What's Cooking?

I didn't think that I was going to have enough time to finish this card this morning and get it entered by the deadline, but I made it!  I wanted to play along at Just Magnolia and Hanglar Stanglar Challenge 116 What's Cooking?  I'm also playing along with Basic Grey Challenges #49 which is Heather's sketch challenge.  I used Basic Grey's "Nook & Pantry" dps on my card today.

Here's Heather's sketch.

Here's my card.

Materials:
Stamps:  Magnolia
Papers:  white, dark brown for mats and base, dps from Basic Grey "Nook & Pantry"
Other:  Prima flower, Recollections trim, Sizzix die for leaves, Circle Nestabilities, colored with Copics

Thanks for looking!
Blessings!
Sarah

I'd Pick You

Here's my last VLV card for the July challenges.  When I first saw this sketch by Moe, I thought it would be the easiest one for me this month since it features a HUGE flower!  : )  You know how I love flowers!  However, I got hung up on which dps to use, and it ended up being the slowest card to make.  I finally decided to use more Basic Grey "Lemonade" papers since I had a few scraps that required minimal trimming to fit an A2 card.

Here's the sketch.

My card has a different color palette than I usually use, but I like it.

Materials:
Stamps:  Verve "Dream Big"
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
Papers:  Basic Grey "Lemonade"
Other:  Prima flower from "Softees Collection Bonnet," Sizzix die, Nestabilities big scalloped circle die and circle die, sewing machine


Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings!
Sarah

Hello!

I'm back to share a card I made for The Shabby Tea Room's challenge, Relax and Enjoy!  Here's the inspiration photo.

From the inspiration photo, I took the colors and the roses and flowers in the towels as the basis of my card.  I followed the VLV sketch for July week 4.  Isn't Laurie's sketch a fun one?

Here's my card.  I used some of my favorite papers, Basic Grey's "Lemonade."  Nothing like relaxing and enjoying a cold glass of lemonade on a hot summer day!

Here's a closeup of the embellishments.  I sewed all around the edge of the card.  The heart is a Nestabilities die with a hand cut mat.   A little pink seam binding, pink rose, and tiny tag cut with a Labels 4 Nesties die finish it off.

Materials:
Stamps:  Verve "Happy Hello"
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
Papers:  Basic Grey "Lemonade"
Other:  Nestabilites Heart die and Labels dies, pink seam binding, Recollections rose, knitting needle to curl wire, sewing machine, MFT small scallop die

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings!
Sarah

Sentimental About Paper

Over on the Verve Blog, the July Diva Dare is Sentimental About Paper.  We are challenged to use dps and sentiments only (no images) to make a project.

I decided to use some new paper I'd just gotten called "Uncommon" by Authentique along with one of my favorite sentiments from Verve's "One Person" set. 

My layout is from a recent Mojo Monday sketch, number 199.  I didn't have time to play along that week, but as soon as I saw that sketch I knew it was perfect for this new Prima flower. 

In this next photo, you can see the teeny tiny text on the scallop layer a bit better.

Supplies used:
Stamps:  Verve "One Person"
Paper:  white, black, dps from Authentique "Uncommon" (the pink and the teeny tiny text scallop layer)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, SU! "Rose Red" (sponged)
Other:  MFT small scallop die, Nestabilities circle and scalloped circle die, black satin ribbon from stash, Bow Easy, Prima flower "Innoscence 2"

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings!
Sarah

Wedding Wishes

I made a wedding card for my husband's cousin.  It's my first time trying to do darker skin tones with my Copic markers.  It was even more difficult since I only have 5 brown markers!  Their colors are pink and brown.  The guys will be wearing brown tuxes, so to do a brown tux with dark skin and have some degree of color difference was a big challenge for me!  I used Jane's layout from Just Magnolia and Hanglar Stanglar from last week (114) again as I just loved that sketch!

Here's the inside.  We will be adding a personal message inside.

Here's the back.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
A Spoon Full of Sugar:  pink and brown
Oldie but a Goodie:  use a stamp at least 6 months old, ribbon and lace
Cute Card Thursday:  at least 1 circle

Materials:
Stamps:  Magnolia wedding collection from summer 2010, sentiment stamp inside is from Verve (also over 6 mo. old)
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Papers:  SU! (pink and dps)
Other:  Ribbon from JoAnn's, lace from stash, circle Nestabilities and Grand Nestabilities for inside, Recollections mini roses, knitting needle to curl wires, Spellbinders Fancy Tags 2, Copic markers


Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings!
Sarah

GYDO Michael's inspired

I decided to play along in Verve's Get Your Diva On contest over on SCS.  The challenge is to use a gift card as inspiration, and the prize is being a Guest Diva.  How fun would that be?!  So I saw this challenge posted on Monday, and I thought, "Great, I just bought a gift card yesterday!" as I knew I didn't have any other gift cards in my purse.  I pulled out the little envelope it was tucked into, and I was instantly like, ooooh, I don't know about using that as inspiration.  See the photos below and I think you'll understand!

