Where Flowers Bloom

I made a flowery card using this week's Mojo Monday sketch.  This sketch was the perfect way to use up a sentiment I'd stamped a while ago and hadn't used plus 2 more scraps of Basic Grey "Sultry" paper with very little trimming.  I had a little piece of dp that was already die cut with a Nestabilities label die, and then I had a narrow strip of the striped pattern.  I matted them, layered them on top of the 12" x 12" version of the floral pattern, added some embellishments, and this card was done!  It really came together that quickly for me.

First, Julee's fab scrap busting sketch!

Here's my take on the sketch.

Supplies used:
Stamps:  Verve "Where Flowers Bloom" Plain Jane
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
Papers:  white, green, pink, dps from Basic Grey "Sultry" 6" x 6" pad for stripe and label die cut, 12" x 12" for large floral background paper
Other:  seam binding, Recollections mini rose, Nestabilities circle, scalloped circle, and label dies, large pink ruffly flower was an ice cream cone Gymboree barette from the clearance bin that I cut apart

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah

3 or More Stamps!

The Shining the Light Challenge at Our Daily Bread Designs was to use 3 or more stamps on the front of your card.  I decided to use the ODBD set "With Heartfelt Sympathy" as I thought the individual stamps would work well together on my center panel.

The sentiment looks a little blurry in the picture because the camera was fighting to focus on the sentiment or the sparkly dragonfly.  I lightly sponged over the entire panel with pale blue ink.  The three stamps I used were the dragonfly (cut out and popped up on foam dots), the cattails, and the sentiment.

Supplies used:
Stamps:  ODBD "With Heartfelt Sympathy"
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Memento Rich Cocoa, SU "Bashful Blue" for sponging
Papers:  white, dark brown, dps from Basic Grey "Capella"
Other:  Copic markers, Nestabilities, MS border punch, sponge, Sakura glitter pen (dragonfly), foam dots to pop up dragonfly
Size:  6" square

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah

A Fabulous Birthday

I've just discovered a new sketch challenge site called The Sketchy Challenges.  I'm also playing along with the Basic Grey Challenge to use your favorite color scheme.  I love pink and brown together, and it also gave me the chance to use up a little bit more of my Basic Grey "Sultry" scraps. 

Here's Heidy's sketch.  I think I will come back to this sketch again as it is just a beautiful layout, easy to cut and assemble, and of course I love the flowers!

I wanted to use this Magnolia horse that hadn't seen ink yet.  This is a large stamp, so I knew that my center image would cover most of the background papers. 

As I was working on the card, I thought that the background was a little too busy, so I modified the dp by sponging it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink to tone it down.  I also sponged along the edges of the image panel and the sentiment as the white was way too bright once I toned down the background paper.

Here's a scrap of the dp so you can see the original colors.

Card supplies:
Stamps:  Verve "Birthday Surprise" sentiment and image from Magnolia
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Memento Tuxedo Black, and Vintage Photo Distress Ink
Papers:  White, pink, brown, dp from Basic Grey "Sultry"
Other:  Copic markers, Nestabilities dies, silver gel pen for metal accents on bridle, Recollections mini roses, Prima glittery rose, Sizzix flourish die cut
Card size:  6" square

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah

Just for You

I finished my last card for the VLV June challenges.  I have to admit that I really struggled with Teresa's sketch until I found just the right combination of papers.  I found some scraps of Basic Grey "Lily Kate" that needed very little trimming to fit the sketch proportions.  I love it when that happens!

Here's the sketch. 

I was really hung up on that narrow bar until I realized that it would make the perfect perch for Tilda.

I added a little Verve sentiment in the corner and kept it CAS.

Card supplies:
Stamps:  Verve "Just for You" and Magnolia
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black and Memento Tuxedo Black
Papers:  White, green and dp from Basic Grey "Lily Kate" collection
Other:  Copic markers
Size:  6" square

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah

You're Purr-fect

Today I wanted to share the Father's Day card that I made for my husband.  I used the CAS VLV sketch for June and combined it with the CAS Basic Grey Challenge. 

Here's Janelle's lovely sketch.

On my card, I used a Basic Grey stamp set called "Furry Friends" that was released with the "Max and Whiskers" line.  Both the cat and the sentiment are from this set.

