52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 17.23

There's a sketch challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown and I must admit it had me stumped for a while and I'm still not sure I love my card but I want to keep up with this weekly challenge as long as I can.

I turned the sketch 90 degrees to the right.  The Memorybox mistletoe makes up the triangle in the sketch, cut from green and inked to add dimension.  The berries are white glitter paper.  My one last scrap of the striped paper was cut in half to add the stripes and the sentiment is a die from Concord and 9th.  Do you think it resembles the sketch?

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Double D - 7th Birthday

Congratulations to Diane and Darlene as they celebrate 7 years at the Double D Challenge.  Since I make so many birthday cards I just had to send one to them. 

The sentiment is from Penny Black while the rest of the card is made from Altenew's Garden Rose Craft Your Life Kit.  There is a stencil for the stripes, leaves and first layer of the roses.  Dimension was added to the flowers with layering stamps.  

Thanks for dropping by.

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please fill out the subscription form in the upper right sidebar.

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so Google recognizes the address and delivers the updates.

You may also unsubscribe using the same form. 

Just Us Girls #578 - Word Week

Here's an easy one for you.  Our host Angie has chosen this for Word Week at Just Us Girls.

Didn't I say it was easy? I went back and forth trying to decide what stripes to use.  In the end I used a die cut panel.

While I was away I colored the Christmas Rose from WPlus9 with Altenew artist markers. I added that image along with the striped die cut to Harvest Gold cardstock by PTI.  The sentiment is from Your Next Stamp.

Our guest designer Claire and the rest of the Design Team are waiting to see what stripes you use on your card.  For inspiration, go to the Just Us Girls blog to see what they've made.

Just Us Girls #522 - Trend Week.

It's time for Trend Week at Just Us Girls and Angie has chosen a great trend for us.

Stripes can add so much to a card whether as the background, a strip along the side or as part of the image.  For me it was background all the way.

I knew I wanted to use this stripe from a paper pack gifted to me by Nancy.  I cut an oval from Spellbinders Hemstitch to show off the Altenew flower colored with Zigs and the PTI sentiment.  I liked this so much I started pulling out other striped paper to make a few more.

How will you use stripes on your card?  The Design Team and our guest designer Betty Jacobson have some wonderful inspiration for you.  Make a card for our challenge and you have a chance at being a guest designer. 

I hope to see your card in our gallery.

The Flower Challenge #38

November's theme for The Flower Challenge is

I chose stripes and made my own on this Thanksgiving card.

The background is a stencil from SSS, blended with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink.  The flower is Altenew's Majestic Bloom and the sentiment is from PTI.

The Design Team and our guest designer Tracy would like to see stripes or spots on your card as long as flowers are the focal point.  Our sponsor for this challenge is TopFlight Stamps and they are offering our winner a $25 gift to their shop.

See you in the gallery.

Just Us Girls #460 - Wild Card Week

When there are five Saturdays in a month, the last one is Wild Card week for Just Us Girls.  For this Wild Card our host Angie has selected

I went subtle with my stripes to make a prayer card.

The stitched rectangle is stamped in Fog with the pinstripe background stamp from MFT and placed on Fog cardstock.  The flowers are from Altenew's Remember This and the sentiment is from SSS.

It's time to check out your stripes, whether stamps, stencils or die cuts, and make a card for this challenge.  If you are chosen Chic of the Week you could become our next Guest Designer.  Join this month's guest, Julie Beech, and the rest of the Design Team over on the blog.

Fusion - Pink Phone

Whenever I win a challenge I've made it my policy to enter the next challenge.  Since I won at Fusion with this card, I quickly made one for their newest challenge.

I must admit the flowers, both from WPlus9, were already stamped and ready to go.  A slip of linen vellum covers the gray striped paper from PB.

Thanks for dropping by.  I hope your week got off to a good start.

Papertrey Ink Stripe Challenge

I found a need for a more masculine get well card and the stripe challenge at Papertrey Ink gave me a great format for one.

