Freshly Made Sketches # 138

Jen T at Freshly Made Sketches hit it on the head with this simple sketch that she says leaves plenty of room to play! The possibilities are endless. Here's the sketch:


So, in the interest of play, I immediately thought of my sister who I haven't seen in a while. We are definitely due for some fun in the sun along with some sweet, fruity summer drinks! We will have to make that happen, pronto folks. I chose a cute stamp set from Hero Arts that has fun in the sun all over it. I used the palm tree (double stamped and popped up) and the cocktail along with the sentiment "Let's Chill". I added a bit of glaze to the leaves and the drinks. Can I get a woop, woop! The white paper is Neenah Solar White, the checkered paper is Recollections. I stamped everything with Memento and colored with Copics. See here:

All that's missing is the umbrella! This is one card that will NOT go to the card graveyard. See you soon Sister!

The Shabby Tea Room #220

I always look forward to seeing the new challenge each Monday from The Shabby Tea Room! The inspiration found there is just awe inspiring. I learn something new every time I visit. This week's challenge "let's go for a ride" is to INCLUDE SOMETHING WITH WHEELS, PINK, FLOWERS and BACKGROUND TEXTURE! along with this beautiful inspiration photo:



I chose Wild Rose Sutdio "Annabelle's Garden" with some wee bunnies going for a ride in a flower cart. I paired this with a Penny Black stamp set "Fancy Flowers" which includes the flower cart and sentiment. I stamped with Memento ink and colored with Copics. I used a Darice EF for the background texture. Added a rolled ribbon flower and a few sequins and here she goes:

Here's to you creating a crafty day!

Freshly Made Sketches #137

Hello,

I'm having a blast playing this week at Freshly Made Sketches! Always a good time at their party. Here's this week's sketch:



Oh, the possibilities! I used lots of new stuff for this one. Whenever I get goodies in the mail I am anxious to use them right away. And I did! First is some super white paper I got from Crafters Companion. Then, the bright, bright paper is Electric paper from Bazzill. Is that bright or what! The grass is Die-Namics Tall Grassy Edge and the tulips are from Marianne Design Creatables. Lastly, the sentiment is a die from The Crafters Workshop.Not an inkling of ink on this card baby! Here it is:

Should have warned you to grab your shades. WOW, that's hot! I forgot to mention the rectangles were cut with Lil' Inker Designs stitched rectangles.

Enjoy your long weekend.

The Shabby Tea Room #219

Hello all! Hope you are enjoying a happy, long weekend with your loved ones. Also hope you still manage to get in some craft time! I'm posting a new card for The Shabby Tea Room, "Flowers & Balloons." Here's the inspiration photo:



Lovely! I chose some Authentique paper called "Bundle" for my card. I really was trying to combine some blue and pink, and ended up with LOTS of red! There are tiny red bows on the paper so I thought I would add a LITTLE red. Somehow it got away from me. I used Lil' Inker Designs for the round stitched circles; also a Spellbinders die. The balloons are a Martha Stewart punch. The leaves are a Marianne Design die, the sentiment "little one" is from a Recollections stamp set. I added some lace, a tulle bow and the red flower. Here's my card:

Thanks for looking and hoping you create a fabulous day!

Cardabilities Sketch #99

Hello! I recently found this wonderful sketch challenge blog Cardabilities and am simply in awe of the beautiful, vintage creations featured on their blog. When my week goes well time wise, I'm fortunate to play along. Here's this week's sketch:



I started with a beautiful paper pack from Bazzill Basics called Miss Teagen Sue. This pack has lovely, shabby papers in the most beautiful color scheme. The base of my card is Neenah and the grey mat is from Recollections. I used several dies for the flowers and leaves - Marianne Design Leaves, Poppystamp Lorelai Leaf; MFT Rolled Rose and Spellbinders Rose Creations. I found a pack of Karen Marie laser cuts in my stash and dusted one of the white circles with Perfect Pearls and then sprayed with Dazzling Diamonds. I added some Waxy Flax from Scrapworks and the metal sentiment from Momenta. I added a few mulberry flowers as well. Here's my card:

See ya'll next week!

