Gratitude for CTD258 and NAC53

I spent the last couple of days puttering around my stamp organizing some of my supplies.  To the casual observer it doesn't look like I did a lot, but a sharp eyed stamper would know otherwise!  By Friday night, I was done with organizing and wanted to get inky so I found a couple of challenges that looked good together and sat down to make this card.  The colors are from Color Throwdown and the layout is from Nacho Average Challenge, back from a summer hiatus.

I'm not entirely happy with how this turned out.  I was trying to create a bit of a shadow effect using the two green colors of the challenge, but I didn't quite get the look I was going for.  On the plus side I tried something new.  After stamping the sentiment on the little flag I was confronted with some blank space and decided a staple would be the perfect embellishment to take up the slack.  I've seen others use staples and always thought it was a nifty look, so I thought I'd give it a go.  And it is a pretty nifty look!

I've got a busy crafting week coming up so I hope to be wildly prolific in my stamp room this weekend.  Wish me luck!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Meadow Greens (Papertrey Ink); Gorgeous Grunge, Fabulous Phrases (SU)

Accessories:  First Place Award Ribbon die (My Favorite Things)

Robotastic!

I have discovered that I love robots ever since The Alley Way Stamps released the uber cool stamp set Bot Time.  I had a lot of fun coloring up this cutie pie.

And in a rare triple crown feat, I made this card for three challenges:  the sketch from I {Heart} Sketches, the colors at Nacho Average Challenge and the washi challenge at Just Us Girls.  Whew!

Thanks for stopping by!

Well That's Bloomin' Marvelous!

I don't usually post my cards this late at night, but I made a card using the fabulous colors from the latest Nacho Average Challenge and when I looked at the challenge a few minutes ago, I realized that it closes in about three hours so I figured I better get this card up!  

The layout is my interpretation of the latest challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch.  I danced around a few ideas I had about this sketch before settling on this layered flower on top of a pretty flourish.

Well that's it for me.  It's late and I'm tired and ready to call it a night.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

BOSTON STRONG

Supplies:

Stamps:  Bloomin' Marvelous (SU); Bloom & Grow (Verve)

Accessories:  Fancy Flourish die (My Favorite Things); brad (American Crafts)

Something Wonderful

The ladies over at Nacho Average Challenge have a really awesome color challenge this week and as soon as I saw it I knew what I wanted to combine it with the Mojo sketch.

I don't have a lot of Perfect Plum designer paper and what I do have is from an SU Halloween set called Cast-A-Spell.  I only have a small amount of it so I only bring it out on special occasions!  I thought this color challenge was pretty special so I used a sliver of it layered on the scallop circle.  The sentiment is from life is short, a brand-new set from The Alley Way Stamps that has got a little something for everyone.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  life is short (The Alley Way Stamps)

Accessories:  Pool Party button, Pool Party ribbon (SU); Stitched Mat Rectangles die (Lil Inker Designs); crochet thread  

retro sketches 48

I can hardly believe that it's the end of January already.  I know it sounds so cliche, but where does the time go?  Saturday, of course, is the challenge reveal at retro sketches and this challenge marks the end of my time with the amazing design team over there.  

I'm so grateful that Arielle asked me to join her and the retro sketches team for the month of January.  So as a little celebration to myself I inked up a brand-new stamp set to create my card this week.

The challenge from Nacho Average Challenge provided these cool colors, which is shaping up to be a favorite of mine.

These colors are perfect for a valentine, but I went in a different directions partly because I wanted to use my cool Big Bang Theory washi tape.  And no, the washi tape has nothing to do with The Big Bang Theory, its just cool tape with complicated, impossible to decipher equations on it!  But since I'm a huge fan of that show, I've decided to rename my tape in its honor.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to head on over to retro sketches.  You'll be inspired for sure!

retro sketches 46

This week at retro sketches there's a great sketch inspired by this card by Laurie.  I couldn't decide whether I wanted to use some pretty patterned paper for the squares or go for something simpler and after some thought went with something simpler.

I lightly drew the rectangles with a pencil and ruler then went over it with a Copic Multi Liner pen without the benefit of the ruler to get a hand-drawn look.  I had a moment of panic when one of my cats jumped up on my table and jostled things a bit, but I was able to finish the lines with only a slight hiccup.

A long time ago I had seen a card where the focal point was a film strip and in each "negative" were images of a leprechaun that seemed to be jumping into each shot so that only part of him was showing.  (Sort of the modern-day equivalent of a photobomb).  I've always loved that look and every once in a while I'll incorporate it into my card. For this card I've substituted a flower and some leaves for a leprechaun!

My color inspiration comes from Nacho Average Challenge to use Marina Mist, Island Indigo and Lucky Limeade.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Don't forget to hop on over to retro sketches and check out the DT cards for some inspiration.  I hope you can us!

Mojo 273 and Nacho Average Challenge 26

After a bit of a stamping vacation while I enjoyed Christmas (and I hope that you did too), I'm back with a project perfect for the new year to come.  It's been ages since I've sat down in the craft cave and got my fingers inky but I figured that my card-making skills would become terribly rusty if I didn't go in there and try to make something.  So that's where I went last night.

I chose the latest Mojo sketch and the color challenge at Nacho Average Challenge to make a desk calendar.  Some time ago, my friend Deanna generously shared a calendar template with me and I've been kicking around ideas in my head about how best to use it.  I remarked the other day that I had an epiphany about adapting sketch challenges to make gift tags so I applied that same logic to making my calendar which is how I found myself using the Mojo sketch.

I used some Soft Suede DSP from Comfort Cafe and stamped it with the leafy image from Summer Silhouettes, although it hardly shows behind my big scallop circle.  The Old Olive DSP is from Cottage Wall and the beautiful butterfly is, of course, from Papillon Potpourri.  (Now that Christmas is over I've got a hankering to use flowers and butterflies)!

I've got some plans to make some more calendars so stay tuned for more to come!  And thanks so much for stopping by!

It's Tagtastic!

The ladies at Nacho Average Challenge have got a color challenge with some of my favorite colors to use at Christmas time.  And since I'm still in tag-making mode I thought it would be fun to create a gift tag for one of my Christmas gifts using the colors.  Lucky for me the cue card at CASology is GIFT so that fit right in with my plans and since it is the season of snowflakes I decided to add a few to fit in with the snowflake challenge at The Paper Players.

The picture is horrible, but in real life this gift tag is full of glitz and glam!  The washi tape is striped with some shimmery silver and one of the snowflakes is cut with the Silver Glimmer paper.  And even though it is nearly invisible in the picture, the tag is topped with some silver organdy ribbon and some silver cord.  The sentiment is from my recently re-discovered Warm Words which, so far, has been pretty handy this holiday season.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Tomorrow I've got another fun tag featuring the new colors from colourQ!

Nacho Average Challenge 12 and CASology 11

The challenge this week at CASology is white.  I have nooooo problem doing that!  Now, one of my favorite things to do when making a CAS card (especially one where the subject is "white") is to add a pop of color.  The super-fantastic color challenge at Nacho Average Challenge fit that bill perfectly!

I am seriously in love with this color challenge.  Island Indigo is such a fantastic color and I don't use it nearly as often as I should.  And look how great it looks paired with Lucky Limeade.  Love!

I think that when you use bits of color like this it draws attention to the white and makes the focal point just jump of the page.  I stamped the flower off center then used a ruler to draw a square around it with my Crumb Cake marker.  I think the funky sentiment goes perfectly with this unique, splashy flower. 

Friday, yay!  I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend - I hope you are too!

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