I had a little trouble getting my stamps to ink the paper evenly.  I'm not sure if it was because of the heat or just what happened.  This kitty was my third attempt on getting an evenly stamped image!  I stamped the paw print in SU! Real Red ink and then went over it with a marker to fill in the uneven parts.  I added Love U! as it seemed a little stark even by CAS standards.

I used one piece of black card stock as a mat rather than having two separate white pieces on black mats as I thought that would lend itself better to the CAS style.

Card supplies:
Stamps:  Basic Grey "Furry Friends" for cat and paw print, sentiment from Michael's dollar bin (part of a small set of clear stamps, didn't keep packaging to know the brand, sorry)
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black, SU! Real Red
Papers:  Black and white
Other:  Nestabilities circle and petite scalloped circle dies
Size:  A2

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah

Best Wishes!

I'd been thinking about the current sketch at Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge for several days.  I was having a hard time deciding what I wanted to do with it.  Then I looked at two other challenges, the Bingo challenge at Papertake Weekly, and the Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend challenge at The Shabby Tea Room, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do:  use my Mom's buttons!


First, the super cute sketch.  I just loved that big flower at the top.

Second, the bingo board for PTW.  I used the whole board except lace and punches.

Finally, the inspiration photo from TSTR.  Look at all of those beautiful sparkles and pearls!

I started by laying out the various button options that I thought would work.  You can see the Marianne doily die that I used underneath all of the buttons as a kind of frame.

So I putzed around and tried all sorts of different buttons, and then took a picture of it just in case I knocked it on the floor.  I really didn't want to try to lay it all out again!

Here's the finished card:  The picture is just a little blurry as the camera was fighting to focus.  I think the big gem in the bottom button was casting some glare that didn't help matters.

I added mini pearls all around the edges of the doily as a finishing touch along with a few pearls scattered throughout the design to fill in some of the empty space.  I used a second doily die cut (one from Stampin' Up!) to fill in the space between the buttons and flowers.

I used a wire cutter to snip off the shanks on the buttons before I glued them in place.  The 2 smaller flowers above are made using a scrap of Warm & Natural 100% cotton quilt bat with the rolled rose die from My Favorite Things.  The larger center flower is made with a Sizzix die using the same batting.

Mom left a paper box (the ones that come with 8 reams of 8 1/2" x 11" paper) FULL of these lavish buttons.  She had planned to make a whole bunch of button angels for Christmas tree ornaments.  They are so quick and easy to do, and it is so fun to pair up the different buttons and look at all of the possible combinations.  Ariel and I are going to work our way through this button box at some point before Christmas (I hope!).  She can be in charge of layouts, and I'll run the hot glue gun.

This angel is about 4" tall including the hook.  Here's what the back looks like to give you an idea of just how quickly these angels can be assembled.  First glue the head and wing buttons in place, and then add a hanging wire on the back.  If you decide to try this project, these ornaments can be quite heavy depending on the size of buttons used, so make sure you get a lot of glue in there to hold it all together!

Card supplies:
Stamps:  Waltzingmouse Stamps:  "Fancy Phrases"
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
Paper:  White
Other:  Black satin ribbon, Prima glitter rose, a few buttons from JoAnn's, other buttons from Mom's stash (some of them might be Favorite Findings?), Recollections mini pearls, Marianne doily die, Stampin' Up! doily die (layered on top of Marianne die), rolled rose die from MFT, Sizzix die
Card size:  5 7/8" square (I slipped when I was cutting it, so it's not 6" this time!)


Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah

Summer Challenge card

Hi!  Today I have a summer themed challenge card to share with you.  With the temperature over 90 today, it seems to be an appropriate theme!

Here are the challenges I combined:
Simon Says Stamp:  summer inspiration photo board (I chose to use the colors pink, orange, and green which were prevalent in many of the pictures along with flowers)
Our Daily Bread Designs SLC112:  Summer theme (I chose flowers)
PaperTake Weekly:  3 -2 - 1 (3 gems, 2 dps and 2 different ribbons, 1 mini rose)
Sketch Saturday 212:  layout

Here's a look at the inspiration photo with its glorious summery colors!

Here's the layout I used from Sketch Saturday.  I was the lucky winner in last week's challenge, and I still haven't narrowed down my wish list to Simon Says Stamp!  :)

Here's my card.  I used a flower stamp from ODBD called "Bleeding Heart" as the focal point for my card.  For the cluster of 3 circles shown in the sketch, I combined a bow, mini rose, and bling flourish.

