Freshly Made Sketches #727

It's Michele's turn to grace us with a sketch for Freshly Made Sketches #727

and it's a good one! Check it out.

So many possibilities, right? As always, I had a completely different idea in mind from

when I started and decided to go "cute" which doesn't happen too often 'round here.

I was inspired by Michele's card and her bunny theme.

I discovered a SSS bunny die from an older release and assembled her with a scarf 

and added an egg between her paws. I used an arch die and inked two colors on it 

and spattered it with water. 

A panel was embossed with an embossing folder and the arch was adhered over it. 

I added the bunny and some greenery per the sketch and topped it with a 

woodgrain frame. I finished off the card with a Waffle Flower sentiment and 

white jewel dots.

Visit Freshly Made Sketches for all the details and deadline and more inspiration 

from the rest of the design team. You have until Monday, March 16th to link up your card.

The Flower Challenge #109

 

 It was a sad day in blog land when The Flower Challenge announced it will

close its doors at the end of the year. Kudos to Karren for taking over running

the challenges after pioneers Aileen and Vi "retired" and prevented us from 

going through floral withdrawal.

 

I'm entering the last challenge with the theme to Use Christmas Florals.

 

 

I know we think of poinsettias as a Christmas flower and I own a few poinsettia 

stamps and dies but couldn't decide on which one to use. So I went with snowdrops 

after Googling to see if they were considered a winter flower and was quite pleased
to read that they are.

 

 

I own two sets of snowdrops and I'll have to admit that the one by Papertrey Ink 

was much easier and faster to assemble. As luck would have it, I had an inked

and spattered panel that I was probably going to use in landscape format.

I turned the panel and adhered the flowers and leaves on top and spattered

more "snow" over the panel. I finished off the card with the sentiment and

iridescent sequins.

So here's to The Flower Challenge and their design team members, old and

new, for all the inspiration you provided. We'll miss you!

Freshly Made Sketches #713

 

Now that company has left, I'm finishing up a card I started

and entering it just under the wire for Freshly Made Sketches #713.

 

 

I've simplified the sketch by omitting the frame, focusing more on the focal point.

 

 

I've had Gina K Designs Jolly Holly bundle for a while now and finally pulled

it out for Jen B's sketch. I love stencil and emboss sets and if there's a

matching die included, then that's a bonus. 

I added a bit of Stickles on the berries and white embossed a sentiment

and called it done. Off to link this up with hours to spare!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Featured Stamper for Color Throwdown Challenge #824

 

Hello, and Happy New Year!

 

My mitten and I were thrilled to be chosen the random winner for Color Throwdown 

Challenge #822 and with that honor was an invitation to be the Featured Stamper

for Color Throwdown Challenge #824.

Here's the graphic for the challenge with the colors of black, white, and grey.

Truthfully, I was stumped with the color palette. I couldn't go floral nor graphic so I 

decided to go cute with a dalmatian.

I assembled the Spellbinders dalmatian and fashioned a scarf from dotted paper. 

I stamped the sentiment and ran the panel through an embossing folder then 

adhered it to a card base. After adding some highlights to the pup and skates, 

I popped him up on the card.

 

Are you up for the challenge? I hope you are! We can't wait to see the gallery and 

your creative ideas using the color palette. You have until Monday, January 13th,

2025 at 6:00PM EST to submit your card. 

Many thanks to Color Throwdown for the invitation to join the first challenge of 2025!

Color Throwdown Challenge #822

 

Here's this week's Christmasy colors for Color Throwdown Challenge #822.

 

 

The very traditional green, red, and cream. And here's my gift card holder, a very

non traditional bit of clothing for someone who hails from Hawaii.

 

 I love seeing all the Christmas stockings and mittens that have been popping up 

and it may not be everyday wear but they'd be very welcome high atop a few

mountain ranges on Hawaii island.

 

I ran the die cut mitten through a cable knit embossing folder for a bit of texture

and added the lace trim, button berries and leaves. I finished off with a tag

stamped with a very old Hero Arts sentiment from my stamp inventory.

