Epic Sunshine for Seize the Sketch

Hi there again!  Hope you're having a wonderful weekend.  My husband and I are enjoying our 3-day Labor Day weekend, and fortunately it was beautiful weather today as we visited a nearby dahlia farm for their annual Dahlia Festival, which was spectacular!  It certainly provided plenty of examples of ways to color the Blooming with Kindness dahlia.  And I suspect we'll be ordering some of these tubers to be planted next spring.

 
Thanks for indulging me, because I know the reason for your visit is not to see flowers but to see a card and I have one to share.  It was made for the new challenge blog Seize the Sketch. Leslie Croghan created the fun Seize the Birthday blog and now she's expanded to a new weekly sketch challenge blog.  Here's the sketch:

A great sketch with lots of options.  My card ended up a bit on the busy side but it was fun and easy to make:

Different designs from Epic Day designer paper were used on the base, which is then topped with a panel stamped with Postage Due.  While Gumball Green is not one of my favorite SU colors, it really brightens up this card.

The Garden Green button and Candy Dots matched surprisingly well and help define three corners.

Thanks for dropping by today!  I'd love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a comment.  I hope the remainder of your weekend is wonderful!

Hugs,

Stef


All products from Stampin' Up:
Stamps:  Postage Due, Pursuit of Happiness
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Confetti Cream, Gumball Green, Epic Day designer paper
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral
Accessories:  Finishing Touches Edgelit, Large and Scallop Oval punches, Regals button and Candy Dots, Hemp Twine

Secret Garden Wishes

Hello once again and happy Tuesday evening.  My card was created for the current Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.  Karen Giron has posted 191 great sketches and this week's is no exception. Check it out:

Fun and easy with lots of options.  I chose to stay pretty true to the sketch, with the exception of changing the card shape to square rather than the normal A2 size.

The color combination of Island Indigo and Pistachio Pudding is so soft and beautiful, and this piece of Venetian Romance designer paper delivers all that plus gorgeous designs.  The flower was stamped on Very Vanilla three times in Island Indigo, colored with a blender pen, cut out with my Paper Snips and then layered with dimensionals.

Thanks for looking, I'd love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a comment.  I hope the remainder of your week is simply excellent!

Hugs,

Stef


All products from Stampin' Up:
Stamps:  Secret Garden, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper:  Pistachio Pudding, Island Indigo, Very Vanilla, Venetian Romance designer paper
Ink:  Island Indigo, Pistachio Pudding
Accessories:  Very Vanilla Seam Tape ribbon, Bitty Banners and Circles Collection framelits, Very Vintage Designer Buttons, Linen Thread, Paper Snips

Wisteria Birthday Blossom

Welcome back!  Today I'm sharing the final card in the set made for my friend's birthday tomorrow.  The card design is based on the sketch challenge over at Fab Friday.  I love this design and already have another idea how to use it rolling around in my brain.

http://fabfridaystampinchallenge.blogspot.com/

The first card I made for the set was a very CAS masculine birthday card, so I thought I would include a more feminine one as well.  For the heart shape in the sketch above I instead used the large flower from Stippled Blossoms and moved it to the opposite, upper corner.

The flower and leaves were snipped out and popped up on dimensionals.  The sentiment is from Simply Sketched.  My Stampamajig sure came in handy with the sentiment and flowers! Despite the hand cutting, the card came together very easily, with a couple of added elements such as the scalloped edge and the flag, ribbon and bow.

Thanks for taking a look!  I'd love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a message. I hope the coming week goes well for you!  

Hugs,

Stef

All products from Stampin' Up:

Stamps:  Stipple Blossoms, Simply Sketched

Paper:  Elegant Eggplant, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White, In Color Pattern Pack

Ink:  Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Lucky Limeade, Pear Pizazz

Accessories:  Basic Pearls, White Organza ribbon, Scallop Border punch, Stampamajig

Crisp Calypso Kindness

Hi there!  This afternoon I have the third of four cards of a set I am making for my friend's birthday Monday.  While normally I'd make a gift set that used similar colors or design features, but this set I decided to make the only common denominator the 2011-2013 In Colors.  As a side note, I was so, so happy to see that 4 out of 5 become part of the permanent color line up at Stampin' Up as of the new catalogue.  

