Freshly Made Sketches 537

Hi everyone!  It's time for a new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our hostess is Judy and, with a few tweaks, I embraced her sketch wholeheartedly!

The rainbow challenge at Less is More inspired my colorful horizontal layer and I thought a simple "HI" sentiment mimicked the circle on the sketch.  The banner underneath those layers was paper pierced using a Stampin' Up! stencil.  Remember stencils!!  This is why I am a stamping hoarder.  I might only use something once every five years but I'm eternally grateful that it exists in my stash for just the perfect moment!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you join us at Freshly Made Sketches!

Supplies

Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, Island Indigo (Stampin' Up!); Enchanted Evening, Royal Velvet (Papertrey Ink)

Freshly Made Sketches 503

Hi everyone!  It's time for a brand new sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess and sketch designer this week is the incomparable Cécile.  I absolutely adore every card she makes!

Cécile has this minimalist design sense that translates into eye-poppingly beautiful cards every single time she makes one.  I tried to channel her inspiration when I made this card and used simple square outlines and a simple leaf using the colors of The Paper Players challenge.  I softened the color of the leaf by adding an additional layer in vellum.  I tucked in a small sentiment between the squares.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have some time to check out the amazing inspiration from our design team at Freshly Made Sketches!

Supplies
Stamps:  Tons of Type (The Stamp Market)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Hibiscus Burst (Papertrey Ink); Blackberry Bliss, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Vellum (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Quadrangle Frames die (Simon Says Stamp); Lorelai Leaf die (Poppystamps)

CAS(E) This Sketch 385

We've got a fun new sketch for you at CAS(E) This Sketch.  Originally I thought I would make a shaker card - big circles always make think of shakers, but I happened to have a stamp set on my desk that was chock full of spirals and circles and I realized those images would be perfect for my card!

So I inked up a few circular images in the colors of the Sunday Stamps challenge and my card was done.  I had a little trouble with ink pads that were just a bit too juicy for that striped layer behind the "hi" and that frustrates me to no end!  I tried a couple of different inks and kept getting blotchy results - meaning you couldn't tell that the image was supposed to be stripes.  I ended up choosing the best ink I could find (which isn't saying much and turned out being more purple than plum (sorry about that Sunday Stamps DT)) and reminisced about the red rubber days when stamping details was not a problem.  

And in other news the new blogger is inserting a double space each time I hit enter.  *SIGH* Every day it's something different with this new blogger interface - most of it bad!

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow CAS(E) This Sketch teammates have made some absolutely gorgeous cards with this sketch so be sure to check them out.  

Supplies

Stamps:  Sphere's & Spirals (Altenew); Circles Circles Circles (Whimsy Stamps)

Ink:  Desert Night, Hydrangea (Altenew); Baja Breeze (Stampin' Up!)

Accessories:  Happy Hellos die (My Favorite Things)

Freshly Made Sketches 443

Hey all!  Apologies for being a wee bit late with my Freshly Made Sketches post. Our hostess and sketch designer this week is Lee Ann.  What a fun sketch she made for us!

I opted for a subtle design for those triangles on the top and bottom so I used embossing paste and a stencil to create the design on those layers.  Then I layered a leafy die cut on top and added some sequins.  My colors were inspired by the Less is More challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow design team members at Freshly Made Sketches have got some beautiful cards for you to see.  I'm sure they'll inspire you to play along with us!

Supplies

Stamps:  Botanical Print (The Stamp Market)

Paper:  Whisper White, Hello Honey (Stampin' Up!)

Ink:  Silver Stone (Altenew)

Accessories:  Fresh Foliage die (Memory Box); Distress Grid stencil (Sheena); Love and Sparkles sequins (Neat & Tangled); white embossing paste (Dreamweaver)

CAS(E) This Sketch 310 Meets Fusion

I had a lot of fun combining the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch with the rainbow challenge at Fusion.  The sketch gave me the perfect opportunity to layer the ROYGBIV colors of the rainbow and top it off with this on-a-line die cut sentiment.

