follow your dreams....

Hello friends!!  Wow... the weekend is almost here!  It is so exciting to see so many of you playing along with the first CASology challenge!  Everyone is knocking my socks off with their entries!!   Today I have a card I made for a couple of challenges that I like to do when I can get the chance.  I have been dialing back my participation in various challenges because I just don't have the time and I have way too many cards.  But I just couldn't pass up the happy and bright color combo over at ColourQ.  I also really liked the current Retro Sketches sketch and decided to combine the two.  I'm just squeaking this in for Retro Sketches as the challenge closes in a few hours!

I got out a couple of seriously neglected PTI stamp sets, Botanical Silhouettes and Fillable Frames 3 (in fact sadly all of my PTI sets are very neglected!), along with the bright and sunny designer paper from the Stampin Up! pack Beyond the Garden.  I also got out one of my favorite border punches, Upper Crust, and used it on the card, as well.  The notebook die is from PTI.   I was very literal in my interpretation of the sketch except that I left off the buttons and twine and used just three little green rhinestones.  I quite like how it turned out.

Thanks for stopping by....

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI; DP:  SU!; Stamps:  PTI; Inks:  SU! More Mustard, Choc. Chip & Pear Pizzazz; Gems:  Hero Arts; Punch Fiskars

celebrate!

Hello, friends!!   No post today for the ODBD Shining the Light challenge... which is kinda weird for me.  So, thought I would have gotten my card for this week's LIM challenge done and posted by now, but that didn't happen!   And my card is such a simple one, too!   Anywho... finally getting it posted now.

The LIM challenge this week is a color challenge and since England is celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Chrissie and Mandi thought it very appropriate that the colors be red, white and blue (the colors of the British flag or Union Jack).   After I saw what the LIM challenge was I roamed around blogland a bit and saw that the new sketch for Retro Sketches had been posted.  It was perfect for the LIM challenge.   Very clean and super simple.   I used a strip of patterned paper from my Taylored Expressions Key Ingredients kit, as well as one of the canvas resist flowers.  I inked it up with Barn Door Distress Ink, but felt it wasn't red enough so I added some SU!'s Riding Hood Red to deepen the color.  I spritzed the flower with Perfect Pearls Mist to dampen it and make the flower easy to shape a bit.   Some red bakers twine was added to the button and then adhered to the center of the flower once it was dry.   The sentiment "celebrate" is from the TE set Vintage Dreamer.

Thanks for stopping by....  think I will try to catch some of the Jubilee celebrations if I can.  My paternal grandfather was born in England.  King's Lynn, Norfolk to be exact.  When he came to the US Queen Victoria was on the throne!   When Elizabeth was crowned queen he was in his late 60s, but I'm sure he probably watched her coronation with great interest.   I'm sure he would be surprised to know that 60 years later she is still queen!!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; PP:  Pebbles; Canvas resist flower; Button:  PTI; Twinery Baker's Twine - Red; Stamps:  TE Vintage Dreamer

thanks... ever so much!

Hello, friends!   Have a card today that I made using the current sketch from Retro Sketches, as well as the colors from CR84FN.  Haven't done a CR84FN challenge in ages.   Couldn't resist the beautiful color combo of lavendar, celery and grey.  I used a couple of older Hero Arts stamps for this one.

The tag for the card was die cut using my ODBD tag die and then stamped with the Hero Arts rose image using  SU! Certain Celery ink.  I stamped the flowers again using SU!'s Wisteria Wonder ink, colored them with a Copic marker and then trimmed them out.  A bit of lace from the Funkie Junkie was colored with a Copic Marker (T1) and added to the tag after I stamped the sentiment using London Fog ink.  To give a bit more interest to the card front I added a strip of white cardstock that was stamped with the Hero Arts Envelope Pattern background stamp using London Fog ink.  Some of the same lace was added to the bottom of that piece.   For additional interest I added a strip of embossed dots to the card base using a little strip embossing folder that I have had for ages and never used!  The tag was finished with some Certain Celery ribbon and bakers twine in the same Wisteria Wonder color.   As the lace I used is from the Funkie Junkie, I'm going to be popping this into the "Sunday Share" over at the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog.

