Bloom...

It's Monday and I have a card for everyone.  That's amazing since I don't post on Mondays very often anymore.  However it was my baby's 19th birthday yesterday so I had to make her a card.  She tends to like the blue cards that I make, so that's what she got. lol

I have more than one pic too.  Most of the time I take way too many pics just to find one, and if I'm lucky, two pics out of the whole bunch that I actually like.  Since I had a few that turned out I figured I share them with you.  :)

I can't forget to share where I got my inspiration for this card.  I started with a sketch challenge from the Red Hot Challenge blog HERE.  Like I said on my last post I'm going to be trying to play along with that challenge more.  Let's see how many I can do in a row. ;)

I also wanted to play along with another challenge and started looking around for colors.  After I decided to use some blues I stopped by the Paper Players and saw they were doing their tic-tac-toe challenge.  I love this challenge and I already had the blue and ribbon on my card and since it was a b-day card for my daughter I was good to go! :)

I managed to quickly do the inside of the card too.  I like to add just a little something so it's not just my boring handwriting in there.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Stamp Sets:  Bloom with Hope & Express Yourself

Card Stock:  Basic Black, Whisper White,

Bermuda Bay & Coastal Cabana

Momento Ink Pad:  Tuxedo Black

Stampin' Write Markers:  Wild Wasabi & Basic Black

Stampin' Blendabilities:  Coastal Cabana

Punch:  Scallop Edge Border

Framelits:  Circles Collection

Embossing Folder:  Decorative Dots

Ribbon:  3/8" Ruffled Stretch Trim in Coastal Cabana

Smell the Roses

What do I have for you to see today?  A card for Try Stampin' on Tuesday's sketch challenge.  I have to admit I had a hard time trying to decide what to make for this challenge.  I (once again) fudged a little on the sketch.  Since I didn't know what to do I started looking at other challenges and saw that this week's Paper Players' challenge was a color challenge.  I loved the three colors together and that's when an idea popped into my mind.  Why not use the three colors at the bottom of each of the pieces I embossed.  And since the twist is "Smell the Roses" I decided to use the set Stippled Blossoms since it looks pretty close to a rose.

Make sure you head over to Try Stampin' on Tuesday HERE to see the other great cards made using this challenge, and to play along if you get a chance!

Just another view of the card. :)

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Stamp Sets:  Stippled Blossoms & Teeny Tiny Wishes

Card Stock:  Calypso Coral, So Saffron,

Pear Pizzazz & Whisper White

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Calypso Coral, 

So Saffron & Pear Pizzazz

Embossing Folder:  Delicate Designs

Punch:  Modern Label

Smooch Spritz:  Vanilla Shimmer

Spring Stippled Blossoms

Hi Everyone!  Today's card is for the challenge I'm hosting this week over at the Friday Mashup.  This week we're playing with colors and a technique...

Use the colors "Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi & Perfect Plum".

Use "an Aqua Painter or a Blender Pen to create a Watercolor Effect".

Or mash it up with the "Colors above & a Watercolor Effect".

Since I haven't used the set Stippled Blossoms in quite a while I decided to pull it out, dust it off and give it another try. I always love how my cards turn out when I use this set.  I used the three colors, but did I give it a watercolor effect?  I sure did!  It's just a little hard to see in the picture.  After I stamped each of the flowers I used my aqua painter to blend the colors together.  Usually when I stamp with this set everything is very crisp.  It still looks nice, just has more of a blended effect which is what I was looking for.  After I blended the colors I let them dry, cut out the flowers and (of course!) spritzed everything with smooch spritz to make it shimmer. :)  Don't forget to visit us at the Friday Mashup HERE to check out what all the other designers made.  Their cards are fabulous!  Well, they are every week, but I loved what each of them did using this week's mashup.  Don't forget to play along to show us what you can create. :)

Oh, I almost forgot to add where I got my card design from.  Can't forget to mention that!  It's been so long since I've played along with a challenge I almost forgot ! lol  As soon as I saw this week's sketch challenge from the Paper Players I knew exactly what I was going to make.  It usually takes me a while to figure out what I want to do since it never seems to turn out on my card the way I thought it would in my head.  Anyone else ever have that problem? lol  For once that wasn't the case...whew!  

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Stamp Sets:  Stippled Blossoms & Simply Sketched

Card Stock:  Naturals White

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Daffodil Delight, Perfect Plum & Wild Wasabi

Jewels:  Basic Pearls

Smooch Spritz:  Vanilla Shimmer

Sponges & Aqua Painter

  

By the Tide Birthday

Today's card is for my son's 20th birthday.  Wow, where did the years go!  I sure love him though, so I had to make him a special card (I must love a lot of people because it seems like I'm always making special cards. lol).  He's definitely an outdoors man, and enjoys fishing, so I figured some sort of fishing card would be the way to go.  I used this week's Paper Players challenge #173 "Any Shaped Card" to come up with this idea.  It could be any shape except the normal rectangular card so I used the Deco Labels Framelits to make this card's shape.  Instead of layering behind the card to get a dark background I sponged around it instead.  I think that was faster to do than cut and stack the layers to get them to look just right.

