FMS143 -- Bravo!

I was intrigued by the sketch for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge.  It looked like something I could play with and I was right.  It also allowed me to play with that adorable new framelit, the Moustache.  I ask you:  who can resist moustaches?

I decided to make my circle by stamping it.  The Kinda Eclectic stamp set was perfect for that job.  I used Hello Honey ink and already it looked like a celebration.  Then for the bottom banner, I decided to use one of the stamps from the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set.  Heat embossed with Silver Embossing powder, it looked great against the bottom of the circular sun-shape.  

I used the large Oval Punch and cut two ovals from Basic Black and then free-handed the top of the Top Hat.  I also free-handed a piece of the new Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper for the hat's band.  I used Tombo glue to adhere those pieces directly onto the sun-shape but then use Dimensionals to adhere the Melon Mambo moustache across the brim.  A final banner of Silver Foil heat embossed with "bravo" in Black Embossing powder finished off the bottom.

I thought the card needed some extra "oomph" and added three Silver Foil stars at the top right.  

And that's my entry for the challenge.  To see more of the cards entered into this challenge, go over to Freshly Made Sketches.

For the Newlyweds -- Elegance and simplicity

I needed a wedding card for a friend's wedding.  I wanted something elegant but at the same time, rather simple.  I kept the card to all white with touches of gold and am sure I hit the mark with it.  This is exactly what I had in mind.

Just because I've been doing challenges lately, I couldn't help but follow one of the sketch designs for my card.  What drew me to the sketch was its simplicity.

You can see what I mean about its simplicity.  There isn't much to it, but sometimes it's what you choose for your elements that makes or breaks the final result.  I had already decided to use the Fancy Foil Designer Vellum with the small gold hearts.  Along with that I planned to cut Gold Foil with the scalloped heart from the Hearts a Flutter framelits set.  To dress up the heart, I planned on a white flower made using the Filter Paper and Spiral Flower Originals die.  After assembling the flower, I edged the petals with Tombo glue and dipped the flower into the Gold Glitter.  Even after as much loose glitter as possible was gone, the flower just sparkled like crazy.  I loved it!

I also used Gold Foil for the long, skinny banner and then heat embossed a Whisper White banner with Gold Embossing powder.  The assembled card turned out just as elegant and simple as I had hoped it would.

To see more cards made with this sketch, pop over to the Sketch Frenzy Friday challenge.

I also entered the card into the Stampin' Royalty Challenge which had instructions for participants to "keep it simple".

A long and skinny challenge in Blues

So the challenge for Mojo Monday Card Sketch Challenges is for a long and skinny card.  The sketch is appealing but I'm not used to doing long and skinny.  This really will be a challenge!

There are any number of measurements that one can use for a long and skinny card but since we now have the Envelope Punch Board, I didn't have to worry about a regular envelope.  Whatever sized of card I decided on, I could easily make an envelope to fit it.  My choice was to make my card 3 1/2" x 7".

Then I saw the challenge over at the Pals Paper Arts and thought "Hey, I can combine the two!" because their challenge was a colour challenge.  After all, I might have the dimensions and the layout from the first challenge, but I still had to choose colours.

The colours for this challenge helped me to decide which stamp sets would work, too.  See how it all works together so well?  One challenge gives me the sketch and layout, another gives me colours and the two together help decide the stamps.  I chose "The Open Sea" which is one of my favourites anyway, and which really goes well with the seascape colours.  Along with that set I also used the Something to Say set for the sentiment.

I really love the way this card turned out.  The colours work beautifully together.  The stamp sets are perfect.  And don't those stars just add the "cherry to the top"?

Work of Art meets World of Dreams (Monochromatic)

I really do love these two stamp sets, Work of Art and World of Dreams.  They are easy to use and are so versatile that one can use them to get some awesome effects.  This card, for example, is monochromatic.  I've kept the colours to Blackberry Bliss and neutrals such as Whisper White and Smoky Slate.

The Colour Me Creative Challenge asked for the monochromatic scheme.

I also wanted to enter the CAS(E) this Sketch Challenge and that one asked for a very simple design.

Putting the two together made sense and worked beautifully for this card.  I used the design for the sketch and then simply used the colours for the monochromatic scheme.