VLV May Week 3

YAY! We've got sketch and inspiration photo this week at Viva la Verve! This helps me narrow down what I'm going to create and saves tons of time perusing all my papers. Sometimes when I see an inspiration photo I can actually grab hold in my head which papers I'm going to use (does anyone else do that???) That's what happened here. I just knew! Here's the sketch and inspiration photo:

          

So, the papers I saw in my head are Bazzill Basics - Timeless. I used some of my Recollections solids (I have LOTS of this paper) for the base and matting. The stamps are Verve Brighter Days for the sentiment and Thankful Blossoms to represent the "stars" on the sketch. Both are stamped with Versamark and heated with gold EP. I added a bit of color with the sequins and the tiny bow. Here's my card:

Now that I'm looking at the photo, looks more like Xmas than sunshine, but sunshine was in my heart!

Catch ya later!

The Card Concept #10

Greetings! Hope everyone had a fun, crafty week. I have to admit if I don't at least pick up my scissors every day I'm totally lost. Just feels like I've forgotten something. So, to keep sane I play along with different weekly sketches. This post is for the challenge at The Card Concept, which is to use a coffee theme:



I tried my hand at "Freestyle Collage" this week. I'm going to try all the styles before I'm through! My patterned paper for this card is KaiserCraft called Confetti along with Recollections and Neenah. The sentiment stamp is from TPC Studio titled "Coffee Cafe". The coffee cup is from Stampin Up. I used Hero Arts Floral Lace doily die and MFT Fishtail Flags. Of course, there is a Spellbinders die - the fancy square and the labels die. Always have something SB in there somewhere! I cut the banner from one of the pages of the paper but then almost covered it up. Here's my finished card:

I threw in some pearls and a mulberry rose and that's all folks! Till next time...

My Favorite Things WSC #176

Coming off last weeks new release party at My Favorite Things is like WOW! I'm anxiously awaiting my new order so I can keep the party going. In the meantime...I'm posting for this week's challenge:



I've really been in to a new paper pack from Bazzill Basics that I recently received titled School Days. The colors are super bright! Most of my paper stash is pastels so this paper is a real treat. Along with the Bazzill paper pack, I used Neenah Solar White. The MFT stamps featured on this card are Polished to Perfection and Large Scale Backgrounds for the diamonds. I used a Spellbinders labels die, Memento Ink, Staz On and Copics to complete the card. I turned the sketch on it's side to accommodate this "tall drink of water". Here's my card:

Oh, I used some Faber Castell Glaze on the polish to give it some sheen. Man, does that stuff SMELL!

Thanks for visiting my humble blog and have a great week!

The Shabby Tea Room #118

They's got a lovely Tea Party jumping off at The Shabby Tea Room this week with this beautiful inspiration photo:



The challenge along with photo is to INCLUDE A TEA CUP/TEA POT OR PETIT FOUR/SWEET TREAT, LACE/RIBBON and PEARLS!

And so I did! I used KaiserCraft Enchanted Garden paper pad along with Bazzill for the card base and Neenah White for the stamping. I made the stair step card from memory (or so I thought) and realized halfway through that I forgot a step. But I was in too deep to turn back so I ploughed on! The image is Penny Black "T-Time" and was colored with Copics. I fussy cut the tea set and the tiny cupcake which I popped up with foam tape. The tons of butterflies are a mixture of: Martha Stewart Edge Punch, Memory Box, Spellbinders and EK Success. The ovals are MFT pierced ovals and Spellbinders. The resin frame is from Melissa Frances. Added some lace, seam binding, sequins and the oval pearl and, done! Here's my card:

Have a spectacular day!

