Happy as a clam

 Saturday morning and welcome to sketch # 695 at Sketch Saturday!

I am late this morning, but had to wait for sunrise to get a picture of my card and wrestle with a cranky computer.

I had a lot of fun blowing bubbles with water, dish soap and reinker to get this fun bubble under-sea background. An option with the sketch this week is to try a monotone design, which was how I began...but ended up adding the neutrals and just using the sketch.  What will you try?  

Link up your creation HERE so we can see♥

Allsorts Debut

 

   I am honored to join the design team at Allsorts!  

My inspiration card for Challenge # 665 uses a beautiful floral Primula from Ruth Hamilton, who is one of the sponsors for this challenge.  For a UK winner, there is a prize of a die from Colemans Craft

The challenge is to hand color your image or to paper piece.

For my card I chose to color with pencils and shade with Gamsol. The stitched panel behind was very lightly blended with an Altenew stencil, Flowing Leaves, and then splattered with black.  I added a few dew drop embellishments.

I hope you will join the challenge and link up here at Allsorts this week.

Spring Daffodils

 

This card was inspired by Make the Cards sketch challenge #48.

I did some ink 'smooshing' with Squeezed Lemonade and Mustard Seed Distress inks on some bright white water color card stock.  When dry I stamped flowers with Gina K Designs Easter Spring set, and cut them into small squares with My Favorite Things stitched squares. The strip behind came from my black & white scrap folder, with the sentiment from Altenew's Paint-a-Flower Hydrangea set. (I've been using that a lot this week!)   I did emboss the white panel with a chevron folder for a little dimension. Panels cut using GKD Master Layouts.

Just couldn't decide about any embellishments...so I left it plain. 

No Rain no flowers

 

Good Morning!  Monday means a new sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge, and today my inspiration card for #461 used many products from my stash and a new-to-me technique I watched recently. 

The background is a cover plate die from Altenew adhered on a white card base. The paper strips are MFT gingham and some CTMH pieces from my scrap files. I hoard even tiny pieces in color files...and used them here to paper piece the boots and for center stripe and sentiment flag.

I used a cut die from Simon Says Stamp. I think it was part of a kit a few years back and a stamping buddy gifted it to me. I cut it from white twice and also from the blue patterned paper. I cut one of the white pieces and blue just for the boots. Since I did not have a stamp for this, I used some Copics to add shading to the boots and then to color in the flowers on the base white piece. The sentiment from Altenew Paint-a-Flower Hydrangea was just right for my image. I added a few dew drop embellishments.

Chrissie Stokes is a designer I have long admired. She is the ultimate in creating CAS cards and just generally inspiring!  Her idea was to give die cuts dimension. After I colored the flowers, I turned the piece over and used a large embossing tool in a circular motion on the tulips. This made a little 'bowl' that I put a tiny piece of foam tape inside. Not a CAS card today, but this technique is wonderful.  It gives the flowers dimension.  So fun!

Well, I hope you will try crafting something with the sketch this week!  I look forward to seeing your creations.

Happy Easter FMS523

 

Hectic day in the craft room!  Had this card for Freshly Made Sketches planned out two days ago, and then had to clean up to find the dies I'd pulled out for it.  

I used some paper from my stash, MFT stitched square dies, the smallest from Simon Says Stamp Nested Eggs die, tiny bunnies from Impression Obsession, and a sentiment from Gina K's Easter Spring set.  I made the blue paper using a technique Gina K used last week sponging dye reinkers on glossy paper with alcohol drenched cotton balls. I made several backgrounds and this one reminded me of died eggs so that inspired my card. Hard to see the blue/green/yellow swirls in the photo. 

AAA Cards Challenge!

 

I am thrilled to be a Guest Designer on the AAA Cards Challenge #209.  The challenge is to create a CAS card using only 1/9th of the card.  I measured and masked the center off before lightly ink blending. I stamped the sentiment and popped the image inside that area.

My granddaughter's favorite animal is the cat - ANY cat♥  She has a giant furry pet named Clover who hates me because I'm the evil human that appears when her family is away. The image on my card is from My Favorite Things Cat-astrophe set and colored with pencils and Gamsol to look like Clover. 

I hope you will check out the challenge and all the amazing cards here and give it a try!

Bold Bouquet

 #578 is a color challenge this week at The Paper Players.

My card used a new stencil from Gina K Designs and all GKD inks.  After blending I ran the panel through with a stitched die cover plate from Altenew.  The sentiment from Gina's Lace Flowers set was stamped on vellum.  Just added a few sequins from my stash for some sparkle.

Inks used:  Lemon Drop, Applemint, Turquoise Sea

See through Birthday

 

I am very excited to share my first card as a new member of the Try Stampin' On Tuesday design team!

Challenge #543 asks you to make something see though or use the sketch or do both.  My little shaker sees through to the stencil blended bubbles.  I used striped patterned paper from my stash, and ink blended using Gina K Designs Fizzy stencil. A My Favorite Things die and shaker pouch, and some balloon dies with a tiny sentiment also from Gina K completed the design.