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SU! Wisteria Wonder; Ink:  London Fog, Certain Celery & Wisteria Wonder; Ribbon:  SU! Certain Celery; Bakers Twine:  SU! Wisteria Wonder; Lace:   7/8 Venise Lace Trim; Copic marker; Die:  ODBD tag die

Mellow Yellow...

Hey there... Hope your weekend has been going well.   Spent part of the day helping my oldest write a report for his Social Studies class on the Crusades.   And I have to say I learned a thing or two along the way!  Anywhoo... have a card that works for several different challenges:  Less is More (color challenge:  yellow); Retro Sketches, Flourishes (use a butterfly) and Catered Crop (use something starting with the letter B - butterfly).   This also works for CAS-ual Fridays... so maybe I will pop it into that challenge, as well.

Back in April I was super lucky and won the entire April Flourishes release... three beautiful stamp sets and a gorgeous background stamp!  For my card I decided to use the background stamp, Antique Lace, along with stamps from two other Flourishes sets:  Clematis & Butterflies & Botanical Bookplates.   I stamped the Antique Lace on white cardstock using SU!'s So Saffron, trimmed it to fit the card front and adhered using foam dimensionals.  I cut another piece of white cardstock and stamped the sentiment in bottom corner and then the butterflies were stamped using So Saffron ink.  A piece of So Saffron grosgrain ribbon was then tied around the piece.  This piece was then adhered using more foam dimensionals.  I stamped the another butterfly using Tuxedo Black ink, colored it with Copic markers and trimmed it out.  A light coating of Diamond Stickles was applied and then the butterfly was adhered to the card as shown.  I seem to be in a white on white with a pop of color mood right now as this is the third one I have made in the last several days.  IThe is just something about a crisp white card that makes me happy!

Thanks for stopping by....

Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  Flourishes; Inks:  Memento & Stampin Up!; Ribbon:  Stampin Up!; Rhinestones:  Stampin Up!

3 Flowers....

Hey there.... happy Wednesday!  Have a little card I made for three challenges:  A Blog Named Hero's Topsy-Turvy,  ColourQ and Retro Sketches.  I love it when I can make one card and have it work for several different challenges!

The ColourQ combo this week was another tough one for me, but I knew that the graphic style of this week's Retro Sketch would work well with them.   I had planned on using one of the text image stamps from PTI's Text Styles border set to create the strip across the card front, but when I saw the new A Blog Named Hero challenge to use sentiment stamps in a way different from what they were meant to be used as I decided to use a couple of sentiments from the HA set Year Round Sentiments.  The flowers are from another HA set Bold Pop Designs.   Despite the fact that the flowers do cover up some of the sentiments, you can still figure out that it says "I miss you" and "Thinking of you".   I was quite impressed that I managed to get everything to line up so well just by eyeballing it!   I stamped a flower in the following colors, Ruby Red, Pool Party & So Saffron and then cut them out using the matching die.  Clear rhinestones were added to the centers.   The sentiments were stamped using Early Espresso.  I rounded the opposite corners of the card front to add an additional bit of interest.

Thanks for stopping by.....

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  Bold Pop Designs & Year Round Sentiments; Inks:  Stampin Up!; Dies:  Sizzix; Rhinestones: Want2Scrap & Stampin Up!

peaches...

{For my Shining the Light post, click here}

Hey there... back with a card for this week's Timeless Tuesday challenge.  The challenge this week is to use fruit on your project.  Flourishes has lots of stamp sets that feature fruit, unfortunately I only own one of those sets:  Cherries & Peaches.   Definitely need to change that situation!!    The layout for the card is based on the current sketch from Retro Sketches.   Lovin' those Retro Sketches!!   The card I submitted for last week's Retro Sketch earned a shout out... thanks, ladies!!!