At As You See It Challenge they are looking for the answer to what I think is simple.  Well, that's simple!  It's white space and a focal image that is bold and maybe dramatic.  For this card I love how the bold colors only take up the bottom of the card leaving all that glorious white space!

Thanks for stopping by!  I love these two challenges and I'd love it if you played along with us.  There's a great sketch challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch and at Fusion you've got a sketch and/or an inspiration to choose from!

Supplies
Stamps:  Hand Lettered Hello )WPlus9)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Vintage Violet, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red (Stampin' Up); Green Parakeet, Enchanted Evening, Dark Indigo (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Die of the Month May 2018 (Spellbinders)

CAS(E) This Sketch 305

We've got a great new sketch for you this week at CAS(E) This Sketch.  And it was perfect for me to use a die I've had in my stash for a while.  This proves that no craft purchase is wasted!  I may not have used this die right away when I bought it, but it was the perfect purchase because one day it was the perfect solution to this sketch challenge!

This card is so fun and I got to use all of the colors from the challenge at The Paper Players.  I cut the die once in black to create the outline then cut it three more times in the colors of the challenge and filled in the circles with those colors.  Looooove it!  And the big and bold "hello" finishes this off nicely!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you've got a chance to join us at CAS(E) This Sketch!  Our design team has got some great inspiration for you and we'd love to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Little Notes (The Stamp Market)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Groovy Guava (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair)
Accessories:  Sketchy Rings die (Memory Box)

Freshly Made Sketches 348

Hello there!  I've got a card for our newest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week our sketch is designed by Jen Brum - and it's awesome!

One thing that I like to do when I see four squares arranged like this is to create one image and then split it up.  So that's what I did!  I used a distressed sunburst stencil and covered it with embossing paste that I tinted yellow.  I cut it into four squares and mounted them with a little bit of space in between to mimic the sketch.  CAS and done!

The color challenge at Cupcake Inspirations Challenge is a particular favorite of mine so those colors were my choice for this sunshiny card!

ETA:  And by lucky coincidence the cue word this week at CASology is Sunbeam!  Since I made my card a few days before that challenge went live I can only think that the challenge was cosmically transmitted to me!  LOL!

Thanks for stopping by!  Our Freshly Made Sketches design team has created some beauties with this sketch so be sure to check them out.  We hope to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Just Saying (WOW); Hand Lettered Hello (WPlus9)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Daffodil Delight (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Daffodil Delight (Stampin' Up!); Nocturne (Versafine Clair)
Accessories:  Urban Insiders Square stencil (Stencil Girl); white embossing paste (Dreamweaver)

CAS(E) This Sketch 279 Meets Fusion

I hope that all my American friends had a wonderful and safe Independence Day yesterday.  I went to my local parade in the morning (always fun with the screeching firetrucks and ambulances at the beginning)!  At night my town hosts a fireworks display and it was warm and balmy evening.  Of course, my kitties don't care for all those booms and pops, but it was a great day all around.

So now, since its Thursday, it's time for a couple of new challenges from CAS(E) This Sketch and Fusion.  At CTS we've gone back into the retro vault for a redux of #166.  My original card featured my favorite bunny piloting a plane but this time around I did a one layer using colors inspired by the Fusion challenge.  I created a stencil by die-cutting a banner then used it to sponge a minty green onto my card base.  I flicked a few drops of water onto it and was very happy to find that underneath that green was a blue very close to the blue in the inspiration photo!  I then stamped the layered sentiment in two shades of blue - one light and one dark (although it's hard to see the light color in the picture). 

I've got to say that I don't love this card!  LOL!  It's one of those cases where the design looked way better in my head than it looked when I put it to paper.  But following some sage advice I got from my friend Linda I am putting it up here as if it's the Mona Lisa and now it's on to the next thing!

Our respective CAS(E) This Sketch and Fusion design teams have each created some wonderful cards for their challenges so be sure to check them out.  I hope we'll see you play along!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Hello Hello (The Stamp Market)
Paper:  White (Catherine Pooler)
Ink:  Cracked Pistachio (Distress Oxide); Caribbean Sky, Sapphire (Altenew)
Accessories:  Blueprints 13 die (My Favorite Things)

Freshly Made Sketches 344

First things first:  I want to wish all my American friends a very happy, fun, and festive Independence Day! 

