Retrosketches #17 {Happy Independence Day}

Hello friends!  Its been a while since I have been able to participate in a Retrosketches Challenge - but this week's sketch for Retrosketches #17 looked like fun and I needed to make a 4th of July card with ribbon on it for a card exchange challenge group tomorrow.

I do like this card, but as I'm looking at this I see that this background was not the best choice for my photograph as  you can't really see the cherry cobbler bottom layering very well against the red background.  Here is the great sketch that my card is based on:

And here is an closer look at the saying on the flag:

The fun patterned paper is from a stash I've had for quite a while.  The flag is a retired stamp from Stampin Up.  I stamped the stars section separatelywith whisper white craft ink on a piece of night of navy paper and cut out the rectangle to put on top of the original starred area from the stamp.  The cardstock color is cherry cobbler from Stampin Up.  I used a pair of pinking shears to make the edging on the flag layer (kind of hard to see - sorry).

I'm sure glad you popped by to visit.  Hope you like this card and thanks for letting me share it with you! Hugs.

Freshly Made Sketches #40, 4 Crafty Chicks - By the Sea, & Addicted to Stamps (ATS) #1 - Make Your Mark

Hello friends -  here it is Sunday already.  How does the weekend go by so fast?? 

The card I am sharing with you today is for a darling young girl who reminds me very much of this little mermaid with her long flowing dark hair and aura of sweetness.  I used the sketch from Lesley at the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #40 for my card (see below). 

I am also playing along with the 4 Crafty Chicks Challenge #95 - By the Sea, and the launch of the Addicted to Stamps (ATS) "Make Your Mark" Challenge #1 (thanks Kylie!) where anything goes pretty much as long as markers are used your creation.  The DT at 4 Crafty Chicks want to know what you like about the sea or what it means to you.  For me, ever since I was a little girl I have had this fantasy that mermaids live way down deep in the sea and hoped I would catch one. I have only been to the sea a couple of times in my life. I have found it to be both mysterious and relaxing, and would love to go to the seashore and beach every year if I could.   Maybe someday I'll find a mermaid :o)

This image is from a Stampendous repositionable cling rubber stamp called "Mermaid kiddo".  I colored it with copic and spica markers (a tiny bit of sparkle).  A very talented card designer and copic instructor named Wendy Jordan taught me the trick of using drywall tape on the card to add the netting texture (who would have thunk?!). The small wooden shell is from Close to My Heart. 

Stampin Up! products used are: Cardstock - Crumb Cake (card base), Peach Parfait (sentiment flag layer) and Whisper White. DSP - Comfort Cafe (NEW). Ribbon - Baja Breeze seam binding (doubled and scrunched up to look like water). Sentiment is from Happiest Birthday (stamped in Taken with Teal ink).

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit - I'm sure glad that you did!  Hope you saw something that inspired you :o) Hugs!!

MOJO Monday #246 {Sweet Baby}

Hello friends! The MOJO Monday #246 sketch this week is designed by Mary Fish (see below).  This is such a great sketch and I wanted to follow it as closely as possible, however, I did make a few small creative adjustments to my card in order to use these darling stamps.  Each of the frames are  2'' x 2".  In order to get them all on the card, I adjusted the card size to 5 x7 instead of the standard A2 size (4 1/4" x 5 1/2"), and adjusted the proportions of the panel on the left side of the card.  I also moved the middle frame in just a bit more than the others to call attention to the darling giraffee and the sentiment.

Most weeks of each month the MOJO Monday challenges are just for fun and are a great way to share creativity with lots of people (I get lots of inspiration from so many of the entries).   But, once a month there is a prize offered by the sponsor of the challenge - Verve Stamps - and I was the lucky winner of this darling Verve stamp set  that I used on today's card.  (You are NOT required to use Verve stamps to play along in the MOJO Monday challenges).  I have been itching to use this set for a MOJO Monday challenge since I got it and was excited when I saw this week's sketch.  Isn't it great how those frames work so perfectly for this sketch?!     

