Freshly Made Sketches #703 and Color Hues #117

 Once again I'm entering one card into two challenges.

 Freshly Made Sketches #703 is brought to us by Karren and it looks like this.

 

Over at Color Hues Color Challenge, another Karen chose these autumnal colors

for Challenge #117 -- ORANGE and GREEN.

 

Here's my card. 

I had several leaves colored but I didn't have a card design in mind until I saw

Freshly Made Sketches #703. See the yummy texture on the leaf? It's made possible

by running the leaf through a 3D embossing folder. Isn't it amazing?

I framed it in the arch opening and adhered it to a 3D embossed card front. An 

Altenew sentiment finished off the card.

 

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

 

 

Color Throwdown Challenge #831

 

Tammy brings us Color Throwdown Challenge #831 with a summery color palette 

of sage green, yellow, and coral.

 

I pulled out an older Greetery stencil set and the hardest part was finding an ink color

in my ink inventory that was closest to sage. 

 

Concord & 9th's eucalyptus was a close match and the image was die cut after

stenciling. I ran a panel through a lace doily embossing folder and adhered it to a 

card base. The bouquet was adhered and partially popped up for some dimension.  

After stamping the sentiment I felt that the card needed something so I assembled 

a loopy bow and adhered it near the stems. 

I'm not 100% pleased with my sage green and now I know I'll need to invest in

that color. Thanks for stopping by!

Inspired by Challenge #328

 

It's been a while since I've joined Inspired by Challenges and thought I'd

enter their latest challenge--#328 Inspired by Pillows.

 

How cute are those pillows? Here's how I was inspired.

Yes, it's the pillow in the foreground with the pink blooms. I can just feel the 

texture of the chenille looking flowers.

 

Reverse Wonky Rectangles (I wish Spellbinders would bring this one back)

was cut and run through the dotty embossing folder then topped with

assorted blooms and leaves. I decided to frame the card at the last

minute and finished off with the sentiment and pearls on the flowers. 

 

 Ok, off to link this up. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Freshly Made Sketches #678

 

Hello, hello!

I'm back and still feeling a bit jet lagged but happy to be making a card for  

Freshly Made Sketches #678 courtesy of Cécile. It's an artsy one, isn't it?

 

 I wanted a grid pattern under the dragonfly and resorted to inking some color over 

an embossed grid surface.

 

 

I spattered some green ink then adhered the dragonfly. A Honeybee Stamps 

sentiment and green gold sequins finished off the card. 

Traveling is fun but it's always nice to come home, even if it meant tackling three

batches of laundry--just for two people!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

 

Freshly Made Sketches #675

 

Freshly Made Sketches #675, courtesy of Linda, is open to so many possibilities.

 

I took the botanical route.

I found a discontinued Pinkfresh Studio die set (Dainty Blossoms) and put my 

Zig Kuretake markers to work. Following the sketch, I embossed a panel, then 

adhered the stems and leaves.

I wanted a strip sentiment so I reached for  Simon Says Stamp Reverse sentiment with 

quite possibly the smallest font I've ever seen.

Off to link this up--I'm early for a change. Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

 

 

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!

Inspired by Challenge #313

 

The theme for the current Inspired by Challenge #313 is GIFTING.

 

Here's my card. I was inspired by the buffalo check gift bags and the greenery.

 

It was also time for me to bring out the gnome from hibernation. He was decked out

in an outfit that matched the patterned papers. I decided to make a shaped card

using Spellbinders decorative arches and added greenery from Tim Holtz's vault.

 

It's serendipitous that some sentiment stamps from Honeybee arrived and I chose

a sentiment that fit the occasion as well as the space on the card.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

Freshly Made Sketches #661

Freshly Made Sketches #661 is a fun, color blocked sketch by Jacquie.

 

 

The sketch made me search for one of my favorite die sets--Christmas Cutouts.

 

The pieces were die cut from scraps of card stock (yay!) and I ran the card 

base through an Organic Linen embossing folder. The moon and sentiments 

were doubled up and I adhered all of the pieces per the sketch.

This card was a good reminder to play with some older supplies and I may

possibly crank out a few more cards.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Freshly Made Sketches #660

 

Here's Freshly Made Sketches #660, courtesy of Judy.

 

 

I went a little off course with a different shape but tried to stay true to 

the original sketch.

I almost brought in a nest then remembered that I had Tim Holtz's Festive 

Wreath that he recently brought out from the vault. There must have been

a zillion pieces and it was a good time to use scraps of colored cardstock.

I stamped the sentiment first on cream cardstock and cut the panel with

Spellbinder dies, then adhered the wreath and extras. The panel looked a 

little too "clean", so I distressed the edges with a scissors, and adhered it 

to a chocolate brown card base. 

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

Color Throwdown Challenge #816

 

I consider myself "color challenged" but joined this week's Color Throwdown

Challenge #816 to honor a former Color Throwdown DT member, Barbara Anders 

who recently passed away.

I was on the My Favorite Things design team from 2015 till 2019 and Barbara

was a long time designer--possibly even from the very beginning. I always admired

her ability to create cards so effortlessly, from CAS to elegant and layered. 

Bar could do it all. 

 

Here's my card that I plan to send to her family.

 

Altenew's Hill Blossom stencil is one of my favorite stencils and I've made many

cards with it. It's a first for me to ink up brown leaves and I rather liked how it 

looks together with the orange blooms.

I cut out two panels from Reverse Wonky Rectangles and ran the Doily embossing

folder through one. The back panel was joined to the front to form a hinge and I

liked how the doily left a space for my sentiment.

