Color Throwdown #544

 

This week's Color Throwdown is using the colors coral, aqua, and navy blue. The aqua rectangular background is cut from a previously-embossed piece of scrap. The flower die is "Magic Flower 2" by Alexandra Renke. I die-cut twice and then trimmed the 2nd cut to make the leaf. The stitching die on the right side is from PTI, as is the sentiment ("Winter Hills" stamp). Finished with Versamark Water Mark Ink, navy embossing powder, and Ranger Glossy Accents on coral tiny punched circles.

 

 

 

https://colorthrowdown.blogspot.com/2019/05/color-throwdown-544.html

 

 

 



 

Check back on my blog on June 5th when I'll be Guest Designer for Color Throwdown #546! 

CAS(E) this Sketch #322

Here's today's offering to CAS(E) this Sketch. The little happy face that showed up when I glued "for you" onto the face of the card was an unintended surprise!

 

Stamps: Stampin' Up! "Hello, Doily"

Inks: PTI "Spring Rain" and "Enchanted Evening" and Versamark

Dies: Alexandra Renke "for you" and old square die from my stash (probably Sissix)

White embossing powder, white 100 lb. card stock, blue card stock scrap

 

 

 

http://casethissketch.blogspot.com/2019/05/case-this-sketch-322.html

 

 

 

Color Throwdown ctd543

 

Wow - 2 cards in one weekend! I'm still nursing this bronchial thing and it seems that crafting is the only thing I can manage to do.

 

I can't believe how long it took me to make this card. My process is usually to start designing and then edit, edit, edit - an old design school thing where I was taught to draw something and then determine how few pen or pencil strokes it takes to complete the idea. Although I have a strong preference for clean & simple, my personal style tends to be all over the board. I usually land somewhere between CAS and fancy. What's the descriptive word for card designs that are not CAS?

 

At any rate, here's this morning's offering to Color Throwdown - "Aqua, Green, and Gray".

 

 

 

 

I had a metallic graphic envelope in my stash, which I lined with green polka-dot paper and then stamped with PTI's "Songbirds" leaves. The dies on the card are from PTI "Songbird" for the larger branch and MFT's leaves in bright green. The bird (which you'll recognize from yesterday's card) is also MFT and I think the ovals are from Sizzix.

 

 



 

Here's another view in which I added bright green embossed leaves to the front of the envelope.

 

https://colorthrowdown.blogspot.com/2019/05/color-throwdown-countdown-543.html

 

 

   

Birthday Balloons

 

I'm playing with Seize The Birthday Challenge for the first time today. The topping is "Balloons" and I decided to make a birthday card for my soon-to-be 10-year-old grandson (I'll also need to come up with a card for his twin sister). I haven't had much experience with shaker cards, so I have a long way to go in that direction!

 

I'm continuing with using existing paper scraps and the balloon printed paper is from the twins' 2nd birthday invitation 8 years ago. The bird die is from MFT and the numbers are from PTI.

 

 

 

http://seizethebirthday.blogspot.com/2019/05/seize-birthday-165-balloons.html

 

"Balloons"

                                                 (selected by Shirley)

 

   

BIRTHDAY HUGS

 

Freshly Made Sketches 387

 

On Saturday my youngest granddaughter arrived at our home with a terrible cough, to spend a couple of hours with us. I thought she was having an allergic reaction to the dog and cats, but then the following day she ran a fever and was sick all day. Thank you, Kaitlyn! Yesterday I started coughing and today I feel like complete crap, with deep cough, headache, and muscle aches. If I hadn't gone to bed so early last night I would have stayed there this morning, but I felt the need to get up and move a bit. I managed to crank out this card, but this is all I've done all day. I'm sure that all of the work I should have done today will be sitting there waiting for me tomorrow...

 

 

I did a reverse of Cécile's banners for some dimension. The paper is all from my scrap bins, the leaf die is PTI's "Songbirds" and the stamp is from their "Stylish Sentiments: Birthdays", printed in "Ripe Avocado". The banners are a single die from Cricket Cuttlebug and it was quite a task to get each banner cut straight. 

 

 

https://freshlymadesketches.blogspot.com/2019/05/freshly-made-sketches-387.html

 

 

May 14, 2019

 



Turquoise & Red-Orange

One of my favorite color combinations on cards!

 

 

I had thought to enter this one in a CASology challenge but with the printed background I don't think this really qualifies as clean & simple. Ink: Versamark with white embossing powder and fill-in between petals is Copic marker. I had the turquoise envelope in my stack and lined it with the same red-orange paper as the face of the card.

