Sweet Sketch Wednesday - SSW80

Oh my how this week is flying by...  It's midweek and all I can think of is all the Christmas shopping I still have left to do for my family.  My best efforts to get out and about have been hampered by the subfreezing temperatures and huge dump of snow here in SE Michigan that has just parallized everything. Two snow days in a row with no school for my kids - and two hour commutes to work for me!  Anyway, my point is that being all bundled up like the image in this card is a common sight in the past several days here!

 Here's the wonderful sketch this week at Sweet Sketch Wednesday. The image I've used is courtesy of Digi Stamp Boutique called "Winter Sophie". 

This week at Sweet Sketch Wednesday we welcome Digi Stamp Boutique as the weekly sponsor again. We love the creative and darling digi stamps available by Sally Ann through Digi Stamp Boutique and her generous gift of 6 free digi stamps to the grand prize winner of the sketch challenge this week.  

This cute image was just begging to be glittered up and that's what I did using Stickles to set off the hat and boot trim and the snow. I also used it on the edge of the image panel to draw some definition to this panel. The cap, scarf and mitten embellishments are from Momenta and coordinate perfectly with the KaiserCraft DP I used from "Christmas Carnival Collection". 

For more inspiration, be sure to visit Sweet Sketch Wednesday and see the other design team creations. We extend a warm welcome to you to join the fun this week in the sketch challenge.  Thanks for stopping by!

Sensational Saturday at Sugar Creek Hollow

Welcome to another Saturday showcasing the wonderful Christmas images at Sugar Creek Hollow. This week we were challenged to use Red and White colors only on our cards - perfectly fitting for the season! I chose to highlight two of the Christmas digi stamps in my card this week. This shimmery Christmas card was made using "Butterfly Angel" and "Winter Scene" from the Sugar Creek Hollow Shoppe.

The "Winter Scene" image is fantastic on its own with many ways to highlight the sentiment. Here, I've printed it twice and popped up the sentiment off the background and then mounted that on a panel punched with a MS border punch.  Both the "Winter Scene" and the "Butterfly Angel" were colored red in my photoshop software and spritzed with a shimmer spray right after they came out of my printer.  The photo below shows the sparkly effect a little bit better.

I added stickles along the edges of both digi images as well as the background paper from Webster Pages. A few elaborate pearl embellishments and some lace and the card is complete.

Please wander by the Sugar Creek Hollow blog and see the other beautiful red and white artwork from the design team. There you'll get some great inspiration for creating your own vintage looking Christmas cards. And we welcome you to enter the challenge on the SCH blog with your own red and white creation.

Thanks for stopping by in this busy holiday season!

Butterfly Angel - SCH Color Challenge!

Welcome to another sensational Saturday with Sugar Creek Hollow! This week we're challenging you to use a beautiful color combination - it's Baja Breeze, Expresso and Kraft (or tan color paper).  Won't you join us this week in creating a card with these colors?  You could win a free digi stamp at the Sugar Creek Hollow Shoppe by entering a card in this color challenge - how fun is that?!  Follow the link above to the Sugar Creek Hollow blog to enter your card using these colors in the challenge.

For my SCH image this week I chose this wonderful digi called "Butterfly Angel".  I love her glittery wings and the unique trail of snowflakes she leaves behind.  I've also used the SCH sentiment "Peace on Earth" as finishing touch to this Christmas card.

I wish you could see this in real life - all the sparkly snowflakes and shimmer of the wings really set this off.  I used a new MS snowflake edge and corner punch on this and repurposed the snowflakes as embellishments with a bit of glitter on them. 

You can purchase this beautiful Butterfly Angel here at the SCH Shoppe or better yet, win it by playing along in this challenge!  And along the way, why don't you visit the rest of the design team's blogs in my sidebar and leave a little love along the way!

Thanks for visiting today!