Freshly Made Sketches #136

Hello crafty blog world! It's Saturday, my usual posting day even though I craft my cards all during the week. Can't seem to get the time to post until the weekend. Here's a darling sketch by Amy at Freshly Made Sketches for this week:



I recently got a large order from JoAnn's - they had a super duper 40% off sale recently! In this stash I have a paper pad from Bazzill called School Days which I used for this card. All of the papers on this card are from this pad, except for the card base which is also Bazzill, but from a single sheet. I loved the composition book paper and incorporated it into the card along with the numbers paper and, if you look closely, there is writing on one of the banners that says "School Days". I used Fiskars stamps to stamp the words onto the composition book paper and one on plain black paper and embossed with white opaque EP. Kind of looks like those plastic tape thingamajings that you dial and punch out words, right? That's what I was going for anyway! The words are pasted onto a word bubble from Paper Smooches - He Said, She Said set. Here's my card:

Thanks for looking! Toodles!

colourQ # 240

Tea party anyone? The challenge and inspiration photo at colourQ just screams for a nice, frilly girl's day out! Here's the photo:



Need I say more? I pulled out my DCWV paper pad "The Preppy Princess" for this one. The papers and theme really matched great with this challenge. I cut strips of different patterned paper from the pad and weaved together, sort of like tic tac toe. I actually used my calculator to figure the width of the strips. Does anyone else do that??? Three strips made the size 5.25 which fit perfectly on my square card. The bottom of the card with the words and tea platter is fussy cut from one of the papers also and taped onto the weaved papers. I used a sentiment from Fiskars, no more needed said other than Delightful! Stuck that onto a Spellbinders tags and here you have it:

Till next time fellow crafters!

Freshly Made Sketches #135

What a cute and sassy card sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Check it out:


I've been stuck on a new paper stack from DCWV called Citrus. The colors are so bright and sunny! I used that stack along with some Bazzill and Neenah Solar White. The stamps are Hero Arts Hexagons and Hampton Art "Laugh Out Loud" which are also quite sassy. The little fishtails are actually the tails of the Lil' Inker Designs bow die. I used EK Success punch for the notebook edge and Memento and Staz on ink.

So everyone, keep calm and craft on!

VLV May Week 2

Oh, joy! Take a look at this week's sketch at Viva la Verve:



Is this twisted or what? I just love it. So, anywho...I used Recollections kraft paper for the card base, "stitched" with Lil' Inker Designs stitched rectangles and also Recollections for the green mat. I pulled out my DCWV Vintage Collector pad and went to work on the rest of the card. I used some die cut hearts from the same collection, some seam binding and a little heart charm from my stash. The sentiment is Verve "Thankful Blossoms", stamped with Memento.

Looking forward to next week's sketch!

The Shabby Tea Room #217

We're having tons of fun with "Pretty Prints" at The Shabby Tea Room with this beautiful, frilly inspiration photo:



Also, while browsing Pintrest for some sketch ideas (I was running low on mojo) I found this elegant sketch at Cardabilities (adding to my faves!) which is oh, so awesome I combined it with TSTR:



I mentioned in my last TSTR post that I didn't have any fabric for last week's project, so off I went to my local craft store! I found what I think are quilting squares that come 24 in a pack in coordinating colors. The fabric squares are from Charms and come in a variety of lovely prints. I grabbed a couple of pack for future use.

I used Basic Grey paper pad along with my "go to" Neenah Solar White. I cut out 16 circles from the fabric and two colors of paper and distressed the edges a little. I then folded each one and piled them onto one of those Glueber doohickies (I saw a YouTube tute years ago for this). I edged the bottom with some seam binding and stuck a pearl in the center. The doily is Hero Arts Floral Lace Die, the flag is Die-Namics Fishtail Flags and the leaf is Poppystamps Lorelai Leaf. I added some Martha Stewart lace, a seam binding bow and the sentiment from Fiskars, stamped with Memento ink. Here's my card:

Thanks for looking! I'm off to explore Cardabilities blog!

