Freshly Made Sketches #673

 

Freshly Made Sketches #673 is a clean and simple one from Jen T.

 

 

I attempted to follow the sketch design, but I blame "the bird."

 

 

I'm a huge fan of bird dies and when I saw Memory Box's "regal birds" I couldn't wait

to order them. Birds wearing crowns?  I die.

I followed the colors of their example in the store then perched him on a berry branch.

I added a little texture with a doily embossing folder, adhered him to an arch,

and stamped the sentiment before popping up the element. 

I hope you (and Jen) can see the sketch, Off to link up this little guy.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Color Throwdown #793

Playing along with the latest from Color Throwdown #793 being drawn to the 

unique color palette: orange, purple, and aqua.

 

 And here's my card featuring new mushrooms from Papertrey Ink.

 

 

I'm a huge fan of mushrooms and I liked the shapes and sizes in the set. I know that 

the colors are uncommon, but I think they give them a whimsical touch.

All of the mushroom parts and leaves were cut from Concord & 9th card stock

and inked to give them more dimension.

A panel was cut from Reverse Wonky Rectangles (again!) and ran through Memory

Box's Pinpoint Leaves Cover Die. I arranged the pieces and finished off with the

sentiment from MFT. 

Ok, I'm off to link this up. Thanks for stopping by!

 

The Flower Challenge -- PRETTY PASTELS

I can't believe we're halfway through the month of May! A cold and flu bug made its

rounds in two households and now we're all slowly recovering. 

 

I finally found the energy to create again and using scrap pieces helped put this card 

together for this month's The Flower Challenge--PRETTY PASTELS.

 

 

 

Here's my card.

I had the dome shape in my scrap pile and embossed the magnolias on them. I used residual

ink on my brushes and applied the color over the piece. Some silver ink was spattered over

and adhered to an embossed card base. A scrap sentiment piece was added together with

some small iridescent drops.

Once again, I'm grateful for my scraps. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Fluttering By With Freshly Made Sketches 583

The deadline for Freshly Made Sketches 583 is in a few hours and I'm entering

the challenge because it took me so long to put the card together. I refused to give up!

 

Here's the sketch.

 

And here's my card in its third and final design.

  

 

A rainbow seems like the most logical element as a focal point, but the Backyard Wren from

Memory Box arrived and I wanted to incorporate it on a card. I flipped the sketch since 

he's facing to the right, and perched him on a few branches. I also changed him into a

bluebird because a brown wren is pretty drab.

And about that sentiment....It's by Waffle Flower and meant for their butterfly collection.

I really like the mixed fonts and had to Google whether birds do flutter (or flitter?)

It's a toss up, depending on which expert you listen to. I'm sticking with fluttering

as a "means of courtship".

Off to link this up. Thanks for stopping by!

Inspired by April Showers

This week's Inspired by Challenge 233 is April Showers. Here's the challenge graphic.

 

 

 

And here's my take on it, loosely based on a flipped sketch.

 

Of course I had to incorporate umbrellas somehow. I DIY'd a cloud template and

used Lost Shadow Distress Oxide ink for the cloudy background. Three umbrellas 

were inked and spattered with water, then adhered to the card.

 

I chose a sentiment from Hero Arts/Reverse Confetti, added some clear raindrops

and rounded off a corner as a finishing touch.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Freshly Made Sketches 580

 I'm joining Freshly Made Sketches 580, with its window pane sketch design.

 

I was afraid I'd take too long to figure out the dimension of each quadrant and I was

thinking of going "wonky" with the shapes. But neatness and order prevailed and

here's what I came up with.

I used Altenew's gradient card stock and wide washi tape for the panels and 

added some embossing for a bit of dimension on the card. The sentiment was

white embossed and the card was finished off with clear sequins.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Color Throwdown Challenge #735

 

Here's the graphic for Color Throwdown Challenge #735 with blue, brown, and rust

as this week's colors.

 

 

 

And here's my card using Simon Says Stamp's Paper Layering Circles. 

Dana Joy mentioned the circles look like geodes, which they do. Here's my geode.

The circles were cut from mostly patterned papers and I threw in a bit of glitter paper

for interest. A Memory Box sentiment, a few enamel dots, and a rounded right corner

finished off the card.

 

 Thanks so much for stopping by!

Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenge #10 -- GNOMES

 

Entering Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenge is a first for me. I've always meant to 

join a challenge but never had the time. I couldn't resist this month's challenge because 

I have a few gnomes and a ton of coffee related stamps and dies.

I had some leftover gnomes and wanted to have one holding onto a coffee mug.

Extra gnome noses worked perfectly as hands! The sentiment was stamped on a

panel before being embossed with the coffee cups so it's a little wonky looking

but still readable, I think.

A strip of gingham plaid was added to the panel and the gnome and some

greenery were adhered to the card.

And I can chalk up another Christmas card for my stash!

Thanks for stopping by!

