CAS(E) This Sketch 292

I'm pretty sure that I'm woefully behind on Christmas cards this year so I took the opportunity to take our latest CAS(E) This Sketch designed by Brian and transform it into a Christmas card.

As you can see I flipped the sketch on its side and transformed the points of the banner into the points of two trendy Christmas trees.  I added some silver sparkle splatters behind them because the space was too white without them and made a wide border of silver glimmer paper around the edge just because glimmer paper makes me smile!  As luck would have it there's a Let's Get Ready for Christmas challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge so this fits perfectly there!

Thanks for stopping by!  Our CAS(E) This Sketch design team has made some pretty amazing cards with this sketch so be sure to check them out.  I hope you'll join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Triangle Trees (Reverse Confetti); Mini 71 (PaperArtsy)
Paper:  Baja Breeze, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Silver Glimmer (Recollections)
Ink:  Baja Breeze (Stampin' Up!); Silvery Shimmer (Delicata)
Accessories:  silver embossing powder

Hello Butterfly

I found myself with a little extra time this weekend to squeeze in a little project for a few challenges. The colors at Color Throwdown are wonderfully neutral and when I saw them I thought about doing an old technique that, I think, might be called mother of pearl.  It involves crumpled up cling wrap and some shimmery paint.

Well, fast forward a couple of days and I see that the January challenge at CAS Mix It Up is to use cling wrap.  How's that for a coincidence?  Not one to ignore a sign from the crafty muses I got out my supplies and went to work on this card.

I had a really hard time photographing this tag so that it showed off the colors properly.  I used gray, vanilla, and black but the vanilla disappears and my mother of pearl background looks quite dingy.  One of these days I'm going to hire an actual photographer to come to my home and teach me how to take proper pictures!  The butterfly was actually done in two layers.  The solid bottom is done in vanilla and the top is actually done in vellum and has many cut-out dots.  I wish you could see how pretty this is in real life!  **sigh**  And I included one more challenge.  At Crazy 4 Challenges they are looking for tags.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Little Notes (The Stamp Market); Mini 72 (PaperArtsy)
Paper:  Smoky Slate, Vellum (Stampin' Up!); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Naturals White (Neenah); Glossy (Ranger)
Ink:  Jet Black (Altenew); Frost White for Fantasitx (Tsukineko)
Accessories:  Pappillons die (4enscrap); Tag Sale: Quilted die (Papertrey Ink); enamel dots (My Mind's Eye); baker's twine; white seam binding ribbon

Joyous Noel

I had some extra time Saturday so I went into my craft room and made a card with a new poinsettia die that I got recently.  I wanted to do a white on white design but I liked the challenge at Color Throwdown so I did a hybrid!  They are looking for glitter at Just Add Ink so I used gold glimmer paper for the center of the flower I sprayed the petals with glitter dust.  Hard to see in the picture, but very pretty in real life.

I did a little splatter behind the flower in pewter embossing powder.  This card really has some nice shimmer and shine to it.

Well that's it for me today.  Gotta get ready for some football!  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Joyous Noel (Verve); Mini72 (PaperArtsy)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); gold foil paper (Recollections)
Ink:  Jet Black (Altenew); Versamark
Accessories:  Layered Poinsettia die (Spellbinders); Blooming Poinsettia die (Memory Box); Glitter Dust (Therm-o-web); pewter embossing powder

CAS(E) This Sketch 231

I was helpless to resist using a beautiful dragonfly die cut on my card for our latest challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch.  When you see the sketch you'll know why!

I will admit that this card too way too long to put together.  I kept fussing over the size of the dragonfly and my decision to use a background stamp for the square image rather than a paper layer messed with the horizontal banner layer.  According to the sketch it's supposed to be under the square layer, but I couldn't do that.  After trying a few things I settled on a strip of some favorite washi.

I was inspired, too, by the CASE the designer challenge at Global Design Project which also featured a dragonfly!  I used soft, muted colors in shades of gray and blue in keeping with Tanja's inspiration.

