Painted Butterflies Thank You

I'm on vacation this week from work and I've discovered some wonderful things:  time to sleep in and time to craft!  I don't like to sleep too late but I will admit it's nice to not have to be up and ready to leave for work by 8:00 in the morning.  I've been working outside to clean up the patio, spray the weeds (I can't believe they're here already) and get the veggie garden ready for planting.  And guess what?  After all that I STILL have time to get crafty.  If this is what retirement looks like I can't wait!

Yesterday I made a card for a few challenges.  The sketch at Hand Stamped Sentiments was combined with the colors at Color Throwdown and it was easy to add in a "thank you" for the ShowCASE Your Style challenge.

I did cheat a little and put my sentiment in a different place than the sketch but I wanted my butterflies to appear to be flying up and to the left which would have put the sentiment in a weird spot to my eye.  So I put it down and to the left.  I hope that doesn't get me kicked out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Painted Butterflies (Altenew)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir)
Ink:  So Saffron, Crushed Curry (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  enamel dots (Studio Calico)

Freshly Made Sketches 169

Are you ready for a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches?  I know I am!  This week our challenge is hosted by the amazing Jen Timko and I just know you are going to love her sketch.  It's got loads of room for your creative interpretation!

Despite my love of earthy colors I have a not-so-secret fascination with bright colors too - especially green when it's something closer to chartreuse.  So when I saw the latest color challenge at ShowCASe Your Style I just knew that I wanted to play along.  At first I tried doing a watercolor background using the lime and turquoise colors but, predictably, when they got too close together they made a green that was definitely not part of the color challenge.  Then I remembered that I had some patterned paper that had some gradient shading in these colors so I used that as the background layer.  The flower and leaves are colored with Copics and I really love how this turned out!

You probably imagine that the Freshly Made Sketches design team has got some fabulous cards to show you this week and you wouldn't be wrong.  Do stop by and check them out.  And I hope you have time to join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Esther's Garden (Art Gone Wild); Label Love (Altenew)

Paper:  Soft Stone (Papertrey Ink); Tempting Turquoise (SU); X-Press It Blending Card; Adorbs (My Mind's Eye)

Ink:  Tempting Turquoise (SU); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Onyx Black (Versafine); Copics

Accessories:  Enamel dots (Studio Calico, My Mind's Eye)

Christmas Cheer

The other day I checked out the color challenge at Fab Friday and immediately thought there was no way I'd be able to get all those colors onto one card.  Fast forward a few days and I found a (somewhat) new challenge called ShowCASe Your Style that gave me an idea for incorporating all these colors in one card!

I thought the striped layers made a good argument for using the Bermuda Bay and Coastal Cabana.  And those cool colors were a nice contrast to the warm tones of the poinsettia.  I just love how they look together.  The pairing of these colors is a little unexpected, but I really think the stripes draw your eye right in to the focal point.  Lucky for me this wee sentiment fit exactly in the space to the left of the poinsettia.

I think this wraps up my 2014 Christmas card making season.  I sure hope so, especially since it's the middle of the month and I have to get all these cards signed and mailed out!  

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Jingle All the Way (Technique Tuesday)

Paper:  Kraft (Papertrey Ink); Cherry Cobbler, Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, Old Olive (SU)

Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine); Coastal Cabana (SU)

Accessories:  Blooming Poinsettia die (Memory Box)