Right now I am smack-dab in the middle of a big ol' heat wave...and I have to confess that I'm loving it!  People who know me know that winter (and especially snow) is not my thing but turn up the heat and I'm in my glory!  Today marks day four of our 90+ degree days and we've got a few more before we "cool off" to somewhere in the 80s.  But don't get me wrong...I'm not complaining! 

Today we've got a brand new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our sketch is designed by Cécile and I love that angled layer!

I also love the colors at As You See It so I combined the sketch and colors to make this pretty butterfly card.  It's been a while since I've used this particular stamp set.  Those butterflies are gorgeous and I don't know why I've neglected it so long!  I dabbed color on the solid part of the butterflies with a sponge dauber which makes the stamped image lighter and allows me to use the second layered image with the ink at full strength so the contrast shows up.  That's a tip that I got from my friend Amy O'Neill and it's in my top 10 list of best stamping tricks!

Thanks for stopping by!  The Freshly Made Sketches design team has created some beautiful cards with this wonderful sketch so be sure to check it out and join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Painted Butterflies (Altenew)
Paper:  Classic Ivory (Flourishes); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Crushed Curry (Stampin' Up!); Berry Sorbet (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Berry Sorbet (Papertrey Ink); Crushed Curry (Stampin' Up!); White (WPlus9); Nocturne (Versamark Clair)
Accessories:  enamel dots (My Mind's Eye); white embossing powder

CAS(E) This Sketch 277 Meets Fusion

Every couple of weeks I combine the sketch challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch with some of the design elements at Fusion.  This week I got to make a fun, clean and simple card with a bit of a color-block look.

N@ Ali's sketch took the CAS(E) This Sketch design team in many awesome directions this week.  For my part I decided to turn that arrow into a simple line of narrow blocks of color a-la the Fusion challenge then added a simple sentiment on top of them.  The card went together pretty easily - aside from some angst about making sure those tiny strips of cardstock were the same width!

So we'd love to see you in the respective galleries at CAS(E) This Sketch and Fusion.  I hope you'll join us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Painted Butterflies (Altenew)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); White (Catherine Pooler); Vintage Jadite (Papertrey Ink); Pacific Point, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair)

Freshly Made Sketches 298

I had bright colors on the brain when I sat down to make my card for Freshly Made Sketches this week.  I had recently watched a Kristina Werner video where she did a rainbow colored design with some hexagons.  I didn't have any hexagons, or use rainbow colors for that matter, but even still I was inspired to use a graphic image and some fun colors to make this card.  Linda gave us the sketch this week.  Check it out:

The stamp I used was only big enough to cover a certain amount of space so I made my card 4 1/4" square to make sure it went from corner to corner.  I colored it with some Copics in nice bright colors then added a die cut "hello" sentiment a-la the challenge this week at Fusion.

This card was shockingly easy to put together.  There was no fussing, fuming, or changing of anything!  I even managed to color within the lines!

Thanks for stopping by!  Our Freshly Made Sketches design team has got some fabulous cards to show you so be sure to pop on over there to check them out.  I hope to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Stackem' High (The Alley Way Stamps)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Basic Black (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Copics
Accessories:  Happy Hellos die (My Favorite Things)

CAS(E) This Sketch 222

I'm on vacation from work next week but apparently my brain decided to start early because I completely forgot to write my blog post for the newest challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch!  So better late than never:

If you look closely at the sketch you'll see a small vertical strip on the left hand side.  I totally missed that on my card - I am clearly in need of this vacation!  Other than that I think I kept to the spirit of the sketch and using the colors from The Paper Players I made a rather eclectic floral card.

Short and sweet tonight.  I've got another blog post to schedule tonight - my name would be mud if I missed two in a row!  Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you in the CAS(E) This Sketch gallery this week.  And don't forget to check out the inspiration from our always amazing design team!