Here's a closeup of the bleeding hearts.

I really liked the colors in the hot air balloon, and on the inside of my card, the dp I used gives that same effect.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Our Daily Bread Designs "Bleeding Heart" and sentiment from ODBD "Birthday Blessings"
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black and Memento Tuxedo Black
Papers:  White, black, dps from Basic Grey "Sweet Threads"
Other:  Organdy ribbon for bow from stash, American Crafts ribbon (the wider one), Bow Easy, Recollections bling flourish, Recollections mini rose, Copic markers
Card size:  6" square

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah

Something x 4 Challenge

Good morning!  This week's Shining the Light Challenge at Our Daily Bread Designs involves 4 different somethings:  borrowed, blue, old, and new.  Sounds fun, doesn't it?  In addition to sketches, I love using recipes like this one when making a card.

I used a layout from Sketch Saturday.

Here's my card.
Something old:  ODBD "Faith" butterfly branch stamp
Something new:  dps from Prima "Madeline"
Something blue:  blue butterflies
Something borrowed/gift:  Hero Arts Hero Hues pink pearls that I won at SCS for the HYCCT challenge last fall

Supplies used:
Stamps:  ODBD "Faith"
Papers:  white, dark brown, dps from Prima "Madeline"
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Other:  Recollections pearl flourish, Hero Arts Hero Hues pink pearls, Prima flower
Card size:  6" square

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah

Challenge Cards

This morning I have 2 challenge cards to share with you.  I made the first one for The Shabby Tea Room's Shabby Beautiful challenge using the June week 2 VLV sketch.  Check out the inspiration photo!

Tosh's sketch was so fun to use! I had a lot of fun laying out different dps and creating all of these layers.

I found some Prima "Madeline" papers that even looked like the wallpaper in the inspiration photo right down to the little bird in the corner!

Supplies: 
Stamps:  Verve "Love Story"
Papers:  White, dark brown for mats, dps from Prima "Madeline"
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
Other:  MFT doily die, lace from stash, pink organdy ribbon from stash, blue flower by Recollections, Bow Easy
Card size:  A2

My second card is for VLV June week 1.  I've had this done for several days, and I just hadn't posted it yet.  Check out this great sketch from Amber!

I managed to use up a little more of that Basic Grey "Sultry" paper pad.  It's almost gone! 

Supplies:
Stamps:  Verve "Beautiful You"
Papers:  White, black, dps from Basic Grey "Sultry"
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, SU! pink (didn't write down what I used, sorry!) for sponging
Other:  Recollections gem flourish, black satin ribbon, Bow Easy, Recollections single gems, black button from stash
Size:  6" square

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah

Hola Chica!

This is my second post for today as I have some challenge cards that need to be posted by the deadline!  For the Sketch Saturday challenge, I decided to use a cute little chickie that I colored sometime back in April.  It was originally going to be used on an Easter card, but I didn't get a chance to finish it. 

Here's this week's sketch. 

Here's my spring inspired card.  I decided that my chickie looked better in an oval, so I modified the layout just a little bit.

Supplies used:
Stamps:  Verve "Chicks Rule" image and sentiment
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black and Memento Tuxedo Black
Papers:  White, black, dps from The Paper Studio "Daydream Doodle"
Other:  pink organdy ribbon from stash, Bow Easy, Recollections bling accents, Copics, Nestabilities oval and scalloped oval dies

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah

Santa's Workshop WMSC 100

Congratulations to Waltzingmouse Stamps Sketch Challenge as they celebrate their 100th challenge!  They are having some special prizes in honor of this milestone.  If you haven't already entered, you can find out the challenge details and prizes available using the above link.

Here's the sketch for this week.

I decided to use my "Santa Was Here" set for the challenge.  I thought that the little reindeer in the dp would be the perfect complement to Santa and his sleigh in the image.

Supplies used:
Stamps:  Waltzingmouse Stamps "Santa Was Here"
Ink:  SU! "Cherry Cobbler"
Papers:  White, pink, dps from Basic Grey "Eskimo Kisses"
Other:  May Arts 1 1/4" burgundy silk ribbon, Bow Easy, white heart button from stash, thin twine, small jingle bell (Michael's), SU! ticket corner punch, MS border punch

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah

Seeing Double

So I sat down to make a card with the goal of using up more of my Basic Grey "Sultry" paper pad.  The remaining papers however were a combination of some of my favorite prints and some of my least favorite prints.  What to do?  Cover as much as possible of my least favorite print.

