Home

Whew, I got my sketch challenge card done before the end of the month!  I was cutting it close a wee bit there.  I don't have many There She Goes sets (the company who is the sponsor this month), but I do have these wonderful fireplace building sets with additions for fall holidays.  The details are fantastic!  I chose to use the stone fireplace for my card.

(linked)

I wanted a rustic feel, so I chose Ocean Tides for my card base and some coordinating muted patterns for the background strips.  The fireplace stones were colored to match.  It's a little unusual, but I really like the pop of color.  Both the fire and the clock were stamped on a separate piece of white and then cut out and glued in place.  The word "home" is actually part of a longer sentiment, but I just selectively inked the one word.  Fits perfectly!

Stamps:  Home Sweet Home, Home Sweet Home Holiday Additions (There She Goes)
Paper:  Ocean Tides, White (Papertrey Ink); Marjolaine 6x6 pad (Basic Grey)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Copic:  0 Colorless, C1, T1, T4, T6, E30, E41, E42, E55, E57, E59, Y11, Y13, YR15, YR18, BG72, BG75, BG78
Misc: Standard Circles die (Spellbinders)  

Stripes, Damask, and Roses

Today is the monthly Papertrey Ink blog hop.  (linked above)  One of my 2012 stamping goals is to participate every month and so far this year I have succeeded!  I also just realized that I have already surpassed last year's total posts and it's only April.  I'm quite proud of myself!  Here's to a year full of stamping adventures!

Just like last month, the PTI blog hop is an inspiration challenge.  (click photo for credits)  I really love the soft vintage fabrics in the picture, not to mention the pretty pastel colors.  I started my card by stamping stripes on my white card base, and then attached a strip of stamped damask at the bottom.  Both were done in Spring Rain ink.  I used my Swiss Dots embossing folder for the narrow strip of white cardstock.

The most time consuming part of the card was cutting out all the flowers and leaf sprigs.  I stamped the rose with Hibiscus Burst ink on white cardstock.  The other flowers were stamped with the same ink on the matching cardstock to get a delicious two color effect.  The inspiration for that came from one of the floral fabrics in the picture.  The leaves were stamped with Lucky Limeade ink on white cardstock and then painstakingly cut out with a craft knife.  I definitely need to add the matching dies to my next PTI order.  It took way too long!

As a last little touch, I added small light pink rhinestones to the center of the two-tone flowers.  I considered adding some glitter to the roses, but by then I had already glued everything to the card.  Next time!  I used a sentiment from Women of Life to finish it off. Voila - a sweet Mother's Day card!

(one little side note:  my printer rendered the pinks a much softer hue, thus my pinks are not quite as bright as the inspiration photo shows on screen)

Stamps:  Garden of Life, Distressed Stripes, Damask Designs, Turning a New Leaf, Women of Life (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White, Hibiscus Burst (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Spring Rain, Hibiscus Burst (Papertrey Ink); Lucky Limeade (Stampin' Up); Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Misc:  rhinestones (Studio 18); Swiss Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug)


 

Cheers to You

I wasn't too productive in the studio this week.  I worked on this particular card on and off one day while doing other chores.  I'd get stuck, go do something else, come back to make some headway, and then repeat the whole process.  Just one of those days!

I used a color combo from the ColourQ #133 challenge this week.  (picture linked)  I thought the colors would make a great masculine card.  Drawing inspiration from the geometric diamond shapes, I used my markers to stamp a More Mustard and Basic Gray background on the white panel, and then my Basic Gray inkpad to stamp a smaller diamond pattern on the Dusty Durango panel.  It looks simple, but it took all day playing around with layers before I finally settled on this design.  I'd change a few small things if I were to do it again, but it's still a fun masculine birthday card!

Stamps:  Print Pattern, Lots of Thoughts (Stampin' Up); Background Basics: Retro (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Dusty Durango, More Mustard, Basic Gray, Basic Black (Stampin' Up); White (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Dusty Durango, Basic Gray (Stampin' Up)
Markers:  More Mustard, Basic Gray (Stampin' Up)
Misc:  Labels 18 dies (Spellbinders)

Well, how about that?

I was chosen as a ColourQ Courtier for last week's challenge! You can see the list on the ColourQ blog here. I totally didn't expect that! The colors just caught my eye and I decided to play along. What a sweet surprise! Just scroll down to my last post or click here to see my cards. I love this week's colors as well so I hope to get back in the studio soon. Just had to share!!!

ColourQ #132 Challenge Cards

After a two week stamping break, I got two cards made today for the ColourQ challenge. I love the color combination and the inspiration picture really caught my eye with its geometric-style outlines of color. I used the flowers from Garden of Life to create a background with a similar effect. I love how it turned out!

I didn't want to cover it up, so I just added a simple banner strip for my sentiment. This pattern would make a great series of cards, so I think I'll be using it again. Here's the Colour Q challenge I used for my inspiration. (picture linked)

While I had everything out, I made another card with the same stamps. This time I pulled my background inspiration from the stripes. I used another flower from Garden of Life, cutting them out individually and layering them on the black mat. Still a simple card. Just bumped up a notch! :)

So there's a little touch of spring on this fine, sunny day. So glad to be stamping again!

Stamps: Garden of Life, Floral Frenzy, Background Basics: Retro (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: White (Papertrey Ink); Basic Black (Stampin' Up)
Ink: Poppy Parade, Pumpkin Pie, Lucky Limeade (Stampin' Up); Tuxedo Black (Memento); Fresh Snow (Papertrey Ink)
Misc: Labels 10 die (Spellbinders); Double-Ended Banner die, Friendship Jar Label die (Papertrey Ink)