52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - Color Challenge #7

 

Happy Saturday friends!  It's time for another great 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown Challenge.  The 52CCT Color Challenge #7 uses White, Black and SPLASH of blue.  So grab those supplies and get started on your colorful creation. We can't wait to see what you come up with!!  

 

I am also playing along with the Merry Monday July Challenge which is to create 4 cards during the month of July (basically one each week) based on any past sketch so far.  I have once again used my favorite tall and skinny snowbuddy and based the layout of my card on a past Merry Monday Sketch #2 ( I previously missed that one so thought I'd give it a try now).

I stamped my snowman with Staz On black ink and then colored in parts with a blender pen and basic black, indigo island and tempting turquoise inks (oh and a teeny bit of calypso coral for his carrot nose). I first outlined the sentiment frame from the bitty banners stamp set (NEW) and then ran it through the Big Shot using the coordinating Bitty Banner framelit die (NEW). I trimmed the excess white off around the sentiment and then made one more banner with basic black cardstock and layered the two pieces. My sentiment was too long and covered up part of my snowman's body so I decided to be creative and snip it in two. I kind of like how it turned out (but wish I had centered the saying a bit better within the banner).  Here's a close up of my snowman:

 

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit - I'm sure glad that  you did.  I hope I've inspired you in some way to go create something fun!  Hugs! 

Supplies (all from Stampin Up!): Cardstock - Whisper white, Tempting Turquoise and Basic Black. Stamps - Snow Much Fun (snowman), Bitty Banners (sentiment outline) and Teeny Tiny Wishes (sentiment).   I used a retired snowflake embossing folder for the background texture, and the Northern Frost Sizzlit strip (retired) for the snowflakes.  I used the scalloped edge border punch for the bottom strip. 

4 CraftyChicks #98 - Stripes, Crazy 4 Challenges #144 - Show Your Countries Pride and CAS-ual Fridays #61 - Let's Strip

Hello friends!  Tonight I put together a very clean and simple card using very little stamping - instead I chose to let the designer series paper be the main focus of the card.  I am entering this card in three fun challenges:  4 Crafty Chicks Challenge #98 - Stripes, Crazy 4 Challenges #144 - Show Your Countries Pride (make a creation using the colors of your country's flag) and CAS-ual Fridays #61 - Let's Strip (make a creation with strips or strips of color within your creation).

The requirements for each of the challenges above are: 1) to use the colors of my country's flag - USA flag - red, white and blue- for C4C; 2) to use stripes in my creation - there are lots in the sky pattern of the dsp (which I also touched with a bit of clear dazzling details glue to add a little shimmer to the skyline) for 4CCC and 3) to use strips of color or in the pattern on my creation - there are lots of strips in the pattern of the hot air balloon, and I have a strip of pleated ribbon across the bottom for CFC61.

Here is a close-up of the card so you can see that shimmer lining a little better:

The DSP is a retired one called Big Top Birthday.  The sentiment is combined from too different stamp sets - Loving Thoughts (Dream - Stampin Up) and Card Word Puzzle ( Let Yourself -Close to My Heart). I accidentally rocked the stamp and had to fill in the words a bit with a fine tipped writer - which was hard to do because my glitter glue hadn't dried yet and I was afraid of smearing it - so not perfect but it shows you we all goof sometimes - LOL.

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

Dynamic Duos #10 - Bold and Sassy & MOJO Monday #249

Hello friends!  I got this fun idea out of one of the card magazines I subscribe to.  In that issue one of the cards had a multi-colored zebra with a saying about being unique.  So I decided to have some fun with this week's color challenge at Dynamic Duos #10 - Bold and Sassy Color Combo.  Can you guess what the two colors are???  Ok - not so hard - right?  Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive - a favorite color combo of mine, but I can honestly say I've never used it this way before - LOL!   I am also sharing this with you at MOJO Monday #249 since I used the sketch there for my card.  Hope you like it!  I need to be quick today so I can get to my daughters cooking class finale in a bit. They have cooked up a feast for the parents to enjoy and I sure don't want to miss that!  Here is the color inspiration from Dynamic Duos and the sketch from MOJO Monday: 

Thanks so much for stopping by - I'm sure glad that you did.  And "Hello" to my new follower - so happy you've joined me! Hugs!

Supplies (all from Stamping Up except giraffe stamp and die border strip):  Cardstock - Rick Razzleberry, Old Olive and Whisper White.  Stamp - Baby Giraffe from Stampendous - inked with Staz On Black and colored with a blender pen and Rich Razzleberry ink.  DSP - Summer Smooches (rich razzleberry) and The Write Stuff (old olive - retired). The border strip is from My Favorite Things dies.  I made the sentiment on my computer and hand-cut the flag.  The RR buttons are from the Brights collection.  

Pals Paper Arts #138 (PPA138) Color Challenge

Hello friends, tonight I'm entering this card in the Pals Paper Arts Challenge #138 which calls for the terrific color combo as shown below.
I absolutely love this color combo together and knew as soon as I saw it that I wanted to make a card with a sunflower on it.  This is the first time I've inked up this lovely flower stamp and I really liked the results.  I think the next time I do it, I'll stamp the image first with soft suede ink on the daffodil delight paper and then color and stamp just the middle of the flower again using Early Espresso - I think it will give the leaves more definition - I'll let you know how it turns out when I try it :o)  I usually like to have some element of texture on my cards so in this case I let the ribbon and the pearls provide that for me.  I used three strands of the daffodil stitched grosgrain ribbon and cut the ends of each strip to mimic the edges of the flowers.  I like how it turned out even without any patterned paper or texturizing :o) Hope you like it too!  Thanks so much for stopping by to visit - I'm sure glad that you did.  Hugs!

