'Tis the Season for Ornaments

Ready for Christmas yet?  I'm not, but I'm definitely working on more Christmas cards for the next challenge over at 'Tis the Season.  This time around we have a color challenge for you.  I thought to myself, "No problem figuring these colors out!", but boy was I wrong. lol  I just couldn't get them to cooperate together, but did manage to come up with these cards.  I don't think they turned out half bad, but I do think they're more masculine...if Christmas cards can be that way. :)  

Don't forget to head on over to the challenge HERE to see how the other designers used these colors and to play along too. :)

I can't forget to tell you where I got the sketch from.  It's from the Red Hot challenge blog HERE. However it's not on the blog since it's pretty new.  One of the ladies has been nice enough to start up the blog and post them so anyone can play along. :)  

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Stamp Sets:  Ornament Keepsakes, 

Gorgeous Grunge & Christmas Messages

Card Stock:  Rich Razzleberry, Pacific Point & Whisper White

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Rich Razzleberry & Pacific Point

VersaMark

Stampin' Emboss Powder:  Silver

Framelits:  Holiday Ornaments

In Colors with Lovely as a Tree

Today's cards are a little unique.  I go from loving them to not being so sure about them.  A week or so ago I posted a card that had (what I thought) a great sky scene.  Since I liked it so much I wanted to give it a try with the new In Colors that finally came out yesterday...yea!  I decided to use the direct to paper technique again, but the newer sponge pads just are not the same as the old cloth ones!  I sure found that out pretty quickly, but wanted to go ahead and give them a try anyway.  I love how each time I did it they turned out so differently!  Not sure which one I like the best since the ink "smears" and trees are all a little different. One thing I did find out is the more you use the pad the less the ink smears and they dry out pretty quickly.  I don't mean the pad itself is dry, just that it gives it more of the look as if you're using the cloth pad once you've smeared it around for a bit.  Does that make any sense at all? lol  Anyway, I made these for this week's Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch challenge, but didn't put the shape on it like it shows in the challenge.  I decided I was going to wait to do that until I know what the card is going to be used for. :)

Make sure you check out what all the other designers made using this sketch HERE and play along if you get a chance since it's another great sketch!

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Stamp Set:  Lovely as a Tree

Card Stock:  Mossy Meadow, Blackberry Bliss,

Tangelo Twist, Hello Honey, Lost Lagoon & Very Vanilla

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Mossy Meadow, Blackberry Bliss,

Tangelo Twist, Hello Honey & Lost Lagoon

Embossing Folders:  Argyle & Pretty Print

Sponges

Happy Father's Day or Birthday :)

I have a quick post for you today.  I made this birthday card for my father-in-law's birthday last week and thought it would make a good Father's Day card too, so I whipped up another one (but I'm not giving it to him for Father's Day too! lol).  This is such a quick and simple card to make using a little old and a little new. :)

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Stamp Sets:  World Map, Dictionary, 

Express Yourself & Traveler

Card Stock:  Soft Suede & Very Vanilla

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Soft Suede & Crumb Cake

Sponges

pssst...thank you

It's Friday....yeah!  I'm so ready for the weekend since it's been a pretty busy week.  I think a lot of you understand that! :)  That also means I have a card to show you for the next Friday Mashup challenge.  This week's challenge is from Tara, and it was definitely a challenge until I figured out what I wanted to make.  Then it was a snap...minus all the water coloring I did.  Here's Tara's challenge for us...

Create a project with "Stripes".

Create a project with "Movable or Removable elements".

or Mashup it Up! and create a project with "Movable Elements & Stripes".

I don't think I've made any cards that have movable or removable parts.  I guess if I have it's been quite a while.  The stripes part was easy.  I new I wanted to use the stripes embossing folder one last time before it retires.  I really like this embossing folder and I'm going to miss it.  I guess I'll still have it, but it will be retired so I won't use it as much.  I went with a removable bookmark for the other part of the challenge, and made sure the card still looked pretty after the bookmark was taken off.  I did leave the glue dot on the card so you could see how I attached the bookmark...just a glue dot on the back of the ribbon.  Anyway I really wanted to use some of the new In Colors that are coming out on June 2nd, so I did a little water coloring with the Blackberry Bliss, Moss Meadow and Hello Honey.  I think they turned out pretty well, but inking a stamp and using the ink as a water color did give them just a bit of a different color.  Not enough that it bothered me though. :)  Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I used the Freshly Made Sketches challenge to come up with my idea. So glad it was out there! :)

Make sure you head over to the Friday Mashup HERE because the other designers cards are awesome!

