Sketch Challenges

 This weekend we had nothing planned and I was able to spend almost 2 full days in my craft room getting inky.  It was productive and my mojo was flowing pretty well.  I completed 30 cards (some were multiples) but was proud that I got so much accomplished.

Of course, my favorites are always sketch and color challenges as it gives me a jumping point.  

You can definitely see the theme of what I was creating (floral):

For the Fusion Card Challenge, I used the colors in the photo with the sketch to base my card on.  I pulled out my Simon Says Stamp Even More Spring Flowers and Verve Stamps Poppy Birthday along with some glitter washi tape and Teresa Collins Now & Then patterned paper from my stash.  I colored the floral image with my aquapainter and inks and embossed the sentiment.

For my next creation, which was more of a challenge because it's the Freshly Made Sketches and it's SQUARE which I don't do often.  

Again, with the floral theme and pulling out some of my patterned papers along with one of my favorite images from Taylored Expressions, Sketchbook Florals and dies.  I colored my image with my copic markers and added the little tag sentiment on.

Hope you've enjoyed the creations and appreciate you stopping by and saying "hi".  

Thank you for your kindness

It's been so long since I've done any blogging, but I have been creating all this time.  

Last night the weather here wasn't too great and plans for the weekend got changed-so I tried to continue on from last week and keep on creating.  I attended the virtual Stamp Joy last weekend and my sister-in-law came over to get crafty.  It was a great day, a lot of fun where I learned some new techniques and stepped out of my comfort zone.

Tonight I broke out a favorite sketch site, Freshly Made Sketches as well as an old set that I had that I wanted to put to use, W-9 Fanciful Feathers.

I turned the sketch on its side to make it work with my images.

Thanks for stopping over to check out my creations today!  I appreciate it and hope you have a wonderful weekend.

 Card details:

Stamps: W-9 Fanciful Feathers, Clearly Besotted Scrumptious Sentiments

Cardstock: Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Confetti Cream

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics

Accessories: Enamel Dots

Poppies & Flowers

This is the first slimline card I’ve made in years. I used the Poppy Bouquet stencils from #simonsaysstamp along with a sentiment from #stampemdous . I do love this color combo! #basementstamper #slimlinecards #stampemdous #simonsaystamp

While I had my Poppy Bouquet stencils from #simonsaysstamp out, I created another card using the #freshlymadesketches 429 along with a sentiment from #stampemdous . Another color combo I will have to use again. #basementstamper #stampemdous #simonsaystamp #freshlymadesketches

Of course I love creating with flowers as they are fun to color so I threw this one together using the Fusion Card Challenge using the sketch & inspiration along with the #simonstaysstamp Summer Garden set with a Stampendous sentiment and My Mind's Eye Flair Paper.  I fussy cut the flower out and used some dimensionals.

Is anyone there?

Is anyone there...hello???  hello???

I know, it has been a good year since I've blogged, can you believe it?  I can't and I'm finally starting to get back into the swing of creating some cards.

Last year shortly after my last post, we put our house of 15 years on the market in search of something a little larger for our family.  It was not an easy process for us, as you can imagine, we collected 15 years worth of stuff and had 2 more kids than when we moved into the house.  We got a storage unit, lots of cleaning and purging and my stamp stuff joined some other stuff at the storage unit to clear out my office.

Fast forward to beginning of 2016 and we finally got an acceptable offer on our place.  It happened very quickly and we were left scrambling to find a place to live.  Thankfully our awesome realtor came through after looking at what seemed like a zillion houses and we closed and moved in the last week in February.

First thing on my list at the new house was to get my stamp area together and make my office what I always wanted it to be.  Granted, I'd love a bigger office, but I will take what I can get.  So with the help of my wonderful husband we spent many house painting, assembling cabinets and shelving, arranging and re-arranging and I finally got my office/studio together. (not a great picture, but you get the idea anyway)

Now, I will admit I have to do some more purging and definitely some more organizing but am slowly getting a few cards made here and there in my new area.

Hoping to be more regular when I have the time and always enjoy the comments and seeing others work so thank you for sticking around if you are still following!

The cards at the very top were some quick thank you's I put together after we had a little welcome to our house party.  Hope you enjoy!

Hello There

Here's a few of the cards that I created first with the Mish Mash kit I bought.  Kept these a little simpler than my previous ones I posted here and here, but I loved these little rolodex cards that were stitched and the sparkly washi tape!

Hope you've enjoyed seeing my creations this week-I know I really enjoyed making them.