I had to take a few close ups so you could see the pieces I cut out to add dimension. :)

When I make a "shaped" card I don't like to have a piece of it missing, so I never fold a piece in half and leave part of the shape off the card.  All you have to do is cut two of the same pieces, score the back piece where you want the card to flip at, and put your adhesive on the top part of the back piece of the card. :)  Here are a couple of pics in case what I wrote doesn't make sense.  I'm definitely a visual person so pics help a lot!  

This is the back of the card and you can see where I scored it and attached it to the front piece of the card.

This is what the inside looks like when you flip it open.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Stamp Sets:  By the Tide & Teeny Tiny Wishes

Card Stock:  Naturals White

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Not Quite Navy, Island Indigo & Garden Green

Framelits:  Deco Labels

Sponges

Let's Walk in the Wild

My post is definitely later than I planned since last night I decided to do a little updating on my computer.  Yeah, what I thought might take ten minutes ended up taking over two hours.  I was too tired to even think about what to write at that point! lol  So today I have a group of cards that were inspired by a couple of different challenges.  First I was checking out the Paper Players challenge #168 and it's all about masculine cards...CAS cards at that.   Then I saw the Hand Stamped Sentiments sketch challenge #171 and thought it would be perfect for a masculine card because it was CAS!  I grabbed my Walk in the Wild set and got busy.  

After making a card to match the challenge I decided to make three more...all a little different, but using the same theme.  

These were quick and easy to make except I left a finger smudge on one and ended up doing a little sponging on the last two cards to cover it up.  Glad most mistakes are fixable!! :)

And the whole set together...

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Sets:  Walk in the Wild & Express Yourself

Card Stock:  Early Espresso, Soft Suede,

Crumb Cake & Naturals White

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Early Espresso & Always Artichoke (sponging)

Stampin' Write Markers:  Early Espresso & Always Artichoke (stamping)

Candy Dots:  Neutrals 
Sponges

Witches' Brew Box

A couple of weeks ago I made a box using Witches' Brew DSP for the Creative Crew on Splitcoast Stampers.  When I showed it to my daughter she asked if I would make another one so she could give them to give to the kids she nannies.  I had to change the paper that I used since I didn't have enough to do it the same way as the other.  I decided to enter this box in The Paper Players sketch challenge for this week since it's "Trick or Treat" a Halloween card or treat holder.  If you'd like to see my other box click HERE.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Measurements for box.  

Cut an 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of card stock or DSP

Score 1" around all edges

Score at 3 3/4" and 4 3/4" down from the long edge

Card Stock:  Witches' Brew DSP

Classic Stampin' Pad:  Pumpkin Pie

Bigz Dies:  Autumn Accents & Top Note

Sponges

Pool Party Poppies

Today's card is one I made up for a friend using this week's Paper Players' sketch challenge.  I think I went all out in blues this time, but I still like it. :)  I'm hoping she gets it in the mail before she sees it here or in any of my other galleries! lol

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Sets:  Pleasant Poppies, Dictionary

& Perfectly Penned

Card Stock:  Pool Party & Whisper White

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Pool Party & Coastal Cabana

Embossing Folder:  Fancy Fan

Punch:  Scallop Edge Border (retired)

Ribbon:  3/8" Seam Binding in Pool Party

Framelits:  Ovals Collection

Smooch Sprtiz:  Vanilla Shimmer

Aqua Pens & Sponges

Hello My Friend

Today's card is a clean and simple one-layer card for this week's Paper Players challenge, and let me tell you a one-layer card is definitely a challenge for me!  I had no idea what to do so I pulled out a set that I haven't played with for a while...My Friend.  It turned out better than I thought it would, and I was happy when I only had to color everything in one time! :)

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Set:  My Friend

Card Stock:  Very Vanilla

Stampin' Write Markers:  Elegant Eggplant, Pacific Point

& Always Artichoke

Smooch Spritz:  Vanilla Shimmer

Clean and Simple Floral Fusion

Today's card is going to be a quick post since I decided at the LAST minute to enter a couple of sketch challenges and one is closing soon! lol  I chose the Paper Craft Crew for my sketch and the Paper Players for my colors.  I wanted to keep it pretty clean and simple when I saw what the colors were and knew I could do it with this sketch.  However I know my daughter is going to tell me it's too white when I show it to her the next time she visits. ;)  

