Guest designing today!

Hi everyone!

I wanted to share a card I did for a friend of mine on her blog. I was asked by my good friend, Grisel, to guest design and I hope you click here and check out her blog! We've been friends for many years and have both fallen in love with the cardmaking craft...I'm sure you all understand that, right? ;)

Here's my card:

For my card, I wanted to use a favorite sketch with a favorite technique and an odd element. I first stamped the Hero Arts Old Letter Writing stamp using broken china distress ink on white cardstock. Then, I stamped the Hero Arts Butterfly Garden over the script. I used an American Crafts Blender pen to color in the image using my distress inks. After coloring in the image, I used pattern papers from DCWV's Whimsy Matstack. I wanted the image to look a bit like we were looking out the window and seeing the grass and pretty flowers and butterflies. I notched out a half circle on both side papers. For the grass, I actually found some paint chips that were the perfect shade of green! The chip had a great texture to it because it's kind of grainy--so keep those paint chips because you may be able to use them on a project! (And they're readily accessible at any home improvement store!) I did add some glitter to the butterflies' bodies using a glitter pen and then added some pink gems to the side panels just to brighten it up a bit. The sentiment is on the inside and it simply says "Hope you have a super fun birthday"--sentiment also from Hero Arts.

It was so much fun guest designing and, again, don't forget to check out the post on Grisel's blog and see the other lovely cards on her site.

Have a fabulous weekend!
Pat

An unscripted sketch card

Hi everyone!

I know, it's been awhile since I posted...sorry for the absence. I had a very dear friend pass away this weekend and that's been the focus for awhile.

I wanted to share a card I made tonight using the sketch from the fun Unscripted sketches site. I saw it and immediately had an idea of what I would do. Here's the sketch and then my card.

I used some pattern paper from Basic Grey called Little Black Dress. I followed the sketch pretty much to a tee but changed the shape of the sentiment so that I could use my new Simon Says Stamp! die and sentiment. LOVE these dies! I wanted more of a masculine look, too, so these papers and colors worked well for that.

Hope you can join in on the fun. Have a great weekend!
Pat

Washi tape card

Hi everyone!

It's almost Friday!!! I can't wait for this weekend! Hope everyone else is looking forward to some down time this weekend, too.

I wanted to pop in and share a card I did this afternoon. I've been avoiding the washi tape craze for a long time...but, alas, I succumbed to the ease of using it! This week's challenge is from the great Simon Says Stamp and Show blog and it was to use washi tape.

Here's my card:

I used two different patterns of washi tape on my card. I chose to use the flower print tape as kind of a wallpaper/paneling effect with some turquoise cardstock. I alternated the strips and added some faux white stitching to the cardstock strips. Then, I used the other gingham pattern tape on the bottom of the panel. I layered a turquoise and white ribbon on top of that and then added an orange button with twine for a pop of color. The sentiment is from Hero Arts--and I love it.

Gotta admit--washi tape is extremely easy to use. I can see why it's become so popular! And now there's just so many different colors, patterns, and even ways to do it yourself. Have you guys joined in on the craze yet or was I the last one? :)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Pat

Color combo, texty, sketch card...

Hi everyone!

I hope EVERYONE had a better day than I did today...Ever have one of those days when you ask yourself, "Why is common sense not so common?!" I had one of those days today. Dealing with people is always quite the experience! So, I retreated to my room tonight to play.

As a busy homeschooling mom, I try to combine many challenges into one card. Not only does that up the ante to my creativity but I can make the most of the free time I have, too.

For today's card, I chose to play along with 3 different challenges. The first is the CR84FN site. (Just their name makes me want to play!) :) I had played along during the weekend but loved the color combo so much that I wanted another shot at it. I also played along with the sketch from the fun site called retro sketches. It's a great sketch this week--check it out and play along! And lastly--but just as fun--is the latest challenge from the Lawnscaping site. They wanted us to add text to our cards. I LOVE text challenges!

Here are the challenge badges and my card.