Here is today's card:

Ooo, I am loving that new Burlap ribbon!  Doesn't it add such great texture and warmth?  The colors used are Crisp Cantaloupe and Calypso Coral, as part of the challenge at Dynamic Duos this week.  The flower from Blooming with Kindness was heat embossed with clear embossing powder, then colored with a light wash of Crisp Cantaloupe ink, applied with an Aquapainter.

The card layout is part of the challenge at Friday Mashup.  Here are links to both challenges-be sure to check them!

http://thedynamicduoschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.fridaymashup.com/

I so appreciate your visit and would love to hear from you, if you have a moment to leave a comment.  I hope the remainder of your weekend is enjoyable!  I'll be back tomorrow with the 4th card of the gift set.

Hugs,

Stef


All products from Stampin' Up:
Stamps:  Blooming with Kindness, Express Yourself
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Watercolor, Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe
Ink:  Calypso Coral, Versamark, Lucky Limeade, Crisp Cantaloupe
Accessories:  Clear embossing powder, Burlap ribbon, Linen Thread, Naturals Designer Buttons, Aquapainter.

Indigo Thank You

Welcome back, I have a card to share today that was made for this week's sketch challenge at Splitcoast Stampers.  It has been a while since I've been able to join in on this weekly challenge, but the luxury of being on vacation this week afforded me the time to do so.

My card is a very loose interpretation of the sketch, as you'll see below.  I'm making a set of cards for my friend's birthday and this is card number two.  She is so conscientious about sending notes to friends and following up with thank you cards, that I know she'll use this card with the adorable sentiment from the From My Heart stamp set.

Here's the sketch:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/card-sketches-f41/sketch-challenge-450-%7B8-21-13%7D-t577369.html

As you can see, I swapped out the large square for a Paper Doily and the smaller square in the sketch is quite a bit bigger on my card to accommodate the large sentiment.  It was colored with my SU markers so I could get all three colors on there (Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade and Pool Party), and then a few strategically placed Basic Pearls finish it off.

The butterfly is from the Creative Elements stamp set.  It was embossed on Whisper White card stock with Pool Party embossing powder and then hand trimmed.

The Whisper White panel was cut out with a new Squares Collection framelit and then adhered to a Pool Party square.  I had originally tried using a piece of Pool Party cut out with the next size larger framelit, but it was too large for this card, so it was trimmed down to just slightly larger than the main panel.


I certainly appreciate your visit and would love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a comment.  I'm off to get ready for my 8-year old granddaughter's visit.  I'm sure we'll find our way into the craft room sometime in the next two days as she loves to make cards too.  I hope the rest of your week if great and the weekend enjoyable!

Hugs,

Stef

All products from Stampin' Up:
Stamps:  Creative Elements, From My Heart
Paper:  Whisper White, Island Indigo, Pool Party, In Color Pattern Stack 2011-2013
Ink:  Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, and Pool Party markers; Versamark
Accessories:  Paper Doily, Fancy Fan embossing folder, Pool Party embossing powder, Squares Collection framelit, Basic Pearls, Lucky Limeade Ruffled Ribbon.

Birthday Greetings

Hi there again!  Today's card is for three challenges - the color challenge at Dynamic Duos, the sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches, and the birthday challenge at SUO Challenges.  A friend at work is having a birthday next week and this is one of a set of four I will make for her as a gift.

This card should be called the showcase of retired Stampin' Up products LOL!!  The sentiment is Engraved Greetings and is perfect for a buttoned-up, masculine birthday card.  It was heat embossed on Very Vanilla, then closely layered on Pool Party and Basic Black card stock for a "beveled" look.

You can't tell from the photo, but the cross piece is Textured Basic Black paper, to give the card a bit more of a sophisticated look.  The sketch shows the front panel on top of the cross piece, but I found it looked better tucked behind for this card.

