CAS(E) This Sketch #405

Sadly this card is for the very last challenge of CAS(E) This Sketch.  It's a retro challenge and one that  I entered in 2013.

Here is what I did then.

And what I did now.

I won a gift certificate to Newton's Nook and chose these darling little vehicles all decked out with Christmas trees.  I brought it with me since it was new and I'm glad I did since it's the only thing  I would have been able to use and even at that it's not quite true to the sketch.  For the strip I happened to have the LF woodgrain panel so I trimmed it down to place behind my vehicles colored with Altenew alcohol markers.  The markers are new to me and I've been spending some time while away getting used to them.  As you can see I still need a lot of work. ;)

Thanks for dropping by.  I hope you are staying safe and well.

CAS(E) This Sketch #404

I've been playing CAS(E) This Sketch for a long time and just had to play in their final one.  It took some doing to come up with something with the limited stamps and dies I brought with me but then that's part of the challenge right?

I ended up using my PinkFresh Studio Dainty Bloom dies for an all white card.  Well except for the sentiment. ;)

I embossed the background with the Subtle folder, stamped a sentiment from Altenew in Nimbus ink and placed the die cut leaves around it.  

I'm sorry to see you go CTS.  You've been a great challenge to take part in.

CAS(E) This Sketch #403

Have you heard the announcement about CAS(E) This Sketch? They are closing their doors at the end of January.  I was so sad to hear this because it is one challenge that I regularly play in.  That said I HAVE to play in these last two even though I'm away at my brother's river house for two months and only brought limited stamp supplies with me.  I  hope this will do.

For the lines on the sketch I lightly dragged a gray mini-cube across my paper in two places then dragged up for a little more definition.  Altenew's Leaf Canopy was stamped in two shades of green and the Altenew sentiment was stamped in the same gray I used for the lines.  The photography isn't the best and I keep struggling with it.  I even got a new iPhone that I thought would help which means it's me and not the camera. ;)  At the same time I'm struggling with a Chromebook which is what my laptop is and even though it's a Google product as is Blogger I'm having a little trouble navigating them.  By the time my two months are up I should know it a lot better.  Add to that the fact that I'm working from my hot spot and it doesn't want to connect most of the time, you may not see me here except for all my pre-scheduled posts.

Thanks for dropping by.  I hope you have a struggle free day and some sunshine in your life.

CAS(E) This Sketch #364

CAS(E) This Sketch is going back to their beginnings with their sketch this week. I was blogging in 2012 when they began but I guess I hadn't found their challenge yet.  Now's my chance to use the sketch for the first time.

If you were wondering where your SSS Brilliant Gifts die was, Michele, I have it.  I cut it from plain gold and then a number of gold and white patterns.  When it came time for the sentiment I was going to use an anniversary one but gold is for the 50th and I don't have anyone to send it to so I went with wedding wishes from The Greetery.  I don't have anyone in mind for that either but a wedding will probably happen sooner. 

Thanks for taking time from your day to drop by.

CAS(E) This Sketch #362

Another sketch.  Another card for CAS(E) This Sketch. 

This flower die from SSS was sitting on my desk from another challenge and I knew it would work beautifully for the sketch.  I cut it twice, inking the blooms with Worn Lipstick and Abandoned Coral Distress Inks although they look the same color here.  They also look a lot darker than the original.  I tried several ways to add the MFT sentiment and finally stamped it on the card base and then cut the top panel that is embossed with SU Textured Impressions into pieces to fit around it. 

Thanks for dropping by.  I hope it's a happy day for you.

CAS(E) This Sketch #357

I'm still working on valentines so I used CAS(E) This Sketch 

for inspiration for another one.

This was EZPZ with a lacy die cut heart over strips of pink paper.  

None of the few valentine sentiments I have seemed to fit 

with the vibe so I left one off.  

Thanks for dropping by.

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CAS(E) This Sketch #344

This week's sketch was a doozy but I have a recent purchase that I think worked well for CAS(E) This Sketch.

I love this wreath from PinkFresh Studio and colored it with Zigs and Distress Ink.  Then I employed a trick I learned from Therese Calvird to re-stamp the image to brighten the black outline.  The gold sentiment is from SSS and the (unreadable) gold embossed sentiment is from PTI.  As you can see from the sketch below, I left off the little images.  I tried some sequins but they're just not me.  

Thanks for dropping by.  Have a great week.

CAS(E) This Sketch #341

This week's CAS(E) This Sketch is more about background than anything else.  Take a look.