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Card Stock:  Whisper White
Classic Stampin' Pads:  Strawberry Slush,
Crisp Cantaloupe & Pear Pizzazz
Embossing Folder:  Modern Mosaic
Framelites:  Window Frames
Sizzlits:  Floral Fusion & Little Leaves
Jewels:  Basic Pearls
Smooch Spritz:  Vanilla Shimmer
Sponges

Yellow & Green Fabulous Florets

Since I'm having another stamp a stack that my cousin is hosting I thought I'd better get busy planning some cards and that means it's time to look at some sketch challenges. :)  I really loved the Fabulous Florets that I sponged in my previous post and decided to use those same flowers in the same way, but put them into the Hand Stamped Sentiments sketch.  I also wanted to sponge a color combo on the flowers that I haven't done before.  That's when I saw both the Stampin' Celebration and Paper Players challenges.  Stampin' Celebration is all about greens and yellows and the Paper Players lets us play tic-tac-toe.  Of course I chose the green and yellow, then went with the spring and pearls.  After all this work I'm not so sure I'll be doing this as a stamp one of the stamp a stack cards, but I sure enjoyed making it! lol

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Sets:  Fabulous Florets & Teeny Tiny Wishes

Card Stock:  Whisper White

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Lucky Limeaid & So Saffron

VersaMark

Stampin' Emboss Powder:  White

Embossing Folder:  Honeycomb

Framelits:  Ovals

Jewels:  Basic Pearls

Shimmer Paint:  Champagne Mist

Everything Eleanor

Well, I'm having a hard time coming up with this month's stamp a stack cards, so I'm turning to some challenges to help me out.  The first one to help me out is The Paper Players.  They have a color challenge this week, and it sure is nice to let someone else pick the colors!  I found the colors a bit challenging...I wasn't sure where to throw in the Lucky Limeage, but I'm happy with what I came up with. :)  Not so sure I'm going to be happy when it's time to do my prep work, and I have all that fussy cutting to do though! lol

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Sets:  Everything Eleanor, Blooming with Kindness

& En Francais

Card Stock:  Regal Rose, Earl Espresso & Very Vanilla

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Regal Rose, Pool Party & Lucky Limeade

Framelits:  Apothecary Accents

Jewels:  Basic Pearls

Shimmer Paint:  Champagne Mist

Sponges

Thank You

Two cards posted in one day...amazing!  I wanted to get it entered into one of the challenges and it's done earlier than I thought.  Yeah, I'm definitely not time oriented...I'm task oriented!  Wish I had an equal dose of both!  Today's card is a special thank you to my parents for letting us use their house up north for the weekend for a fall color tour and Christmas card stamping weekend. :)   It's wonderful to have a place to stay that doesn't cost a small fortune for the weekend!  I've kind of had the idea for this card in my mind for a bit and finally sat down and made it.  Of course I wanted fall leaves since that was one of the reasons we headed north. :)  It also happens to go with a few challenges out there...

Less is More - Week 90 - Theme AUTUMN

Hand Stamped Sentiments Challenge 140 - Inked Embossing Folder

The Paper Players 118 - Frames

For my inked embossing folder I actually did the reverse of what is normally done.  I wanted my frame highlighted, so I used my Stampin' Write marker to color in the depressed part (if that's even a word!) instead of using the brayer on the raised part of the folder.  It didn't color the frame completely, but I really liked the vintage look it gave the frame so I left it like that. :)  

  

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Sets:  French Foliage & Blooming with Kindness

Card Stock:  Very Vanilla

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Tango Tangerine, Cherry Cobbler, 

Daffodil Delight, Old Olive & Soft Suede

Stampin' Write Marker:  Soft Suede

Embossing Folder:  Woodgrain

Twine (retired)

Neutrals Designer Buttons

Shimmer Paint:  Champagne Mist

Sponges

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today's card was created especially for my dad. :)  His birthday isn't today, so that means I'm actually working ahead...amazing!  Too bad I'm behind on other peoples' cards. :(  I'll get there though...

Anyway his card was inspired by two different challenges.  The Paper Players color challenge #117 and Mojo Monday 263.  I really wanted to enter the Paper Players challenge...because to me it was a challenge!  I wanted to see if I could make something with these colors.  Once I looked at the Mojo sketch and starting writing what colors were going where it just came together...

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Set:  The Open Sea

Card Stock:  Night of Navy, Bravo Burgundy, Cajun Craze & Very Vanilla

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Night of Navy, Bravo Burgundy & Cajun Craze

Embossing Folder:  Argyle

Punch:  2 1/2" Circle

Essentials Paper Piercing Pack

Sponges