Card Patterns sketch #170

Hi friends!  I hope you had a great weekend!  Unfortunately we didn't get to go out in the canoe as planned, as the weather was cooler than expected and my daughter wasn't feeling 100%.  But today is her last day of school, so I'm sure we'll find time for some fun adventures in the coming weeks.

Have you checked out this week's Card Patterns sketch?  We hope you'll play along with us this week for a chance to win a prize from Annabelle Stamps.

Annabelle Stamps provided the DT with the cute Dotted Flowers set to use on our samples.  I decided to rotate the sketch vertically so that I could stamp the fun, curly stems for these flowers.  I cut out the blooms by hand and popped them up with foam tape.

The papers are from My Mind's Eye--I folded the strip of blue houndstooth to make a paper bow.  The sentiment was selectively inked to stamp each word on the banner.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (So Saffron), WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Patterned paper:  My Mind's Eye

Stamps:  Annabelle Stamps (Dotted Flowers)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Real Red, Lucky Limeade), Memento (Tuxedo Black)

Tools:  We R Memory Keepers (Corner Chomper)

Accessories: Papertrey Ink (button), DMC floss, thread

Keeping this short and sweet, as I'm off to work!  I hope your week gets off to a great start!  Thanks for visiting.

Card Patterns sketch #169--Sponsored by Annabelle Stamps

Hi there!  How's your weekend going so far?  I'm still entertaining my parents for a few more days, plus my hubby is away at a conference in New Mexico.  As much as I love the summer, it definitely wreaks havoc on my schedule!

In my few free minutes today, I thought I'd pop in and share my card for this week's Card Patterns sketch.

We're sponsored this week by Annabelle Stamps.  Thanks to Annabelle for providing the DT with stamps for our projects this week!

I used the sweet Dotted Flowers set to paper piece a vase and fill it with flowers, then stamped a sentiment from the set.

I used papers from My Mind's Eye Fine and Dandy Girl collection, which inspired my color palette of aqua, coral, and espresso.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Aqua Mist, Berry Sorbet), WPlus9 (White)

Patterned paper:  My Mind's Eye (Fine and Dandy Girl)

Stamps:  Annabelle Stamps (Dotted Flowers)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Early Espresso), Copic marker

Tools:  Spellbinders (circle die), Papertrey Ink (polka dot impression plate)

Accessories:  Papertrey Ink (ribbon)

Stop by the Card Patterns blog to see the rest of the DT samples and to enter your creation for this week.

Thanks for your visit!  Have a great day!

CAS-ual Fridays #52

Hooray for the weekend!  I hope your Friday gets off to a great start!

It's time for a new challenge at CAS-ual Fridays, and I can't wait to see your clean and simple designs with our theme this week:  Feathered Friends.  There are so many fabulous bird images out there, and I'm really looking forward to seeing them in the gallery!

Our sponsor this week is Annabelle Stamps, and they are generously offering up a $20 gift certificate to this week's winner at CAS-ual Fridays.

For my card, I used a bird from WPlus9's Woodgrain Silhouettes Additions and perched him on a set of stitched lines (inspired by an image in WPlus9's Heartfelt Mix stamp set).

The sentiment is from Annabelle Stamps' Garden Silhouettes, stamped in SU's Island Indigo.

I debossed a panel of Basic Gray cardstock with woodgrain, then die cut a window to frame the image and sentiment.  For a pop of color, I added a punched and layered yellow flower with a rhinestone center.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Island Indigo, Basic Gray), Papertrey Ink (White)

Stamps:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Woodgrain Silhouettes Additions), Annabelle Stamps (Garden Silhouettes)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Island Indigo)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (woodgrain impression plate, Mat Stack 1 die), Marvy Uchida (flower punch)

Accessories:  Queen & Co. (rhinestone), DMC floss

I hope you'll play along with us this week!  Be sure to stop by each of the DT blogs to be inspired, then get crafting!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

CAS-ual Fridays #45 and a photo share

Hello, friends!  It's been a few weeks since I had a chance to play along with the CAS-ual Fridays challenge, so I took the opportunity this afternoon to put some ideas to paper.

This week's challenge is to use pastels along with black.  It just so happens that I love the look of aqua, black, and white, so that's where I went with my card.

Not sure if this totally qualifies as clean and simple, since it's a little more technique-y than what I usually do, but I had a lot of fun making it.

First, I stamped the tulip image from Annabelle Stamps Garden Silhouettes several times in Versamark ink onto white cardstock, then heat embossed the images in white.

To create a watercolor effect, I rubbed my Pool Party ink pad directly onto a piece of clear plastic (saved from stamp packaging), spritzed it with water, and used a paintbrush to apply the ink all over the cardstock panel.

Next, I inked up the text background with the Pool Party ink pad and stamped it over the entire panel.  I used a soft cloth to rub the excess ink off of the embossed flowers.

The sentiment is from an A Muse set, Hand Scripted, and I just adore the font, so you'll be seeing it a lot.  And even though these are cling rubber stamps, the labels are already aligned perfectly so you can tell exactly where they'll stamp.  I didn't even need my Stamp-a-ma-jig to get my sentiment lined up perfectly.

The stamped panel was debossed with PTI's Linen & Canvas plate for some subtle texture, then wrapped with black satin ribbon at the top.  A black mat with a scalloped border at the bottom and a sprinkling of gems to highlight the sentiment are the finishing touches.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (True Black, White)

Stamps:  Annabelle Stamps (Garden Silhouettes), A Muse Studio (Hand Scripted), Papertrey Ink (Background Basics:  Text Style)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Pool Party), Tsukineko (Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (Linen & Canvas impression plate), EK Success (border punch)

Accessories:  Filigree (white embossing powder), Michaels (ribbon, rhinestones)

Are you still with me?  Great!  I promised to share a photo from the Paper Smooches card class I attended on Friday night:

What a treat to meet Kim Hughes and Karolyn Loncon for this fantastic class!  Plus I got to spend some time with my sweet stamping friends Jessica and Suzanne.  Don't we look happy?

Thanks so much for visiting!  See you soon for a new ColourQ challenge!

ColourQ #128 & Retro Sketches #2

Hello!  Sorry this post is up late today--I was having some technical difficulties getting my photo uploaded, but all is fixed now.

We're all about the green this week at the ColourQ!  Combining shades of green is always a challenge for me, especially when there are three!  But I got a little help from a sketch on Arielle's new challenge blog, Retro Sketches.  

I know it's hard to tell that all three greens are included, but they are, promise!  This pretty little dandelion stamp is from Annabelle Stamps' Garden Silhouettes.  I stamped it in Wild Wasabi, then added a few dots of Certainly Celery.

The sentiment, tag die, and Sunshine impression plate are from PTI.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Basic Gray, Garden Green), Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream)

Stamps:  Annabelle Stamps (Garden Silhouettes), Papertrey Ink (Dot Spot, Signature Greetings)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Wild Wasabi, Certainly Celery, Basic Gray)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (tag die, impression plate)

Accessories:  Stampin' Up! (ribbon)

Sorry to keep this short, but I have to get back to work!  Thanks for stopping by today, my friends!