I love argyle but not having anything but an embossing folder I went with my second favorite - plaid.

I got the stencil from a scrapbook store near the cottage and used Walnut Stain DI on PTI Orange Zest.  The MFT leaves are cut from gold metal and the PTI sentiment is gold heat embossed.

Thanks for dropping by.  I'm so glad you did.

CAS(E) This Sketch #338

It's another retro sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch. 

This was what I made for sketch #58.

And this is for #338.

I had to turn the sketch to allow room for the die from CP that has been stacked three deep.  The leaves were leftovers from a smooshed panel I posted yesterday here.  This is the start of the Thanksgiving cards I will send to the homebound from our church.

Thanks for dropping by.  

CAS(E) This Sketch #316

Card making has been rather slow around here since I got back from vacation.  I spent the first day watching my granddaughter's robotics competition and after that it was just one thing after another. 
Yesterday I finally took time to make a card for CAS(E) This Sketch.

After seven attempts to align the layers on the Altenew Dahlia, I gave up and broke out the Zigs and watercolored it.  The corner is embossed with a TH die and a circle of vellum is stamped with a curved and embossed sentiment from SSS. 

I'm looking forward to getting more cards made.  I have a feeling I'm going to need a few. 

Thanks for dropping by.

CAS(E) This Sketch #315

I didn't want to do it.  Make a butterfly card I mean.  This is the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch.

See what I mean?  But I have several butterfly dies and just couldn't resist.

I colored vellum with Zigs and then cut it out using a Memory Box die.  It doesn't work to cut first and then color.  Ask me how I know.  That curled up little piece is in the recycle bin. I cut the overlay in black and glued it on with matte medium. The middle section is embossed with the MFT grosgrain plate.  It's barely visible here but I wanted it subtle.  The sentiment is from EBE.

I'm trying to get back into the groove after being away for a week.  I only have a couple of weeks to get all my Easter cards done.  This is one time I will probably do multiples.

Thanks for dropping by.

CAS(E) This Sketch #309

That was some sketch they gave us at CAS(E) This Sketch

and what I originally saw is not what happened when I made my card. 

You could almost call this a 'gift' card since the DSP was from a pack given to me by Nancy last Fall when I visited her, the black roses are from a die that Darnell gave me for my birthday last year and the embossing folder (barely visible in the photo) was a Christmas gift from my sister.  The only thing that I bought are the label sentiments from Neat and Tangled - another long neglected stamp set.

Thanks for dropping by. I love it when you do.

CAS(E) This Sketch #307

I have two reasons for this card.  One - I wanted to use this ancient paper that I ran across while looking for something else and Two - I needed a little Spring after all of this cold weather.  CAS(E) This Sketch gave me the perfect sketch.

The flower is from Altenew, the sentiment from HLS and luckily the polka dots were the reverse side of the DSP that I think was from a kit long ago but can't remember.  My Zigs added the color.

Thanks for dropping by.  Have a wonderful day!

Cas(E) This Sketch #305

The first thing I thought of when I saw the sketch for CAS(E) This Sketch was my PTI Autumn Berries.  I haven't used them enough and they would be different from the typical green leaves.

The sentiment is from the same set and I heat embossed it in Platinum on some DSP.

Thanks for dropping by.  I hope you leave a comment.  I love reading them.

CAS(E) This Sketch #285

It's been a while but I finally had time to make a card for this week's CAS(E) This Sketch.  Luckily my inspiration didn't desert me while I was having fun doing other things.  Here's the sketch I worked from.

Sweet Deepti of Dee's Art Utopia sent me one of her stamps that had been out of stock at Stamplorations forever.   I had to use it as soon as it arrived.

Using WPlus9 Cashmere as my card base I laid out the different rectangles, gray, white and vellum.  Placing the stamp in my MISTI allowed me to stamp on each layer individually, keeping it all aligned. The flowers on white are colored with Distress Ink and for the vellum I used matching Zigs.

It felt good to get back into the card making mode and although there are a few things coming up that may slow me down, I'm anxious to get back into the rhythm.  Speaking of slowing down, I am way behind on commenting on your blog posts.  I had over 500 at one time and have whittled it down to 300 but there are still a number of you who haven't had a comment in a long time.  While I might not comment on every card you made during that time (some of you are very prolific) I promise to stop in and do a bulk comment until I clear my inbox.

Thanks for dropping by.  I appreciate it when you do.