I just love the font!

Ok, I'm still early but I'll link this up over at CTD. Thanks for stopping by!

* * *

Note: Special warm thanks to Michele for informing her geographically challenged

friend that the state of Michigan is known as the "Mitten State" because of its unique 

shape--a mitten! Besides the temps dropping to levels where you'd require mittens! 

Thanks, Michele!

Also, my mitten was chosen as the random winner for CTD822 and I'll be guesting

in the new year! Thanks so much CTD!

The Flower Challenge #75 -- CHRISTMAS

The challenge theme for The Flower Challenge for December is CHRISTMAS.

And it's a short month, too, because of the busy holiday season. 

 

 Here's my card, using a traditional Christmastime plant--the poinsettia.

I assembled a Pretty Pink Posh poinsettia and spattered it with white paint.

A piece of gray and white gingham was adhered to a card base, cut at an angle

for a bit of interest. I stamped the sentiment at an angle, then adhered

the poinsettia to the card. Done!

Off to enter this or I'll have missed another challenge deadline!

Thanks for stopping by!

Inspired by National Coffee Day

 

I was excited to see that Laurel and Inspired by Challenges are back! And I wanted

to participate in the current challenge which is all about coffee.

 

 

Here's Laurel's easy peasy sketch.

 

 

And here's my easy peasy take on it.

 

 

 I own SO MANY coffee themed stamps and dies and one of my faves is this set of 

cups from Memory Box, which is long discontinued. I cut them from white card 

stock and inked them in warm colors. I die cut a small heart from the middle 

mug and mounted all of the cups on a kraft card base.

 

 Originally I was planning to white emboss the sentiment, but after stamping it 

in Versamark ink, I like how it looked so I clear embossed it instead. 

 

And that's a wrap. I'd better link this card in the IB gallery. 

Thank for stopping by! 

 

 

Stay Crafty with A Blog Named Hero May 2022 Challenge -- Get Scrappy

 

It's been a while since I've joined a Hero Arts challenge. This month the Stay Crafty 

Challenge is Get Scrappy, to use your scraps on your project.

Everything except the Thank You Message Cover Die was a leftover scrap. I have 

several alcohol ink backgrounds and chose one to place behind the cover die.

 

 

I wanted to "dress up" the panel and found some Spellbinders flowers and leaves in a

scrap bowl on my desk. After popping up the panel, I tucked in some leaves and

adhered the flowers on the panel.

It felt good to participate in a Hero Arts challenge and use up some scraps, too.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

Believe in the Magic of Christmas

 I'm sharing my last holiday card for the year and a technique I learned from the

recent Online Card Class. Richard Breaks shared some amazing Aurora borealis skies

and I couldn't resist giving it a try. 

 

I started with a rather dark cardstock from my scrap pile and blended blues and

Distress Oxide inks for the glow. I spattered some stars, then added the glittery

"believe" and silver embossed the second part of the sentiment. 

I finished off the card with a star that came from a Hero Arts retro die set. I don't 

think it was intended to be a star but it worked for my card.

The sky passed the test with my husband when I asked him what the design was

supposed to be. Decades ago, he would travel to Alaska for his sales job and got to see

 the Aurora borealis in person o I was quite pleased with his answer.

I'd like to take this time to with you a very Merry Christmas and I hope Santa

brings you what you wish for! 

Inspired by Challenge 199C -- Tweet Winter

I'm linking up another project to Inspired by Challenge because of the chubby guy

in the graphic. And I happen to have a flock of bird stamps and dies.

 

 

I used Laurel's simple sketch, too.

The bird and branches are Nestled from Penny Black. I tried to channel the amazing

Jill Foster to color the bird, but ended up ink blending him because the first two 

attempts were a watercolored mess. 

 

A band of color was blended per the sketch design and I adhered the bird and

branches and finished off with the sentiment from Hero Arts.