All my fussing paid off because I like the end result of this card!  And my teamies at CAS(E) This Sketch have created some fabulous cards with this sketch so I know you will be wowed with their inspiration!  I hope you can join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Mesh (Darkroom Door); Mini 72 (PaperArtsy)
Paper:  Soft Stonen (Papertrey Ink); Basic Gray, Soft Sky, Vellum (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Basic Gray, Soft Sky (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Libellules die (4enscrap); washi tape

CAS(E) This Sketch 167!

Despite the recent snow here, spring is definitely on my mind.  I guess that's why I've used a butterfly on my cards two days in a row.  I just love how pretty they are and they can really dress up an ordinary card!  Today I've got a card for the latest sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch designed by N@ Ali.

The colors at Cupcake Inspirations also made me think of spring.  I stamped a little grungy dotted background in a light blue first then stamped my vertical "layers" in pink over it.  All that was followed by the sentiment and my wee butterfly and I was done.  Easy peasy.

There are some great cards to see from the design team at CAS(E) This Sketch so be sure to check them out!  I hope you can join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge, Kinda Eclectic (SU); Abstract Art (My Favorite Things); Many Thanks (Simon Says Stamp); Mini 72 (PaperArtsy)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir)
Accessories:  Basic Pearls (SU)

Tag You're It 44

Today may be April Fool's Day but there ain't no fooling at Tag You're It!  It's time for a new challenge and this week our inspiration comes from Nancy!

Sadly, I don't have any umbrellas in my stash, but I do have loads of flowers so I took my cues from that.  Nancy did a wonderful watercolor splash on her background but I chose to stamp a couple of grungy images instead.  I chose some of of the same colors for my flowers and arranged them randomly along with some leafy die cuts.

I love how Nancy's tag reminds us that all those April showers bring beautiful May flowers.  Let's hope it happens for real.  We've had an unseasonably warm winter around these parts and the flowers got off to an early start.  We really need those rains since we didn't get much snow {insert happy dance here} otherwise those flowers will be in for a long, hot, and dry summer.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to join us at Tag You're It.  We love to see your tags, whether they be stand-alone or used to embellish the front of a card, so don't be shy!  I hope you'll join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Modern Blooms (My Favorite Things); Mesh, Mini 72 (PaperArtsy)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Pear Pizzazz (SU)
Ink:  Blushing Bride, Cool Caribbean, Pumpkin Pie, Regal Rose, Riding Hood Red (SU); Pretty Amethyst (Fun Stampers Journey); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things)
Accessories:  Tag You're It die, Sentiment Strips die (My Favorite Things); Clear Droplets (Pretty Pink Posh); seam binding ribbon, crochet thread

Freshly Made Sketches 224

I don't know about where you live, but this winter has been really strange around here weather-wise.  Over the weekend we were hit with some sort of polar vortex (don't you just love the names the weathermen come up with!) and it was 10 below zero then yesterday it was 55 degrees! Talk about crazy!

But crazy we are not over at Freshly Made Sketches where our resident pilot, Jen Timko, has cooked up a fabulous sketch for you this week.  All you fans of white space are going to love it!

I really like the colors this week at The Paper Players and the cue word at Addicted to CAS is "bloom" so I combined the two and clustered some flowers on one corner of my card.  To jazz things up I put a bit of some grungy images behind the flowers and used some washi for that teeny little layer on the right.  I like how this is all sun-shiny and bright.  Spring is only 31 days away after all so that's cause for celebration!

It's no surprise that our Freshly Made Sketches design team has created some beautiful cards with our sketch this week, so be sure to hop on over there to check them out.  We'd love for you to join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Blossom (Precious Remembrance); All Kinds of Happy (Unity Stamp Company); Mini 72 (PaperArtsy)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir)
Ink:  Pool Party, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango (SU); Onyx  Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  enamel dots (Doodlebug Designs); washi tape