I used a NEW Stampin Up!  DSP called Patio Party and a NEW 2012-2014 In-Color called Summer Starfruit ( I think this is a delicious new color). My featured color combo on this card is Summer Starfruit, Baja Breeze and Whisper White.  I started out with brown frames (in a soft suede) which looked fine with the other two colors, but then got the idea to use baja breeze instead and liked it better.  The cute frames and animals are from the Verve clear stamp set called "To the Moon" - I fell in love with this set as soon as I saw it - so precious!!  I colored each animal with copic markers.  The Sentiment is from a NEW Stampin Up set called Bitty Banners. I used the coordinating Sizzix Framelits Bitty Banners dies for all three banner layers.      

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit - I'm sure glad that you did!  Hope you saw something today that inspired you.  Hugs!

Merry Monday #25 {A Shaker Card}

Hello friends and Happy Friday!! This week Lesley at Always Playing with Paper has come up with a fun sketch that I couldn't pass up for the Merry Monday Challenge #25 (see below):

I chose to make my topper card a shaker card.  This fun sketch helped me do two new things: 1) make a topper card and 2) finally use the mica flakes and shaker forms that I had purchased quite a while ago.  I'm so glad I tried this as I really like how it turned out.  I hope you do too!  

The finished card size is still the standard 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".  I  used some Dazzling details glitter glue on the image first and let it dry before putting the snowflakes in and sealing it up with a circle of clear window sheet.  Here is an up-close look at the inside of the shaker frame:

Supplies (all from Stampin Up! except the paper doily): Cardstock - Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red and Whisper White.  Patterned paper - Be of Good Cheer (NEW). Image from a retired set called Gift Givers and is colored with a blender pen and Baja Breeze and Riding Hood Red inks.  Sentiment is from a set called Snow Much Fun.  Shaker frame is made with some self adhesive circles and a clear transparency sheet punched in a circle.  The snow is made from a product called Mica flakes.  I used a scallop oval, large oval and word window punch for the sentiment.  Other products used - doily from stash of supplies, basic rhinestones and Dazzling Details glitter glue. 

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit - I'm sure glad that you did!  If you want to get a head start on your Christmas cards for this year this is a great way to do it.  Hope my card and this great sketch might also inspire you to try something new.  Hugs! :o)

Paper Players 100th , DP2 Masculine and PPA137

Hi again!  I think I was having serious withdrawals while I was away from my cardmaking because I'm feeling like I just want to lock myself in my craft room ALLLLLL day and play!  But the sunshine is calling so I finished up one more card to submit in three great challenges today and then I'm out the door.  I'm really excited to share with you that this is my first attempt at paper piecing (used on the chair)! I have been wanting to try this for quite some time and finally found the perfect image to use as a newbie (not too much fussy cutting to mess up).  I really am tickled with how it turned out :o)

The Paper Players 100th Challenge is to use any past challenge to make a card.  I didn't start playing with the Paper Players until the challenges were in the 80s (and I started following this challenge when it was in the 50s) so I wanted to do an earlier one and what better place to start than the very 1st (see below)!

I also love to particpate in the weekly Mo Manning DP2 Challenges so I can practice with my copic markers with super cute and fun digital images.  The DP2Challenge #140 is "Masculine"  how perfect is that?  I grabbed this great Mo digital image as soon as I saw it because it fits my husband to a "T" - this would be one of the ways he would be happiest - in his comfy chair with remote and Diet Coke in hand.  Doesn't this fella look like he is having his best day too? You can find this digital image at Mo's Digital Pencil Store and its called "King for a Day".  I was traveling for Father's day this year so this is a late gift to my husband.

And last but not certainly not least I am also entering the Pals Paper Arts #137 Sketch challenge by Margaret Moody.  After all it's hard to make a great card without a great sketch to inspire you and this sketch certainly inspired me.    

Thanks for stopping by to visit - I'm sure glad you did!  Hugs!

Suppies:  Cardstock - Midnight Muse (NEW In-color for 2012-2014) and Very Vanilla.  DSP - Comfort Cafe (NEW!).  Image from Mo Mannings Digital Pencil Shop "King for A Day" and colored with various Copic markers.  Sentiment is from a retired Stampin Up! set called "Its Your Day" stamped with Early Espresso ink.  Self adhesive brads that look like rivelets are from Close to My Heart (don't they kind of look like the fabric nails you would find on a piece of furniture?)