So this little envelope looks pretty good.  Gray and black stripes with white lettering.

But then I pulled the gift card out, and here's the image!  The clerk just grabbed a gift card and loaded the dollar amount on it.  I never saw the image until I was going to go and use it for this challenge!  Hope our niece likes it {giggle} - the store particularly since she is the one receiving this gift card this weekend!

I was going to make a masculine card using the color palette from the gift card, but I only had a tiny scrap of gray cardstock.  I might come back to this sometime and try to use it as the inspiration.   I then turned to the Internet and found this Michael's card that appealed to me.

Here's my gift card inspired GYDO card.  I made a 6 x 6 easel style card.

This is the card closed.

I took a closeup of the flower.  I layered together some petals in various sizes and then added this sequined Prima piece to the center.  It is a ring of sequins with a clear rhinestone in the center.  The sparkle was really fighting the camera, and in this picture, I think it actually looks more like a pearl.  You can also see the scoring a little better on the yellow background.  I used my Scor-Pal and just scored every half-inch on the diagonal.

At the bottom, I added the birthday blessings with some more flowers, and then behind the lip that keeps the easel card upright, there is a little space to write a message and/or attach a gift card.  You can see that in the bottom photo.

This was a really fun challenge, and the next time I'm stuck for inspiration, I'll try using a gift card again.

Materials:

Stamps:  Verve "Love Deepens" and "Dream Big"

Paper:  Plain cardstock yellow, black, white

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Other:  Flower pieces (these are about the last of this package, think they were Recollections?), Prima sequined piece, gold brads, foam tape, Scor-Pal

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings!

Sarah

Thinking of You

I will admit that Amber's July week 1 VLV sketch had me stymied.  I just could not decide what I wanted to do with those 4 panels.  I considered a flower in each one, a patchwork quilt approach, but it just wasn't coming together.  So I decided to just wait on this sketch and use it with a color challenge or inspiration photo.  Well, the stars must have aligned or something because when I saw this week's TSTR inspiration photo, I couldn't believe how well that wreath over the door fit the sketch.  CR84FN challenge 33 also fits in using red, pink, and neutrals.

Here's the sketch, inspiration photo, and color story.

OK, so my idea was to mimic the panels of the door using some wooden sticks that I painted with crackle paint to make it just a little bit shabby.  Then I assembled a little wreath using a bunch of Recollections mini roses placed on top of lots of MS leafy bits.  The "window panes" are made of vellum.  I stamped a SU! background stamp called "Sanded" on the back of the vellum to mimic the reflection of the trees in the window of the inspiration photo. 

In this closeup, you can see the crackle a bit more clearly.  You can also see just a little bit of the base I made out of brown cardstock to mimic the grapevine of the actual wreath in the photo.  I cut several circle Nesties and layered them so they would be off-set like an actual wreath.  Then I just started gluing on the various leaf and fern punches and the flowers.

The little sentiment is from Verve's "Artful Elegance" and is cut out and mounted using two different Verve A Cut Above dies.  I added a bit of thin twine to finish it as more of a tag.

Materials
Stamps:  Verve "Artful Elegance" and SU! "Sanded" background stamp
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Vintage Photo Distress Ink
Other:  wooden sticks, Distress Crackle Paint "Picket Fence," Recollections mini roses, MS leaf punch, MS fern punch, Verve A Cut Above dies, thin twine


Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings!
Sarah

ETA:  Thank you to the Shabby Tea Room for selecting my card to receive an honorable mention for this challenge!

Berry Sweet Tilda

Hi!  Today I want to share a card that I made for the Just Magnolia and Hanglar Stanglar Challenge.  For week 114, Jane has posted a lovely sketch for us to use.  I tried (and tried and tried) to be able to save the sketch so I could add it to my post, but it kept freezing my computer.  So, if you want to see the sketch, click HERE to go to the challenge post.  Thanks!   I'm also entering my card at the Simon Says Stamp! challenge where this week, Simon Says .... Anything Goes! 

Here's my card.  I used an older Tilda and made a mask so she could sit directly on the giant strawberry.

A view from the side shows the dimension of the lovely red Prima rose.

Materials
Stamps:  Magnolia
DPs are all from DCWV "Berry St. Farmers' Market" collection
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Other:  Copic markers, Prima rose, Recollections mini roses, lace from stash, circle nestability

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings!
Sarah

You Make A Difference

For the July week 2 challenge, Tosha gave us this fun sketch to use.

Right away with all of these different panels, I knew I wanted to do some sewing on the card to kind of tie it all together, so I turned to my Mabel paper from My Mind's Eye and started picking out some soft, coordinating designs.