 

 

Two branches were stenciled and cut with the matching dies. One branch was

adhered directly to the card and the second was trimmed a bit and popped up

over the first. An MFT sentiment finished off the card.

For more information on this week's challenge and how you can send a card to

Bar's family, visit this post. Thanks for stopping by!

JUGS #748 Word Week -- LEAVES

 

 It's Word Week over at Just Us Girls Challenge #748 and the word is LEAVES.

 

 

 

I love leaves and own a ton of leaf dies in every shape and size. It's my dream to see

fall foliage anywhere--brilliant reds and oranges, please. I seem to be missing the mark as

we've traveled to see them many times with no luck.

I have seen ginkgo leaves in Japan and I love their fan shape and that no two are the same.

Here's my card featuring ginkgo leaves in bright colors because I've rediscovered my 

Zig Kuretake markers.

I started out with green and yellow pens, and grabbed pinks and purples just for fun.

I rather like how they looked--pretty much like umbrellas. After spattering them with 

white paint, they were adhered to a tree ring embossed card and I made sure to 

stamp the sentiment before embossing it.

A little far fetched, I know, but wouldn't it be awesome to see leaves in those colors?

Thanks, always, for stopping by!

Freshly Made Sketches #654

I'm entering Freshly Made Sketches #654 after seeing some gnomes pop up

and remembered how much I loved them. And their shape mimicked the sketch.

 

Here's my card and I substituted a tree because two gnomes were rather squishy.

 

 

I assembled the Large Gnome with patterned paper and searched high and low for

a tree that I was happy with. Twig and Stump's tree fit the bill and I assembled

both on the embossed background. A strip of gray card stock was run through

the embossing folder and matched up with the background. A simple "joy"

finished off the card.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

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!

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!

Color Hues #82 --Turquoise & Green

 

I haven't played in a Color Hues Challenge in quite a while and when I found some

  Greetery dragonflies that were already cut and colored, I decided to enter a card.

 

Here's Tracey's color palette for Challenge #82. 

 

And here's my card. 

I colored them quite a while ago and I think I used Zig makers and a waterbrush.

I adhered him to an embossed panel and added the white embossed Honeybee Stamps

sentiment. Some Pretty Pink Posh jewels finished off the card.

 

Earlier I added some vellum leaves but took them off and decided simple is best.

Besides, I don't think dragonflies ever land on greenery--they're much too busy flitting.

Off to link this up with a few days to spare. Thanks so much for stopping by!

* * *

 

Edited to add: My card was chosen as the winner! Thank you Color Hues!

 

 

 

Color Throwdown #781

 

I'm squeezing in a card to Color Throwdown Challenge #781. Here's the challenge graphic.

 

And here's my card using mostly Altenew products.

Flowers and leaves from the Mini Flower Cluster Layering Die Set were cut from

white card stock and colored with peachy/pink colors from The Stamp Market.

Two white card stock panels were cut from Reverse Wonky Rectangles then embossed

with a Sizzix 3D Lace Embossing Folder.

The panels were adhered together by a hinge and the flowers and leaves were

assembled on a slight diagonal. The sentiment and shadow were adhered below

the flowers and the card was finished off with sequins.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Hope you're having a good weekend!

Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenge -- SNOWMAN

I've become a fan of Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenges because I'm using coffee themed

stamps and dies that I've accumulated over the years. And I'm a fan of creator Amy Tsuruta

who I've had the pleasure of meeting when she came down to Honolulu years ago.

Here is this month's theme -- SNOWMAN/SNOWMEN.

 

And here's my card.

MFT's Snow Buddy reminded me of a juggling snowman which is what I made him do--

happily juggle some coffee mugs. Empty, of course!

I stamped the sentiment, then ran the panel through a snowflake embossing folder.

I colored the pieces of the snowman then assembled him on the panel. Four mugs

were cut and colored and adhered above the snowman.

 

 This card turned out differently from what I originally had in mind but I'm pleased

with my juggling Snow Buddy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Leaf Fragments

When Tim Holtz shared his latest release, full of Halloween goodness, I grabbed the

 Leaf Fragments Dies as quickly as I could. I'm a sucker for leaves and the leaf fragments 

are such an original design--Tim said they were his favorite!--I just had to have them.

The leaves were die cut from watercolor paper and ink distressed with inks from Concord 

& 9th and The Stamp Market. I chose three leaves and spattered them with gold

 Kuretake watercolors.

To go with the tattered look on the leaves, I tore the edges of an embossed panel and 

adhered it to a white card base and spattered more gold ink over it. I adhered the leaves, 

then added the gold embossed sentiment.

These days, my crafting time has been drastically cut but I know I'll be making more

cards with these fun dies. Thanks so much for stopping by!

25 Days of Christmas Tags 2020 -- Day 2

 This is Tracey's 10th year of organizing her popular 25 Days of Christmas Tags

and I always try to make time to participate because I love making tags. 

 

The sponsor for Day 2 is Simon Says Stamp and I had some Lil' Gnomes

that were leftover from last year's release so I put them to use. I was inspired

by Simon's Wednesday Challenge blog DT member Lin who happened to use

the Lil' Gnome on her adorable tag. And I have not one, but three tags to share.

All three tags were basically constructed the same way. A bit of greenery and 

sentiments from Simon Says Stamp and Papertrey Ink.

 

Love these gnomes and I'm glad that I had a chance to use them again!

Thanks for stopping by!