If you'd like to see the other cards for the colour challenge, just go to Colour Me...!

For the other cards that entered the sketch challenge, just go to CAS(E) this Sketch!

CCC02 -- Life is Wonderful!

I really like the sketch for the Creative Challenge Club this week.  It's simple but there are so many possible ways to interpret it.

I chose to use flowers instead of the stars and the Deco Labels Collection framelits instead of the Ovals Collection framelits, but the style of the sketch remains the same.

I am really warming up to Blackberry Bliss, one of the new In-Colors introduced in the new Annual Catalogue.  It compliments so many of the colours, especially Rich Razzleberry, which seems to be the same colour only lighter.  Along with the So Saffron and the Naturals White that I've used in the card, the Blackberry Bliss just seems to come to life.

My card has a lot of dimensions.  I've mounted the Rich Razzleberry on Dimensionals so that the Naturals White under the punched out flowers seems to be part of a shadow box.  I've also mounted the Deco Labels on Dimensionals which helps it balance against the other part of the card.  For the sentiment background I used the Work of Art stamp set but first off-stamped the Rich Razzleberry before stamping the ink.  Otherwise it would have been a bit too dark to show off the sentiment from the Perfect Pennants stamp set which I stamped using Blackberry Bliss ink.

I'm so glad I embossed the Blackberry Bliss and the So Saffron.  The textures really add a lot as does the background stamping on the Rich Razzleberry with the Truly Grateful chevron.

Check out the other cards at the Creative Challenge Club blog.

Work of Art Meets World of Dreams -- Meeting two challenges

Once in a while you come across a wonderful technique or fold that you know you want to try yourself.  That's what happened when I saw Belinda Neil's Double Diamond Fold Card.  I knew I had to try it myself and I knew I wanted to enter my project in a challenge or two.

***And I have to crow about this!  I just won the SUO Challenge Top 3 for this special-fold card.  That is a real honour and so exciting!***

***I also found out that I won the Around the World Stampin' Up! Challenge Top 3 as well.***

For the Around the World Stampin' Up! Challenge #20, they're asking for projects using Blackberry Bliss, Calypso Coral and Hello Honey.  For the S-U Only Challenge #100, they're asking for projects that meet one of their 100 challenges.  I chose to do their Challenge #59, Fun or Unusual Folds.  Done in the colours from the Around the World challenge, this card will meet both challenge parameters.

I chose to have the base for my card in Blackberry Bliss.  I did all my stamping with the World of Dreams stamp set in Blackberry Bliss ink on Very Vanilla cardstock.  I also did background stamping with the Work of Art stamp set using Hello Honey and Calypso Coral.  For the side panels I also added another layer of Hello Honey cardstock.

For my sentiment I used the word bubble from Just Sayin' but in the centre I stamped "Love you always" from the Something to Say stamp set.

The real impact for this card is the fold but the colours really make it come to life as well.  I'm really in love with these stamp sets.  They are so very versatile---and that's what makes a great stamp in my opinion.

SCCC31 -- Noel (or Blendabilities meet a Poinsettia)

I am really getting into these weekly Christmas challenges.  It's fun to get out of the "normal" cards and stretch my Christmas creativity.  For this challenge I decided I really wanted to use the Blendabilities and what could be more appropriate for that than that gorgeous stamp set, Joyful Christmas and its beautifully sketched Poinsettia?  I'm so glad that this stamp set is still available until August 27th.  For those who didn't order it last season, this is the perfect time.  It's one of the nicest Poinsettia stamps I've seen.

I wanted a soft, candlelit type of background and so, after colouring the Poinsettia and leaves, I used a dauber and several inks to make my background.  I think it worked, don't you?  The colours of ink I used were Sahara Sand, Daffodil Delight, Hello Honey, and Pear Pizzazz.

To finish of the card, I used a sentiment from the Greetings of the Season stamp set (also carried over and available for ordering) and also put some dazzle in the centre of the flower with small rhinestones which I had coloured with my Medium Daffodil Delight Blendabilities marker.

You can check out more of this week's cards at the Sparkle Creations Christmas Card blog.

I'm also submitting this card for the S-U Only Challenges, #33 - Holiday Colours.