Earlier in the day I had made a card that used papers from the My Mind's Eye Sunshine 6x6 pad and I had some of those scraps laying around so I decided to continue in that theme with this card.  I stamped the peaches image using SU!'s More Mustard, trimmed out the image and then applied some Scattered Straw and Spiced Marmalade distress inks to the image.  After that was done a light coating of Diamond Stickles was applied.  Some of the patterned paper was trimmed to fit the sketch, as was a piece of cream cardstock.  The edges of the cream piece were distressed with Ranger's Old Paper distress ink.  Added a bit of lace and then layered two buttons together using some brown twine.  I also finished the interior of the card with some patterned paper and the remainder of the lace.  The sentiment was stamped inside, as well.

Thanks for stopping by....

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI Vintage Cream; Stamps:  Flourishes; Ink:  SU! and Ranger; Lace:  unknown; Diamond Stickles; Buttons:  PTI; Twine:  May Arts

happy birthday!

{For my Shining the Light post, click here}

Hey there!!   Happy Easter everyone!!  Here with a little card that works for three different challenges:  Less is More - 3 shades of green; Retro Sketches & Timeless Tuesday - birthday cards.   When I started making this card I hadn't planned for it to work for three different challenges.  But as I was finishing it up I decided to use a sentiment from the Flourishes Sweet Violets set for the little banner.  It was at that point I remembered that the Timeless Tuesday challenge is to make a birthday card.  So I used the "Happy Birthday" sentiment from the set.   Chrissie and Mandi should be happy with all the white space I left on the card this week.  I really like the simplicity of the Retro Sketch this week, so I think I will have to create another project using it.

I had made a little rose using the Spellbinders Rose Creations dies and decided that the little single violet leaf from the set would be perfect to use with the flower.   The three shades of green I used are all from Stampin Up!:  Gable Green (a retired SU! color), Pear Pizzazz and Wild Wasabi.    Finally busted out some of the really cute pleated ribbon that Stampin Up! had in the spring mini... that is the Pear Pizzazz color on the card.  The sentiment and leaves were stamped using Wild Wasabi.  The mat is the Gable Green.   I'm a bit disappointed with the flower, but I think that is mainly because I haven't made many flowers using the Rose Creation dies and so I'm still getting the hang of making flowers with them.  Anywhoo... that's it for now.

Thanks for stopping by....

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white & SU! green; Ink:  SU!; Ribbon:  SU!; Stamps:  Flourishes; Dies:  Spellbinders Rose Creations

LIM - Lucky Dip

Hey there!!   I have my card for this week's Less is More challenge.  Since there were five Saturdays in March, the last challenge for the month is what they refer to in the UK as a "lucky dip" which is basically the same thing as a "wild card" here is the US.   For our lucky dip Chrissie and Mandi provided a lovely inspiration photo with accompanying color swatches.  And since I'm a stickler for all colors being represented I had to make sure that I worked all the colors into my card.    I also decided to incorporate the new sketch from Retro Sketches into my card.   The stamps used are from the SU! set Every Moment.  Love those sweet line drawn images.  The daisy image was perfect for the challenge.    I colored the image with some Copic markers and then trimmed it out.   Not a ton of white space on this one, but still pretty clean and simple, I think.

Thanks for stopping by... hope your weekend is going well!  :)

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SU! light pink; PP:  SU!; Copic Markers; Ink: Tuxedo Black; Pear Pizzazz; Buttons:  PTI; 

thinking of you....

Hey there!! A quick post with a card for several challenges.  I recently found a new sketch challenge "retrosketches" and decided to give it a try.  The challenge was started by Arielle of ColourQ fame and so I knew right away that it would be a fun one.  This is their second challenge.  I missed the first one cuz I just couldn't find something else to combine it with before the challenge closed.  I'm also putting this into the current CASE Study challenge.  I really liked the inspiration card and thought I would play along.  I used the Hero Arts/Sizzix set Chandeliers & Chairs as it was perfect for the challenge.   I have also popped this into the CAS challenge over at Splitcoaststampers.  The challenge this week is to use white and shades of blue.  The inks are from Stampin Up! (Night of Navy & Marina Mist), as is the dark blue cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by....

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SU! Night of Navy; Inks:  SU!; Stamps:  Hero Arts; Dies:  Sizzix