Here are the links to the challenges:

http://suochallenges.com/

http://thedynamicduoschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

http://freshlymadesketches.blogspot.com/

I so appreciate you dropping by to take a look and would love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a comment.

Until next time!

Hugs,

Stef

All products from Stampin' Up:
Stamps:  Engraved Greetings
Paper:  Basic Black plain and textured card stock, Very Vanilla, Pool Party, In Color Pattern Stack 2011-2013, Modern Medley and First Edition designer papers.
Ink:  Versamark, Jet Black Stazon
Accessories:  Ticket Corner punch, Hemp Twine, Basics Designer Button, Silver Mini Brads, Clear embossing powder

Thanks, Naturally.

Welcome back again!  It seems like forever since I last posted, but life has been busy, busy and sometimes card making must take a back burner to real life LOL!  I hope to remedy that a bit again tomorrow.

Yesterday, my husband and I went on a day trip up into the Cascade Mountains.  Beautiful weather and we were fortunate to avoid smoke from one of the many forest fires that are occurring throughout the Western US, including Oregon.  We enjoyed some lovely areas along the beautiful North Fork of the Santiam River, where we were able to stop in an isolated area and have a picnic lunch. Unfortunately, we also saw what should have been a pristine gorge of deep, beautiful pools in Opal Creek spoiled with trash and other things.  Such a shame that people don't appreciate and respect what a special place they have the privilege to access.

I'll get off my soap box now and get on to what brought you here in the first place!  The card I have to share today is for the challenge at Paper Players to make a CAS one layer card.  For me that is definitely a challenge, however Natural Composition designer paper really helped to easily meet that challenge.

Please pardon the photo quality today.  My camera really honed in on the embossing and did not pick up all the color saturation in some areas.  I shot and reshot and just couldn't get a better image.  IRL the colors all look lovely.

If you're not familiar with this designer paper, it comes already embossed with various images. I chose the floral one, and decided to step it up by coloring in the flowers and leaves.

A sponge dauber was used to add Craft Whisper White to the large Chrysanthemum, while the other flowers and the leaves were colored with a blender pen in a variety of shades.  Once colored, I used a cloth to wipe of each one, which revealed the embossing.  In addition, when initially coloring the paper, the ink seems too dark, but once it drys it is very subtle, unless you add more layers of ink.

The 7/8" Cotton Ribbon was wrapped around the front, where a sentiment tag was attached with one of those cute Vintage Trinket safety pins.  The sweet heart from Tiny Tags was stamped in Pink Pirouette, then overstamped with the sentiment in Crumb Cake ink.

The link to Paper Players is below.  Go check it out, there is still plenty of time to join in.

http://thepaperplayers.blogspot.com/

Thanks for coming by and taking a look!  I'd love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a comment.  Have a great week!

Hugs,

Stef

All products from Stampin' Up:
Stamps:  Fabulous Phrases, Tiny Tags
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Natural Composition
Ink:  Craft Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Pink Pirouette, Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pear Pizazz
Accessories:  Sponge Dauber, Blender Pen, Antique Trinkets, Corner Rounder punch, 7/8" Cotton Ribbon.

Life is Beauty Full

Life is beautiful and it is "beauty full" when we take a moment to enjoy the natural beauty all around us.

Everyday I check out a blog from Paper Crafts Magazine called Moxie Fab World (http://www.moxiefabworld.com/) . The blog author, and Trends Editor for Paper Crafts Magazine, Cath Edvalson, is bright, funny, and uber enthusiastic about everything trendy and inspiring in paper crafting and from incredible sources she finds all over the Internet.  If you haven't visited the site before, I encourage you to go there and check it out.

Each week she gives away lovely items like paper collections and stamps from a wide variety of brands.  I always comment to win, because who doesn't like to win free stuff??  So, much to my surprise, one recent Tuesday I was viewing the winners list from the previous week and there was MY NAME!  Are you kidding me?  I was tickled pink to win the Lakeside collection from Pebbles.  And, of course I had to make a card with my new fun "stuff".