FabFri44 --- A Challenge to use ALL the new In-Colors (A Fab Four pick)

I've done this before and embrace the chance to do it again.  What, you ask?  I'm going to love using all five new In-Colors together in my card.  They work so well together this year and this challenge simply gives me another opportunity to see what else can be done with them all in one card.

I don't know if you noticed those amazing Decorative Masks on page 205 of the new catalogue.  I got the Hearts and Stars and the Stars Decorative Mask is the one that I am using for this card.  I love stars and I love rainbows.  What could be better than a rainbow of stars?

I picked the portion of the Decorative Mask that appealed to me and used some retired Washi Tape to keep the Whisper White cardstock in place while I daubed the ink colours.  The beauty of using Washi Tape is that it comes off without ruining the paper.  That's definitely a plus!

I loved the effect and didn't want to take away from the rainbow of stars so I decided to use my new Stars Framelits to make my focal object and sentiment.  It worked out perfectly!  For my base cardstock I used the Blackberry Bliss, followed by a layer of Gold Foil and then my star-filled Whisper White.  In the rather sparse area I mounted my star on dimensionals.  The star wound up being a frame of Gold Foil over a star of Blackberry Bliss on which I had heat-embossed "Yippee-Skippee" in gold embossing powder.

And that is the card.  For more ideas of how to use all five colours, check out the Fab Friday Challenge Blog.

WCC03 --- Watercooler Sketch challenge

Sometimes a card can satisfy the parameters of two challenges.  This one, serendipitously, does.  I designed it specifically for the Watercooler Challenge and its sketch challenge

I had agreed to make a baby boy card and this design lent itself to that beautifully.  I got a chance to use that great background stamp, Handcarved, as well as the Zoo Babies stamp set.  For my sentiment I turned to the Baby We've Grown stamp set.  Since the baby's room has been decorated in a "zoo" style, I think the card is perfect.

For more about this challenge, check out the Watercooler Challenge Blog.

The card also works perfectly for the Around the World Stampin' Up! Challenge.  This time the cards are supposed to feature squares and that is exactly what my card features as well.

CTS82 --Feel Better!

Sometimes you can see a sketch and know immediately what you want to do for it.  This is one of those times.  The challenge, for CAS(E) This Sketch, is so deceptively simple:

Cute, right?  There is a lot of white space on this sketch, but that's part of its charm.  It's what you put together that will make or break this card.

I ordered the Hostess stamp set, Life's Adventure, simply because the art and sentiments are so darned cute.  I knew immediately upon seeing this sketch that I wanted to use the adorable little fox out of the set.  As for the sentiment, what could be better than something from the Sassy Salutations stamp set?

For the fox, I was able to use my Blendabilities and loved the shading I achieved.  

And that's my card for the CAS(E) This Sketch #82 Challenge.  

PPA209 -- Wetlands meets Handcarved (Paper Artists Pick)

So excited to be a Paper Artist Pick!  Yay!

You know how it is.  You see something and you're just not entirely sure you like it enough to have it.  Then you wind up buying it.  Now, what are you going to do with it?  In my case, I really wasn't sure whether I liked the Handcarved background stamp.  I didn't hate it but I didn't see it and fall in love.  But I wound up buying the stamp anyway.  I couldn't say exactly what brought me to that decision but I'm so glad I have it.  It adds so much character to a card.

For my card I've used it with the Baked Brown Sugar ink but off-stamped it once to lighten the effect.  That made it match the Burlap Ribbon more closely and I had plans for the Burlap Ribbon.  For my complimentary colour I decided to use the Coastal Cabana.  I off-stamped that twice when I used it with the Work of Art stamp just as I off-stamped the Baked Brown Sugar twice for the Work of Art stamp.  Together they made the basis for the seashore onto which I stamped the Wetlands stamp using Early Espresso ink.

For the Burlap Ribbon to work as one solid broad piece I took the stitching out of one side of each of the two pieces I would be using.  Then I cut a rectangular piece of the new Transfer Adhesive Sheets and mounted the ribbon closely together, matching the unstitched sides as carefully as possible.

I decided that the circles with my image looked a bit plain and added loops of Coastal Cabana Thick Baker's Twine.  That seemed to be the touch I was looking for.  A sentiment from the Losts of Thanks stamp set stamped in Early Espresso ink onto vellum finished it off.

