Freshly Made Sketches #688

 

I went way off course with Freshly Made Sketches #688. I blame my time on

the CAS(E) this Sketch design team for that. Often times I'd squint at the sketch

and then have an "ah-ha!" moment.

 

 Here's this week's sketch, courtesy of Jen B.

 

 

And here's my take on it. I must have had graduation and lei on my mind although 

there are no graduates that we know of this year.

 

I ran a gray panel through a Spellbinder's embossing folder and it them per the sketch.

The flowers from a Stamp Market Cover Die were inked lightly in pastel colors and my first

thought was to adhere them to an oval shape but in the end I went rogue and just  adhered

 them to the card. 

 

A CZ Design sentiment was cut from white card stock and adhered to a vellum shadow 

before being adhered to the card. I'm forever grateful to the inventor of vellum. Being 

able to adhere a word sentiment and still have that transparency makes me so happy.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

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 Edited to add: I'm thrilled that Cécile gave my card a Princess honor! Thank you, Cécile!

 

 

The Flower Challenge #78 -- DIE CUTS OR STENCILS

 This month's challenge at The Flower Challenge is to use DIE CUTS or STENCILS with

flowers as the main focus of your card.

 

I've been seeing several rainbow blooms on Instagram. They include Ilda and Aileen's

rainbow cone flower and Caly's gorgeous sunflower.

I thought I'd give rainbow coloring a try with Simon Says Stamp's Sunflower Petals

which Caly mentioned was meant to be made as a colorful bloom.

 

 After die cutting the four petals in the set, I inked them with distress inks and tried

to overlap the colors when transitioning to the next color. The center was cut from

kraft card stock and inked with dark brown ink.

 

 After assembling the sunflower, I splattered on some gold paint and adhered it to an 

embossed card base. I finished off with a foiled sentiment from The Stamp Market. 

Wouldn't it be fun to see a field of rainbow flowers IRL?

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Inspired by GILDED LEAVES

This week's challenge theme at Inspired by Challenge is GILDED LEAVES.

 Here's the challenge graphic and Laurel's sketch.

 

 

And here's my card which was inspired by both the photo and the sketch.

Since the challenge was posted on National Old Stuff Day, we were challenged to use 

an item that is older than a year. Leaf Fragment Dies by Tim Holtz fit the bill as they

made their debut in August 2021. 

 

I cut them out from light green card stock then added more color with Distress Oxide

inks. Gold paint was added to the tips and spattered on top. After they were completely

dried, I crushed them for a bit of dimension.

I used a really old tree trunk embossing folder by We R Memory Keepers. And that 

foiled sentiment is from The Stamp Market. For those of us who don't own a foiling 

machine but love the shine 😁

I'd better link this up--I'm a little early for once! Thanks for stopping by.

The Flower Challenge 64 -- Monochrome

I'm entering this card in The Flower Challenge 64 --Monochrome. 

 

 

 

I kept it pretty simple with several shades of orange on The Stamp Market's

Ready to Bloom Die. I inked and die cut it twice, then layered them on a kraft

card base, popping up the second layer. I rounded off a corner and finished off 

with a simple sentiment.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Inspired by Challenge 198C -- Winter Love

Cutting it close with my entry to Inspired by Challenge 198C -- Winter Love.

 I was inspired by the graphic and Laurel's sketch.

 

 

Here's my card. A pretty literal take on the simple sketch.

 

 The background was debossed with Altenew's Dotted Swirls plate to mimic the

rising steam. I chose an non-caffeinated sentiment from Gina K Designs and adhered 

the panel to some plaid patterned paper from The Stamp Market. I happened to have 

a pack of heart confetti on my desk and chose three white ones to finish off the card.

 

Ok, off to link up this card so I won't be late again! Thanks for stopping by!

 

* * *

Thrilled to have my card given the Honorable Mention honor! 

Thank you to the IB team!

 

 

Inspired by Challenge #191 -- I'd Fall for You

Once again it's leaves that drew me to Inspired By Challenge #191--I'd Fall for You.

Check out their cute prompt.

 

 I chose to go with Laurel's sketch.

 

I kept it simple and substituted a large maple leaf for the circular element.

A panel was embossed with a woodgrain pattern and I used a scissors to distress

the edges.

The Stamp Market's "fall" was cut from dark brown card stock and the secondary

"happy" was white embossed, trimmed, and adhered to the panel.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

The Flower Challenge 60--Colour Turquoise

Lately I've been playing with stencils and love this coloring medium. Stencils have come 

a long way and layered stencils do all the heavy work for you. Your job is to line them up! 

I used Altenew's Polka Dot Buds Stencil and made several panels in different 

color combos.

 

 When I saw that the latest Flower Challenge was Colour Turquoise, I chose a panel that

fit the challenge. 

 

The blooms and leaves were stenciled with ink from The Stamp Market. Notice the edges 

of the panel? I was inspired by the fabulous Yoonsun and remembered that during my early 

years of crafting, I was distressing the edges of cards like a mad woman. You, too?

Yoonsun uses Tim Holtz Paper Distresser Tool. I owned one before, but used a scissors 

and it did the job. I love the look of distressing. It's very forgiving and you don't have to 

worry about gluing down your panel perfectly or even having the corners curl up. 

It's part of the look!

 

My card was finished off with a sentiment from Waffle Flower Crafts. I thought about

adding some embellishments but didn't want to take away from the busy background.

 

Shout out to Yoonsun for inspiring me to distress again. You may be seeing future projects

with paper distressing on them. Thanks for stopping by!

 

Online Card Classes -- Crushing on Cardstock Day 4

I'm so happy that I squeezed in a little craft time, after signing up for the latest

Online Card Class--Crushing on Cardstock. Their classes are "go at your own pace"

but after seeing Jennifer McGuire share a technique, I had to give it a go.

 

 Check out the texture inside the die cut circle. Reminds me of mulberry paper.

I can't give out details but if you've been crafting for a while, you might be able

to figure out how the technique was done.

After assembling the panel, I added a Berry Branch from The Stamp Market

and finished off with the Altenew sentiment. I thought about adding sequins or

enamel dots, but didn't want to detract from the texture.

And I can finally display the participant badge!

I'm hoping to work on more projects from this class. I love that it was short n' sweet

and that I managed to join in at least one day. Thanks, Jennifer and Kristina, for a

fun class. Looking forward to the next one!