I started with Papertake Weekly's sketch from a recent challenge, changed the proportions to fit my scraps, and made the image panel a circle instead of a rectangle.

I ended up making 2 cards that will go to my two best friends from college.  I figured that if I wanted to use up this paper as that deepest layer in the layout, I should use up both sheets of the print while I had an idea of what I should do with it!  The layout hides most of the pattern of these really big leaves that are pink, lime green, and brown with white popping through, and I'm pretty happy with my finished projects.

Here are the matching cards for Suz and Chris.  I used two different sentiments.

Here's the Butterfly Kisses card.

Here's the Springtime Hello card.

Supplies used:
Stamps:  Magnolia, sentiments from Whimsy stamps "Spring Letter Seals"
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black and Memento Tuxedo Black
Papers:  white, dps from Basic Grey "Sultry"
Other:  Copic markers, MS butterflies punch, Recollections pearls, Nestabilities circle and petite scalloped circle dies, Recollections glittery flower, Prima mini rose, Organdy ribbon from stash, Bow Easy, pink lace from stash

I'm entering these cards in two challenges:  Anything Goes at Just Magnolia and Hanglar Stanglar and Anything Goes at Papertake Weekly.

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah

Best Dad Ever

Whew!  I managed to finish a Father's Day card for my Dad using the Cute Card Thursday #219 challenge and get it posted before the challenge closed.  We were challenged to use planes, trains, and automobiles.  I don't have any stamps with planes, trains, or automobiles, but I do have some tractor stamps which I figured were pretty close (I hope!).

I find it a bit ironic that I used papers called "Urban Rhapsody" to make a rustic farm card!  I liked the colors in these papers with the tractor image.  The hardest part was cutting the arrow paper to get words that I wanted where I wanted them.  Some of the words (good bye, for one) I didn't want to use and those words seemed to be right next to what I wanted to selectively cut.  The metal tag helped me cover word fragments once I'd cut the strip. 

I tried to color the tractor to look like Dad's Case IH tractor right down to the dirt covered tires.  I hope he likes it!

Supplies used:
Stamps:  SU! "Tractor Time" and sentiment from Verve "Dad's Day"
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Memento Tuxedo Black, Vintage Photo Distress Ink (sponging)
Papers:  white, kraft for base, red, dps from K & Co. "Urban Rhapsody"
Other:  metal frame from JoAnn's, screw brads from Michael's, Tim Holtz distressing tool
Size:  6" square

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah

Diamond Jubilee

In honor of the Diamond Jubilee celebration, Basic Grey Challenge and Simon Says Stamp Challenge have both selected that theme for their current challenges.  We were challenged to use things such as crowns, royalty, and bling in our creations.

Here's my creation.

I used a very simple layout, as I knew that with the large image, most of the background paper would be covered.  I colored my images using Copics and then cut out Tilda and popped her up on foam tape for more dimension.  The largest flower originally was a white Prima flower.  I dyed it a long time ago and added a bunch of glitter to it.  That flower didn't work on the project I intended to use it on, but I was glad that I had it for this card!  I know that I used one of my SU! pinks to die it, but I don't know the exact color I used. 

Supplies used:
Stamps:  Magnolia
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Papers:  white, green, dps from Basic Grey "Sultry"
Other:  lace from stash, organdy ribbon from stash, Bow Easy, Prima flower, Stickles glitter, Recollections mini roses, Recollections rhinestone flourish/corner, Copics, foam tape

I'm working on using up the last of my Basic Grey "Sultry" paper pad.  There will be more cards coming in the near future!

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah

Use It Up Group 3

Today I have the details for the last of the cards that I made when using up my K & Co. Brenda Walton "Small Wonders Girl" paper pad.

For my Perk Up card, I used SC306 for the layout.

Supplies for Perk Up card:
Stamps:  Verve "Better With You"
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black and Memento Tuxedo Black
Papers:  Cream, Bazzill "Foxy," and dps from K & Co. Brenda Walton "Small Wonders Girl"
Other:  Nestabilities circle and petite scalloped circle dies, Copics

For the Happy Birthday card, I had a few strips of varying lengths of dps.  I decided that I could compensate for the length differences by covering the end with an image.  The top corner was then a little bare, so I added a rhinestone flourish.