Recipe:
Stamps - Sugar Creek Hollow "Butterfly Angel" and "Peace on Earth"; SU French Script BG
Paper - SU Expresso, Baja Breeze, Kraft, Whisper White
Ink - Expresso
Embellishments - MS snowflake edge and corner punch, glitter, Spellbinders deckled edge oval dies

Morning Glory - PDCC48

It's Sunday night and I'm trying to squeak out every last bit of the weekend. Instead of going to bed early, I chose to create this card for the Play Date Cafe color challenge 48!  I'm such a night owl anyway, but get me going on my stamping and card creating and it's hard to stop - even if tomorrow begins the work week again!

Here's the challenge inspiration photo that Julie Ranae chose and that the colors were picked from.  I have to say that would be a fun kitchen to cook in - but I'm partial to brighter, intense color anyway.  So I was inspired right away to use Concord Grape, Pear Pizzazz and Going Gray as my color pallette for the challenge card.

I also couldn't wait to ink up this Morning Glory stamp from Papertrey Ink - it just arrived in the mail yesterday.  When I think of a Morning Glory flower, I think of a purpley-blue color and thought it would be perfect. 

The card design/layout is mine - just wanted something unique for this card.  So tell me what you think...

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe:

Stamps - Papertrey Ink "Morning Glory"

Paper - SU Concord Grape, Pear Pizazz, Going Grey, Watercolor paper

Ink - Stazon Black; SU Concord Grape, Pear Pizazz; PTI Vanilla

Accessories - MS corner and edge lace punch; Sakura gelly roll glitter pen

Copper Color Splash - PDCC46

This week at the Play Date Cafe the color challenge is another color splash with black and white as the primary colors with a splash of another color as an accent.  We had our choice of pink, gold or copper and I chose the copper for my card in this challenge because I thought it was a more unusual color combination.

Here's the inspiration image that Julie choose for the challenge - isn't it interesting?  Week to week, I just wait with anticipation to see what they will come up with next for the Play Date Cafe Challenge!

For this card, I used a wonderful black and white flocked damask designer paper from Sweet Romance called of all things "Black Damask Flocked"!!!  I thought this paper was so elegant and dramatic. It has a wonderful feel to it as well.

For the splash of copper color, I heat embossed the Stampin Up "Ornate Blossom" stamp with copper powder from Ranger on black cardstock.  The edges were punched using a Fiskers "Lace" corner punch and then the edges sponged with white craft ink to soften the edges and look.  To make the punch stand out in the corners of the image panel, I inserted a bit of white paper behind and used a corner punch to set off the upper left corner for interest.

Also for interest, I used a white panel to anchor the main image panel and heat embossed that with the copper powder using SU "Elements of Style" flourish stamp. The same corner punch was used as well as a Martha Stewart scalloped edge punch.  A few copper metal and pearl embellishments were used for balance against the heavy central panel.  You'll also notice the copper edge on the card and the corner punch - that was achieved with a Marvy DecoColor liquid copper marker and I think it was the perfect finishing touch for the card.  What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Recipe:

Stamps - SU Ornate Blossom and Elements of Style

Paper - Sweet Romance "Black Damask Flocked", SU Black and Whisper White

Ink - Versamark

Accessories - Ranger Copper embossing powder, SU corner punch, Fiskers "Lace" corner punch, Martha Stewart scallop edge punch, TPC Studio Ancestral pearl brads



Think on These Things - MMSC70

What a busy weekend it was and I'm only now getting my card posted for the Midnight Madness sketch challenge.  Another great sketch this week from Priscilla's team.

This was pretty quick to do - when I first saw the sketch I had this wonderful stamp in mind from Clear Dollar Stamps.  It is my favorite bible verse - one that has special meaning to me.  It is from Phillipians 4:8 and if you can't read it clearly on my card it says:

Whatsoever things are true,
Whatsoever things are honest,
Whatsoever things are just,
Whatsoever things are pure,
Whatsoever things are lovely,
Whatsoever things are of good report;
If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise; think on these things.

I decided to also use some new coordinating DP I picked up this weekend from Scribble Scrabble "Bric-a-Brac Collection". The colors are nice and Fall-like so I think suited well for this week's challenge. 

I also used the hummingbird from Stampin Up's "Elements of Style" stamp set, stamped in Dusty Durango.  I used one of the floral flourish stamps from the same set as the background to the bible verse, stamping it in Versamark ink for a subtle, interesting look. 

