Create With Connie and Mary 209

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July celebration (if you were celebrating it, that is)!  My day started out raining but luckily by late morning the rain had cleared, the sun came out and the temperatures became downright steamy!  There were some strong thunderstorms in the evening that threatened the annual tradition of the Boston Pops playing on the Esplanade against a backdrop of fireworks, but the storms moved through and the music and fireworks continued as usual.  I'm not sure the 4th of July would be complete without the fireworks and the Pops playing the 1812 Overture!

Now on to my card today.  This week you will find a very original sketch challenge at Create With Connie and Mary.  It's got cool layers, interesting shapes and is open to lots of interpretation, I think.

I started out trying to incorporate the Dynamic Duos color challenge along with this sketch, but it soon became apparent that I needed more colors!  So I scrapped that idea and just plugged along with my card base of Crumb Cake accented with Marina Mist and Early Espresso.

The flowers are from Stippled Blossoms and originally those flowers were the only focal point of this card.  I took a picture of it and it was ready to go, but the more I looked at it the more I realized it was missing something.  So I added the button from Designer Naturals Buttons, a sentiment from Fabulous Phrases, and a line of Basic Pearls down the skinny Early Espresso layer.  MUCH better!

I hope you have time to join us and create a little something for this challenge at Create With Connie and Mary.  Hop on over and check out the inspiration from the design team.  Then link up your creation.  I can't wait to see what you do!

Color Throwdown 179 and Pals Paper Arts 129

This has been one of those weeks where I have had absolutely no time to stamp!  I actually have not set foot in my stamp room to get crafty since last Sunday!  Eek!  Today I was determined to remedy that, so I checked out some of my favorite challenges and sat down at my desk.

I recently learned that friend of mine got engaged to be married so I wanted to make a card for her.

I used the wonderful layout from Pals Paper Arts designed by Margaret Moody.  It's a great sketch that can be dressed up or down.  I decided to keep mine pretty clean to show off the lovely lady holding the champagne.  The colors come from Color Throwdown.

I think taking a week off has made my card-making skills rusty because now that I've had a chance to really look at this card I wish I had dressed it up a bit.  Now that I've got my feet wet again, I'll be heading back in my stamp room to get my craft on!

Thanks for stopping by!