 

Contrast

 

I'm playing along with Addicted to CAS this morning and the code word is "contrast". What's better for contrast than black and any other bright or light color?

 

I've been making an effort to use old stamps these days. My stash is at the point where I really need to do some serious editing before I buy any more materials. This outlined floral image is one of my oldest stamps - one of those little ones you find in art store bins for $1. I don't think I've ever used it. The sentiment came with it and I think I've used the sentiment a couple of times. I used Versamark ink and white embossing powder, Memento "Tuxedo Black" ink, markers, and a tag die from Stampin' Up Framelits "Chalk Talk".  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://addictedtocas.blogspot.com/2019/04/addicted-to-cas-challenge-158-contrast.html

 

 

Contrast

Whoops!

This card was started yesterday when I got interrupted by having to write a letter of agreement for a new restaurant design project. It was intended to be placed into Freshly Made Sketches 384, but by the time I got back to it the challenge link had closed. Oh well...

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Christmas Card of 2019!

I wanted to play along with CAS(E) This Sketch #318 today and thought to make my first Christmas card of the year. I started with light gray cardstock and blended a gray ink in a stripe down from the top. I then used Versamark ink and white embossing powder with KaiserCraft "Fading Dots" clear stamp for behind the trees. The birch trees die is from Impression Obsession. I think the sentiment is an Avery Elle stamp.

 

 

http://casethissketch.blogspot.com/2019/04/case-this-sketch-318.html

 

April 27, 2019

 



Sympathy Cards

As much as I love card making, I wish I never had to make a sympathy card. Rather than make up a bunch of these cards to have in advance I prefer to make each one individually with the person I'm sending it to in mind. I always feel completely tongue-tied in expressing my sympathy, so my cards are an attempt to let someone know I'm thinking of them and holding them in my love.

 

Having said that, this one is for my sister-in-law who lost her mother over this past weekend. Sadly she was still grieving her husband's death in 2018 (my husband's brother).

 

 

I used one of the Hero Arts "Color Layering" Poly Clear stamp sets for the image and sentiment and Stampin' Up's "Chalk Talk" die. The colors are quite a bit softer than they photographed with my cell phone.

 

I'm sharing this over at Less IS More #393 "Subtle Colours"

The colors on this card

 

 

http://simplylessismoore.blogspot.com/2019/04/challenge-393-subtle-colours.html  

 

Still Raining...

We're still under clouds and showers here this weekend, after a very brief respite on Friday, which probably explains the bright yellow and orange card!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is an old rubber stamp from Inkadinkadoo that I peeled off the wood to use with my Misti so that I could get a good black image. The ink is Memento "Tuxedo Black", PTI "Pure Poppy" and "Summer Sunrise". The beads, twine, and patterned paper scrap are from my stash. The red-orange scallop edge is an old Fiskars punch.

 

I'm playing along with Freshly Made Sketches - FMS383 



 

https://freshlymadesketches.blogspot.com/2019/04/theres-still-time-to-play-with-sketch_13.html

 



 

 

 

and Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes #163 

 

http://seizethebirthday.blogspot.com/2019/04/seize-birthday-anything-goes-163.html

 



 

 

 

 

New Home

A friend has just moved into a new home and I wanted to send her a congratulations, as it was quite a process for her. Her new home will be the 2nd floor of a charming old house in Brattleboro, Vermont. I'm sure her new home will be filled with love!

 

 

 

For inspiration I used 2 sources:

 

https://colorthrowdown.blogspot.com/2019/04/color-throwdown-countdown-537.html

 

 

and

 

https://freshlymadesketches.blogspot.com/2019/04/theres-still-time-to-play-with-sketch.html

 

 

 

Where is the sun?

I'm getting so anxious to get outside into the garden, but it has been raining for days and looks like it will be for another week or so. This is unusual for southern Oregon, where we have a drier climate than our neighbors to the north. I can look out my window of my office where I'm writing this and can see SO many weeds coming up between the poppies and rosemary on the hill next to the house.

 

I'm sure the dreary weather was a strong influence on the colors and image of this card!

 

 

 

I'm participating this week with the people over at CAS(E) This Sketch!

 

 

http://casethissketch.blogspot.com/2019/03/case-this-sketch-315.html

 

 

The "band" on my card is pretty subtle with the busy image, but here's a close-up view:

 

 

The butterfly image is one of my oldest stamps - manufacturer unknown. The "Thankful" die is from Papertrey Ink, ink is Memento "Tuxedo Black", and the colors are Copic markers. I didn't have a matching envelope in my stash, so I made this one.

 

 

Whoot! Whoot! Woke up to this this morning (4/06/19):