So, the Monday holiday here in the US got me all messed up.  I woke up this morning thinking that it was Tuesday.  I was going to do this blog post when I got home from work - plenty of time before the Freshly Made Sketches post went live on Wednesday.  But after puttering around the kitchen getting ready for work I realized it was actually Wednesday!  So I'm a bit late with this post!

Kim is our hostess this week at Freshly Made Sketches and she's given us a fun sketch.  I didn't immediately think of a tag for that layer on the top half of the card, but once I saw the AAA Cards Challenge I realized a tag would work really well.  I used some bright washi tape on the tag and completed the decoration with a colorful sunflower.

Thanks for stopping by!  We've got some great inspiration for you at Freshly Made Sketches so I hope you check us out and join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Tons of Type (The Stamp Market)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Daffodil Delight, Garden Green, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Tag Sale #5 die (Papertrey Ink); Sunflower die (My Favorite Things); Stitched Leaves die (My Creative Time); washi tape (Stampin' Up!); crochet thread

I think the new year has me off to a rough creative start.  I took a little hiatus from stamping the last couple of weeks and jumped in with two feet for our first Fusion challenge of the year.  I loved the bokeh design of the inspiration photo and decided to make my card by combining the bokeh with the sketch and the colors from another challenge.  But the colors ended up being way off to join the color challenge so... this is what I've got.

 

I think the sun is supposed to come out today!  It's been rather dreary around here lately and everyone I know is anxious to see the sun.  A harbinger of great things to come, I'm sure!  We'll start with today's great thing:  a brand new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess is Narelle and she surprised us with a sketch that only has three layers!  But I suppose you could sneak one or two more on there if you wanted!


I took a little liberty with that circle and used a dragonfly instead.  I hope you can see it on there!  I used a few grungy stamps to make the background so I could play along with Addicted to CAS, used yellow, a die cut, and sequins so I could play along with The Paper Players and coincidentally there's a sequin challenge at CAS on Sunday.  Whew!  That's my challenge limit!


My Freshly Made Sketches teamies have cooked up some amazing cards this week so be sure to check them out and play along with us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Mixed Media Elements (Stamplorations); Family is Everything (My Creative Time)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Basic Black, Vellum, Beyond the Garden DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Daffodil Delight (Stampin' Up!); Jet Black (Altenew)
Accessories:  Libellules die (4enscrap); Winter Blend sequins (Avery Elle)

 Hello, hello!  It's  Thursday and that means it's time for a new sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch.  This one made me think of a butterfly and I think you'll know why when you see it!



I'm not very good at following directions it seems because I put the butterfly in the wrong spot and took some liberties and used the "s" from my sentiment to represent one of the squares.  But I redeemed myself by using a couple of clear droplets for the other two squares and some sketchy lines for the horizontal part of the sketch.

My colors come from Can You Case It and the code word at Addicted to CAS is "fly" and who flies better than a butterfly!


Thanks for stopping by!  And I do hope you can check out the inspiration from my teammates at CAS(E) This Sketch and join us in the gallery with your creation!

Supplies
Stamps:  Papillon Potpourri (SU); Live Love Laugh & Be Happy (My Creative Time); Distressed Patterns (My Favorite Things)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir)
Ink:  Lucky Limeade, Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point (SU)
Accessories:  Clear Droplets (Pretty Pink Posh)

I don't know about you, but for me this week is dragging by!  I could have sworn that yesterday was Thursday but if that was true then I would be really late getting my card for CAS(E) This Sketch posted!  Luckily, it was just wishful thinking that my work-week was whizzing on by and I am right on time with this post!



Chrissy has cooked up a great sketch for us this week and as you can see I was influenced by that airplane!  This is actually the second card I made for this challenge.  Continuing with my recent mojo-gone-missing-project I boarded the struggle bus and tried to find it.  My first attempt was an embarrassing mess and I can't believe that I even tried to pass it off as a decent card when I made it.  Luckily I had some time for a total redux and since I couldn't get that plane out of my mind I opted to use this cute digi with my favorite bunny piloting a prop plane.  And as luck would have it, this week the challenge at Cupcake Inspirations is "bunnies" so I'll be popping this in over there as well!



Thanks for stopping by and be sure to pop on over to CAS(E) This Sketch to see what my teamies have been up to.  I can guarantee you that there is a ton of inspiration over there!  I hope to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Rabbit Traveler (Zlatoena Designs); Live, Love, Laugh & Be Happy (My Creative Time)
Paper:  Bashful Blue, Night of Navy (SU); Sweet Tooth (My Favorite Things); X-Press It Blending Card
Ink:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Copics
Accessories:  Blueprints 13 die (My Favorite Things); Puffy Clouds die (Memory Box)

Here we are at Thursday again and time for a new sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch.  I loved the balloon and string imagery in the sketch but didn't want to copy it exactly so I spent some time mentally going through my stamps sets to see if I had something I could substitute.  Insert some divine intervention and I remembered that I had a set with some butterflies and their little fluttering trail.



The CASology cue word this week is "distress," and for me that means inserting a grungy image wherever I can, so inked one up to serve as a background to the sentiment.  The colors I used were inspired by a color challenge that didn't have a chance to play along with last week, but I loved them all the same.

The cards this week from the CAS(E) This Sketch design team are so awesome this week (but you didn't need me to tell you that)!  I hope to see you in the gallery there!