 

Hope your weekend is going well. Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

 

Memory Box Challenge -- Water

 The latest challenge theme at Memory Box is WATER. Have you noticed one of  the current

craft trends is all about marine life? I picked up a few ocean themed products and decided

to enter the challenge.

 

Here's my card.

 

I embossed white card stock with Memory Box Waves 3D Embossing Folder and

inked it in greens and blues. The jellyfish was colored with Zig markers and a

waterbrush. 

 

 I started assembling the card and it looked a little too ordinary so I embossed another

card panel with the Waves embossing folder and trimmed a portion of the colored panel

and adhered it to the card base. I popped up the jellyfish, added the sentiment, then 

finished off with some iridescent drops.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

Inspired By Challenge -- Wrap Me Up in Spring

I made some time to join this week's Inspired by Challenge. I was totally inspired

by the flowers and used supplies from four stamp companies on my card.

 

 

This is the first time that I'm using Hero Arts' Watering Can Die. I'm not sure why

the watering can turned out the color that it did because I ink distressed white

card stock with Pumice Stone distress ink. Must be my Pic Monkey editing.

The tulips and fillers were cut from white card stock and colored with Copic 

markers. The can was grounded on a strip of diagonal striped paper and

finished off with the Penny Black sentiment.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

CAS(E) this Sketch #405 -- The Last Sketch & A Giveaway!

Well, here it is. The very last CAS(E) this Sketch, and Chrissy made this one a

two weeker so you'll have time to enter several cards and play with us. Let's stretch 

out this last challenge as long as we can 😉

 

Sketch #405 happens to be a retro sketch from April 25, 2013. Sketch #25 was also 

my debut as a design team member so this post is a bittersweet one. 

 

 

Here's my take on it back then.

And here's the 2021 version.

I changed the orientation so the succulent pots would be upright. They were gold 

embossed and colored with Zig markers and a waterbrush. I adhered them on a strip

of patterned paper, then finished off with a gold embossed sentiment.

* * * 

To commemorate the last CAS(E) this Sketch, I'd like to have a little giveaway

of some duplicates that I've had in my crafty stash. Truthfully, I wish that I could send 

you all a little something for the visits you've made and the comments you left

over the past seven years.

 

Since I LOVE dies, I gathered five for my giveaway: 

 

• Simon Says Stamp Thanks Frame
• Memory Box Dreamy Butterfly
• Memory Box Petite Umbrella
• Frantic Stamper Large Hello
• Frantic Stamper Quad Love 

 

To be eligible for the giveaway, just leave a comment here by Sunday, Feb 7th and I'll 

choose a winner and announce it a few days later. Easy peasy, right? And remember you 

have until Thursday, February 4th to share your card with us at CAS(E) this Sketch. 

Let's fill up the last gallery!

 

Special thanks to Chrissy, our fearless leader, for your patience and graciously

taking over the reins from Jackie Rockwell. You're the best! 

CAS(E) this Sketch #400

Can you believe we've reached our 400th sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch?

We hope you'll play along on this amazing milestone!

 

Here's the sketch courtesy of our teammie Michelle.

 

And here's how I interpreted the sketch.

 

 I diecut the snowflake border, then inked it in ombré blues. After it was dried I spattered

it with water and white paint. I adhered it to a card base and added more snowflakes. 

The stamped sentiment and sequins finished off the card. 

Visit CAS(E) this Sketch to see how the rest of the team interpreted the sketch and

join us if you can. Link up your card(s) by Thursday, Dec 10th. We look forward to

seeing you in the gallery!

CAS(E) this Sketch #394 --Thanks so mush!

Team leader Chrissy brings us this week's CAS(E) this Sketch #394.

 

 And here's my take on it.

A woodgrain pattern was stamped and ink distressed on the edges then

trimmed and adhered to a card base. I added a strip of green card stock

to ground three mushrooms and finished off with the punny sentiment.

Visit CAS(E) this Sketch to see how the rest of the team interpreted the 

sketch and join us if you can. Link up your card(s) by Thursday, Oct 22nd

and we can't wait to see you in the gallery!