You can see more wonderful cards made using this sketch at the Pals Paper Arts blog.

Getting in on the ground level.

This is so exciting!  I'm entering the Creative Challenge Club's very first challenge!  I hope it's the first of many more to come.

This very first challenge is a sketch challenge:

I really wanted to use the Traveler stamp set and the World Map for a black and white card and thought this sketch would suit it perfectly.  With a base of Basic Black and a pennant cut from Basic Grey after running it through the Big Shot using my Decorative Dots embossing folder, I thought I had a good start.  I decided to tear the edges of the stamped Whisper White cardstock to give the card more of a vintage look since the images for the Traveler stamp set are definitely vintage.

For my circle I first cut a Basic Black circle as my backing and then stamped the camera image onto Whisper White cardstock and then cut that out with the next size smaller of the Circle Collection Framelits.  For the finishing touch, I added a banner  with the sentiment from the Project Life Remember This stamp set.

A bit of sponging around the edges, some dimensionals, and the card is done.

CMCC#26 -- Adventure Bound!

I found a weekly creative challenge for colour lovers!  How sweet is that?  Stepping out of my comfort zone and trying new colour combinations is a good workout for me.  I'm looking forward to it.  This week's challenge has an interesting array of colours

For this card I chose to use the Traveler stamp set because I really wanted to use the train image.  The background stamp, World Map, was the perfect backdrop.  All I had to do was to make a mask of the train so that I could stamp the map over it without ruining the image.  The train looked fine coloured in Chocolate Chip while the map just cried out to be coloured with the Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight and Pear Pizzazz.  

I needed a sentiment but really didn't wish to use the "miss you already" again.  It's a great sentiment but I was ready for something else.  That "something else" came in the new Project Life Remember This stamp set.  I knew that "adventure bound" was the sentiment I was looking for.  Stamped in Chocolate Chip ink and mounted over a backing of Chocolate Chip cardstock, it was exactly what I wanted.

Check out the other cards made for this challenge at Colour Me....!

MOJO351 --- Just for You

I had some fun with the Blendabilities, colouring the rhinestones for this card.  Bling is fun but bling that actually compliments a colour in a card is even better.  In this case, the rhinestones match the Petite Petals flower.

The Hello Honey in both the patterned side and the solid side of the card is such a happy yellow.  It really makes me think of summer---which we're enjoying at the moment.  The Mossy Meadow, too, is the green of the grass and shrubs outside.

This is my interpretation of this week's MOJO Monday challenge.  I kept it simple for a change.

SUO 99 --- Kinda Eclectic Adventure

I am really enjoying my adventures through the various challenges.  It is definitely a lot of fun trying to figure out a way to make my own design fall into the parameters of a challenge.

For this card, which is supposed to be all about summertime, I've decided to turn to my favourite new stamp set, Work of Art again, along with another really fun and versatile stamp set, Kinda Eclectic.   I've also added a third stamp set to the mix with the Hostess set, Life's Adventure.  The bicycle in the set just begged to be coloured with the Blendabilities, so of course I had to use them.  The Silver Stampin' Dazzle marker made it possible to shine up the handlebars and other metal portions.  It's a fun card and just makes me think of the simple pleasures of summer.

For more inspiration from others in this challenge, go to the SUO Challenges.

CTS81 -- Wedding Card

For the CAS(E) this sketch challenge this week, I decided to make a wedding card that I'm going to need this month.  It's a simple, elegant card but the Gold Foil and Silver Foil take it to another level as do the silver and gold embossed butterflies.  I chose a base cardstock of Basic Black so that nothing would take away from the gorgeous metallics.

The sentiment, too, is simple.  I've heat embossed it in Black onto the Silver Foil banner.  The beautiful flourish is from the Everything Eleanor stamp set and it, too, is heat embossed in Black onto the Gold Foil layer.

So what do you think?  Did I meet the challenge?

Smile!

I love the new stamp set, A Little Smile.  One of the reasons, of course, is the cheeriness of the art and another reason is that my daughter and I belong to a group called SMILE.  As soon as I saw the stamp in the catalogue, I knew I would have to own it.  It's a single stamp but it says a great deal.

