Bold Birthday

 A new sketch at Sketch Saturday!  The optional twist: Use buttons.

My card does not use buttons, but lots of color. When trying to decide on a color palette for my card, I saw The Card Concept challenge 191b and loved it.  And per Just Add Ink challenge #645, there was no stamping involved. See below.

I ink blended Twisted Citron and Broken China Distress Oxide on white card and then cut it with Altenew's Cubed Cover die. That was trimmed and backed with the Navy card stock.  I used the trimmed piece and used it as a stencil on a white scrap with the same colors, and then decided to glue in the negative pieces left in the die and cut a circle. Mounted that on a navy circle. I inked a scrap with Broken China for the horizontal rectangle and used another piece of navy for the sentiment back. Sentiment die from Poppy.   Hope you will check out this fun sketch and the rest of the DT inspiration.

Linking to The Card Concept #191b

and Just Add Ink #645

Rain

 Hello! It's my week to host the challenge at Allsorts, and for challenge #721 the theme I've chosen is

                                           *** A/G or Rain***   ☔⛈🌈

You can have the sentiment be about rain (lots of fun rain idioms), anything you use when it's raining (umbrella, raincoat, rain boots), rain itself (drizzle, downpour, mist, etc.)  Prizes for this challenge will be announced March 31st.

Prizes from Oakwood, Highlight Crafts, AALL and Create and Craft Stash, these links take you to their individual websites and you can read more about each on our Patrons’ page here.

My inspiration for you is a card made with a rain stencil; I tinted some paste with blue dye reinker and framed ithat panel with card stock popped up. The rain boot was cut several times for added dimension and paper-pieced the boot and colored the flowers and leaves with Copics. The sentiment was computer generated and fussy cut.

Check out the inspiration from the rest of the creative Design Team at Allsorts and play along! I am excited to visit your blog posts!

Pastel Thank You

 The new challenge #720 at Allsorts this week

            ***  Anything Goes with Option - Perfect Pastels (Spring Colors) ***

Prizes from Oakwood, Highlight Crafts, AALL and Create and Craft Stash, these links take you to their individual websites and you can read more about each on our Patrons’ page here.  Winners will be announced on Friday 31st March.

My card was inspired by a video I saw recently using the Pop & Flip design. It is a simple and effective interactive card design. You can see instructions at Dawn Griffith's blog.

I used some Creative Expressions paper in the pale lilac, Spellbinders Nested Oval dies,   stamped images from Altenew's Focus On You set, and the inside Thank You stamp is a background stamp from Simon Says Stamp. The ribbon is Stampin' Up from my stash. The flowers and leaf were colored with Altenew Artists Markers and cut with coordinating dies.

Condolences

 A wonderful new sketch at Try Stampin' On Tuesday. The optional twist this week is weather.

My silver splattered piece reminds me of a moody sky.  The die cut is Memory Box, Darling Poppies and some Altenew silver thread, Pretty Pink Posh silver confetti.  The silver embossed sentiment is a retired set from CTMH.

Check out the wonderful Design Team cards at TSOT and join the challenge.

Graphic Quilt

 

New!  Sketch #516 at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge 

When I saw the sketch, I thought of quilt blocks, and then used a photo of a quilt in the Jan/Feb edition of McCalls Quilting magazine that inspired the blocks.  I love adapting quilt patterns to paper! It certainly requires some practice with fractions :-) which seems to be my only retained math skill.

Then the center panel had me stumped for a bit. But a retired March month set from CTMH was on the desk for my next project and the kite caught my eye. I paper pieced instead of using the stamp though the little bow stamp was just the thing! The sentiment is Simon Says Stamp from the Stop, Drop, Party set.

Well, I can't wait to see what you create with this.  Tell us in your post what inspired your card.

Lucky to know You

 My card was inspired by Double Trouble (green plaid and celebrate St. Patrick's Day) and Inspiration Station (beautiful greens) and sketch #304 at Sunday Stamps.

The paper came from my stash. This one was part of a month kit from Simon Says Stamp - not sure which one. The gold matt die cuts are a SSS etched die, and the sentiment from Wooly Lucky set by SSS. The branch is from an Altenew mini set, Tiny Foliage. I used Gina K dies to cut the center panel and matt.

Sketch Saturday 721

 Good Morning!

Time for a new sketch challenge at Sketch Saturday. 

Optional Twist: Use an Embossing folder.

My inspiration card used some Graphic 45 paper from my stash cut with an Altenew frame die, and Sorbet card stock from CTMH. The sentiment is a really ancient CTMH mini. The balloons were die cut and I embellished with a white gel pen.  The birthday embossing folder is one of the first I ever purchased once I got my Cuttlebug in early 2000s.  

Please check out the amazing cards from the rest of the Design Team and play along with the sketch.