52CCT - Theme Challenge #6 "Snowmen" and CCCC13 Easy as 1-2-3

Hello friends!  Just returned from a business trip in Orlando so I have been silent for about a week and boy did I miss making cards and sharing with you all.  I did have some fun while I was gone though too.  I got to see some friends from Texas whom I so enjoy spending time with, got some Florida Sunshine vitamin D and got to see Harry Potter World at Universal Studios. I've been thankful to have such opportunities.  I admit though that as soon as I got back to my hotel room each night I'd quickly get on the internet and check out my favorite challenges (I think I have a slight sickness  and may need counseling LOL). 

I didn't want to miss the current theme challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - Theme Challenge #6 "Snowmen".  I LOVE snowmen even though I'm not particulary fond of winter - sort of odd isn't it? 

I also saw another challenge that I can play along with the same time from Creative Card Crew Challenge #13 Easy as 1-2-3 which is to  use 1 of something, 2 of something and 3 of something.  My card uses 1 snowman, 2 different patterned papers and 3 circles and birds. 

Here is the inspiration for the 52CCT challenge:

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit - I'm glad to be home hugging my kids and puppies and creating cards to share with you. Hugs!

Supplies (all from Stampin Up!):  Cardstock - Whisper White, Poppy Parade and Pool Party. Stamps - Petite Pairs (sentiment) and Snow Much Fun. DSP - Attic Boutique and Pocketful of Posies (both retired). I colored the images with a blender pen and Pool Party, Poppy Parade and Basic Black inks. 

Merry Monday #24 {The Stocking is Hung by the Chimney...}

Hello friends!  I had recently dug out some of my Tim Holtz stamps and dies for a couple other challenges that I have entered (purchased ages ago and not yet used) and came across the brick wall and wood embossing folders.  I was thinking that I needed to find a reason to use these soon and lo' and behold the sketch for the Merry Monday Challenge #24 came out yesterday and I just knew as I saw it exactly what I wanted to do. 

I immediately saw a wooden mantle across an old brick fireplace with a stocking hung and waiting for Santa to come fill up.  We had an old brick fireplace when I was growing up and each year my sisters and I got to hang our stockings from one of the shelves on the mantel.  The stocking was always my favorite part of the Christmas gifts. My Dad and Uncle would take me, my sisters and our cousins for a ride when it got dark on Christmas Eve to see if we could catch Santa flying around the neighborhood.  Many times one of them spotted Santa and we ensued on a wild chase to try and find him again - but to no avail (imagine that!).  When we would come home to report that we had lost Santa we would discover that he had already been there and filled our stockings quite full.  We could hardly wait to see what tiny treasures awaited us.  I loved all the little trinkets, and makeup,  jewelry and candy. Such fun memories!

Fast forward to today... my son is more interested in the food and the big gifts :o)  but my daughter really loves the stocking part like me.  So I designed this stocking with her sweet self in mind.  Santa doesn't make it to our house though until Christmas morning and there have been no fun rides in the car to try to find him - hmmm I might have to change that this year...

I used the retired stocking builder punch and coordinating stamp set from last Christmas season's mini catalog.  The colors of the stocking are two of the NEW In-colors called Gumball Green and Raspberry Ripple.  I sponged some Soft Suede ink over the two embossed pieces give them some more definition.  The sentiment stamped in Raspberry Ripple from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set which coordinates quite nicely with the NEW Bitty Banners framelits dies.

I debated with myself about adding a bough of branches across the top of the mantel - but utlimately decided to keep it very clean and simple.   Hope you like this card - thanks so much for stopping by, I'm sure glad that you did!  Hugs!

Mo's DP2 Challenge #138 - Anything Goes w/a Mo's Image

Hello Friends - Happy Monday to you!  Monday's can be happy right?  Today I am entering this card in the DP2 Challenge #138 - Anything Goes w/a Mo's Image. I like to participate in the Mo Manning DP2 Challenges because I love the darling images and I get to color them with my copic markers.  This darling image is called "Done" from Mo's digital shop and she just  makes me smile.  I printed her twice and cut out the front part of her skirt to layer it on top of the original one.  It doesn't show up at all in this picture (darn!) but in real life it has an almost 3D effect. The sentiment is from Stampin Up.  By keeping this card quite simple the cutie on the front is the first thing you notice. It wasn't my original intent to keep it that simple - I had all kinds of great ideas but... I printed her too big and wasn't up to the task last night of fussy cutting around her - LOL.  I also started out going for a monochromatic theme but then decided that a pink star just wouldn't do :o).  I do like this card though - sometimes Plan B is just as wonderful if we are willing to adapt.