The rest of the card was pure embellishment using Making Memories flourish sparkle chipboard and a branch punch from Martha Stewart.  I also enhanced the hummingbird with my glitter Sakura gel pen.  And the corner punch used is called "Lace" and it's from Fiskars.

I very rarely use a saying as a main focal image but in this case I think it is perfect for this verse to be the main focus of the card.  T.O.T.T. and thanks for stopping by!

A Daisy of a Day!

Well this is a daisy of a day!  I found out in the wee hours of this day that my Poppies card (see previous post here) was selected as one of the Fab 4 on the Play Date Cafe Challenge!  I'm so thrilled about the recognition of my work - it took me all of two seconds to get the logo posted on my blog (see left column under awards!)  Thanks to the Play Date Cafe design team and especially Julie Ranae who led the challenge for the team.  I'm very grateful!

Now on to today's post......  This is the second card I've done using the new Friendship Jar stamp set from Papertrey Ink.  I love this set - there are many more "accessories" from the Friendship Jar Fillers set to use with the jar so you'll probably see more in the coming weeks. 

For this card, after stamping the images with Palette Noir Black ink, I colored the image using the new Pebbles Metallic Cream Chalks. That was my first time using this medium and I loved how silky smooth they go on and I like the metallic finish. Hopefully you can see the sparkle that they give in these photos.  I used the applicator provided as well as a blending stump I had for the tighter areas. These chalks provided a subtle color that I really wanted for this image. 

To finish off the card, I layered the image panel on Not Quite Navy cardstock and then on So Saffron - both from Stampin Up.  The base white cardstock is from Papertrey Ink.  The punches for the edge designs were Stampin up and Martha Stewart. 

Thanks so much to all of you that take the time to visit my blog and comment on my work. I truly appreciate that - it makes for a daisy of a day and puts a smile on my face!

Backwoods Birthday

Well to start off I've been surfing lots of blogs lately, looking at card photos and layout styles in an effort to improve the interest of the photos I take for my blog.  There is a fabulous tutorial of sorts on photo taking at Becky Oehlers blog that I ran across and learned a few things there.  At least it got me thinking about spicing up my card photos - not sure my new photos here are the best example but at least it's a wholehearted try!  One thing she mentioned was that she touched up every photo she used for her blog.  So that's what I tried with this card photo - not just composition but retouching to max the quality of the image.  Let me know what you think.

Now about the card... This is a High Hopes Stamps image that I colored using my copic markers.  I used the Cosmo Cricket DP "Want S'More?" again.  I thought it was perfect for this back-woodsy image.  I used Stampin' Up paper in Soft Suede, Ruby Red and Mustard which match pretty perfectly with the DP.  A bit of distressing on all the edges and the addition of a few buttons (buttons perk up everything) seems to make the card work for me -- and I hope my coworker who is going to get this for his birthday!  He's sort of the outdoorsy type and should like it just fine.

I'd also like to call your attention to my new photo watermark design.  I ordered this online for $2 at Karen Giron's beautiful blogsite (The Sweetest Thing...).  She has a great selection -- different designs and colors available.  She creates them and emails them to you and I have to tell you she is very quick at processing your order and getting them off.  They are really cute designs and easy to order off her site through Paypal.  She even provides great step-by-step instruction on how to import the image with your photo imaging software.  It was easy peasy to do and I love my new design.  I'll tell you it's a lot faster than typing it in every time - that's my favorite part of it!  You can access the Watermark post on her site by clicking here.  I also have a link in my right side bar to that post. 

Thanks so much for visiting me today.  Please take a few minutes to check out the links to my other creations and to the other blog links where those talented women will inspire you as much as they do me.

Flower Garden

This was a fun card to make and pretty quick to put together.  I loved this DP by Making Memories (Vintage Findings) for the bright colors, texture and glossy finish (which was hard to photograph without the flash creating hotspots).  Because the DP is so bold, it really didn't need much in terms of a stamped image so I selected Papertrey Ink's "Garden of Life" set for the floral images and for the butterfly.  I thought these flowers coordinated well with the flowers in the paper.

