Freshly Made Sketches 619

Hi friends!  I've been a bad stamper lately, but I'm back with a card for our newest Freshly Made Sketches challenge.  Our hostess this week is Judy and her card put me in mind of butterflies!

The color challenge at The Paper Players influenced the design of this card.  I used some grungy Stampin' Up! DSP for the black and white background and then used a butterfly as my pop of color.  

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow Freshly Made Sketches design team members have made some fabulous cards with this challenge so I hope you check them out!

Supplies
Paper:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Tempting Turquoise, Night and Day DSP (Stampin' Up!);  vellum (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories:  Papillons die (4enscrap); Blueprints 15 Die (My Favorite Things)

Freshly Made Sketches 604

We've got a great new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  Our designer is Cécile, and as always when she's given us a sketch I try to channel my inner CAS soul.

When I first saw the sketch I was pretty sure what stamp set I wanted to use for the two splashy background images, but I wasn't sure what the final image on top was going to be.  Then my sister asked me if had any cards with dragonflies on them, as she needed a thank you card for someone who was crazy about dragonflies.  Well I didn't have one, but I knew I could make one.  That was the perfect image I was looking for so this card was born!

Thanks for stopping by!  As always my Freshly Made Sketches design teammates have got some amazing cards to inspire you to play along with us!  

Supplies
Stamps: Abstract Art (My Favorite Things); Tiny Words (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  White (Gina K); Island Indigo (Stampin' Up!); vellum (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Sea Glass, Ocean Waves (Altenew); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Libellules die (4enscrap)

Freshly Made Sketches 585

So last week I forgot to hit "Publish" so my card for Freshly Made Sketches went unseen.  This week I'm just late. 😉 But I do have a card for our newest challenge with a design from Judy.

I will be totally honest and say that those vertical layers gave me.......pause.  What-to-do what-to-do....  So I opted for my rescue when I'm unsure how to mix layers - vellum.  I dug deep into my stash and found this pretty patterned paper with a butterfly pattern to it then I added the five horizontal vellum layers.  I added a die-cut butterfly to it and called it a day!

The challenge at Addicted to CAS is "monochrome" and I designed this card with that in mind, but I'm not sure it meets their CAS standards.  Apologies to the DT over there if this is over the top!

Thanks for stopping by!  My Freshly Made Sketches design team members have made some fantastic cards with this sketch so I'm sure you will be inspired to play along with us!

Supplies
Paper:  Wild Wasabi, Vellum, Afternoon Tea DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Papillons die (4enscrap)

Freshly Made Sketches 581

Hi all!  We've got a great new challenge for you at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess and sketch designer is Cécile and, as always, when she designs a sketch I try (and usually fail) to channel her amazing design aesthetic.  Here's my humble attempt:

So, since spring has sprung out all over in my neighborhood, I decided to combine the pastel color challenge at The Paper Players with our Freshly Made Sketches challenge.  I used a stencil to create the background and then topped it with this artsy butterfly.  I know I was supposed to add a sentiment, but this looked too darn cute without one, so I left it off!  I hope Cécile forgives me!

Thanks for stopping by!  As always our Freshly Made Sketches design team has some amazing cards to inspire you to play along with us!  I hope to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Fresh Freesia, Basic Black, Vellum (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Certain Celery (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Pine stencil (The Ton); Papillon die (4enscrap)

Freshly Made Sketches 540

Hi everyone!  It's my turn to be the hostess at Freshly Made Sketches and I put together a pretty simple sketch.  I had no particular card design in mind when I created the sketch and once I sat at my desk to make my card I was going to do something faithful to it:  a couple of rectangles and maybe a flower or too.  But after a first attempt I abandoned that idea and went with something else entirely.

For the rectangles I used a brushstroke image and then die cut this beautiful butterfly as an accent.  I was inspired by the colors at Sunday Stamps for this one.  The colors are eclectic and I love it when I can combine colors that, at first glance, don't seem to go together and but look so beautiful when they combine!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you give my sketch a try at Freshly Made Sketches!  My fellow design team members have made some fabulous cards to inspire you so I hope you'll play along with us!

Supplies
Stamps:  Jumbo Abstract Art (My Favorite Things); Tiny Words (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Whisper White, Summer Starfruit (Stampin' Up!); vellum (Graphix)
Ink:  Wisteria, Hydrangea (Altenew); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Papillons die (4enscrap); enamel dots (Studio Calico)

Freshly Made Sketches 528

Hi folks!  It's that time of the week when we debut a brand new sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  This week our hostess is Jacquie and her sketch has a lot of fantastic white space that you can fill - or not - to your hearts content!

Originally, inspired by the colors at Sunday Stamps, I was going to do floral images of some sort.  But then I got thinking about some of my old grungy stamps that were languishing in my stash and decided to use a few of them to create a little splash of color in the corner and highlight it with a colorful dragonfly.  I have no idea if dragonflies come in this color in real life but I think it looks pretty so who cares!  For the three vertical layers on the sketch I stamped a trio of sentiments.  Easy peasy!

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow teammates at Freshly Made Sketches have got some great cards to inspire you to play along with us!  I hope you do!

Supplies
Stamps:  Distressed Patterns (My Favorite Things); Fonds Grunge (4enScrap); Simple Sentiments 02 (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Whisper White, Rose Red, Vellum (Stampin' Up!); Raspberry Fizz (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Maple Yellow, Forest Glades, Evergreen (Altenew); Nocturne (Versafine Clair)
Accessories:  Libellules die (4enScrap)

Freshly Made Sketches 423

Hello all!  It's time for a brand new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is Kim and her sketch has a big ol' circle on it that had me pondering...