Please check out the design team inspiration cards at Try Stampin On Tuesday and I hope you will get crafty and link up.  I look forward to seeing your creations!

You're So Sweet SS694

 

Good Morning!

Sweet weekend for me with sunshine predicted today and lots of crafty time on my schedule.

 There's a new sketch at Sketch Saturday for you to have some creative fun with.  I hope you will join us as we would love to see your projects for sketch #694.

My design team card uses stamps, dies, and stencils from Altenew and some patterned paper from my stash that is more purple than the photo shows. The 'sweet' was die cut three times and stacked for some dimension. Sequins from Brutus Monroe.

Typed Birthday B,W+1

 Lots of activity here lately!  I'm so happy to still have time to link up to AAA Cards current challenge.

I really like this vintage typewriter and the set came with many different sentiments to fit the page.  For my pop of color I used a MFT die to cut some circles along the bottom of the top-fold A2 card and backed it with some red, then die cut a matching small balloon. I drew the string and added a bit of white gel pen highlight. It is a large stamp, but still about 2/3 white space left for a CAS card.

Friend

 Four of my dearest friends live on the east coast and so I do send a lot of cards and notes that way. 

My card today is linked to Just Us Girls #618 Word Challenge and to                                            Tuesday Morning Sketches #643   (sketch below)

Card stock from my stash and patterned paper is Echo Park. Sentiment die from Gina K Designs Master Layout 9, and embossed sentiment from Simon Says Stamp.  I used a stitched cover plate for the pale pink back.

Minimalist

 

Really had to think about this challenge at Just Add Ink. Not sure about it, but it is abstract! The colors were inspired by the quartz geode that sits on my desk.

 I used the Fractured Background stamp from Simon Says Stamp and heat embossed it in black and used three colors of alcohol markers to color in a repetitive design.  I cut the panel down quite a bit and adhered it with foam tape. The sentiment is from an Altenew mini set.

Happy Birds Thank You

 

Happy Monday!  

Time for a new sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge today. I hope you will be able to try it out and join us.

My card uses a Close To My Heart set, Happy Birds (retired like me) colored with alcohol markers. The birds and flowers are all from the same set. I masked the flowers and fussy cut the birds.  The background friendship stamp from My Favorite Things was heat embossed on patterned paper. The stitched squares were cut with a MFT die set, the panels with Gina K Master Layout 7, and the sentiment is from Simon Says. Foam popped the squares and embellished with Nuvo drops. All these things pulled out and my desk is a BIG mess, but I really love how this mini slim-line turned out.

Use a Quote

 

One of my favorite things to do, other than craft, is to cook! I love to eat and to feed friends and family. Not being able to gather has been one of the worst aspects of the pandemic.  I have some new stamps from Gina K Designs and Brutus Monroe that center around food.  So I created this card and am linking to Creative Creases #25 and to  Try It On Tuesdays "use a quote" challenges.

It is a corner flip fun fold.  I guess that's an old trick, but new to me. It involves some partial cutting, but was easier to do than I thought it would be.  I followed a You Tube tutorial.

The patterned paper is from Sunflower Market found in my local craft store. Stamped images from GDK Kitchen Tags set, and Brutus Monroe Sugar & Spice kit for the cake and sentiment. 

Special Valentine

 

Tough to make a Valentine for a teenage grandson, but this fun stamp from Brutus Monroe, Stacked Burger, was just right!  I stamped it and colored with pencils and Gamsol before fussy cutting it out and foam mounting it on the card base. I added a strip of brown and some gingham from MFT. The sentiment is computer generated. The tiny heart stamp is from my stash. 

Inspired by sketch #521 at Freshly Made Sketches   (see below)

A Little Note and Another Faux Cloisonne

This time I used the front cover of a Food& Wine magazine that had images of roses. I stamped images, heat embossed with gold and fussy cut them.  For a background, I sprayed some Brutus Monroe gold shimmer spray through a garden weave stencil and trimmed it down, edged with strips of gold mirror card and stamped the sentiment from a Simon Says Stamp set, Beautiful Butterflies. This was the method suggested in the challenge at CAS Mix Up.  

Sending Love

 

Today I am inspired by the CAS Mix Up February Challenge.  This is SO cool!! And I love using my metallic watercolors. Check the site as they include links to three cloisonne tutorials.

Use Your Stuff Challenge #440 - Embossing  and  

Make the Cards Challenge #47- create a Valentine

For my faux Cloisonne card, I stamped and heat embossed a small floral heart on black card stock, then painted with metallic watercolors and fussy cut it out.  I used some shiny gold to cut a frame with Altenew's Fine Frames die and backed it with some white card stock and wrapped with gold metallic thread.  The sentiment is from Altenew's Paint-a-Flower Tulips set. The heart was adhered with foam tape and then the whole panel was adhered to the card base with foam tape as well. 

I will try another card with a magazine image as also suggested.  I don't get subscriptions so will need to ask a friend.