So Sorry...a sympathy card - 2 Challenges

Hi...back again tonight with another quick post!  Back to work tomorrow, so it needs to be an early night :)

I have another sympathy card to share.  This one is going into 2 challenges.

RetroSketches - rs#26 - This great sketch is by Danielle Daws

CR84FN Color Challenge 61 - I love these colors together.

My card ~

I decided to use mostly the cream color, with a few accents of aqua and tan.  I like the soft colors for a sympathy card.  Well, as I said, a short post.  I'll list my supplies below.

I appreciate you spending a minute or two at my blog!

Supplies:

card stock: kraft (PTI), very vanilla (SU)

ink: vintage sepia Versafine

stamps: signature greetings II (PTI), hope & comfort (SU) the verse was used inside the card

other: cream felt, simple stripes impression plate, notched flower die (PTI), leaves die (Sizzix), labels one die (Spellbinders), flat back pearls (Recollections at Michaels), foam dimensionals (SU), mono multi glue

With Sympathy - 3 Challenges

Once again, the weekend is almost over.  And I'm just now getting around to posting.  I have good reasons, though.  My crafting friends and I went to the Scrapbook Expo on Friday.  What a fun day, with fun friends!  I'm so blessed by their friendships.
I've also spent a lot of time at my craft table.  Several items for customers, but I also created a couple of sympathy cards.  These, unfortunately, need to be sent out right away.

This first card (I'll be posting the other card right away) is going into 3 challenges.

The Movement Challenge at the Moxie Fab World - Cath has SO many fun challenges going on right now.  If only I had time to play along in all of them!

The Paper Players Sketch Challenge PP110 - LeAnne has given us quite an interesting sketch to inspire us.

The Play Date Cafe - Make a Splash Challenge PDCC #146

This is my card ~

The tree stamp that I used is actually from the Love & Marriage stamp set by PTI.  But, I think it works very well on a sympathy card.  I colored in a few random leaves with a lucky limeade marker....the same color as the sentiment panel.  I love the clean crisp look of black and white with just a splash of lime.  Simple but striking.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by!

Supplies:

card stock: lucky limade (SU), white (PTI)

ink: lucky limeade (SU), onyx black Versafine

stamps: love & marriage, simple sentiments, bb: postmarks (PTI)

other: double banner die (PTI), foam dimensionals (SU)

Sending you sunshine - Freshly Made Skethes

Hello!  I found a challenge blog recently that is new to me.  Freshly Made Sketches #48.  They've got some great sketches, so I decided that it's time to join in :)

Here's my interpretation...

This card is going out to someone who has been dealing with some major health issues.  So, I wanted the colors to be soft and sunny.  And those sunflower stamps are fitting for this time of year, when summer is winding down.  After stamping the border of flowers, I swiped some frost white ink around the edges of the card base.  I also inked the edges of the brown card stock and my sentiment panel. If you click on a photo, for a larger image you can see that I also stamped the sunflowers in white on the sentiment panel.
The only embellishments are the 3 tiny pearls in the lower right corner.

Thanks for spending a little time here.  I hope you'll leave a comment...I love reading them :)

Supplies ~

card stock: barely banana, close to cocoa (SU)

ink: peach parfait, tangerine tango, close to cocoa, early espresso (SU), frost white (Color Box)

stamps: simple sunflowers (PTI)

other: stampin dimensionals, craft sponges (SU), brown half pearls (Michaels)

Happy Birthday - Color Throwdown Challenge

Hi. Well, the weekend is winding down isn't it?  It goes SO fast.

I'm sharing a card that I made for the Color Throwdown Challenge CTD205.  It's been quite a while since I've joined in.  But, when I checked out the colors for this week...I had to give it a try.  Very pretty combo.  Take a look.

That wedding cake photo is gorgeous, but I was more inspired by those blocks of the challenge colors - along the right side of the photo.  I originally thought that I should go primarily with white and just a few small pops of color.  Hmmm.  Nope.  I just had to do some color blocking :)

So, this is what I created.

I pulled out my Top Note Sizzix die from Stampin' Up!.  Love that die, but I hadn't used it in a while.  This was so easy!  I adhered strips of cardstock to a base of whisper white, then ran it thru my Big Kick with the die.  The word "you" is also a die cut.  Since my happy birthday sentiment stamp included the work "you", I had to ink the stamp very carefully to avoid inking that one tiny word.  A piece of pool party finished off the panel.  Then I used dimensionals to adhere the panel to my card base.

Thanks so much for spending a few minutes here!

Supplies:

card stock: lucky limade, pool party, whisper white, pumpkin pie, wisteria wonder (Stampin' Up!)

ink: onyx black (Versafine)

stamps: signature greetings II (Papertrey Ink)

other: pool party seam binding, top note die, dimensionals (SU), wonderful words die (PTI), sticker maker (Xyron)

Knowledge is the key - 2 challenges

Hello, it's Saturday and we have beautiful weather...in the mid 70's.  What a blessing! 
I'm sharing a card today that I made for a co-worker.  She's leaving to go back to school.  So, I wanted make a card and a bit of a gift, too.

I'm playing along in two challenges today.
The Play Date Cafe Challenge #145.  I loved these colors as soon as I saw the graphic, below.  And, seeing the book & that heart garland made with book print?  Yeah, that sealed the deal for me.  You'll see why.

RetroSketches rs#25.  I play along with their sketches every chance I get, because they're just fun!