Supplies
Stamps:  Mixed Media Elements (Stamplorations); Live, Love, Laugh and Be Happy (My Creative Time); Many Thanks (Simon Says Stamp)
Ink:  Going Gray, Cherry Cobbler (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Hello!  It's time for a new palette from your friends at colourQ!  This week the colors are inspired by these flip flops.  They are so gorgeous and I love that bit of bling!  Here's my card:



I've created a bit of an abstract version of the Match the Sketch layout here by layering images rather than card stock or patterned paper.  Then I topped it off with a bright yellow flower and some blue leaves - yes, blue!  That's what I call artistic license!


Thanks for stopping by today!  And please pop on over to colourQ and check out the cards our amazing design team have created with these colors.  I hope you have time to join us in the gallery this week!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge (SU); Ink Splats (Indigo Blu); Artful Flowers (Simon Says Stamp); Family is Everything (My Creative Time)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Night of Navy (SU)
Ink:  Daffodil Delight, Soft Sky, Marina Mist Night of Navy (SU)
Accessories:  Curvy Leaves die (Elizabeth Craft Designs)

Thank goodness it's Friday!  And thank goodness it's a long weekend!  But before I get to that we've got a new challenge up at Tag You're It.  This week our inspiration comes from a very colorful, fruit-filled tag from Lynn Put.


Well, I didn't have any fruit but I was inspired by the colors and the way Lynn layered two tags together.  The floral stamp is quite artsy and I had a grand idea to add some splashes of color to the petals leaving lots of white space and generally making a grand statement.  But, as expected, things didn't quite pan out the way I wanted so I ended up coloring in the petals instead.

The challenge at Retro Rubber is May Flowers so I thought I'd add this over there too.  The sentiment I used is one I've had in my stash for a while and they like us to use stuff that's at least a year old over there.  I'm pretty sure I've had this for a year, but just in case my memory is faulty I used some ancient Stampin' Up! red gingham ribbon that is probably about 10 years old!


The Tag You're It design team has made some great tags to inspire you this week, so be sure to check them out.  We love to see your tags or your tags on cards or whatever other clever ways you can think of to use them!  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Blossom (Precious Remembrance); Hello You (My Creative Time)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Cherry (Avery Elle); Old Olive (SU)
Ink:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Old Olive (SU); Copics
Accessories:  Tag Die, Tag Layers Die (My Creative Time); red gingham ribbon (SU); washi tape

A little bit ago I got an email from Nina from Cupcake Inspirations inviting me to be their Surprise Sweetie this week.  Since I love playing along with their challenges there was no way I was going to say no!



Ooh boy, I love this color combo!  I think the lime green is what gets me.  It just makes a fantastic contrast with just about everything!  For my card I created a grungy background using the blue and gray shades then topped it off with the beautiful butterfly.


Special thanks to Nina and the Cupcake Inspirations design team for having me along this week. What a treat for me!  And thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge (SU); Java Spills (Stamping Bella); Hashtags (Tim Holtz); Family is Everything (My Creative Time)
Paper:  Classic White (Flourishes); Basic Gray, Lucky Limeade, Vellum (SU)
Ink:  Basic Gray, Bashful Blue (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accesories:  Cheviot Butterfly die, Delaney Butterflly die (Poppystamps); Basic Rhinestone (SU)

Happy Tuesday!  Today we've got a pretty new palette up at colourQ inspired by these garden stakes.   I thought the colors would be perfect for a sweet little flower with a little grungy background.



I got some further inspiration from the latest CAS(E) This Sketch.  As per my usual, I substituted some stamps for the banner layers in the sketch - some on top, some on bottom.


I added some Wink of Stella to the flower petals but, of course, you can't see that unless you look very closely.  Rest assured, it is there and it looks fantastic!

Thanks so much for stopping by and please pop on over to colourQ and see the fabulous design team creations there.  We love to see you in the gallery

Supplies
Stamps:  All Holidays (SU); Textures 1 (Florileges Design); Family is Everything (My Creative Time)
Paper:  Classic White (Flourishes); Hello Honey, Gumball Green (SU)
Ink:  Bashful Blue, Poppy Parade (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Petal Party die (Memory Box); Curvy Leaves die (Elizabeth Craft Designs); enamel dots (Studio Calico)

Spring has finally arrived in New England!  After a blah Saturday and a not-so-promising start to Sunday the sun finally broke through the clouds, the temperatures warmed up and I actually wore short sleeves outside!  Woo hoo!  But alas I had to eventually go back inside to get busy with the latest palette from colourQ.  The colors, inspired by this apron, are perfect if you have flowers on your mind!



I actually didn't have flowers on my mind, as you can see!  I was feeling the butterfly instead.  The colors seem awfully close in my photo (a professional photographer I am not), but I can assure you that the horizontal stripe is Calypso Coral and the butterfly is layered with Blushing Bride and Poppy Parade.  I went over the intricate details of the Poppy Parade layer of the butterfly with my Wink of Stella pen because that makes everything better, of course!

I've used a liberal interpretation of the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge this week.  I started out with some card stock for the horizontal layers and decided that they were a little too blah, so I created those "layers" with some new grungy stamps I recently bought.  And I'm pleased as punch to say that I was chosen over there last week for the Sweet Sunday SPOTlight!  Yay me!


I can't wait to see how you light up the colourQ gallery this week with these beautiful colors.  The design team has outdone themselves with their creations!  I hope to see you over there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Mixed Media Grunge (Stamplorations); Live, Love, Laugh & Be Happy (My Creative Time)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Blushing Bride, Poppy Parade (SU)
Ink:  Coastal Cabana, Calypso Coral (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Chrissy Butterfly die, Leanna Butterfly die (Simon Says Stamp); enamel dots (My Mind's Eye); Basic Pearls (SU); Wink of Stella