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Card details :

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp Sketchy Banner Greetings

Paper: Crumb Cake, Chickaniddy Crafts-Date Night

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Washi Tape-sparkly, Instagram photo courtesy of Michelle Wooderson, brads

Thankful for

Another set of cards utilizing some of my patterned paper stash and the Operation Write Home sketch #186.  I've really tried to keep my cards minimal as I'm hoping to give them as gifts.

This uses the Kaiser Craft Peachy Keen papers.

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Card details:

Stamps: Birthday Messages by Simon Says Stamp!, Building Blocks by Papertrey Ink

Cardstock: Whisper White, Kaiser Craft Peachy Keen, Chocolate Chip

Inks: Chocolate Chip

Embellishments: twine

29 Again?

I love this paper!  The leaves have a wonderful felt feeling to them and of course this is one of my favorite colors.

I know you all will be tired of all my 6 x 6 paper posts, but I'm so happy to be putting them to use-now to just remember to send the cards out or put together some little gifts for the holidays.

Keeping in theme, using another Operation Write Home Sketch #173.  I made the circle flowers out of some of the patterned paper scraps I had.

Enjoy the cards!

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Card details:

Stamps: Birthday Sampler and P.S. Chit Chat from Paper Smooches, Circle Scribbles by Papertrey Ink

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Kaiser Craft Peachy Keen

Inks: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze

Embellishments: circle punches, pearl jewels

Thankful

Last night my great friend and sister-in-law Heather came over with my brother for dinner and some crafty time.  This is the 2nd time in a month we've made time in the evening to do some stamping (me) and Project Life (her).

I only got a few cards done, but this was one of my favorites and probably took me the longest to accomplish due to all the layers with it.

I used the newest Operation Write Home Sketch #243 which involved a lot of layers-but love they provide measurements for you!

I was also drawn to the colors in the latest Color Throwdown Challenge #319 and new this set I had just received was perfect for it.

Hope you enjoy your Sunday-ours is cold and rainy but on the flip side...a perfect day to stay indoors and do some stamping!

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Card details:

Stamps: Favorite Flowers from Simon Says Stamp!

Cardstock: Not Quite Navy, Blushing Bride, Rustic White, Certainly Celery

Inks: same as cardstock

Embellishments: pearls

Fly Away Birthdays!

The past 2 weeks I've been working at making some cards for my stash and for gifts using up some of my 6 x 6 card stock pads-I have a lot of them and need to start using more of them.

So with 2 pads of paper in mind I went to work one day cutting out several dozens of pieces to assemble cards and whenever I've had free time I've been sitting down to stamp/assemble about 4 of them at a time.

For these 2 cards I used the My Mind's Eye Kraft Funday Happy Days paper pack and the Operation Write Home sketch #211.  In retrospect I wish I would have used a bolder color for my circle but wanted it to stand out against then number background.

I die cut my butterfly twice, one with patterned paper and once with vellum.  I then wrapped the body with some twine and tied it off creating some antennae.

This card also ties into the Diva Dare for Day 3 that Charmaine is hosting to use vellum.

I kept my cards pretty clean & simple, very little embellishments-will be sharing a lot of them over the next few weeks, think I made roughly 40 of them using 2 pads of paper (and not even the whole pad).

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Card details:

Stamps: Treasured Words by Verve Stamps

Cardstock: My Mind's Eye Kraft Funday Happy Days, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, vellum cardstock

Inks: Night of Navy

Embellishments: twine, die from Papertrey Ink, spellbinders circle dies

BC391: Give Thanks

It's been a long time since I've participated in blogger's challenge.  

I had told Lisa I needed to really kick my butt in gear to stamp more and so I committed to joining this week and trying to keep up going forward.  I spent some time this week cutting up some of my patterned paper in the hopes to create a ton of cards this weekend and next week.  I have been inspired by seeing these 6 x 6 tutorials (gosh knows I have enough of 6 x 6 papers to last a lifetime).

I kept this one pretty clean and simple and I'm not really happy with my crummy photography on my cards these days either (call it being lazy).

This card is using a variation of the Operation Write Home Sketch #211.  I love these sketches as they give measurements.  I was trying to use up my scraps so I went with what I had.

Hope you will join the Blogger's Challenge and show us how you are giving thanks.