I created these ~

A card and 2 coordinating bookmarks.  I already knew that I wanted to use my book print impression plate for this set...that's just one of the reasons that the PDCC graphic caught my eye.  I used the impression plate on both the card and the bookmarks.
If you click on any of the photos, I think you'll be able to see the words from the impression plate.  It's subtle, but really adds so much texture.
For the stamped keys behind the sentiment, I stamped off onto scratch paper once before stamping onto my panel.  On my first try it was just too dark.  I wanted a softer look, so that the sentiment wouldn't be overpowered. 
Oh, by the way, I used one end of a Spellbinder die to cut the top of my bookmarks.  It took a little experimenting, since I couldn't remember exactly how I've seen it done on a other blogs.  It wasn't too hard to figure out and I really like the results. 
I'll list my supplies below, but if you have any questions...let me know.

Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies:

card stock: white (PTI), really rust, going gray, more mustard (SU)

ink: more mustard, really rust, going gray (SU), onyx black (Versafine)

stamps: lock & key (PTI)

other: more mustard grosgrain ribbon (SU), lock & key dies, book print impression plate (PTI), labels six die (Spellbinders), vintage button, twine (from my stash)

Hey there - Retro Sketches 24

Hi, just a very short post to share a card I made for Retro Sketches #24.  Their sketches are always fun to play with, but this one was sure a "challenge" for me.  But, it finally came together!

Here's the sketch:

And, here is what I eventually created!

I apologize for the wonky photo.  By the time I realized it looked so crooked, I didn't have enough daylight to do a re-take.  Grrr...

I traced around a roll of scor-tape to get the circle of patterned paper I needed.  None of my dies was quite the right size.  The flower die cuts are stacked with foam tape, for some added dimension.  I added some bling here and there and a fun verse...and I was done!  It looks simple right?  Then why did it take me so long?

Just in case you're interested, I'm including a shot of the shoes and purse I created, to coordinate with this card.  My customer asked for lots of bling...and she got it :)

Thanks so much for taking a look today.

Supplies:

card stock: island indigo, whisper white, real red...on the shoes (SU)

dsp: summer smooches (SU)

ink: onyx black (Versafine)

stamp: signature greetings (PTI)

other: notched flower die (PTI), gem flowers (The Paper Studio), rhinestone flourish (Recollections by Michaels)

Hang in there... CAS-ual Fridays Challenge

I'm back for a second post today.  I saw the challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays CFC64 yesterday, and I had an idea right away.  I just didn't know if I'd have time to make the card this weekend.  Well, I managed to put my idea on paper...and then cardstock :)

Here is the challenge:

A clean and simple project featuring things you'd see in the sky.

And this is the idea that popped into my brain:

This little squirrel-y guy is part of the Hang In There stamp set from Paper Smooches.  I've used him several times before and he's such a fun little character!  The stamp has his arms reaching above his head.  Well, I decided to cut his arms and paws off - oh dear, that doesn't sound good.  Anyway, then place his paws over the edge of the cloud as if he's holding on.  I gave him a shiny nose with some glossy accents, then I just HAD to add some google eyes.  Had to.
And you know what?  This card turned out just the way I pictured it.  That really doesn't happen very often...lol.

Thanks so much for spending a minute or two at my blog.  I hope you'll leave a comment!

The card recipe:

card stock: white (PTI), crumb cake (SU)

patterned paper: follow your heart be happy 6 x 6 pad (My Mind's Eye)

stamps: hang in there (Paper Smooches), heartfelt mix (WPlus9)

ink: early espresso (SU)

other: dies cloud duo (A-Muse Studio), wiggle eyes (Creatology by Michael's), glossy accents (Ranger)

A crafty day, a crafty cousin!

Hi!  Yesterday my cousin Cheryl came over to spend the day with be.  We spent the day at my craft table.  As usual, we each made a few cards.  But then.  We did something a little different.  Well.  Maybe a lot different! We spent the rest of the day altering cigar boxes.  Cheryl supplied the cigar boxes; I supplied the craft space.  Our friend Kris had planned to join us, but family matters called.  We sure did miss her smiling face and lively spirit!

So.  Do you want to see what my cuz and I created?  I hope so, because I'm going to show you anyway :o)

This is what I started with.

This is a sturdy wooden cigar box.  Cheryl found a really good deal on these, and bought one for me - just because.  Sweet, huh?

Several hours later.  This is my altered cigar box.  I do believe I've covered every surface of this box.  Inside and out.

I enjoyed this project so much.  Thanks Cheryl!
I used Tim Holtz Ideology tissue tape (Nostalgic pattern) for most of the edges.  It would have been ALL edges and corners, if I hadn't forgotten to do the interior corners and joints.  The designer series paper is all from Stampin' Up!s Botanical Gazette pack.  For embellishments I used a butterfly shape punched from corrugated packing material (using a SU punch).  I also used a flourish of clear rhinestones, some ribbon roses, Cherry Cobbler seam binding (SU), 2 clear faceted buttons (SU) and some vintage lace and vintage trim at the lower right corner.  I'll probably add a stamped sentiment to the inside of the cover.  I see that there is a perfect place for one.

AND, I want to show you what Cheryl created.  It's SO pretty!

Look at that cabbage rose patterned paper that she used on the outside.  Gorgeous!  It actually has some text in the backgound, which is difficult to see in these photos.  That really ties it in with the newsprint and postcard patterns that she used on the inside.  Did you notice the rolled roses on the cover of the cigar box?  This was her first attempt at rolled flowers.  Hard to believe, since those roses turned out so perfectly.  Cheryl added a tiny pearl inside each rose, then placed them atop a bow of pink tulle and looped pink ribbon.  Isn't it all gorgeous?  Oh.  I almost forgot.  She trimmed around the box with a cream color crochet trim by Offray.

I hope you enjoyed taking a look at our creations.  We sure enjoyed the creative process.  And it was such a treat for me to have someone to create with!  I'm usually working on my own.

Thanks for taking a look!
God's Peace,