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Stamp Set:  Happy Watercolor

Card Stock:  Whisper White

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Blackberry Bliss, 

Mossy Meadow, Lost Lagoon & Hello Honey

StazOn:  Black

Embossing Folder:  Stripes

Punch:  Angled Tag Topper

Ribbon:  Stitched Satin in Blackberry Bliss

Aqua Painter

Rich Razzleberry Apothecary Art

Oops...not getting this posted as soon as I usually do!  Today's card is for this week's Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch challenge and the twist is Girlfriends.  I can't really say I did the twist unless you count a birthday card sent to a girlfriend...nope, probably not.  For today's card I pulled out a set I haven't using in quite a while...Apothecary Art.  I've always loved this set and am glad it didn't retire. :)  I used some sponges around the edge and Blendablilites to color them in.  I love them!  So easy to use and no water running anywhere or paper falling apart from too much "coloring".

Remember to head on over to Try Stampin' on Tuesday HERE to see what other great cards are made using this sketch and play along if you get a chance.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Stamp Sets:  Everything Eleanor, Petite Petals & Apothecary Art

Card Stock:  Rich Raspberry and Very Vanilla

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Rich Razzleberry

Blendabilities:  Rich Raspberry & Old Olive

Punch:  Petite Petals

Framelits:  Labels Collection

Sponges

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today's card is special since it's for my mom and it's her birthday today.  :)  She loves the color blue so I thought I'd play with some new stuff I got from Stampin' Up!  It was waiting for me when I got home from work...yes!  My card didn't turn out as I had planned, but I think that happens a lot.  I just change what I'm doing and go in another direction.  I can't forget to say that my design is from Hand Stamped Sentiments sketch challenge #186.  I haven't played along with a sketch challenge in quite a while unless I've combined it with one I'm a designer for, so it was relaxing to just come up with a card and not be pushing for a deadline after a loooong day at work.  I have to admit I do work better when there's a deadline though. lol  Crazy, I know.

If you get a chance head over to HSS and check out the designers cards using this sketch and play along.  It's a great one!

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Stamp Set:  Bloom with Hope

Card Stock:  Pool Party, Coastal Cabana,

Bermuda Bay & Whisper White

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Pool Party, 

Coastal Cabana & Bermuda Bay

Memento:  Tuxedo Black

VersaMarker

Embossing Folder:  Decorative Dots

Framlits:  Ovals Collection

Occasions Paper-piercing Pack

Stampin' Emboss Powder:  Clear

Brayer & Sponges

Lovely as a TREE

Happy Friday, Everyone!  I have another card for you for this week's Friday Mashup which I happen to be hostessing. :)  The mashup for this week is...

Create a project with "Trees".

Create a project with "Heat or Dry Embossing".

Or Mash it up and create a project with "Embossing and Trees".

I have no idea why I chose these two things for the mashup, but I had to run with it once I did. lol  I figured I should try to use a tree stamp that I haven't used in a while, so I picked the oak tree from Lovely as a Tree.  Well, what was I supposed to do with that tree?  How about put it in a field.  Hey didn't I just do that with another card? lol  I did, but it's definitely not the same.  This time I used the direct to paper technique with a bit of sponging to fill it all in.  Do you ever look at the sky and see different colors in it, and they seem to be woven into the next color?  I don't know about you, but I sure do, so that's what I tried to create in this card.  I did dry embossing on a couple of colors of my card, but I have to admit it's a little hard to see in the picture.

Head on over to the Friday Mashup HERE.  We have some great cards to show you and would love to see what you create for this week's challenge.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Stamp Sets:  Lovely as a Tree & Field Flowers

Card Stock:  Old Olive, Pool Party, Island Indigo,

So Saffron, Crisp Cantaloupe & Very Vanilla

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Old Olive, Pool Party, Island Indigo,

So Saffron, Crisp Cantaloupe & Early Espresso

StazOn:  Black

Embossing Folder:  Pretty Print

Sponges