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Card details:

Stamps: Treasured Words and Poppy Birthday from Verve Stamps

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Kaiser Craft Peachy Keen Collection

Inks: More Mustard, Baja Breeze, Calypso Coral, Chocolate Chip

Embellishments: Dimensionals

With Gratitude

This was another set of cards I created for a friend using up some patterned paper packs I have.

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #210

Card details:
Stamps: Chit Chat from Paper Smooches and Blessing from Verve Stamps
Cardstock: Fancy Pants Memories Captured, Basic Black, Rustic White
Inks: Archival Ink Jet Black, So Saffron, Pear Pizzaz
Embellishments: Aquapainter

{Thanks}

Card details:
Stamps: Color Wash by Pink Paislee
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Rustic White
Inks: Old Olive, Cameo Coral, Sahara Sand
Embellishments: Gold stickles

Building Blocks Duo

Sharing a few more cards I created using the Building Blocks Sketch Challenge.  This card uses sketch #1.

Again, trying to use up some of my patterned papers and keeping some cards pretty simple.  

I love the ability to combine different stamp sets with these sketches.

For my card above I used the Poppy Birthday set from Verve and the Birthday Sampler set from Paper Smooches.

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Card details:

Stamps: Poppy Birthday by Verve Stamps, Birthday Sampler from Paper Smooches

Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, Not Quite Navy, Teresa Collins Now & Then

Inks: Not Quite Navy

For this card I used sketch #2 and didn't add anything extra to it.

Card details:

Stamps: Oh Happy Day by Avery Elle

Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, Not Quite Navy, Teresa Collins Now & Then

Inks: Not Quite Navy 

BC355: Use 2 or more patterned papers

Happy Friday, Happy Valentine's Day, Happy Birthday to my beloved hubby!!!

Hope you are staying warm where ever you may be-we are finally melting away here in GA and I'll be so glad when Spring rolls around the corner and baseball season starts.

First I'm going to start off with a card the kids are giving their Dad for his birthday/Valentine.  I saw this card on SCS and wanted to do something similar...love how it turned out!

 

I took the Lawn Fawn Stitched Journal card die to cut out my card layer and then used the hearts to make a pattern on the card.  I adhered some different colored card stock onto the inside.

Card details:

Stamps: Avery Elle-Oh Happy Day

Cardstock: Real Red, Pink Pirouette, Rose Red

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black

Embellishments: sequins, Lawn Fawn Stitched Journal die

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My next card is for this weeks Blogger's Challenge which is to use 2 or more patterned papers.  This was super easy for me to do, I love using patterned paper.

This was actually a card I hadn't posted to my blog yet but that I had made awhile ago.  I really liked how simple it was to create.

I don't remember exactly what sets I used, but know that I used some Authentique papers for it.

Hope you will join us over at Blogger's Challenge this week!

Tiles2Stamp

I have to say that I love The {Stamps} of Life sets, I love creating with them...but this set is OVER THE TOP AWESOME!!!

I absolutely had a creative time with them and was on a roll.  I love all the possibilities of this tile set!!

Hope you like the variety of cards, I've already got a little holiday stash going on, which is out of the norm for me.

I'm usually last minute Betty when it comes to creating Christmas cards, so when I saw this tile set I thought that a Christmas card would look pretty cool with it.  What do you think?

Card details:

Stamps: Tiles2Stamp, and Lights4Christmas from The {Stamps} of Life

Card Stock: Confetti White, Real Red, Basic Black, Glorious Green

Inks: Color Box by Stephanie Barnard in Licorice, Strawberry and Spearmint

Embellishments: Basic Grey enamel dots

My bows need some practice, this one took me forever!  The patterned to fill in the tiles give you so many options on how you want to create your card.  Whether it's the whole background on the card, or just a strip, these tiles are great.

Card details:

Stamps: Tiles2Stamp from The {Stamps} of Life

Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Tempting Turquoise

Inks: Color Box by Stephanie Barnard in Chocolate, Temping Turquoise

Embellishments: Chocolate Chip ribbon

I broke out my paper crimper for this one to create the little strip below the twine.  With the border pattern I wanted to add a little more to it, so I colored in the overlapping rectangles in black.

Card details:

Stamps: Tiles2Stamp and Snails2mail from The {Stamps} of Life

Card Stock: Whisper White, Pool Party So Saffron

Inks: Color Box by Stephanie Barnard in Licorice, Bermuda Bay, So Saffron, Pool Party

Embellishments: Black twine, paper crimper

Merci

Libby Hickson is our hostess this week over at Stampotique Designer's Challenge and here is her challenge for you all:

Although I live in Atlanta, Georgia, I spend every summer traveling vicariously around France, thanks to a bunch of boys on bicycles riding in the Tour de France! It always inspires me to create cards with a little French flair - so today I'm challenging you to do the same! Anything you can think of - the colors of France, French script, classic landmarks - whatever you'd like, just give your card a little French flair!

