Friday, September 13, 2024

Long Time No See

  
Well, I totally missed Time Out Challenges #271 deadline by a day but thought I'd 
share this anyway because I like how it turned out. Once again, patterned paper
was my friend.
 
 
I was inspired by Allison Frazier (@allifrazier on Instagram) and how she played with 
postage stamp supplies and patterned paper to create some quick and easy cards. 
I found a pad of paper on Amazon with large floral images and created postage 
stamps with Spellbinders Nested Postage Label Dies.



All postage marks were made with Waffle Flower Crafts Oversized Postage Stamp Set.
I chose the CZ Design sentiment because it fit perfectly in the space and white
embossed it so it would stand out against the dark background.

To give the panel some dimension, I cut out another butterfly and flower and popped 
them up. A second postage panel was cut and adhered in the back to create a hinge. 

I'm a little late with the postage trend but I know that I'll be making more cards 
using patterned paper because it's fast and fun. Thanks for stopping by!


Thursday, September 12, 2024

Freshly Made Sketches #653

 
I couldn't pass on Freshly Made Sketches #653 with Kim's fun sketch.
 
 
And here's my take on it. I have several large sentiments but thought I could 
chalk up a holiday card for my stash.


After embossing a panel with some falling snow, I built the Spellbinders sentiment
 on a tree shape with hot pink letters. A gold star and sub sentiment finished off
the card. I thought about adding baubles on the tree but decided it had enough bling
so it went without.

Thanks for stopping by!


Saturday, September 7, 2024

Freshly Made Sketches #652

 
I'm joining Freshly Made Sketches #652 with a simplified take on the sketch. I wanted
to use Concord & 9th's new Mushroom Medley--yes, another mushroom die set that
just had to join the others.
 
Here's Linda's versatile sketch.
 
 
And here's my mushroomy card in portrait format. Can you see the sketch?
 


 I took advantage of the mushroom cap's roundness and adhered a few with some
greenery on a wood plank embossed card base. The two part sentiment is an oldie 
from Simon Says Stamp and one of my faves because of the different fonts.
 


The card was finished off with some Creamsicle enamel dots
Off to link up my card, thanks for stopping by!


Friday, August 23, 2024

Freshly Made Sketches #650

 
Freshly Made Sketches #650 is as simple as a sketch can get and sometimes 
that can be a challenge in itself. Here's the sketch, courtesy of Judy.


At first glance I thought "sky, land, sea" but felt a skosh lazy so I turned to some
new patterned papers that arrived this week. Brutus Monroe has some beautiful
papers and I chose the Cherry Blossom pad for my card.

 
I cut one sheet into thirds with the middle panel being slightly bigger. I adhered
them to a top folding card and stamped the sentiment from CZ Designs. A few
luminescent sequins finished the card.

If I had more time I would have stamped a background, then cut it up per
the sketch. But time constraints and laziness overruled and I can link this up
to this month's Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge, too.

Thanks, always, for stopping by!


Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Time Out Challenges #270

 
The current challenge at Time Out Challenges has a photo inspiration that's full of 
fruit and autumn vibes.
 
 
I'm playing along using Concord & 9th's Weekend Market Dies and patterned paper
from p13 that I must have bought a while ago because it's now discontinued. I was
totally inspired by all the luscious fruit!

 
 I used mostly all papers from the pad and I'm pleased with how the wine bottle 
turned out. Originally the bottle was in the bag but you couldn't see much of it,
so I DIY'd her left arm and have her holding it rather than bagging it.


I cut out a few apples from the paper pad to add to the shopping bag. The background
was embossed and she was grounded with a wood plank floor. A Simon Says Stamp
sentiment finished off the card.

I'm happy that I'm early for a change and grateful that the challenge is a long one.
Thanks for stopping by!
 
* * *
 
Edited to add: My card was chosen as an Honorable Mention.
Thank you, Time Out Challenges!
 

 

Friday, August 16, 2024

Freshly Made Sketches #649 AND Color Throwdown Challenge #806

It's not often that I enter two challenges but the stars aligned for Freshly Made

So here's the sketch.

And here's the color palette.


 
And here's my card that combines both.


The nest and eggs were tossed in the holder for the dies and I don't know why I made
yellow eggs but I had an "aha!" moment and added the greenery. I love it when I don't
have to work too much.

I loosely followed the sketch although I thought about using an MFT hexagon die
but went rogue with the nest. I had to turn the orientation of the card to landscape 
format because the nest took up a lot of the card's real estate in portrait mode.

I stamped the sentiment on a patterned paper strip and embossed the background
with a dotty embossing folder. Done, with days to spare! Yay! 
 
Thanks so much for stopping by!
 
 


Saturday, August 10, 2024

Freshly Made Sketches #648

I love a simple sketch and Freshly Made Sketches #648 has me playing along.
 

 
And here's my usual almost-hits-the-deadline entry.
 

 
Before die cutting, I covered white cardstock with washi tape from Pinkfresh Studio
then cut out two cups and a teapot. The edges were inked lightly with beige ink so 
they'd stand out against the white background.
 

 A panel was embossed with the 3D Doily folder and the cups and teapot were
adhered per the sketch. I added the Altenew sentiment and finished off with
some iridescent pink sequins.

Initially I was going to use three cups for the sketch, but I'm glad I switched to a
teapot. Breaks up the monotony a bit. 
 
Ok, I'm to link this up. Thanks for stopping by!


Thursday, August 1, 2024

Freshly Made Sketches #647

Cleaning and decluttering has its rewards and finding pretty papers and ephemera that 
you bought and completely forgot about is a bonus. I put together a card in a matter 
of minutes with no stamping nor die cutting.
 
Here's Freshly Made Sketches #647 from hostess Karren. 
 

 And here's my quick card with a summertime theme.


 All papers are from Asuka Studio's Welcome to Paradise collection which is over 
2 years old and for the most part, discontinued. The papers were cut per the sketch 
and adhered to a card base. The dolphin and sentiment were popped up on the card 
and finished off with sequins. 

I'm pretty happy with how the card turned out, considering how little time I have 
set aside for crafting these days. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great weekend!


Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Color Hues Challenge #91 -- Red and Green

I'm joining the latest Color Hues Challenge to use hues of RED and GREEN.

 
 
I tried NOT to think of Christmas using other card ideas, but in the end I caved 
and went all in for the holiday.
 

 I reached for The Greetery's BotaniCuts Mistletoe and shaded the branch and 
berries using the same colored ink as the card stock. I assembled the branch
and found an embossed panel that was the perfect piece for the background.


I adhered the mistletoe branch and added the loopy bow cut from gold glitter card 
stock. I tried a white glitter bow (underwhelming) and a red bow (overwhelming)
and in the end the gold won. A simple sentiment from Altenew finished off the card.

I have about a week left to enter another card and I really want to try a non
Christmas theme. We shall see. Thanks so much for stopping by!


Sunday, July 21, 2024

Color Throwdown Challenge #802

I'm entering Color Throwdown Challenge #802 although I'm not 100% happy
with the colors I chose. Especially the blue.
 

 I wanted to use Pinkfresh Studio's Built on Dreams set but could not find a closer
shade of blue as in the graphic. Then I just decided to go for it since what I used IS 
a shade of blue--just more on the aqua side. 

 
Here's my first attempt, which is perhaps closer in color value to the graphic.
 

But the card seems "blah" to me, which is why I did the aqua one. I loved playing
with the Pinkfresh set. The sentiments can be used for different occasions and 
I'm a huge fan of shaped cards. So there it is.

Thanks for stopping by!