Trio of Bunnies

 Allsorts Challenge 719

  *** Anything Goes  with Option of A Trio of Something ***

Prizes from Oakwood, Highlight Crafts, AALL and Create and Craft Stash, these links take you to their individual websites and you can read more about each on our Patrons’ page here.

My card this week uses a fabulous die cut from Tattered Lace - A Little Bit Ditsy Leaves,

and stamped images from Simon Says Stamp- Hoppy Days Ahead. They were colored with Copic markers and fussy cut. Sentiment from Gina K Designs.

FMS & CAS Colours

 My card today was inspired by Freshly Made Sketches #576 and I used the colors of  Challenge #506 at CAS Colours & Sketches.   I inked blended two yellow circles directly on the card base, then arranged elements from Spellbinders Small Die of the Month, Floral Mini Tiles and also a bloom from last months  set, Sentimental Ampersand. All were cut with scraps of light lavender, pear green, white and yellow.  The stamped sentiment is from Gina K Designs, Caring Flowers.

Spring Confusion

 Winter. ..spring...winter...Nature is very confused lately about the weather.  Little spring bulbs are popping up and even flowering, birds are singing and sometimes they are hopping around in rain, sitting on branches dusted with snow.  Today was rainy, sunny, cold, and gray within a few short hours.

Cleaning, I discovered two little watercolor cards tucked into the back of a stamp folder. They came as part of a kit last March from Simon Says Stamp and I had never colored them. So today I pulled out some watercolor pencils and a brush and colored one of them. I splattered with blue for a rain effect, and then white for the snow. Not my most beautiful or creative card, but I sure had a lovely time playing.

The sentiment is from Gina K Designs.

I'm linking today to a new challenge blog that sounds like fun for Triple B - Birds, Blossoms and Butterflies.  Only two on today's card.  Check them out, especially if you adore blossoms and butterflies as I do!

Bird Call

 So happy to have a little time to craft this afternoon. My card today uses a Carved Wood technique learned from Gina K Designs.   Her most recent You Tube segment was on several ways to use embossing folders.  I've done this technique before and it's really fun.

First, I embossed a panel with lines every 1/2 inch and then did some direct to paper ink dragging. Then I ran that piece through embossing folder Bird Call, a Cuttlebug folder, and dragged Chocolate ink over the raised embossing.  The sentiment is from Altenew Paint-a-Flower Hibiscus.

My card is going to link with Can You Handle the Pressure? blog whose challenge adds a twist option of 'things with wings.'  

CAT-itude

Challenge #718 at Allsorts

                *** Anything goes with Option - Four Legged Friends  *** 

                                (domesticated animals)

Well, I realized how few animal stamps I have...some barnyard critters, frogs, monkeys...nothing seemed right. And then playing with the grandchildren, I recalled saving lots of ways to draw cats on Pinterest. We tried them all and had a great time looking up cat puns as well.  So this is my all hand-drawn and painted card.  Rough and ready - quite sketchy - but that was my intent.  I used a fine tipped Sharpie to sketch and Zig clean color markers for the color. Crafting should be fun and this really was!   Hope you will join us at Allsorts this week.  See all the details on prizes below!

From our marvelous sponsors at Highlight Crafts, Oakwood Direct, AALL & Create, Craft Stash

Try Stampin' Sketch

 

Happy Tuesday!  My design team inspiration for the new sketch #596 at 

                     Try Stampin' On Tuesday

The optional for this sketch is 'Sweets'....which I did not use on my card. I guess I need to break out my cupcake stamps :-)  

The stamp set and sentiment for my card came from Simon Says Stamp You Shine set. I random stamped the orange blossom and leaf on a panel and colored with Copics. I also stamped some additional blossoms and leaves to color and fussy cut to pop up on the small circle element. I used stitched circle dies, and a punch for the sentiment label. 

I hope you will check out this sketch challenge and the rest of the design team cards at TSOT and join us!

April Showers Birthday

 

New sketch #514 at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge this morning!

And I had a great deal of fun playing with a new fancy fold I learned watching Gina K Designs (see here), and with a new set of dies from Spellbinders- Umbrella Bloom from the Vicky Papaioannou collection. It's an amazing set of 27 dies to cut umbrellas and flowers and foliage.

I began by cutting and scoring the main card base, and before folding I placed an oval stencil over the center and ink blended with blue and green inks. Actually just using residual ink on the brushes.

Then I die cut the umbrella, flowers and foliage from colorful card stock scraps and assembled the umbrella and filled it. I did use a Wink of Stella pen on the umbrella segments.

I also adhered a small bouquet of flowers on the inside of the narrow top folding card base attached to the back. Some sentiment strips and Twinkle Raindrops from Queen & Co. finished the project.  It folds to one side to fit perfectly in an A2 envelope.  Tough to photograph, but just thrilled with how this came out!  I hope you can see the sketch here...I did take a bit of creative license.

Also linking to Double Trouble #132 - Hoodie-Hoo!  and Creative Creases #51- Happy Anniversary