Freshly Made Sketches #684

This week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches is similar to last week's which I think is a great design to use.  

I went looking for some patterned paper and found one from Honey Bee that I love.  The fancy edge is from Spellbinders cut in black, which is the color of the background but it looks much darker.  Trying to match black is as difficult as matching white. 😒   The flower is Grateful Heart from Altenew and the sentiment is from Honey Bee.  

Thanks for dropping by.  Have a great weekend.

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Time Out #270 - Photo Challenge

What a delicious photo we have for you at Time Out for this next challenge.

You may remember my card from the last challenge.  Strawberries.  Ring a bell?  Well I have another fruit for you today.

Look at my lovely basket of blackberries.  The stamp is from PTI.  For the basket I cut the Honey Bee picnic basket and embossed it with Wicker Texture from Altenew, inking one side to give a little more definition and dimension.  I found some ancient PTI polka dot paper that was the same color as the leaves and added it as a border.  

Graciellie Designs is out sponsor and will award the challenge winner a $25 store credit.  Some see what fruit the Design Team has chosen.  I hope they inspire you to make a card for the challenge.

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The Flower Challenge #92

We have a sketch for you to base your card on at The Flower Challenge .  

That center panel leaves it wide open for embossing or patterned paper to show off your flowers. 

I went with a brightly colored paper behind my Altenew Spring Daisies.  They were stamped on Bristol and colored with Zigs. 

The Design Team has some lovely cards to inspire you so please go take a look.  We'd love to see your card in our gallery.

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The Flower Challenge #82

Happy Independence Day to those of you in the US. 

It's time for another challenge at The Flower Challenge and this month the theme is CAS.

I love making CAS cards and it's even better when I find a flower already colored and filed in the stamp package. 

This one is from Pinkfresh Studio and is colored with Altenew artist markers.  The heat embossed sentiment is from Hero Arts. 

The design team and our wonderful guest designer Therese Calvird from Lost in Paper have some exceptional examples of CAS cards for your inspiration.  We hope you'll join us for this challenge.

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Tic Tac Toe #213

I was honored to be the winner of Tic Tac Toe #212 with this card.  Today I have a card for the current challenge at Tic Tac Toe using the middle column. 

I planned to use my Watercolor Stripes die but I guess I didn't bring it with me.  Fortunately I did have this one and cut and layered it twice before placing over my colored cardstock.  The flowers are Positive Vibes from Altenew stamped with their ink and layered three times.  The heat embossed sentiment is from Hero Arts. 

I'm so glad you dropped by.  I love it when you do.

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Just Us Girls #682 - Color Week

It's the first Saturday of the month at Just Us Girls which means it's Color Week.  Vicki is our host and these are the colors she chose.

I want to welcome TK as our guest designer this month.  She is a fairly new card maker but has wonderful makes on her blog.  Please check her out and give her some love. 

I recently got the Cape Margerite Craft a Flower from Altenew and knew they would be lovely in these colors. 

The flowers were cut from SSS Lavender and inked with Chipped Sapphire DI.  The centers and leaves cut from gray and inked for dimension.  The backgroud is Altenew's Checkered Squares and the sentiment is from HA. 

TK and the rest of the Design Team have some wonderful cards using the challenge colors.  We hope you join us and make a card for the gallery.

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The Flower Challenge #79

It's April already and time for another challenge at The Flower Challenge.

This means you need background stamping in addition to your flowers.

I love ink smooshing so I did a big panel in pinks to make this Virginia Rose from Altenew.  And a green one too for the leaves.  The flower is on light gray cardstock that has been stamped in Versa Mark with  PinkFresh's Floral Shadow.  The same gray was used for the sentiment from Hero Arts. 

The Design Team and our guest designer Ishani have plenty of inspiration for you.  Please check them out and then make a card for our gallery.  We'd love to see you there.

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Color Hues #60 and The Card Concept #191

I am a thief.  I admit it.  I stole the idea for my Color Hues card from the photo image at The Card Concept where I will send my CAS card.  My friend Marcia is hosting Color Hues and wants us to use blue and turquoise on our cards.  This was serendipity at its best. 