CAS(E) this Sketch #378

This week's CAS(E) this Sketch is a little somethin' from me
and it looks like this.

Here's what I came up with using mostly scraps from my stash.

That alcohol inked goldfish literally fell out of my bowl of diecuts so I took that as

a sign. The sentiment was white embossed on a scrap of ink distressed paper

and everything was adhered to a pre stamped background. Am I a lazy

crafter or what? Yes, you may answer that!

Visit CAS(E) this Sketch to see how my teammies interpreted the sketch and

join us if you can. Link up your card(s) by Thursday, July 2nd and as the weekly

winner you'll be invited to join us on a future sketch!

CAS(E) this Sketch #375

Are you ready for this week's CAS(E) this Sketch? Meet Sketch #375,
compliments of Chrissy.

And here's my simplified take on it.

I diecut Memory Box's Single Rose Stem and colored it with inks and Copic
markers. I found a hoarded green inked panel and adhered the rose to it.
The panel was adhered to a woodgrain panel and finished off with the sentiment.
My goodness, I believe everything but the rose was in my pile of scraps!
It pays to be a hoarder, doesn't it?

Visit CAS(E) this Sketch to see how the rest of the team interpreted Chrissy's
sketch and join us if you can. Link up your card(s) by Thursday, June 11th and
as the weekly winner, you'll be invited to guest with us on a future sketch!

Stay Crafty with Hero Arts

It's a breath of fresh air to see Hero Arts bring back challenges again! I remember

their earliest challenges when you had to physically send in your card/project via

snail mail to the company.  Then there were Flickr challenges where I met my 

first stamping friends, many of whom I still keep in touch with today.

Fast forward to 2020 with weekly "Stay Crafty" challenges with different themes.

I missed the first challenge last week and was determined to play along this week.

So the challenge is to use stamps and or dies that you bought and have never used

yet, or even opened up the packaging! Sound familiar? Here's my card using their

January 2020 My Monthly Hero Card Kit which I just HAD to have but misplaced 

it when I did some New Year's cleaning.

I loved the newsprint floral wrap and assembled that first. All the flowers and

leaves were die cut from white card stock and colored with Copic markers. 

I tucked an arrangement inside the wrap and adhered it to a woodgrain panel.

The panel was adhered to a green card base, topped with the white embossed

sentiment, then finished off with clear sequins. 

I'm so glad that I found this challenge and that I got to open the kit and finally

made a card. And I'm pretty sure it won't be my last!
Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

Simon Says Stamp Wed Challenge--Add a Sentiment

The current Wednesday Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp is to ADD A 

SENTIMENT. Using Hero Arts products is encouraged if you have them, and I 

happened to have some that I'm using for the very first time.

Hero Arts Garden Fancy Die was centered and cut through a white panel.

Hero Arts Reactive Inks were inked on a watercolor panel and spattered with 

water. When the panel was dried, I layered the frame over the inked piece, then

stamped the sentiment through the opening.

Patterned paper was adhered to a card base and the die cut panel was adhered

over it. Black enamel dots and a dot for the bird's eye finished off the card.

I'm glad that I could use a sentiment that was part of a totally different set

that was perfect for my card and the challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!

CAS(E) this Sketch #353

Happy New Year to you! CAS(E) this Sketch is ready to bring you even more
sketches in 2020 and we do hope that you'll join us!

Teammie Brian starts us off with this one. Meet Sketch #353.

And here's my simplified take on it, because I wanted to use Hero Arts' 
Nautilus die.

The die appears to be a crosswise cut of a nautilus shell. I amped up the colors
after seeing this print on Pinterest. After assembling the die cut pieces, I adhered it 
to an embossed and spattered card base, then finished off with a gold embossed
sentiment and a sprinkling of gold sequins .

Visit CAS(E) this Sketch to see how the rest of the team interpreted Brian's sketch
and join us if you can. Link up your card(s) by Thursday, January 9th and as the
weekly winner, you'll be invited to join us on a future sketch!