Gray Skies

This card is my attempt at the January Week 3 sketch over at Viva La Verve.  I spent way too much time trying to make this work, so I'm going to post it even though I'm not entirely happy with it.  Hehehe, did you catch the pun?   :)

When I looked over the sketch, I thought of doing another sun in place of the circle.  Remember the sunshine card I posted on Friday?  Also, Julee Tilman posted a fun card using sketch 2 over at her blog, Poetic Artistry, which made me think of pairing the sun with the Rain or Shine set I had out earlier this week.  I have to admit, I like her card much better than mine!

I made the sun with a couple of Spellbinders dies.  My colors for the card were pulled from the inspiration photo option that was given with the sketch.  You can see it here.  I used three shades of gray, playing off the whole gray skies theme.  I wanted the yellow sun to really stand out, along with the small splash of purple on the umbrella.

Going Gray cardstock was embossed with the Cloudy Days folder and adhered to a Smokey Shadow card base.  I hand-cut two clouds out of Basic Gray cardstock and then embossed them with a dotted chevron pattern.  I wanted to do something different than swirls.  Perhaps I was thinking lightning bolts?  Shrug.  I lightly rubbed the clouds with silver ink, making it heavier on the bottom edges.  After all, every gray cloud has a silver lining! 

I cut off one side of the sun, glued it down, and covered the edge with a scalloped strip.  I chose scallops to mimic the cloud shapes.  Not sure that really worked though.  I put the two clouds in place of the two squares on the sketch.  For the central square, I used a piece of Going Gray cardstock and stamped it with my sentiment.  I stamped the umbrella over top and paper-pieced it with a print from the Sycamore Street pack.  The three raindrops were done with Basic Gray ink, after stamping it off first on scratch paper.  Then I rounded the edges.  Wish I had done that first!!  I used the wrong end of my corner chomper naturally.  Oh well!  I went ahead and glued it in place.

That's where I stopped and went to bed, still unsatisfied with the card.  In the morning, I got the idea to stamp the word "happy" on the yellow cardstock and then lay it over the gray.  (with a piece of cardstock underneath to raise it up slightly)  I also lifted the edges of the two clouds to give them some dimension.  That helped tremendously.  I do wish I had matted the sentiment with the darker gray, but I didn't want to take apart the card or redo it.  C'est la vie!

It's still a fun card and I'm sure a recipient would enjoy it regardless.  I'm a little too perfectionist for my own good sometimes.   :)   I do like the concept!

Stamps:  Rain or Shine (Verve)
Paper:  Basic Gray, Going Gray, Sycamore Street dp (Stampin' Up); Harvest Gold, Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Going Gray, Basic Gray (Stampin' Up); Tuxedo Black (Memento); Silver (Encore!)
Misc:  Cloudy Day embossing folder (Stampin' Up); Charles embossing folder (Cuttlebug); Standard Circles Small die; Classic Inverted Scalloped Circle Large die (Spellbinders); Blueprints 4 die (My Favorite Things)

Sweet Friend

 
It's time for the Papertrey Ink blog hop!  I enjoy participating in these, although I did skip a few last year due to lack of mojo.  It seems to have returned in full force, thankfully.  I've been making lots of cards this month and having a great time in my studio!  Here's the challenge:

With Valentine's Day rapidly approaching, it is the perfect time to pull out all of your favorite pink supplies and put them to good use!  Your challenge this month is to create a card only using the color pink with the option to use neutrals (such as white, cream, gray, black or kraft).  With all of the different shades of pink to work with, there are all kinds of creative possibilities!  Keep in mind that your project can be for any occasion, as long as you use pink!  We look forward to seeing your project (and the prettiest inLinkz list EVER!) on the 25th!

Who can pass up the chance to use pink?  Not this girl!  The inspiration photo triggered a few ideas, but I ended up going in a completely different direction.  After a post in the PTI forum reminded me of my very first purchases, I pulled out my Boxes, Bags & Tags stamp set.