I was pretty sure that I wanted to use the colors at Just Us Girls on my card but couldn't quite decide on a design.  I made a couple of cards after wandering around my craft room randomly picking up stamps and dies that had a circular shape but wasn't happy with any of them.  And then I stumbled on a grungy circle stamp and figured I could add a sweet little flower some dramatic black leaves and I'd have a pretty card.  I was right!

I didn't want my grungy circle to be the star of my card so I inked up the stamp with black ink then stamped it off onto a piece of paper before pressing it on to my card base.  This gave it a bit of a faded look which is just what I wanted.  Then I added the real star - a little layered daisy and some black leaves (love how those give this a bit of drama)! 

Thanks for stopping by!  Please join us at Freshly Made Sketches for our latest sketch!

Supplies
Stamps:  Fonds Grunge (4enscrap); Simple Sentiments (Avery Elle)
Paper:  Naturals White (Neenah); Basic Black, Hello Honey (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair)
Accessories:  Daisy Die (La La Land Crafts); Curvy Leaves die (Elizabeth Craft Designs); enamel dots (Freckled Fawn)

CAS(E) This Sketch 328 Meets Fusion

I've got a new card today that combines the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch with the inspiration challenge at Fusion.

I loved the idea of doing a geometric themed card based on the inspiration at Fusion so I grabbed some triangle stamps and arranged them near the top to mimic the CTS sketch.  Then I found a long stamp that would be perfect for that vertical line on the CTS sketch.  It's been a while since a card came together so quickly!

My fellow design team members at CAS(E) This Sketch and Fusion have made some amazing cards for their respective challenges so I hope you'll be inspired to play along with us.

Supplies
Stamps:  Sohcahtoa (Altenew); Hashtag Everything (Papertrey Ink); Fonds Grunge #2 (4enScrap)
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair); Onyx Black (Versafine); Crushed Curry, Cameo Coral (Stampin' Up!)

CAS(E) This Sketch 242

When I first saw the latest CAS(E) This Sketch I said to myself "uh-oh."  The background seemed (to me, anyway) perfect for some splashly watercolors - just the thing I am horrible at doing.  But since I'm a good card-maker who likes to prepare for all eventualities I had some stamps in my stash that mimiced a watercolor background and I was good to go!

My faux watercolor background in shades of blue plus the leaves done in the colors of autumn fit perfectly with the latest Fusion challenge and Addicted to CAS challenge.  I've been experimenting with some alcohol inks to create interesting backgrounds and the colors of the leaves here were made with some classic colors of autumn plus a bit of gold to liven things up.  The sentiment was created by stacking several layers of a die cut.  This looks pretty good to my eye!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you can check out the CAS(E) This Sketches design team for some inspiration this week.

Supplies
Stamps:  Jumbo Abstract Art (My Favorite Things); Fonds Grunge (4enscrap)
Paper:  Naturals White (Neenah); Midnight Muse, Bashful Blue (Stampin' Up!); glossy white (Ranger)
Ink:  Bashful Blue, Not Quite Navy, Marina Mist, Midnight Muse (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Thanks Script die (Mama Elephant); Stitched Leaves die (Lawn Fawn)

Seriously Fabulous

I'm not sure how this happened but I found myself with some free time Sunday night and I managed to make it into my craft room and actually make a couple of cards.  One I'll be posting later in the week but the other is right here!

I made this for the sketch at As You See It using the colors at CAS-ual Fridays and it was super easy to put together.  Once I found an appropriate circle stamp, that is.

Short and sweet for me today.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Fonds Grunge (4enscrap); Brushed Cheers (The Ton)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Hawaiin Shores (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Basic Gray (Stampin' Up!); Hawaiin Shores (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories:  Seriously die (Lil' Inker Designs); enamel dew drops (Freckled Fawn)

CAS(E) This Sketch 209!

There's a brand new sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch brought to you this week by Chrissy .  When I saw it I knew instantly what stamp I wanted to use for that big focal image!

I loved the colors at CAS on Sunday so I used those on my card, although my Bermuda Bay looks a little washed out.  I love this awesome die, especially how it looks layered with the solid background.  And the accompanying sentiments that go with it give lots of choices for a "go get 'em" type card!

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out the inspiration from the CAS(E) This Sketch design team.  We'd love to have you play along with us!

Supplies
Stamps:  Fonds Grunge (4enscrap); Awesome (Neat & Tangled)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Bermuda Bay (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Pool Party, Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Awesome die (Neat & Tangled)

colourQ 367!

Finally it is election day here in the US.  Hopefully everyone's Facebook feed can return to normal!  It's also time for a new palette from your friends at colourQ.  The colors may say fall to you, but I chose to use flowers.

Everything old is new again.  I found some old SU specialty paper with a bunch of white on white designs so I used a piece of that as my background layer, then I used my scallop Nesties to create the circular layers.  It's been a dog's age since I used a scallop circle!

The layout that inspired those circles is from Just Add Ink and I'm also joining the flower challenge at CAS on Sunday.

Well that's it for me.  I'm typing this in the morning quickly just before I head off to work.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you can join us at colourQ this week!

Supplies
Stamps:  Fonds Grunge (4enscrap)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Cool Caribbean, Old Olive, Really Rust, Presto Patterns (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Cool Caribbean (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Classic Scallop Small die, Standard Circles Small die, Standard Circles Large die (Spellbinders); Wild Gardenia die (Essentials by Ellen); Metallic Metal dots (My Mind's Eye)