Watercolor Wonder was used to make the stripes with Cracked Pistachio.  The Psalms quote was added on top with the fussy cut feathers.

Thanks for dropping by.

TIME OUT #102

I was waiting for an order before I could finish my card for Time Out.  It arrived yesterday and here's my card.

It was the N&T 'love' die I was waiting for and it's cut from gold textured paper.  The striped paper is old, old but the heart is from shimmer paper I found at Walmart last Fall.  You can't see it in the photo but it does give a little extra something to the card.  I fiddled with several options for the 'you' but decided on this label from N&T and offset it.    Do you want to see the inspiration? 

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

CAS(E) This Sketch #185

Guest who's Guest Designing at CAS(E) This Sketch?  Yup, it's me!  I was so excited when Chrissy emailed me and asked it I would like to.  There was not a second's hesitation on my part.  Then.  But when she sent me  Leigh's sketch I wondered if I could even come up with something.

I'm trying so hard not to take sketches and photos so literally anymore and so I had to think this one over for a while.  And then I got an order from Altenew and in playing around with the Golden Garden stamp set I realized one of the flowers would be perfect.

It has a stem that curves and by stamping one upside down and adding a couple of buds and part of a branch I could come close to the sketch.  The sentiment is from another Altenew set and the striped paper is from my stash.  To match the yellow of the flowers I took a thin strip of white and colored it with Mustard Seed DI.  This definitely was a challenge but it's great to stretch my brain.

Now that you've seen my card, you should go over to the CTS blog and see what the Design Team has created with this sketch.  I'm sure you'll be amazed.  Thanks Chrissy for inviting me to join you.

Just Us Girls #312

It's photo inspiration week at Just Us Girls and what a lovely photo it is.  I've always loved black and white and when you add a bright color like yellow to it, it makes a beautiful tablescape.....or card.

I was intrigued by the Make It Monday challenge last week but didn't have a chance to play along.  This was a perfect opportunity to use the technique that Danielle showed in her video.

The sentiment stamp is from Dare to be Artsy and the flower is a combo of SSS and W&W, heat embossed with white and colored with Distress Ink.  I'm still working with my lighting and this seems a little washed out to me.  There is more color variation on the flower than shows on the screen.

I'm so glad you dropped by.  Hope to see you back again soon.

Time Out #38

I've had this card for Time Out made for over a week and am just now getting around to posting it. That's what happens when you get an idea immediately for a two week challenge. Other challenges take priority.

I had this paper from a SSS kit and knew I waned to use it, so I incorporated my new SSS tag die with the Sending Happy Thoughts stamps and die and voila'. Nothing nautical about this but it was the colors and stripes I was inspired by.

Thanks to Michele, I'm also sending this to CASology.

Papertrey May Blog Hop Challenge

It's that time again.  Time for what?, you say.  For the Papertrey Ink monthly blog hop.  This is the inspiration photo.

I thought about this for a while and considered inking squares or some other shape.  I thought about putting color under a coverplates or stamping an image in various colors.  Then I remembered the paper that came with the Masterpiece Make-it Market Kit and the decision was made.

All the stamps are from the set.  I cut a stitched rectangle from SSS to place my sentiment on, popping it up with foam tape.

Thanks for stopping by.  Your visits and comments are truly appreciated.

Papertrey April Blog Hop Challenge

I pretty much knew what I wanted to do for the Papertrey April Blog Hop when I saw the sneak peek of the inspiration photo shown here.

I was inspired by the stripes, the milk glass and the flowers.

Stamps: Background basics - Super Stripes, Beautiful Brushstrokes, HA sentiment

Ink:  Hero Arts Navy, Soft Pink, Bubblegum, Ultra Pink, Soft Leaf and Field Greens, VersaMark

Dies:  Beautiful Brushstrokes, Tipped Tops

Other: white embossing powder, Swiss Dots embossing folder, foam tape

Thanks for stopping by to take a look at my card.