The Mondo Gerbera Daisy from EbyE was white heat embossed on Bristol and colored with Zigs.  The Altenew butterfly was clear heat embossed over blue and the Zig was used to color it as well as the sentiment strip.  I struggled with the sentiment because I couldn't decide where to place it.  I'm still not sure that I shouldn't have just left it off.

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Just Us Girls #665 - Color Week

Lisa E is our host for this week's color challenge at Just Us Girls and she has chosen these:

It looks like a soft color palette in the gallery this week.  Won't you join us?

The Mondo Sakura from EbyE was stamped, heat embossed and painted with Altenew watercolors.  A panel was cut with Reverse Confetti lacy rectangles and backed with Desert Storm.  The sentiment was heat embossed on the same color. 

We welcome Karen Walker as our guest designer this month.  She and the rest of the team have some wonderful cards to share with you and to hopefully inspire you.

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Inspired By #189

I recently got back from my summer at the lake and have spent the last two days unpacking and reorganizing my craft room.  I took two bins of stamps and dies to work with and ended up buying a few more during that time.  Since I had to put it all away and make room for the new I decided a redo was necessesary.  Now I have a fresh start to make cards for the Fall and Winter seasons.

There are so many choices for the Inspired By challenge this week.  I was fixated on the Christmas photo but couldn't seem to make something come together.  I looked at the sketch and an idea popped into my head.  It's actually a fusion of the All the Peels photo and the sketch.  

I already had the apples from Sunny Studio stamped so that made the card even easier to make.  I was going to use the dome die from Waffle Flower for a basket but when I pulled it out I saw the little wood strip dies that I knew would make an even better basket or box. The gray piece was something in my Bits bin. I glued the slats onto copy paper and trimmed it to size.  One piece was used for the sentiment from Altenew.  The background is Rustic Linen cs from Papertrey Ink embossed with a folder from Lawn Fawn.  The photos are below.  Maybe they'll inspire you to make a card.

Thanks for dropping by.  You know I'd love for you to leave a comment. 

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The Flower Challenge #48 - Reminder

 The Design Team is back with new cards to inspire you to join The Flower Challenge this month.

We are sponsored by Bugaboo Stamps and are using their digital images for our cards.  The winner of the challenge will receive $12 gift to their store.

I printed the sentiment when I printed the digital image which is colored with Distress Inks. 

The Design Team and our guest Lee Ann Barrett hope you will join us for this month's challenge.

AAA Cards #173 and Color Throwdown #609

 When I saw the sketch for AAA Cards, I thought it would be perfect for the swinking technique that I saw Ardyth do.  I chose the colors so I could also enter the challenge at Color Throwdown.

I think I was a little heavy handed (this was my third try) but I still like the looks and the technique.  A little Weekend Doodles flower watercolored with the same Altenew ink I used to swink and a sentiment from HA finish it off.

Thanks for dropping by  I hope you give swinking a try  

CAS This Sketch #367

It's amazing what you find in your stash when you go looking for something else.  I had forgotten about my Sizzix leaves and ran across them while looking for something for the CAS This Sketch challenge.  They had just what I needed.

I cut the leaf from some Brusho paper in my WTDWT Drawer and made the 'tree trunk' from a SU crackle background stamp and  Distress Ink.

Thanks for dropping by.  I do hope you enjoy your day.

The Flower Challenge #41 - Reminder

February is half gone already and the Design Team has more cards to inspire you to join us at The Flower Challenge before the 24th deadline.

Violets have quite prominent leaves so I decided to use the Sweet Violet set from Altenew for my card.

I used Altenew ink on this layered stamp set and placed the flowers and leaves on a PTI cut panel over a purple card base, adding the heat embossed sentiment in the middle.  Remember when you make your card that even though you've added leaves, the flower must be the focal point.

I hope to see you in the gallery.

Curtain Call - Mason Jar, ATCAS #70 and SSS Wednesday

Yesterday it was three cards for three different challenges. Today it's one card for three different challenges.  It's not often that that happens for me.

PTI has a jar stamp and a ton of great images to fill them.  I picked the paint brushes to go along with all the school challenges and colored them with my Ziggies.  My daughter, who has been teaching 7th grade Language Arts for years, has switched to teaching Middle School art.  She's a fabulous artist, and a great teacher so I know she'll do well.  And it will give her time to work on her own projects.

Curtain Call

SSS Wednesday - Back to School     

Addicted to CAS