Supplies
Stamps:  Abstract Poppies (Rubbernecker); Label Love (Altenew)
Paper:  Pure Luxury White (Gina K)
Ink:  Tangerine Tango, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise (Stampin' Up); Jet Black (Altenew)
Accessories:  Autumn Harvest sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

CAS(E) This Sketch 221

When I first saw the latest CAS(E) This Sketch challenge I thought of using some patterned paper for one of those layers.  But I really wanted to see if I could do a one layer card using stamped images to take the place of the major elements of the sketch.

It took me three tries before I got this to look the way I wanted!  The first attempt had splotchy images which I blamed on the stamp positioner that I was using.  The second attempt looked ok, but I used micro pore tape on the card front to hold it in place while I stamped and when I removed it, it took a piece of card stock with it.  Sometimes it's not as low-tack as I'd like.

The third time proved to be the charm and it ended up being pretty much what I had envisioned when I started.  Besides the yellow I used a couple of different grays in keeping with the color challenge at Less is More.

I'm constantly amazed at how my CAS(E) This Sketch teamies interpret the sketches with their own cards week after week and I am sure that you are too.  This week is no exception so please check them out before you join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Watercolor Backdrops (My Favorite Things); Hello Hello (The Stamp Market); Hand Lettered Hello )WPlus9)
Paper:  Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Daffodil Delight, Going Gray, Basic Gray (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Halloween sequins (American Crafts)

CAS(E) This Sketch 213!

Hello there!  It's Thursday so that means it's time for a new challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch!  The sketch may have clouds and raindrops but I had a different interpretation in mind.

My ink splatter has drops around it that echo the raindrops on the sketch.  And I die cut the sentiment right out of the center of it and popped it up so that it could be seen better.  They are looking for green and white creations at The Paper Players and I think this fits the bill!  

My teamies at CAS(E) This Sketch have some fabulous cards to inspire you to play along with us so be sure to check them out.  We'd love to see you in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies

Stamps:  Ink Splats (Neat & Tangled)

Paper:  White (Catherine Pooler)

Ink:  Lime  Ricky (Catherine Pooler)

Accessories:  Happy Hellos die (My Favorite Things)

CAS(E) This Sketch 210!

Thursday in my house means it's time for a new challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch!  This week Leigh Penner has given us a fabulous design.

I hope it's visible in the photo but I used some embossing paste and a stencil to take the place of the oval shape on the sketch.  I wanted something subtle so that I could layer a big sentiment on there - and play along with the latest challenge at The Paper Players.  I surrounded the edges of the card stock with different color dots in a bokeh-like design.  The sentiment was die cut in both yellow and black - with the black just barely showing.  I love how this came out!

The challenge this week at Less is More is "alphabet."  I think this qualifies because I've got letters on my card.  Not sure if they mean sequential letters, so we'll see!

Thanks for stopping by.  And check out the inspiration from the design team at CAS(E) This Sketch.  I'm sure you will be inspired to play along with us!

Supplies

Stamps:  Hand Lettered Hello (WPlus9); Circles Circles Circles (Whimsy Stamps)

Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Daffodil Delight, Basic Black (Stampin' Up!)

Ink:  Hello Honey, Daffodil Delight, Marigold Morning (Stampin' Up!); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Happy Hello die (My Favorite Things); Urban Insiders Square stencil (Stencil Girls Products)

Just Saying Hello

No one was more surprised than me that I had some extra time this weekend to make a card for a few challenges.  I'm trying to be organized and get most of my cards done for the week before the Patriots vs. Steelers game tonight and so far so good.

This card uses the colors from Color Throwdown, the sketch at As You See It (back after a little an unplanned hiatus!) and my butterfly is a nod to the flutter challenge at Inkspirational.

That's it for me.  I'm simultaneously super excited and super scared for the football game tonight.  It's going to be a good one!  Go Pats!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Painted Butterflies (Altenew)
Paper:  Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Going Gray, Urban Garden DSP, Crumb Cake DSP (Stampin' Up!); White (Spectrum Noir)
Ink:  Grapevine, Ruby Red (Altenew); Basic Gray (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Painted Butterflies die (Altenew); Labels Two die (Spellbinders); Sentimental Strips 2 die (My Favorite Things); enamel dots (Freckled Fawn)