Details and Supplies (all from Stampin Up!): Finished card size is 5 1/4" square.  The sunflower stamp is approximately 4 1/2" x 4 3/4" so I decided to go with a larger square card.  Cardstock - Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso and Whisper White.  Stamps - Sunflower and Nature Silhouettes (sentiment - retired).  Inks - Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso and Cherry Cobbler.  Ribbon - 14" stitched grosgrain ribbon in Daffodil Delight.  Three basic pearls. 

Merry Monday July Challenge - Sketch #5

Hello and HO HO HO!  I have a pretty quick and easy card to share with you today.  Lesley the hostess and creator of the Merry Monday Challenge has decided to add a twist to her normal challenge so for the month of July instead of a weekly sketch, she is challenging us to make 4 cards during the month using any of the past sketches that she has designed.  My card today is based on the Merry Monday Challenge - Sketch #5 (see below).

Since I am eagerly awaiting another order with some new Christmas paper, I decided to pull out an old favorite from last season.  Love the rich Cherry Cobbler color and vintage feel of this paper! The darling felt mittens are also from a retired stash of products that I have been hoarding and seemed to be the perfect time to use.  The sentiment is new from a great set called "More Merry Messages".  I love how well the scrolly font compliments this DSP - don't you?  Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting me today - I'm sure glad you did! I hope you have a most wonderful day! Hugs!

Details and supplies (all from Stampin Up): Finished card size is standard A2 (4 1/4" x 5 1/2").  Cardstock - Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke and Very Vanilla.  DSP - Deck the Halls (retired).  Mittens - retired felt accents.  Sentiment - More Merry Messages.  I used the 2 1/2" circle punch as well. 

Paper Players Challenge #103 - Colors from Anne Marie

Hello friends!  The Paper Players Challenge #103 is a color challenge from Anne Marie that calls for some really fun colors - Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral and Lucky Limeade - how fun is that?!? 

I chose to leave lots of white space on my card this week which is very unlike me as I am such a patterned paper fan. My initial thought for these colors was flowers or popsiscles, but then I noticed that the City Crafters Challenge theme was to use doilies on your creation (Note:  I had also planned to enter this card in the City Crafters Challenge #116 - Hello Doily, but missed the deadline by minutes - drat!).  I've had these doily stamps for quite some time and and never used them so this was the perfect opportunity for me to use those poor neglected stamps! I stamped from the lightest to the darkest colors to achieve a nice overlapping of the colors.  I created a faux embossing by using dimension dots to pop the first white layer up just a bit from the card base.  And of course... I just couldn't leave it totally "flat" so I added some brads to the center of each doily. 

This card took me about 5 minutes to make and it turned out very lovely (the picture doesn't show the daffodil delight very well - my apologies). I decided to make this an anniversary card because I remembered that tomorrow is my parents 48th anniversary (and my aunt and uncle's anniversary too).   I think while I still have these stamps and inks out, I'll make a few more cards like this but for different occasions such as Thinking of You, Happy Birthday or Thank You to have on hand.  Thanks so much for stopping by to visit - I sure am glad that you did!  Hope you like today's card too.  Hugs! 

Supplies (all from Stampin Up): Cardstock - Whisper White.  Classic Ink - Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral and Lucky Limeade.  Stamps - Delicate Doilies and Something to Celebrate (retired hostess set).  Brads - In color 2011-2013 and brights.

Mo's DP2 Challenge #142 - "Anything Goes w/a Mo's image"

Hello friends and Happy Monday!  Today I woke up to beautiful sunshine and a very light breeze.   Took the dogs to get groomed, dropped my daughter off for her summer camp and grabbed a cup of coffee and life was good.  Then I arrived at my hairdressers to get a cut and color (a much needed color I might add) only to find out that I had the right time but the wrong day! Oh Boy!! Sometimes I really wonder about myself!  So back I go tomorrow - LOL.  So I used my time to get some errands done instead.  By 1 pm it was so blasted hot outside (93 degrees) that I decided it would be much more fun to stay inside in the air conditioning and make some more cards ;o) 

I have a dear friend who has been going through some rough times lately. She recently had to put her beloved dog down due to cancer which was very, very hard for her.  Her normal response when things get tough is to laugh - deep belly laughs. But when she get over the top with everything she laughs in more of a histerical manner. I've heard that in her voice quite a bit lately and decided that I need to make her a card to let her know how much I appreciate that she just keeps laughing, and that eventually it will be better (somehow by the grace of God it always is). She loves bold, bright and rich colors so that was the inspiration for my color theme as well.  Here's a peek at what I did on the inside:

The theme this week at Mo's DP2 Challenge #142  is "Anything Goes w/a Mos image".  I have been fussing around with this card for about three days trying to get it just right.  I think this newer large shaped Sizzix die kind of threw me for a loop and I had a hard time trying to fit embellishments around it.  It was either too much or too little it seemed.  So... I finally decided I liked the more rather than the less and to just go with it. I don't think it's my very best work, but I'm pleased with how my coloring turned out and I'm sure it will be appreciated by my friend when she opens it.

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit me today - I'm sure glad that you did!  Hope you enjoy this card as well.  Hugs!

Details and Supplies:  Finished card size is 5 1/4" square.  This darling Mo's image is called "I Dunno - reduex" and it can be found at Mo's Digital Pencil.  I colored her and her friend Bronte with Copic markers.  The DSP is a retired stash from Stampin Up called Tea Party.  The flowers were made with the following punches - Blossum (larger red flowers), Boho Blossoms (medium sized flowers) and the triple flower punch (small flowers - retired).  Sizzix die - Apothecary Accents Framelits. The conversation bubble is from Close to My Heart - I inked it up with Daffodil Delight from Stampin Up before adding my own saying.  The final embellishment was some bright buttons in Real Red and some basic pearls for the flower centers.