Here's my take on the sketch.

I took a closeup of the sentiment and bow.  I just love the MFT small doily die.  It's just the right size to make a frame for this sentiment. 

Materials:
Stamps:  Verve "Fairy Tales"
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
DPs:  all from My Mind's Eye "Stella Rose - Mabel"
Other:  MFT mini doily die, MFT small scallop border die, sewing machine, May Arts white silk ribbon, Bow Easy, circle Nestability, Recollections roses

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings!
Sarah

American Girl

I combined several challenges for this card.  The layout is based on the Mojo Monday sketch for this week, number 198.

I took my color inspiration and general theme of the card from this week's The Shabby Tea Room Challenge of red, white, and blue. 

Finally, at Papertake Weekly Challenge, this week, anything goes!

Here's my 4th of July influenced card.  I know that Tilda is from Sweden, but I think she looks pretty cute perched on her glittery cupcake in her red, white, and blue outfit.

I took a couple of closeups to show some of the details a bit more clearly.  I made this flag rosette embellishment using a MFT scoring die, a star punched using a Creative Memories large star punch and heavily coated in crystal stickles glitter, some aluminum foil that I cut into thin strips, and a flag button from my stash. 

I wanted a wider red, white, and blue ribbon, so I took the ribbon I had (shown on left below), laid it down on some scor-tape, and then ran it back to make it double the original width (shown on right below).  There was a little white border against the blue stripe originally, so I took one of my Copic markers and colored over that white edge.

I also finished the inside of this card using a quick little panel with a punched edge.

Finally, on the back, I added another punched border along with my personalized stamp from Scrapmagasinet.  It reads "Handmade with love by Sarah with love and smiles just for you." 

Supplies used:
Stamps:  Tilda, Cupcake stamp both from Magnolia
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Papers:  SU! Real Red, SU! Brilliant Blue (ret.), American Girl strip cut from American Girl 12x12 pad from Michael's
Copic markers:  E000, E00, E01, R20, R29, R37, R59, B24, B29, E51, E53, C1, C3, B0000
Other:  white gel pen, Cuttlebug "Once Upon a Princess" cupcake embossing folder from set, MS hearts border punch, MFT rosette die, Creative Memories large star punch, Aluminum foil, Stickles glitter "Crystal," flag button from stash, ribbon from stash, sewing machine

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings!

Sarah

ETA:  Thank you so much to TSTR for selecting my card as one of the honorable mentions for this challenge!  It really means a lot to have my card selected.  Thank you!!

Wireless Keyboard Issues

So I had I finished my cards for the June VLV sketch challenges last week on Thursday which was the deadline to enter them.  I then managed to accidentally spill lemonade on the wireless keyboard for the computer which was not a good thing and left me unable to post them before the dealine.  Ugh.  Fortunately hubby was able to get the same keyboard, but I was gone for the weekend to spend some time with my Dad.  So I now I am home again tonight and I have 3 cards to share with you today and a functional replacement keyboard!  :)

First up is "Beautiful You" using Teresa's sketch.  I also made this first card to enter The Play Date Cafe's challenge, PDCC88.  This is my first time playing along with their color challenge. 

I used a sentiment from Verve's "Beautiful You" stamped in Versafine Onyx Black ink.  The dps are all from DCWV, "The Sorbet Stack."  I think they match the inspiration colors pretty closely.  Other things:  Nesties, MFT scallop border die, Prima glittery flower, ribbon from stash, SU! "Daffodil Delight" ink for sponged edge.  This card is a standard A2 size.

You can see the glittery papers a little better on this picture.  It is really sparkly in real life!

 

Second up is "Thinking of You" using Amber's sketch.

Here's my card.  It is 6" square, but it sure doesn't look square in this photo, does it?!

I used two different Verve sets, "Chicks Rule" for the basket and flowers and "Artful Elegance" for the sentiment.  I cut out the sentiment using some of the Verve "A Cut Above" dies.  The sentiment is stamped in Versafine Onyx Black.  I stamped the images in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored using Copics ROO, R20, E35, E37, and YG63. 

I added some Vintage Photo Distress Ink to the edges as well as some pearls and some gems to the flower centers.  The dps are Basic Grey, older collections, not sure just which ones as these were scraps that were just loose in the pile.

Finally is "Hello Sunshine"  using Sankari's sketch.  I had intended to enter this one in the CR84FN32 color challenge, but alas, I am too late in posting!

Here's my very bright card!

 

Supplies used
Sentiment from Verve's "Let It Shine"
DPs: DCWV "The Sorbet Stack"
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
Other:  MS punch, Nesties, Recollections flowers and rhinestones, Sizzix die, rolled rose made from a scrap of quilt batting and sponged with SU! "Daffodil Delight" ink, gold rhinestone.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings!

Sarah