I used the rock n' roll technique for stamping the flowers to add some depth and interest to the images and try to pick up the same colors.  For the butterfly, I used a Martha Stewart butterfly punch with the same flower stamped image.  I coated it in Versamark and then heat embossed using SU Irridescent Ice EP to sparkle it up.  I used my Nesties Labels 9 dies to cut out the image panel and then distressed the edges with SU Soft Suede ink.  Both Stampin' Up and EK Success scallop border punches were used to edge the top panels in Bermuda Bay and Soft Suede SU In Colors.  I finished it off with Regal Rose ribbon to pick up the pink in the DP. 

Thanks for peeking in to view my creations!

Flutter By Butterfly

This is a quick birthday card I made up for a friend at work.  My inspiration for the colors was taken directly from the DP - Basic Grey's Indian Summer series.  The three main colors are Stampin' Up In Colors - Rich Razzleberry, Curry and Dusty Durango.  Before adherring my elements to the Razzleberry cardstock, I spritzed the card with a mix of SU champagne shimmer paint with 70% alcohol.  You can see a bit of the shimmer that gave to the base card.  I used this on the butterfly images to add a bit of sparkle there too.

The butterfly stamp is from SU Great Friend and I stamped it on the inner color ink first (from top: Curry, Durango, Melon Mambo) and then rocked and rolled the edges on the Razzleberry inkpad before stamping on Whisper White cardstock.  I punched the butterflies out using my SU square punch but using different angles for some interest so they looked like they were fluttering by.  Each butterfly square was then mounted on Durango cardstock and popped up with dimensionals.  The Curry cardstock was punched using a Martha Stewart punch which I thought coordinated really well with the DP design.

Thanks for fluttering by my blog!  Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Flower Vases

Today's Splitcoast Facebook entry featured the most incredible collection of cards by Freshn'Sassy that was uploaded yesterday. I was awed at these vases of flowers that she did on a variety of cards - all basically the same, just a variety of sentiments, colors and patterns. I couldn't wait to get more details.

Thankfully she credited a tutorial by Michelle Zindorf at Freedom and Creating blog. As quickly as I read it, I was reaching for my oval punch, flowers and sponges to make one of these incredible creations myself.
This card is the result.

It's super easy and quick and is essentially punched out ovals that are cut off, sponged for the shadows and perspective, the edge they "sit on" masked and sponged with gray as vase shadows, and then flowers (I just used flowers from Prima and other sources) added. Took me longer to decide how to mat the main panel and what colors to use!

The tutorial is great and the samples from Michelle and Freshn'Sassy are not to be missed - please follow the links to their creations and leave them a comment or two!

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Recipe:
Stamps - A Muse (Happy Retirement)

Paper - More Mustard, Sage Shadow, Dusty Durango, Whisper White
Ink - More Mustard, Sage Shadow, Dusty Durango, Going Gray, Chocolate Chip
Accessories - Flowers by Prima, MS edge punch, decorative brads, Marvey oval punch

Butterflies & Branches

Made this card for the Featured Stamper challenge on Splitcoast today. The featured stamper this week is Minnidr. I chose this card in her gallery to CASE.

I was so taken with her card! For the challenge I changed the birds to butterflies, the colors used and some other slight modifications.

To get the cloud effect on the background, I punched out a SU scallop circle and sponged around it with Brocade Blue ink, moving it around the card to get the right effect. I had a perfect stamp for the branches - Hero Arts "Long Branch" - just stamped it on Chocolate Chip cardstock twice and cut them out. I used my Martha Stewart punch for the leaves.

The butterflies were stamped in Tangerine and Durango for a little variation and interest. I used glue to adhere the butterflies - only the centers so the wings can be folded upward. Topped them off with rhinestones 'cause you just got to have glitter somewhere!

Easy peasy card from a great inspiration piece! Thanks for visiting my blog!

Recipe:

Stamps: SU Great Friend, Hero Arts Long Branch

Cardstock: Brocade Blue, Durango, Mellow Moss, Artichoke, Chocolate Chip

Ink: Durango, Tangerine, Chocolate Chip, Brocade Blue

Accessories: SU Scallop Oval punch, rhinestones