Fusion Challenge -- Autumn Leaves

I have a soft spot for leaves and after seeing blogging friend Michele's card and finding out

that Fusion's latest challenge is all about leaves, I had to join in. 

At Fusion you can play with the sketch or with the inspiration photo, or both. I went with

the photo--such gorgeous colors!

 

A pad of Altenew patterned paper made quick work of choosing the colors, and I

used a retired set of leaves from MFT. A dark brown panel was embossed with

an Altenew folder and the leaves were adhered and pulled up for dimension.

I die cut the "thankful" from white card stock, then inked it in ombré colors and

adhered it to the shadow piece. The sentiment was then adhered to the card.

Thanks to Michele for directing me to the challenge and 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! 

 

 

Color Throwdown 705

I'm not one to enter color challenges--because I'm color challenged. Unless

the colors jump out and I have an idea, then I'll pass. But this week's challenge 

at Color Throwdown did just that. Jumped out at me and I had an idea.

 

 

Leaves came to mind, although the purple made me decide to use gingko leaves.

I colored three of them, spattered them with white paint and adhered them to a 

white card base. Clear sequins, a Memory Box sentiment and rounded off corner 

finished off the card.

And that's a wrap. Thanks 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!

 

Simon Says Stamp Make a Slimline and Giveaway Winner!

The newest Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is Make a Slimline.

 

I'm currently obsessed with 3D embossing folders and just received Memory Box

Blooming 3D folder. I planned to emboss a slimline panel twice to form a 

continuous design.

It took me several tries and this is the best result I could get. Don't look too

closely--I managed to cover up the "seam" with part of the sentiment. After

embossing the panel, I inked Altenew dye inks with their large blender

brushes and I must admit, they are AWESOME!! 

The flat surface of the brush is flat helps to keep the color on the raised parts

and very little ink goes on the rest of the background although I may have used

a heavy hand. 

 

I adhered the panel onto a light gray card base then diecut the sentiment from gold 

and white card stock and adhered them to the card. Sequins finished off the card.

* * * * *

 

My apologies for the tardiness in announcing the winner of my recent

giveaway. Random.org has chosen Dee and Dee, I'll be contacting 

you sometime this week.

Thanks to all who entered the giveaway and/or joined the last

CAS(E) this Sketch!

Inspired By Challenge--Tweet Messages

 

I'm joining the latest Inspired By Challenge after I saw the graphic and theme.

 

I was inspired by the cute little bluebird, perched on the branch. I happened to have 

several PTI birds on hand and chose this one for my project.

 

 

I decided on the layout, then stamped the sentiment before running the panel through 

Memory Box's Pinpoint Leaf Plate. I adhered a couple of branches and the bird on top.

Off to enter the card. Thanks for stopping by!

Memory Box Challenge #67 -- Trees

 

I'm entering Memory Box Challenge #67 -- Trees. Sadly, after going through my

stash of dies, the only tree die I had was their retired Arboscello Tree.

So I decided to make it as festive as I could--with sequins.

I adhered the tree to a woodgrain embossed panel then covered it with colorful

sequins. The sentiment was cut from glittered card stock and adhered to the card.

Thanks for stopping by!

CASology Week #377 -- Sunset

 The cue word for the latest CASology challenge is SUNSET.

And here's my take on it.

 

I ink distressed a panel with several colors of Distress inks and spattered it with

water. After it was dried, I trimmed and adhered it to a card base, then topped it

with a retired landscape die from Memory Box, and finished off with the

discontinued Lisa Johnson sentiment.

The scene could go either way--sunrise or sunset. What do you see?

Thanks for stopping by today!

 

* * *

 

Edited to add: My card was given an Honorable Mention honor!

Thanks, CASology!

 

 

CAS(E) this Sketch #395 and Playing with Plaids

CAS(E) this Sketch #395 is by yours truly.

 

I wasn't planning to go so literal with a wreath, but decided to after seeing 

that my card would fit a second challenge over at Memory Box --Playing with Plaids.

 

 

 

 I die cut Memory Box Jovial Wreath (which I think is discontinued) and flowers 

and leaves from Poppystamps'  Blooming Border from ink smooshed papers. 

A strip of green Buffalo plaid was adhered to a card base and the sentiment

was stamped in the center.

I assembled the wreath on the card, then added the flowers and leaves.

I finished off the card by rounding off the left bottom corner

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 29th and we

hope to see you in the gallery!

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!

CAS(E) this Sketch #368

Hello! I hope you are all well and play along with us at CAS(E) this Sketch

if you have some spare time and feel a little crafty. I'm thankful to Chrissy and

the rest of the team for providing a creative outlet and a chance to stay in touch.

Here is this week's CAS(E) this Sketch #368--a little something from me.

And here's my interpretation of the sketch.

I substituted three Memory Box leaves for the squares and added a simple

Essentials by Ellen sentiment. Three gold sequins finished off the card.

As always, don't overthink the sketch and feel free to substitute any 

element you wish. 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, April 23rd. We hope to see you in the gallery!