »

Jan 232018

Hello there! It’s sketch week at CAS Colours & Sketches and Bev, our January hostess, has come up with a nice one for us this week.

I tossed a few ideas around in my head but none of them were really appealing to me. I decided to check out the card needs at Send a Smile 4 Kids and noticed that the shipper I frequently send to is still in need of Valentines. So I looked through my Valentine stamps and thought I could make this cute cupid work with the sketch, with a few changes. I’ve substituted a heart for the circle, and basically used the mirror image of the sketch so that the one arrow takes the place of the small rectangular element.

I started out by cutting a heart from an index card and using the card as a mask on my white cardstock panel. I stamped the cupid into the center of the heart, covered it with a mask, and then blended pink ink into the heart shape. Then I removed both masks so I could color the cupid and stamp the flying arrow and the sentiment. I added some clear Wink of Stella pen to the cupid’s wing and to the heart-shaped points of the arrows for a little touch of magic. If you look closely, you should be able to see it in the photo. After I mounted the main panel onto a pink cardstock base, my card was finished.

Since this clean and simple card fits into the “Love Notes” theme at The Paper Players, I’m entering it into that challenge.

What will you do with this sketch? I hope you’ll try out something and share what you create with us! If you need more inspiration, check out what the rest of the CC&S Design Team has made. Then link your work to the CC&S blog by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, January 29. Thanks for stopping by today!

Edited on January 28, 2018 to add: Thank you to Claire at The Paper Players for selecting my card as “A Cut Above”! It’s an honor!

Supplies:
Stamps: Love from Above (Mama Elephant)
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Pink Pirouette (SU)
Other: markers (Copic); mini ink blending tool (Tim Holtz); clear Wink of Stella pen (Zig)

CAS Colours & Sketches #251

14 Responses »

Nov 282017

Hello there! It’s time for another challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches and this time we have a very simple sketch for you to try.

After some mental debate over whether to make a birthday card or a holiday card, I finally decided on holiday. I used one of my newest dies to cut the word “merry” from shiny gold cardstock. Using the die to help with placement, I stamped “& bright” with gold ink and heat embossed it. It didn’t turn out quite as shiny as I’d hoped; I think the embossing powder is going old and stale. Anyway, I knew I wanted to use some festive red and green for the background. I played around with a couple different ideas before settling on this partial starburst pattern. I opted not to continue the starburst around the entire card base in order to keep the card more clean and simple in style. The sentiment panel is attached with dimensional adhesive to give it more actual and visual separation from the card base.

I’m entering my card into two additional challenges: Less is More, and AAA Cards.

I had a furry “helper” supervise me while I was photographing the card. LOL

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 Monday, December 4. Be sure to check out what the other design team members have made, too! Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: All Occasion Sentiments #4 (Uniko)
Cardstock: Solar White (Neenah); Real Red, Gumball Green (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: gold pigment (ColorBox)
Other: Merry Script die (Mama Elephant); gold detail embossing powder, dimensionals (SU)

CAS Colours & Sketches #249

7 Responses »

Nov 142017

Hello! It’s sketch week at CAS Colours & Sketches and we have, in my opinion, a really fun one for you with some curvy lines.

My card is a very simple one that stays true to the sketch. I cut swooshes from green and red cardstock and attached them to a card base of linen textured cardstock. The linen texture is hard to capture in photographs, but in real life, it’s definitely has a little something extra than plain cardstock. The sentiment was cut from shiny gold cardstock and glued into place. Quick and easy!

Be sure to check out the terrific cards the rest of the CC&S Design Team have made. Then make your own card following the sketch and share it with us at the CC&S site. You have until 6:00 p.m. Monday, November 20 to link your card. We’d love to have you join in the fun and creativity! Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies:
Stamps: none
Cardstock: Real Red, Emerald Envy, gold foil (Stampin’ Up); Solar White Classic Linen (Neenah)
Other: Word Set 3 – Holiday dies (Karen Burniston); Landscape Trio die (Mama Elephant)

CAS Colours & Sketches #236

6 Responses »

Aug 152017

Hello! It’s the third Tuesday of the month, which means it’s color challenge time again at CAS Colours & Sketches. Karen has chosen some bright, playful colors for us to work with this week.