I chose colours that I felt really brought out the cheery thought.  For me the primary colours are happy colours.  So, of course, red, blue and yellow play a large part in the card.

I've used a base of Hello Honey, then a layer of Chocolate Chip, and then three strips of cardstock: one Cherry Cobbler, the next Marina Mist and the last one Cherry Cobbler again.  On top of that I've mounted the stamped piece of Whisper White.  I coloured the design with my Blendabilities.  I really love the way they blend so seamlessly.  For the face and tummies of the hedge hogs, I used two shades of the skin tone Blendabilities.  For the spiky portion and back I used the darkest of the skin tones.  The colour is closest to Chocolate Chip, which is the reason I chose a layer of Chocolate Chip cardstock to tie the colours together.

This card makes me smile.  I trust it will make my daughter smile as well, because I made it just for her.  Smile, hon.

SCCC30 -- Layers of glitz and glimmer.

I am really enjoying this Christmas Card Challenge.  I think what I enjoy most is trying to come up with current products for Christmas cards when Stampin' Up! doesn't launch its Holiday Mini Catalogue until September.  This time the challenge is a little more ambiguous.  There is a photo from which one is supposed to get inspiration.

 

What I decided to do is to make my own background by using stencils and the Gold and Silver Encore inks.  This is what I wound up with after using the circles stencil with the Gold Encore ink and the stars stencil with the Silver Encore ink on Very Vanilla.

I wanted the images to be softer and less defined and so I spritzed it with the Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz.  That definitely softened the image and added a lot of glitz.

Then I used the Ornament Keepsakes stamp set to stamp three ornaments using the Versamark and Gold Embossing Powder.  I'm so glad that the Ornament Keepsakes have been carried over into Augues.  It's such a versatile stamp set, especially with the matching Framelits.

I also used a whole bunch of layers.  My base is the Naturals Ivory to which I adhered a layer of Cherry Cobbler.  Than I adhered the stamped and spritzed Very Vanilla to some Gold Foil.  I mounted that layer to the others using dimensionals.  Before I mounted that layer, however, I used some Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding ribbon to tie it up like a present.

Finally I mounted all the ornaments using dimensionals and stuck on my little sentiment using a couple of Glue dots.

And that's the card for this week's Christmas Card Challenge.

It's a World of Dreams

One of the things that I like to include in my make-n-takes for the Annual Catalogue Open House is a project that includes all the brand new In-Colors.  That wasn't hard to do this year, considering how well the new In-Colors work together.

My card showcases two gorgeous new sets, the World of Dreams which is all about silhouettes and the Work of Art which I'm using more since I bought it than I would ever have guessed.  For my base cardstock and silhouette, I chose to go another route than the usual black.  The Blackberry Bliss is a deep enough purple to do a magnificent job of stamping a silhouette.  And it also allows me to include all the new In-Colors.  How great is that?

It's a simple card.  The "Love ya" from the Just Sayin' stamp set is raised on dimensionals but otherwise this card is simply about stamping, the new In-Colors, and two great new stamp sets.

Stars, stars----I see stars!

And that is what the people at my Open House were feeling, too.  Stars, stars, stars!  With the brand new Stars Collection Framelits they are so easy to make.

This is the first of two cards that we made for the Open House.  You may recognize the design.  I made one similar back in February but that one had a Basic Black base and no stars.  This one, well, it's bright and happy and makes me think of summer.  It is, after all, the first day of Summer today so why not celebrate?

I used a base cardstock of Pistachio Pudding and then added a strip of that luscious new Specialty Designer Paper, Gold Soiree.  Yes, there's gold in the scallops.  Also in the scallops is Garden Green and Tangerine Tango.  So I added a strip of Tangerine Tango scallops and a star in Garden Green.  Inside the star, I added a tiny star punched out of that gorgeous new Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper.  (You almost need sunglasses when working with it!)

At the bottom, I stamped my sentiment using the Sassy Salutations stamp set and Garden Green ink.  The final touch is a Dazzling Diamonds arrow, punched with that terrific new What's Up punch.

And that's the card.  Simple but really dazzling.  It was a good warm-up for the second card.  I'll show you that one tomorrow.