Supplies used for the Happy Birthday card:
Stamps:  Verve "Birthday Surprise"
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black and Memento Tuxedo Black
Papers: Cream, Bazzill "Foxy," and dps from K & Co. Brenda Walton "Small Wonders Girl"
Other: Nestabilities circle and petite scalloped circle dies, Copics, Recollections rhinestone flourish

I used SC347 for the layout of my next card.  I changed the orientation from vertical to horizontal, but I tried to keep the same proportions.

Supplies used on the Hugs and Smiles card:
Stamps:  Verve "Kind Words"
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Papers: Cream, Bazzill "Foxy," and dps from K & Co. Brenda Walton "Small Wonders Girl"
Other: Nestabilities oval and scalloped oval dies, ivory ribbon from stash, Bow Easy, button from stash, thin twine

For the You Are Such A Joy To Me card, I made a frame using dps and cream paper for the mats.

Supplies used on the You Are Such A Joy To Me card:
Stamps:  Verve "Great Friend" for flowers and Verve "Kind Words" for sentiment
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
Papers:  Cream and dps from K & Co. Brenda Walton "Small Wonders Girl"
Other:  Ivory ribbon from stash, Bow Easy, Recollections mini rose

I hope you enjoyed seeing my parade of cards.  It was truly satisfying to use up this paper pad!  I'm almost done using up a Basic Grey "Sultry" paper pad, and I will be posting the last cards I've made with those papers soon.

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah

Use It Up Group 2

Here's the next group of cards with the supply details.  This is my second post for today, so if you want to see the details for the first group, scroll down to the previous post.

This first one looks a bit wonky once I cropped it, but I had to angle it a bit so that the rhinestone flourishes didn't have so much glare on them.  Unfortunately, when I angled it, the sentiment is also harder to read, "Birthday Wishes."  For the layout, I just took two of the coordinating dps and made a layered frame.

Supplies for Birthday Wishes card:
Stamps:  Circle frame from Verve "Thankful Accents" and sentiment from Verve "Wishful Elegance"
Ink:  Versafinx Onyx Black and SU! "Pretty in Pink"
Papers:  Cream, Bazzill "Foxy," and dp from K & Co. Brenda Walton "Small Wonders Girl"
Other: Recollections rhinestone flourishes, Nestabilities circle and petite scalloped circle dies
Card size: A2

My next card used SC311 for the layout.  I had some pieces of paper that weren't quite big enough to cover an entire A2 card base, but I didn't want to cut them up very much so that I could use up my papers faster!

The rhinestone flourish is much brighter in real life.  Again, I had to angle the card to cut down on the sparkle to take the picture.

Supplies for Wishing You All the Best Card: 
Stamps:  Verve "Kind Words" sentiment and Verve "Great Friend" flower
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Paper: Cream, Bazzill "Foxy," and dp from K & Co. Brenda Walton "Small Wonders Girl"
Other: Recollections rhinestone flourish
Card size: A2

Now for my two personal favorite cards......

For the You're So Sweet card, I had a strip green floral dp that I just loved and didn't want to toss.  So I used a cuttlebug embossing folder to make the top piece, added my little strip at the bottom, and covered the seam with a MS border punch. 

Here's a closeup of the sentiment and little hearts.

Supplies for You're So Sweet card:
Stamps:  Verve "Thankful Accents" sentiment and hearts
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black and SU "Pretty in Pink"
Paper: Cream, Bazill "Foxy," and dp from K & Co. Brenda Walton "Small Wonders Girl"
Other: Recollections mini roses, MS vintage floral border punch, Nestabilities circle and petite scalloped circle dies, cuttlebug embossing folder
Card size: A2

I had a wider strip of my other favorite green paper from this pad, so I tried using a similar layout to the You're So Sweet card to use it up.

Supplies for the Irish Proverb card:
Stamps:  Verve "Blessings"
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Paper: Cream, green, and dp from K & Co. Brenda Walton "Small Wonders Girl"
Other: Recollections rhinestones, Recollections flowers, pink organdy ribbon from stash, Bow Easy, MS vintage floral border punch
Card size: A2

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah