This card is for a challenge called As You See It (Paper Mosaic #176) which this week was a sketch. The final card is a flip of the sketch, however that wasn't actually intentional.
The DP is called Meadowlark made by My Mind's Eye; though it has probably been in my stash for a long while, I love it and am glad to be able to finally use it. This DP was used on a card last week so there were scraps to spare and, thankfully, the page with the bird was still intact, and could be used for the background. Because the paper is so neutral, I decided to use Daffodil Delight card stock to backup the sentiment (Altenew) then followed that up with matching cross stitching for the embellishment. I like how this card turned out and will use the sketch again for other scrap cards.
Here is the story on how the card was flipped. When participating in a sketch challenge, I print out the sketch and tape it next to my craft table so I can refer to it while working. I was either not paying attention or was in a hurry, and hung the sketch upside down. As it turns out it worked perfectly for this card because of the placement of the bird on the DP; but I can't honestly claim I flipped it intentionally. To the left is a picture of my craft table and the sketch hanging on the wall.
It wasn't until I jumped over to the blog to grab the IP address that I realized my card was upside down.
Thank you for stopping by.
Carole
When I saw this week's Fab Friday #138 Challenge included Melon Mambo, my favorite hot pink, I had to jump in!
I love the way it turned out.
There are lots of layers here, starting with the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set which was stamped with Versamark, I then poured Melon Mambo embossing powder over the ink, shook off the extra, then poured Iridescent Ice embossing powder over the Melon Mambo. Just a bit of the II stuck, but it was enough to give it come sparkle.
The next layer was SU's new shimmer paste using a stencil from Prima. I love this paste, and though you can't tell from the picture, it shimmers beautifully.
The Flourish Thinlit die set came next, using vellum card stock, Whisper White and Melon Mambo. I only have the markers in Powder Pink and Flirty Flamingo, and that is what was used to color in the flower/buds which were also given a layer of Wink-of-Stella.
The frame used to gather all the elements is from My Favorite Things and three were cut and layered so it pops up without dimensional's. However the three buds on the end of the two stems do have dimensional's popping them up. Lastly "Thank you" from the Gift of Love hostess set was stamped with Melon Mambo; then sequins from a "extra packet" that came with a sweater I bought at Christmas, was just the right color and added touch.
My apologies for the bad lighting, which is doubly sad because this card just shimmers so nicely in the light.
Hope you all have a great week.
Carole
I realized late last evening that the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge (#338) would be closing today which didn't leave much time to create a card. So instead of spending time pondering how to "wow" up a card I decided to keep it simple and take the sketch exactly as it is. This was a great sketch to work with; thank you Kim.
The DP is is actually plain black & white, so I used a Distress marker to add touches of pink. I like the little accents of color so I might try this again with a different layout.
Thank you for stopping by.
Carole
Stamps: SSS - Beautiful Words
Card stock: MFT - Grout; Bazill - Dawn; My Minds Eye DP - Meadow Lark
Extras: Lucy's Cards sequins; black thread, Kaiser Craft rhinestone; Distress marker - Spun Sugar.
I have two cards for this week's Color Throwdown #494, below is the first one which I started mid-week.
I find using red, white and blue together very challenging so I was not going to skip this week's challenge.
The main image is embossed then water colored using Distress Inks. The sentiment was stamped on vellum card stock and embossed with an old Stampin Up! red embossing powder. I used Wink-of Stella on the clouds to give them a nice shimmer.
The kite stamp is by Paper Smooches and the sentiment is Little Inkers.
Thanks for stopping in.
Carole
For Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #337.
The sketch this week is wonderful and has tons of possibilities. Unfortunately I was so blown away by the Design Team's wonderful creations that everything I came up with was just blah.
Which brings me to my card. After hours of trying to make this work, I finally reached out to a friend for some suggestions/input on what is not working (as in the whole darn thing) but she loves it!! So no help there.
So it is what it is even if I'm not completely happy with it. I'll probably try to execute the idea again in a couple days and it may or may not get a better 2nd life. I'm sure once I sleep on it I'll figure out what I need to do to "fix" it. Or it will just grow on me, which sometimes happens. I guess I'm my own worse critic.
The card is made entirely from scraps. The flower die, I believe, is Lawn Fawn and the sentiment is My Favorite Things.
Thank you for stopping in.
Carole
I have wanted to make a card using a sentiment word die that is stacked for some time. I finally purchased a die a few weeks back and this is the card. This card is for Color Throwdown Challenge #493 which this week is to use aqua and lime and white.
I really liked how it turned out so I'll probably make more of these in different colors.
Distress inks Tumbled Glass and Twisted Citron were used, with just a touch of Mermaid Lagoon on the very edges. The BG stamp is SSS Flower Medallion with Hero Arts white embossing power on Neenah Solar White card stock. After blending, I cut out the "thanks" die which is from My Favorite Things, glued the main image to the base which is Bazill's Crystal Blue card stock. Then the "thanks" was cut out three more time in the Bazill; the letters were all stacked and glued then added to the card. I used a sliver of the Bazill to stamp "So Much", added a good number of Kaiser Craft rhinestones and called it done.
We're having thunder storms today (not severe) so I had to place the card right on the window ledge to get a good picture.
I'm going to curl up with a book for the rest of the day and enjoy the quite.
Thank you for stopping by.
Carole
This Happy little card is for two challenges:
Fab Friday #137 (sketch) and The Card Concept #93 (floral centerpiece).
Not much to really tell about this card other than I messed up when stamping the "birthday" and had to trim the left edge down. Doing that took away what was exposed of the bar that runs from the "Happy". I had to pull one flower off and tried to position the large pink flower so that a bit of the black bar remained.
For The Card Concept, this entry for Clean and Layered.
Thank you to both design teams for the wonderful inspiration; and thank you for stopping by.
Carole
Supplies:
Stamps: SSS - Artful Flowers; Reverse Confetti - Lots To Say
Card Stock: Neenah Solar White; SU! Basic Black; 90lb watercolor paper
Dies: SSS - Designer Flowers; Memory Box - Lorelai Leaf; PTI Happy set
Additional: Zig watercolor markers, Stickles, sequins
My card for this weeks CASE(E) This Sketch #272:
About the card: The card was made using scrap bits I keep in a bowl on the craft table. This bowl contains die bits and stamped pieces that were intended for cards that I probably couldn't execute the way it was envisioned. Sadly that happens a lot. The bits used for the card below were intended for a color challenge that closed before I could pull the card together, that's how the bits ended up in the bowl.
Not so sure I've captured this challenge in the right way; looking on it now, it looks like there is supposed to be one focal point with the other elements more in the background. Add to that the huge sentiment stamp I tossed into the middle and well, it got pretty busy and not so much on track with the sketch. However, this card was inspired by LeAnne's lovely sketch, so here it is.
Another Blond Moment: So I have to tell the story about posting this card. When I jumped over to CTS to copy the IP address for this current challenge, I became a little confused because when the blog popped open there was my card from the last challenge. Of course as usual not all cylinders were firing in my brain, and I thought I had opened my own blog so I close the window and tried again but there was my card. My next thought was that I had somehow managed change the IP address for CTS, under the bookmarks folder, to my own blog. Mind you the CTS blue and white header was right there, plain as day; but, nooo my brain does not make the connection. I was just about to close the window again when it hit me. O.M.G. My card from last week was selected!
Needless to say I was thrilled especially considering the other gorgeous entries. So a big Thank you to the Design Team at CAS(E) This Sketch for choosing the pretty poppy card.
Thank you for stopping by.
Carole
The Bit Bowl:
Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Me=Grateful
Card Stock: SU! Melon Mambo, 140lb water color paper (which has its own story that needs to be told)
Dies: Memory Box Pennington Rose Corner/Blossoms
Markers: SU! Pink Pirouette, Pretty In Pink, Melon Mambo, greens (don't remember which ones)
Embellishments: Wink Of Stella, sequins
This is my submission for this weeks CAS(E) This Sketch.
I struggled with this one all week and there are three cards, all completely different, in my trash bin that failed. Late Monday night I finally worked up this card and tonight I finished it up with some sequins.
It's a bit hard to see, but in the window there is a scrap of DP that has a diamond pattern on it. I was thrilled to find it because it was the "piece" that finally made this card, and challenge, come together for me.
Thank you for stopping by.
Carole
Supplies:
Stamps: Altenew - Birthday Greetings
Dies: SSS - Small Folder Banners; Memory Box - Pinpoint Single Frame and Darling Poppies
Card Stock: My Favorite Things - Grout Gray
Additional supplies: Copic markers, Pretty Pink Posh sequins
My submission for this weeks Less Is More Challenge; using the colors for the challenge logo.
Using an old PTI die, I cut out some Neenah Solar White card stock then used the "frame" as a stencil to lay down a a side-by-side row of paste. I wanted to use the paste for the white diamonds to give it a different texture, which doesn't come across in a photo, but does had a really nice look and feel IRL.
While the paste dried I watch a movie and colored in a few of the diamonds using Copic markers, then grabbed what was left of the frame to line up and glue down blue, gray and yellow diamonds.
I was trying to go for a random diamond pattern. It wasn't quite working so the sequins were added, which I think helped random it up a bit more.
Using the same gray card stock that is the base card, the sentiment was embossed with white powder then popped on using foam tape.
Thank you for stopping by.
Carole
Supplies:
Stamps: Impression Obsession - You Made My Day
Card Stock: Neenah - Solar White, SU! - Smokey Slate
Copic Markers (C1, Y11, B00); Taylor Made Squins; Ranger Paste; Hero Arts White Embossing Powder (my personal favorite).
I asked Darnell if she was still hosting the NBUS Challenge, but she said it had run its course and was now supporting a new challenge called Twofer Challenge. So I headed over to this new challenge and decided to jump in and play along. Below are my submissions for the May Twofer Challenge.
The first card is a CASE of a lovely card created by Laurie Schmidlin for Spellbinders. Her card is here.
Due to the size of the butterfly and to retain the overall feel of Laurie's card, I made this card size A6 instead of the normal A2. I added a vellum layer to soften down the background stamping a bit, and went a bit overboard on the sequins. The butterfly is glitter paper colored with Copics.