I created a pretty background panel using several images from the set.  The pretty frame was stamped in Hibiscus Burst ink, followed by flowers in Sweet Blush ink, and then smaller Raspberry Fizz flowers on top of that.  For the four-petal flowers in between the frames, I used a small flower from Iconic Images in Smokey Shadow ink.  It's a lovely neutral that pairs nicely with all the pinks.

I pulled some wide sheer pink ribbon from my stash, first wrapping a knotted piece around the panel, and then adding a bow separately.  I don't use ribbon often, but this one worked well to add some oomph without covering up my pretty background.

For my sentiment, I stamped another Hibiscus Burst frame, adding some little Smokey Shadow filigree to dress it up and make it stand out more from the background.  The word "sweet" is from the Friendship Jars set, and the word "friend" is selectively stamped from a sentiment in Mixed Messages.  As a last touch, I added a little sparkly rhinestone.  The whole sentiment piece is popped up, again to make it stand out from the background.

The background was glued to a Smokey Shadow mat and then to a Hibiscus Burst card base.  I really love the finished card.  So soft and pretty!  It certainly could be used for Valentine's Day for a friend, but it can also work any time of year just to say thank you or let someone know that you care.

Stamps:  Boxes, Bags & Tags; Mixed Messages; Iconic Images; Friendship Jar (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White, Hibiscus Burst, Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Hibiscus Burst, Sweet Blush, Raspberry Fizz, Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink)
Misc:  ribbon, rhinestone (Stampin' Up) 

A Bit of Sunshine

I got this little idea and just had to try it.  I'm not sure what triggered it either, but it was fun to play around and see how it worked.  It's a fun no-reason-at-all or thinking-of-you type of card.  I used a sentiment from the Think Big Favorites series by Papertrey Ink.

I stamped a vertical column of the word "hello", selectively inking the stamp to use just that portion.  I swiped a marker across each word in the colors of the rainbow and then trimmed the piece down to place on a Brilliant Blue piece that had been embossed with clouds.

I cut a Yoyo Yellow circle and inverted scallop circle for my sun, and then stamped the word "sunshine" in place.  (again, selectively inking the stamp)  I adhered it in the lower right corner and trimmed off the excess.  Once together, the whole thing was glued to a white card base.

Simple and quite cheerful!  Just right for sending a bit of sunshine to someone's mailbox.

Stamps:  Think Big Favorites #15 (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Brilliant Blue, Yoyo Yellow (Stampin' Up); White (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Misc:  Cloudy Day embossing folder (Stampin' Up); Standard Circles Small die, Classic Inverted Scalloped Circles Large die (Spellbinders); Real Red, Only Orange, Yoyo Yellow, Green Galore, Brilliant Blue, Lovely Lilac markers (Stampin' Up)

You Make My Heart Flutter

Obviously, I'm on a sketch kick this month.  If it gets me creating, that's a good thing!  This time, I used the Viva La Verve Week 1 sketch, along with the color combo option.  My card also fits the Diva Dare challenge to use hearts.  When flipping through my stamp inventory binder, I saw the All Aflutter butterfly as well as this wonderful sentiment from Twitterpated.  It's a match made in heaven!  :)

Don't you just love that pretty paper?  In my "new" stash of retired paper, I found this single sheet from the Ski Slope pack.  The colors are just perfect for the January Viva La Verve color challenge.  I love serendipity like that.

I layered the Ski Slope paper on Real Red cardstock and then on a Chocolate Chip card base.  The red strip was embossed with the Hugs & Kisses folder.  Yes, again.  I love it!  The sentiment "I'm yours"  was embossed on a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock cut with the Jar Labels die and then tucked underneath the red strip.

The heart is actually an outline image from With Love that I filled in using a Real Red marker.  I wish Verve had this heart as a solid image.  It's a great size and shape.  I stamped my sentiment over top in black ink.  (and yes, I did try it over the heart outline first, but it didn't look right)

I embossed the two butterflies using Early Espresso powder and then colored then with a Baja Breeze marker, deliberately making them streaky.  I like the look!  I bent the wings for dimension and also raised one up using a pop-dot.