Hope this card makes you smile too!  Thanks for stopping by to visit - I'm sure glad you did.  Happy Monday to you - Hugs!

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown #6 - A White Card

A very Merry Hello to you my friends!  Color Challenge #6 at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwndown is to make a card using White - preferably all white, but a small touch of color is acceptable.   I have to tell you that when I first saw what the challenge was I was completely freaked out!  Although I very much admire the beautiful all white cards I have seen, I personally haven't had a great lot of sucess with mine turning out.  But... I am so excited to share this Christmas card with you today because I really, really love how it turned out!!! Is it okay to say that about your own card?? I sure hope so - LOL! Please click on the picture to see it better and I have also put a couple more views in for you too.  Not only is it very challenging to make a White on White card - it is incredibly difficult to photograph it!

After a couple days of intense thinking over how I was going to make this card, I decided the best way would be to add lots of detail and layers.  So I sponged a little Sahara Sand ink around the outer edge of my snowman to help him stand out a bit against the rest of the white snowflake embossed background and then popped him up with dimension dots. The white scarf was scrunched up to add some depth and movement and the corregated cardboard #s also add some more dimension to the main image.  I used a retired Stampin Up color called Going Grey for the sentiment so that it didn't appear too harsh against the rest of the background, but it seemed to just float out there until I added the glittery snowflakes behind each word to help pull it all together. I do feel like I cheated a tiny bit on the challenge with my touch of silver in the snowflakes, but Mynnette did say we could use just a touch of color and it just really helped the sentiment to pop so I had to keep it on there.  Hope you like this card and that it has inspired you in some way!

Thanks for stopping by to visit - and thanks so much Mynnette, Jacqueline and Ruth at 52CCT for this challenge that has helped me to stretch creatively yet again. Here is the inspiration photo for the challenge.  Pop into this site and check out the amazing samples the Design Team has put together for us. Jacqueline's embossed trees are awesome.  Mynnette's embossed background and bow are gorgeous and Ruth's card is truly all white and WOW! 

Supplies:  Whisper White cardstock from Stampin Up!. Snowman is a Tim Holtz Sizzix called Winder Wonder.  The 25 is from Jilly Bean Soup - white corregated cardboard.  The snowflake embossed background is a retired Stampin Up Sizzix texture embossing folder (first time I have ever used it).  The glitter snowflakes were cut using the Northern Frost Sizzlit die from Stampin Up (retired) on the Silver Glitter paper.  The sentiment is from the Pennant Parade Stamp set and each word is punched out using the 3/4" circle punch.  The White tafetta ribbon is also from Stampin Up.

FMS#38 and Dynamic Duos #6 {Praying for You}

Hello once again.  I am combining two fun challenges for this card today.  The colors for the card are from the Dynamic Duos #6 challenge (Regal Rose and Basic Grey) and the layout (which I flipped on its side) is courtesy of Freshly Made Sketches #38. 

I chose to make a sympathy card for these challenges (or it could also be an encouragement or hope card too with this sentiment). Thankfully I don't need sympathy cards very often - but I also don't make very many so I don't usually have on on hand when I do need one.  This card could just as easily be a Happy Birthday, Mother's Day, Friend or Thank you card by changing the sentiment.  The colors and layout would work perfectly with those themes as well.

A trend that I've come across recently is sending your handmade cards with the option for your recipient to pass it forward one more time.    How this works is that you put your own personal sentiment on an insert inside the card (with a note on the back that the card can by recycled and shared again) and leave the inside base blank for the next use.  If you provided a couple extra sentiments (like I mentioned above) then the recipient could then pop their new sentiment on top of the original one and add their message inside to forward to the next lucky, and loved, recipient.  I'm not completely on board with this for myself as I keep every handmade card I am given. However, I do know that not everyone is a saver like me and I do like the idea that someone might like the card I made so much that they would want to pass it forward and share with someone else (sharing the love is nice too).