All you Stampotique fans know that finding some french flair in the collections of stamps is not easy...but I managed to figure something out.

My brother and sister-in-law had watched our little Moochie pooh (dog) while we were on vacation and so I wanted to make them a thank you card.  Now, my dog is not a poodle but I thought this poodle image would be perfect anyway.

I added some Sparkly Fluff onto the poodle (enlarge the small photo to see).  

Hope you will join us over at Stampotique Designer's Challenge this week and show us your French Flair.

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Card details:

Stamps: Alpha Lower 7177 and Bella 9225 from Stampotique Originals

Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, My Mind's Eye Lost & Found 3 Ruby

Inks: Perfect Little Black Dress

Embellishments: Webster's Pages trim, Marvy Uchida punches, Sparkly Fluff-silver

Thank You

This weekend was rainy and crummy, which meant all our sports got cancelled.  I had a little time to myself yesterday and I got to create a little.

This card is for the current CAS-ual Friday's challenge, which is their 100th challenge and is a tic-tac-toe challenge.  I chose the middle row going across which was square card, bling and text.  

Now, where's the bling?  Well, the background on my card is sprayed with IMAGINE Crafts® GooseBumps™ Texture Spray (Shimmer) and my flowers are sprayed with IMAGINE Crafts® Sheer Shimmer Spritz™ Craft Spray (Silver).  It's very hard to see in the photos, but if you click on the close up above you can see it better.  The texture spray adds so much to the background papers, love it!

 Hope your week is starting off on the right foot for you!

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Card details:

Stamps: Great Friend and a "thank you" stamp from an order from Verve Stamps

Cardstock: Basic Gray, My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Portobello

Inks: Basic Gray, IMAGINE Crafts®/Tsukineko® Memento™ Dye Ink-Tuxedo Black, Distress Ink Old Paper

Embellishments: IMAGINE Crafts® GooseBumps™ Texture Spray (Shimmer), IMAGINE Crafts® Sheer Shimmer Spritz™ Craft Spray (Silver), Want2Scrap jewels

Clean & Simple Card Trio

My last batch of clean & simple cards using some rub-on's.

This was for a batch of thank you cards I had made for my brother using up some of my patterned paper.

This card was inspired by Stephanie Wincott

Card details:

Rub-ons from Stampin' Up!

stamp from Clear & Simple Stamps & Ribbon

This card was inspired by my fellow design team member Deb Felts-I made mine a little more masculine but I loved how she used the mums set.

*guess I should pay attention to my posts since I just posted this card on Friday-that's what I get for setting things up ahead of time*

Card details:

Stamps: More Mums2Love from The {Stamps} of Life

Cardstock: Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, My Mind's Eye Hattie

Inks: Not Quite Navy

Embellishments: linen thread from SU!, Stampin' Up! rub-ons

Thanks, You Rock!

Happy Tuesday!!!

I created this card with the new Alpha4Fayleen set from The {Stamps} of Life and I have to say it's one I think I might be keeping.  I have not loved what I've been creating lately...but this one-I LOVE!!

I paired a few stamps sets for the sentiment, using the Alpha4Fayleen as the focal point along with some of my favorite papers from the My Mind's Eye Breeze collection.

The die cuts are Sizzix Framelits Majestic Labels set.  I used an old MFT sketch #100.

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Card details:

Stamps: Alpha4Fayleen, Calm2keep and Mums2stamp from The {Stamps} of Life

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, My Mind's Eye Breeze, Confetti Cream

Inks: Color Box by Stephanie Barnard-Chocolate

Embellishments: Bo Bunny Vicki B. Jewels, Sizzix Framelits Majestic Labels

More Rub-on Cards

A few more creations using Rub-ons-maybe I don't need stamps after all???

Kidding, totally kidding there!

Used a few rub-ons and some scraps from my Simple Stories Baby Steps patterned paper for this card along with some ribbon I had stashed in a jar.

Again, using the Simple Stories papers and adding some brads as well.

This card was inspired by Maile Belles

Card details:

Rub-ons from Stampin' Up!

Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Crumb Cake, Simple Stories Baby Steps

Embellishments: Kaiser Craft Rose pearls, twine from a package