Inside the card, I adhered a white panel and strips of embossed red and the patterned paper.  Dresses it up nicely!  This card turned out to be one of my favorites that I've created this year so far.  Maybe I'll give this one to my hubby instead!   :)

Stamps:  All Aflutter, With Love, Twitterpated (Verve)
Paper:  Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Ski Slope dp (Stampin' Up); White (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento); VersaMark
Misc:  Real Red, Baja Breeze markers (Stampin' Up); All Aflutter die (Verve); Jar Labels die (Papertrey Ink); Standard Circles dies (Spellbinders); Hugs & Kisses embossing folder (Cuttlebug); Early Espresso embossing powder (Stampin' Up); white embossing powder (Filigree)

A Simple Thank You

I first designed this card when I was visiting family last fall.  My sister and I enjoyed spending a day stamping together.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of our cards to post on my blog.  I've made these simple thank you cards a couple of times since.

For the colorful circles, I used a 1-3/4" punch and leftover cardstock from my scrap drawer.  The "thank you" is cut using the Wonderful Words: Thank You die from Papertrey Ink.  The words "very much" were stamped using the matching set.  Quick and simple!  The most time-consuming part of this card is gluing the diecut, which is a bit tricky due to the narrow pieces.  Otherwise, they take very little time to create.  This design makes a great gift set of cards!

Stamps:  Wonderful Words: Thank You (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White, Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink); unknown colors
Ink:  Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)
Misc:  Wonderful Words: Thank You die (Papertrey Ink); 1-3/4" circle punch (EK Success) 

A Very Big Heart

I combined two challenges for this card.  The layout follows Freshly Made Sketches #119 (found here) and the color combo is from a new challenge called The Card Concept.  (found here)  I chose to use a Clean & Layered style for my card.  I would venture to say that most of my cards fall in that particular style.

I dug this embossed pink heart out of my scrap drawer.  It's probably been in there a couple of years!  When I saw this sketch, for some reason I remembered it was there and decided to use it for my card.  The first challenge for The Card Concept was to use a kraft, pink, vanilla, and espresso color combo.  So pretty!

My card base is Early Espresso cardstock with a layer of Pink Pirouette.  I stamped my sentiment using Early Espresso ink in the lower right corner.  I used the generational stamping technique to add text to my Vintage Cream layer and deliberately made it uneven.  Not splotchy, but some parts of the text are darker than others.  I mounted the panel on Early Espresso and then adhered to the card at an angle like the sketch, trimming off the excess.

I cut a flag banner out of burlap fabric, glued it in place, and then put the pink heart over top.  With the sentiment I chose, this could be a thank you card as well as a Valentine's Day card.  Sweet and simple.  :)

Stamps:  Love You Much, Happy Heart Day, Friend By Definition (Stampin' Up)
Paper:  Pink Pirouette, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up); Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Early Espresso (Stampin' Up); Fine Linen (Papertrey Ink); VersaMark
Misc:  Fishtail Flags STAX die (My Favorite Things; burlap, white embossing powder

Stand Under My Umbrella

I purchased this Rain or Shine stamp set from Verve last November and now it's finally seeing some ink.  I seem to have a weakness for weather-related images, especially umbrellas.  When I saw the new Mojo Monday sketch this week (found here), I thought it was perfect for this set.

 

I found this pretty cloud paper in the Sunshine & Sprinkles pack by Stampin' Up.  I paired it with Marina Mist and Pacific Point cardstock.  Such lovely blues!  On a piece of Marina Mist, I stamped several umbrellas using Marina Mist and Pacific Point ink.  I also stamped some little raindrops among the umbrellas by stamping off first to mute the color.  (generational stamping technique)

I stamped the "You can stand under my umbrella" sentiment on a white square and then embellished it with three Pacific Point raindrops.  Inside the card, I stamped "I'm here for you" from an MFT set. 

This card is intended to be a sympathy or moral support type of card.  We all have storms to weather and it's always nice to know someone is thinking of you when you're going through it.  Umbrellas are meant to be shared.  :) 

Stamps:  Rain or Shine (Verve); Get Well Soon (My Favorite Things)
Paper:  Marina Mist, Pacific Point, Sunshine & Sprinkles dp (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Marina Mist, Pacific Point (Stampin' Up); Tuxedo Black (Memento)