Despite the cheeriness of the colors, I seem to have a hard time working with them whenever they come up separately in our challenges – so putting them all together had me wondering what to make for a while! Oh, but that’s what makes it a challenge, right? 🙂 Finally I settled on using a musical stamp that I’ve had for years but I don’t think I’ve ever actually used. I thought that combined with a sentiment, it would make a pretty decent birthday card. I’ve trimmed down the focal panel so that I could use a colored card base to mat it, for an extra pop of color. I used a stitched border die for the bottom edge, but because I didn’t have any stitched detailing on the rest of the card, I turned the die so the stitching would be on the cut off portion.

Now it’s your turn to create a clean and simple styled card using these colors, and share it with us at the CC&S site! You have until 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, August 21 to link your card. We hope you’ll join us!

Supplies:
Stamps: unnamed musical notes stamp (Inkadinkadoo); Handwritten Notes (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Crushed Curry, Whisper White (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral (SU)
Other: Landscape Trio die (Mama Elephant)

CAS Colours & Sketches #220

7 Responses »

Apr 252017

Hello! We’re back to a sketch week at CAS Colours & Sketches.

I admit that the sketch looked a little complicated to me at first. Then Beverley, our April challenge hostess, explained that the scalloped area at the top doesn’t necessarily have to be scallops, and that the rectangular element doesn’t necessarily need to be a rectangle, so long as we keep the two trios of elements. Then I started seeing more ideas for the sketch. I thought it would be fun to use a speech balloon for the scalloped area and have an animal of some sort as the “speaker”. After all the recent talk about the Starbucks Unicorn Frappucino (which no, I did not try, I’m just not into the whole Starbucks thing) I guess I had unicorns in the back of my mind, so I chose to make a unicorn birthday card that I can include in my next shipment to Send a Smile 4 Kids. I stamped the unicorn on shimmery cardstock, colored the horn, mane, hooves, and tail, and fussy cut it to add to the card. Luckily I had a stamp that’s a trio of tiny stars; it worked perfectly to easily add in that detail of the sketch directly onto the card base. I did add a bit of color to the stars to help set them off from the card base. The speech balloon reminds me of a big fluffy cloud. I think the shades of pink and the unicorn would delight most any little girl.

And there it is. Be sure to check out what the rest of the CC&S design team did with this sketch. Then show us what you can make with it! You can link your creation to the challenge blog until 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, May 1. Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Critters Ever After, Sophie’s Sentiments (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Shimmery White (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Speech Trio die (Mama Elephant); markers (Copic)

CAS Colours & Sketches #215

6 Responses »

Mar 212017

Hello! It’s hard for me to believe that March is more than halfway over. Time sure is flying! However, since it is in fact the third Tuesday of the month, that means it’s time for another color challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches.

The colors this time are pretty bold and bright. When I chose them, I was going for some that hadn’t been featured in our challenges for a while, so that’s how the olive green and the bright blue were picked. The raspberry purple seemed to coordinate in intensity, so it came along for the ride, too. I decided to use one of my newest stamp sets to incorporate the three colors. Don’t look too closely at the blossoms, or you’ll see that my eyeballing the placement of them didn’t work so well this time. Oops. The sentiment comes from a different stamp set.

When I was working on my card, I had Beverley’s lovely card up on my computer monitor for inspiration. My husband came over to my desk, saw that I had the same stamp set that was featured on Bev’s card, and read the sentiment of her card out loud. Then he asked, “Oh, is that for me?” I chuckled and told him that yes, he is my favorite husband. Ha ha ha. Of course, he’s my only husband! But I figured I ought to make my card for him. Although it’s flowery, I think the colors keep it from being super-duper feminine. Now I just need to think of something sweet to write inside of it, and surprise him with it.

Now it’s time for you to show us what you’re inspired to create using these colors. If you don’t have the exact Stampin’ Up colors, that’s all right; simply use whatever you have that matches them closely. You have until 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, March 27 to link your card at the challenge post. Happy crafting!

Supplies:
Stamps: Originally Organic Additions (Uniko); In My Heart (Mama Elephant)
Cardstock: Pacific Point, Rich Razzleberry, Naturals White (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Pacific Point, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive (SU)
Other: stitched rectangle die (Lawn Fawn)

CAS Colours & Sketches #207

11 Responses »

Jan 242017

Hello! We have a fun sketch challenge for you this week at CAS Colours & Sketches and I hope our participants like it as much as I do! I think it’s a pretty versatile one.