Hope you enjoyed today's card.  Thanks so much for stopping by to visit - I'm sure glad you did!  The design team samples for both of these challenges are amazing and full of inspiration - I highly recommend that you go visit there as well.  Have a most wonderful day won't you?! Hugs!

Supplies (all from Stampin Up!): Cardstock - Regal Rose,Whisper White and Basic Grey.  Stamps - Thoughts and Prayers.  Ink - Basic Grey and Regal Rose (to get the two colors on the image I used my Stampin Write markers).  The tiny punched flowers are from one of the punches in the Bitty Punch Pack.  Patterned paper is from the Patterns Designer Series Paper Pack in the Neutrals collection.

MOJO 244 and Flourishes Colors of the Rainbow (BBB23)

Happy Sunday friends!  Time to enter the fun MOJO Monday #244 challenge (on a Sunday for me - talk about wait til the last minute) based on this great sketch.

Here's another view of my card:

I am using several NEW products from Stampin Up on this card.  The NEW Floral District DSP has lots of bright happy colors and interesting patterns on several of these papers.  I chose today's papers because I am also combining this with another challenge at Flourishes - Bring Back Beautiful #23 - The Beauty of the Rainbow (BBB23) where the challenge is to use some (or all) of the colors of the rainbow.  This card uses Yellow, Green and Purple (violet).  I really like the combo of purple and greens together and then when you add yellow it just feels happier - kind of like adding sunshine :o)

Another NEW SU product is a stamp set called Betsy's Blossoms that I used the large flower from and then I punched out the middle of it with a 1 3/8" circle punch to layer on a 1 3/4" circle that I first ran through the Polka Dot textured embossing folder.  I used the 2 1/4" scallop circle punch and added some scoring lines to mimi the green flower on the DSP. A final touch to the flower comes from the largest eye of the Owl Builder punch and an In-color brad in Lucky Limeade for the center.  I added some hand drawn stitching with my white Signo pen to copy the stitching in this beautiful daffodil delight ribbon (also NEW from Stampin Up).  The sentiment and the banner die cut are also NEW from SU (Bitty Banners Framelits dies and Bitty Banners stamp set that coordinates with those shapes).  I used the scallop edge border punch for the bottoms of the top two layers.  Colors used are Rich Razzleberry, Lucky Limeade and Daffodil Delight. 

This card has lots of layers but is actually pretty quick to make.  It took me a little less than 10 minutes to put together (although the idea of what I wanted to do took me much longer than that as I pondered - LOL).

Thanks so much for stopping by - hope you like this bright and cheery card today.  If you need some additional inspiration, pop into these fun challenges and take a peek at all the amazing ideas and samples that people have put together.  Maybe you will be inspired to make one of your own too - that would be wonderful!  Hugs!

cQc #140, C4C140, CFC56 & Retrosketches #16

Hello Friends! With the less than summery weather today I had an excuse to stay inside and craft to my heart's content and was able to get several cards done today - Whoo Hoo!  It's been a while since I have participated in the ColourQ and Retrosketches challenges but today I am able to enter this card in both of these fun challenges and two others.  I am entering the following challenges:

Colour Q Challenge #140 - Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade and White

Retrosketches #15 (see sketch inspiration below)

Crazy 4 Challenges #140 - Circles, Lots of circles

CAS-Fridays 56 - Polka Dots

I used some retired DSP from Stampin Up which is appropriately called "Celebrations".  You may have noticed that I like to use punches and die cuts on my cards, and this card is no exception.  I used the Petite Penant Builder punch for the hat, the Owl Builder punch for the two smallest sized circles, and the 1/2", 3/" and 1" circle punches.  I also used the Sweet Buttons Embosslit and the Top Note Sizzix die (I love when I have a chance to use this one) - all punches are from Stampin Up!.  The sentiment is from a SU set called Fabulous Phrases.  Of course no birthday party celebration is complete without a little sparkle so I added some red rhinestones here and there also.  Hope you enjoyed this card and thanks so much for stopping by to visit. Hugs!