The sympathy card base is a very soft blue/green, however it looks a bit gray on my computer. The butterfly was colored with Copic markers and the background was stamped using VersaMark and left to dry.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day. My son is treating me to a nice dinner tonight. Until then, I think I might take a stab at the current LIM challenge.
Thank you for stopping by,
Carole
Supplies:
Stamps - SSS Beautiful Day, Clearly Besotted - Mixed Sentiments, Impression Obsession Sympathy Sentiments; PTI Turning a New Leaf
Dies: Memory Box- Devonshire Butterfly, My Favorite Things - Stitched Ovals
Card Stock: Neenah Solar White 110lb, Bazzil Sea Breeze
This card is for two challenges, Freshly Made Sketches 336 and Color Throwdown 492.
I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out. I was aiming for a more masculine card and this leans that way.
While the sketch didn't take me but a second to work out, I struggled with the color challenge all week. Yellow is my least favorite color, and therefore the hardest for me to use. Because yellow is such a mental block, I try to take on challenges using this color occasionally. I have to admit, I kept returning to Amy Rohl's sample card for inspiration. It's simply "Fabulous".
This card is size A6. Stamps: Clearly Besotted Sunburst and Reverse Confetti Celebrations. Inks: Altenew Fresh Lemon and Ruby Red (and let me just say these inks are so nice to work with) along with Mama Elephant Moonlight, sentiment is Hero Arts white pigment. Card stock: SU! Yoyo Yellow and Basic Grey. The enamel dots are My Minds Eye. Die by Memory Box. I think that covers it.
Thank you for stopping by.
Carole
This card is for the CAS Christmas May Challenge.
Have you ever messed up a card, but didn't actually realize it until you were too far into the process to correct the problem? That's this card.
This was supposed to have been a shaker card. I laid down all the foam tape around the back of the die, sprinkled in the sequins and snowflakes, carefully ripped off all the tape backing, laid the base down on the die/sequins, then picked up the card only to see the acetate still sitting on the table... along with all the sequins! The acetate was never on the back side of the die, it was on the front. I just stood there and laughed over the fact that it never registered in my brain that the acetate wasn't under the foam tape.
So I improvised and this is the result.
Thankfully I have a lot of snowmen stamps so maybe I can take another go at this challenge this weekend.
Hope you all have a good evening and/or day.
Thanks for stopping by.
Carole
Glitter paper by Stampin' Up; die and sentiment by Memory Box; felt My Favorite Things; bling on hat is unknown, bling buttons Kaiser Craft; sequins Lucy's.
PS
: Darnell - If you stop in, I am tapping into all my NBUS
like crazy. Do you still do the NBUS
challenge?
This weeks challenge at Less Is More is a sketch, this is challenge 370, sketch 23.
I'm on the fence about the sentiment embossed on black card stock. I see so many cards with this style and really like it; but maybe it's not working well on the Kraft card stock base. And maybe its just me. :D
My Dad sent me a beautiful set of Farber-Castell watercolor pencils years ago just before he passed away. Sadly they have been collecting dust all this time, but these will be getting more use going forward. I first stamped the leaves with Distress Antique Linen. Then I colored the leaves with the watercolor pencils. After drying, I stamped the leave again with Distress Crushed Olive. I really like how they turned out.
The card stock (kraft and black) is from My Favorite Things. The leaf stamps are from Create a Smile-Time to Say Thanks; the sentiment is from WPlus9-Fresh Cut Florals. Don't know who makes the little bling dots, they were loose in my stash.
Thank you for stopping by.
Carole
This week at CAS(e) this Sketch the Design Team decided to go retro and pulled a very nice sketch from their archives.
I hope my interpretation holds up to the design intent.
This was a fun card to make. This is WPlus9's Sending Sunshine stamp and coordinating die set, which I've have for a few years, but have never used.
Excluding the base, all the card stock used is from the scrap bin. The Stampin' Up glitter paper was color blended with Copic markers Y06, YR16 and RV09.
UPDATED: I found a much better room to take pictures so have updated the photo. Now the colors are very true and it doesn't look like the whole base has been colored.
Thank you for stopping by.
Carole
It has been over two years since I have made a card for a challenge. It feels wonderful to be back in the craft room. Hopefully I can get a bit of creativity mojo flowing through my fingers.
This is for Merry Monday Christmas #288, and the challenge is to make a card without using stamps.
EDIT: The dies are both from Simon Says Stamp. The card stock is Stampin' Up's Slate and their glitter paper which was used for the leaves and sentiment. I used several YG Copic's for the leaves and R37 for the sentiment. The pearls are super old Kaiser Craft. My Photography skills are still lacking so I wasn't able to capture all the sparkle.
I packed up my old craft room 2 years ago for the sale of my former home. I moved into this place a year ago in March, and it has taken me this long to set up my new craft room to a point where I can work in there. The new craft room is smaller than the old room, and the layout leaves less wall space, so it has been a struggle.
I have boxes of old supplies and stamps that I will purge, I just can't bring myself to do that yet.
Thank you for stopping by.
Carole