I’m trying to get some more love-themed cards made to donate to Send A Smile 4 Kids before Valentine’s Day, so that helped determine what I was going to do with the sketch. I originally planned to do something with different shades of pink cardstock, using a light pink for most of the card and using a darker pink for the curved part of the sketch. When I was looking through my folder of light pink cardstock, I found a scrap of of some coordinating background paper I’d made a few years ago. For that project, I’d splattered pink ink over some textured white cardstock and then sprayed it with gold pearl mist. I decided to cut hearts from this and use them to decorate the curved part of the sketch. To give the hearts better definition from the pink card base, I backed them with a scrap of brushed gold cardstock. A simple sentiment in gold ink finished off the card. The pink panels are raised up with shims of scrap cardstock so they are a little higher than the hearts.

I’m going to enter this into the current challenge at Shopping Our Stash, where they’re asking their participants to use gold on their cards, and the current Uniko Studio challenge, “Anything Goes, with an optional twist of love”.

Be sure to visit the CAS Colours & 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 CC&S site by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday, January 30. Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamp: Short & Sweet (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Brushed Gold, Whisper White textured (SU)
Ink: Gold (ColorBox)
Other: Stitched Rectangle die, heart die (Lawn Fawn); Landscape Trio die (Mama Elephant); Pink Pirouette ink refill (SU); Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls Mist (Ranger)

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!

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)

CAS Colours & Sketches #186

10 Responses »

Aug 112016

Hello there! It’s the second Thursday of the month, which means it’s time for another sketch challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches.

I’ve used the mirror image of the sketch because it just seemed to work better with placing the sentiment I chose. I decided to combine the sketch challenge with the color challenge at Less is More and the theme challenge at Addicted to CAS. I stamped the birdies, the notes, and the sentiment with very dark brown ink. I colored the birds to coordinate with the dusty blue of the card base and the sandy brown of the background banner. It’s really a quite simple little card so without further chitchat, here it is:

Since the birdies do have wings, I’ve decided to enter into the theme challenge at Cards in Envy, too. I recently stepped down from the design team there due to time constraints in my personal life, but I still love the concept of their challenges (making cards that are flat enough to easily fit “in envy” – in an envelope – to be mailed) so I don’t think I’ll be able to completely stay away from there! 😉

Thanks for stopping by today! Be sure to check out the CAS Colours & Sketches blog to see what the rest of the design team has done with this sketch. Then make your own card and link it to the challenge post. You have until 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, August 17 to participate. We hope you’ll join us!

Supplies:
Stamps: Love Quotes (Mama Elephant); Pa-Rum-Pa-Pum-Pum (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Kraft (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury Ivory (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Early Espresso (SU)
Other: markers (Copic)

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - August sketch challenge

3 Responses »

Aug 062016

Hello! Saturday means it’s time for a new challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown, where we celebrate Christmas all year round. Each week we offer a cardmaking challenge to help you create Christmas or wintry cards so you’ll have a bunch of cards ready to send when the holiday season rolls around. We’re kicking the month off with a sketch challenge.

This month’s sketch was drawn as a portrait-oriented rectangle, but I’ve squashed it down into a landscape-oriented rectangle for my card. I created a little scene on the left panel and used patterned paper for the right panel. The penguins were stamped onto a scrap of white cardstock, colored, fussy cut, and then assembled to the snowy background. I don’t think my camera captured it in the photo, but the cardstock I used for the snowy ground has a hint of shimmer to it.

I’m entering my card into the current Lawnscaping challenge.

Now it’s time for you to check out all the challenge details at the 52CCT site, and visit the rest of the design team members’ blogs for more inspiration. Then create your own card and link it at the 52CCT site by 7:00 pm Eastern time Friday, August 12. Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Critters in the Snow, Hats Off to You, Pa-Rum-Pa-Pum-Pum (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Basic Black, Shimmery White (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); patterned papers from Fa La La 6″ x 6″ paper pack (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic); Landscape Trio die (Mama Elephant)

Older Entries

CAS Colours & Sketches #478

CAS Colours & Sketches #344

CAS Colours & Sketches #323

CAS Colours & Sketches #310

CAS Colours & Sketches #288

CAS Colours & Sketches #256

CAS Colours & Sketches #251

CAS Colours & Sketches #249

CAS Colours & Sketches #236

CAS Colours & Sketches #220

CAS Colours & Sketches #215

CAS Colours & Sketches #207

awesome little animals

CAS Colours & Sketches #186

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - August sketch challenge

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