The collection came with stickers, chips, scrapbook size designer paper and a lovely pad of 6x6 paper, which I used on my card.  It was nice to discover that the paper coordinated nicely with Coastal Cabana and Concord Crush.  This week's sketch from Mojo Monday was used for the layout:

http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/2013/08/mojo-monday-306.html

The only stamping involved the flowers and leaves from Secret Garden.  I fussy cut the flowers but used the matching framelits to cut out the leaves after stamping them in Garden Green on the same color paper.  I thought the sentiment on the chip piece, "Life is Beauty Full", was a delightful, inspiring phrase.

Aren't these colors lovely and bright?  The flowers were stamped in Melon Mambo and So Saffron on Very Vanilla, which pick up the colors of the flowers in the print circle.  Bright Candy Dots decorate the flower centers and the Coastal Cabana rectangle.

Well, that's it for today.  Thank you so much for dropping by and taking a look.  Please leave a comment if you have a moment, I'd love to hear from you!

Hugs,

Stef


All products from Stampin' Up unless noted otherwise:
Stamps:  Secret Garden
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Coastal Cabana, Concord Crush, Garden Green, Lakeside 6x6 pad (Pebbles)
Ink:  So Saffron, Melon Mambo, Garden Green
Accessories:  Secret Garden and Circle Collection framelits, Coluzal, Pebbles Chip, Brights Candy Dots, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack

A Birthday Smooch

Hi there!  For today's card, I dusted off a stamp I haven't used since last summer.  It is beautiful but I let it gather dust while I used other sets that were a bit more versatile.

The stamp is Ex Libris and it's just a lovely vintage-style image.  I stamped it in Blushing Bride on Very Vanilla then trimmed it down to the stamped image.  And now I wonder why I haven't use it more often!

The color combination is for Dynamic Duos, where the challenge this week is to use Blushing Bride and Pistachio Pudding, sweet, soft colors that look great together.

http://thedynamicduoschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

The flower was made with scallop punches that were secured with a brad, scrunched, then sprayed with Blushing Bride Smooch Spray.  It has a lovely shimmer, as you can see in the photo below and it really pops on the card since the Smooch Spray color ends up so much darker than the Classic ink.

The leaves were stamped with Pistachio Pudding and cut out with my paper snips.  Pearls and Blushing Bride Candy Dots add a bit of embellishment.  A very simple card to put together.

Thanks for dropping by and taking a look!  I'd love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a comment.  Hope the rest of your week is super!

Hugs,

Stef

All products from Stampin' Up:
Stamps:  Ex Libris, Curly Cute, French Foliage
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Pistachio Pudding
Ink:  Pistachio Pudding, Blushing Bride, Jet Black Stazon
Accessories:  Crepe Filter Paper, 1 3/4" & 1 1/4" Scallop Circle punches, Metallic brads, Paper Snips, Blushing Bride Smooch Spray, Blushing Bride Candy Dots, Basic Pearls

Birthday Wishes

Welcome back!  Today I have a card that was made for three challenges:  A color challenge at Pals Paper Arts, a Sketch challenge for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, and the birthday card challenge at Moxie Fab World.

The color challenge at PPA is to use Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding and Coastal Cabana. Lovely, soft colors that to me are decidedly feminine.  I went with a vintage/distress style using a long neglected stamp set, Thoughts & Prayers.

Markers were used to color the flowering branch, and then I pulled out my Stampamajig (truly this stamper's invaluable tool!) to make sure the sentiment was centered and level.  The flowers were glued to shapes punched from card stock, then adhered to the focal point.

Everything was distressed and then sponged with Antique Linen Distress Ink.  It's a nice warm shade that really does a nice job of aging a piece of paper without overwhelming it.  A piece of Coastal Cabana Ruffled Trim was adhered under the polka dot scrap of designer paper.  It is such sweet ribbon and so feminine - love it!  Basic Pearls finished everything off.

Here are the links to the challenges:

http://www.palspaperarts.com/

http://kgiron.blogspot.com/2013/08/sweet-sunday-sketch-challenge-190.html

http://www.moxiefabworld.com/2013/07/birthday-creations-week-birthday-card.html

Thanks again for popping by to take a look!  If you have a moment to leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you.  I hope the upcoming week is rewarding and enjoyable for all!