VLV May Week 1

I love the start of a new month at Viva la Verve sketches. So much to look forward to! Plus you get a sketch and color challenge. I'm in heaven! Here's the sketch and colors for the first week of May:

  

I used Canvas Home Basics scrap pack that I've had around for quite a while along with Neenah ivory. The stamps are Smile (sentiment) and Elegant Flower, stamped with Momento and colored with Copics. My "homemade" washi tape is paper from Fancy Pants. I also used Spellbinders for the squares. Here's my take:

Ciao for now!

MFT Get Sketchy # 175

Very cool sketch to play with at My Favorite Things Get Sketchy, as always! Here's the sketch:



I used my DCWV Citrus paper pad along with Bazzill and Neenah Solar white for stamping. The blue Bazzill paper has a pretty pearl shine that doesn't show up very well in the photo. I used MFT Thank You die (twice) along with their Pierced Ovals which I absolutely LOVE! Added the Spellbinders Floral Ovals, a little bling and mulberry flower. The decorative edge is a Martha Stewart punch. Here's my card:

Have a terrific Thursday!

MFT Color Palette Challenge #5

This post is for My Favorite Things Color Palette Challenge. The colors are so soft and sweet that I left the card very simple just to show the colors. Here's the palette:



I used Recollections and Bazzill paper that look close to the palette. The stamp is MFT Words of Inspiration, stamped with Staz On. I used Hero Arts Floral Lace die along with Lil Inkers circle and MFT Fishtail Flags. Here's my card:

Hope everyone is enjoying a Happy Spring!

The Card Concept #9

What a beautiful color challenge at The Card Concept! Who knew there were so many shades of purple? I went with Classy & Elegant for this challenge; the inspiration photo just called for classy! Here's their photo:



Just yummy, right? I started with a new (well, new to me) paper pad from DCWV called Violet Leaf. The papers have lots of pretty foil and designs. I also used DCWV Foiled Cardstock for the gold. I used the Lil Inker stitched rectangle die on the gold mat and various pages from the Violet Leaf for the rest of the card. The stamp is Just Rite Grateful Heart, stamped with Versamark and embossed with gold EP. I added the Lorelai Leaf die from Poppystamps for some additional color. The scroll at the bottom is from Recollections. One rose and some seam binding and that's all folks! Here's my card:

Have a blessed day!

The Shabby Tea Room # 216

Well have you ever? This week's challenge at The Shabby Tea Room was about the most fun I've ever had with a theme, like really! The challenge was Tic Tac Toe and I truly enjoyed it. Absolutely brilliant. Thank you Shabby Tea Room!  Here's the inspiration photo:



The challenge is to select 3 squares in a row to use on your creation either diagonal, vertical or horizontal.  I was able to utilize everything except for the fabric and buttons. Of course I have buttons, silly - I don't have fabric! So I had to skip that row. I used the following: banners, pearls, gingham, ribbon, polka dots, flowers and vintage trim. The banners are Die-Namics Party Banners; the bird is Marianne Design; the paper is Heidi Grace Design along with Recollections polka dots and Neenah Solar White. The stamp is from Fiskars stamped with Memento. Here's my card in all its glory:

Now I think I'll go and make another one of these just for fun! Maybe a Mother's Day card...

Enjoy your day!

Freshly Made Sketches #134

Welcome! This week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches by Karren is really FRESH! Here's the sketch:



I took the liberty of turning this one on a different angle in order to use the Cuttlebug Palm Leaves EF. When turned the correct way, the leaves were sideways (hee hee) and I needed them upright in order to kind of match the fans on the patterned paper. The paper is from Webster's Pages. I also used Recollections yellow and Neenah Solar White. The cute little shorts are cut from the other side of the patterned paper. The stamp is from Fiskars, stamped with Staz On. I used a Spellbinders die and bright yellow to mimic the sun. Here's my card:

TFL and have a sunny day!