Hugs,

Stef

All products from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted:

Stamps:  Thoughts & Prayers, Petite Pairs

Paper:  Very Vanilla, Crisp Cantaloupe, Afternoon Picnic and Venetian Romance designer papers.

Ink:  Crisp Cantaloupe, Coastal Cabana, Pistachio Pudding, Early Espresso, Antique Linen Distress Ink (Ranger)

Accessories:  Labels Collection framelit, Coastal Cabana Ruffle Trim, 1 1/4" Scallop Circle and Boho Blossom punches, paper flowers (Prima and Maya Road), Cutter Kit, Stampamajig, Basic Pearls

Notable Medley

Hello, once again!  It is a beautiful Saturday in Sherwood, Oregon, which I intend to go outside and enjoy after I share a card that was made for this week's Mojo Monday sketch.  It's a fun one with tilted panels.  Take a look:

http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/

I started out with some new Modern Medley designer paper - love the beautiful black and vanilla patterns, including polka dots, news print, sheet music and the lovely floral pattern below:

I paired these neutral colors with Primrose Petals, which I think adds a rich tone and is a bit more sophisticated than using a lighter pink (love pink and black together!).  The Coordinations panel was embossed with the Lacy Brocade folder and then sanded with the SU sanding block system.

Using the designer paper with musical notes of course prompted me to dig out my Notably Ornate stamp set, with the oval that says "Take Note".  Love the little pun!!  I popped the sentiment up on a flag with black candy dots and pearls on each side.  The flower is a lovely little number from Prima.

I plan on sending this to one of my girlfriends that I haven't seen in a while.  I think she will like the feminine touches with the lace and the flower.

Thanks so much for taking the time to drop by and look!  If you have a moment, I'd love to hear from you.  I hope the remainder of your weekend is wonderful!  Come back by tomorrow, I should have another card to share.

Hugs,

Stef

All products from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted:
Stamps:  Express Yourself, Notably Ornate
Paper:  Primrose Petals card stock and Coordinations paper, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Modern Medley designer paper
Ink:  Primrose Petals, Jet Black Stazon
Accessories:  Lacy Brocade embossing folder, Artisan Embellishments (ribbon and lace), Neutrals Candy Dots, Basic Pearls, Sanding Block, flower (Prima)

Soho Sketched

ETA:  This card is also being entered into the Birthday card challenge at Moxie Fab World - here's the link (http://www.moxiefabworld.com/2013/07/birthday-creations-week-birthday-card.html).


Hi there once again!  My card today is for the sketch at retro sketches.

http://retrosketches.blogspot.com/

I stuck to the sketch pretty literally, because I loved the stems popping up from the cross piece.

The stems from Simply Sketched were inked up in Versamark, then Early Espresso and stamped on watercolor paper.  I colored them with a blender pen and then fussy cut them with my paper snips.

I couldn't decide what to color the fruit, so I colored one with Crisp Cantaloupe and the other with Summer Starfruit, but neither by itself looked right.  So I ended up mixing them together for a warm peachy color.

The paper in the background is from Soho Subway.  The mix of Summer Starfruit and Island Indigo in parts of the paper results in a green that matches nicely to Garden Green, which is what was used to color the stems.

The sentiment was stamped on a piece of Confetti cream cut out with a tag sizzlit and popped up on dimensionals. 

Thanks for taking a look and I hope you have a great week ahead of you!

Hugs,

Stef

All products from Stampin' Up:

Stamps:  Simply Sketched

Paper:  Confetti Cream, Island Indigo, watercolor, Soho Subway designer paper

Ink:  Early Espresso, Crisp Cantaloupe, Summer Starfruit, Garden Green, Island Indigo, Versamark

Accessories:  Lots of Tags Label 3 Sizzlit, Stampamajig, Clear embossing powder, Paper Ships, Blender pen, Very Vanilla Grosgrain ribbon, Scallop Trim Border punch, Regals button, Linen Thread