Honestly, this is a great sketch! I LOVED working with it! And then you add a great color combo AND the chance to incorporate text--LOVED the result! I used some dark brown cardstock for the base of the card. I added some blue pattern paper and punched out 3 squares. I used my Hero Arts "friend" definition stamp on the white squares and adhered them on the card base. The blue panel is on dimensional adhesive. Then, using the Fresh Daisies die from Simon Says Stamp!, I added the die cut on the outside of the frame and cut off a bit of the bottom. I added some faux stitching to both sides of the card and love the contrast of the dark brown with the white pen. Then, I added the sentiment (Martha Stewart) and the card was done!

Come play along if you can! And here's to a much better Wed! :)
Pat

Unscripted sketch and color challenge

Hi all!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! My family and I were at the Pacific Coast this weekend and we had a lovely time...dreading getting back into the routine tomorrow!

Today I wanted to share a card I made for two different challenges. One is a sketch challenge from a site I just recently discovered called Unscripted Sketches. And the other challenge is from another site that I've been playing along with only recently called CR84FN. Although I love color challenges, I love incorporating them into a sketch so that I can have some fun with both challenges at once. Here are the challenge graphics and then my card:

This sketch was fun to work with and I actually love the colors for the challenge, too. I chose to use pattern paper for the dark blue and floral print and then a tan colored cardstock I could stamp on (flower stamp is from Teresa Collins) and use an edge punch (EK Success). I love the simplicity of this sketch! Hope you can join in on the fun!

Have a great Monday!
Pat

Retro sketch card

Hi all!

It's FRIDAY! :) We have a great weekend lined up and I hope you all do, too. We are off to the Pacific Coast to worship with our church family and I can't wait!

I chose to ditch all my chores and play with another one of my new Simon Says dies. I can't say it enough--I LOVE these!!! And tonight, I wanted to use the great sketch from the retro sketches site.

Here's the sketch and my card:

I LOVE this sketch and the new die worked well with it! The pattern papers are from My Mind's Eye and Teresa Collins. The die from Simon Says is the Fresh Daisies die and it cuts beautifully!

Hope you guys can join in--there's a few hours left to play along with this sketch.

Have a fabulous weekend!
Pat

MOJO Color fun

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone is having a good so far. Ever since homeschooling started up again I've been super busy but I'm trying to blog at least once or twice a week. Tonight I had quite a bit of inspiration because I received my order from Simon Says Stamp and I was DYING to try out some of the new dies I ordered!

So, I chose to use the sketch from MOJO Monday and the color challenge from the CR84FN site again. (Those colors are favorites of mine so crafting with them has been fun!)

Here are the challenge graphics and then my card.

I used the Meadow Rue die from Simon Says Stamp as the main image for this card. I LOVE it! I used some light purple cardstock and then the pattern paper is from Teresa Collins (LOVE her stuff!). The sketch was fun to work with and I added some faux stitching to several elements to tie it all together.

Hope you guys can play along, too!

Have a great rest of the week!
Pat

CR8ing & Embossing!

Hi all!

TGIF! So glad this week is over! Being back in homeschooling mode has made the week seem eternal!

Today I wanted to share a card I made for 2 different challenges. One is a color challenge from the CR84FN site. The color combo for this week were actually the colors of my wedding. So I couldn't pass up the chance to play along! And the other challenge is an embossing challenge from A Blog Named Hero site. I LOVE embossing! And I had a new stamp that was just itching to get used.

Here are the challenge graphics and then my card.

First of all, I am in LOVE with the Lattice stamp from Hero Arts! It is LOVELY! When I saw the color challenge, I knew I had some soft lavendar-colored cardstock that I could use and I chose to stamp the lattice background on it and then emboss it. It looks so elegant! Love it! I then used some pattern paper from Teresa Collins to layer the sentiment panel. The sentiment is from Hero Arts also and I stamped that using distress ink. Then, I added some lavendar gems and some flowers and the card was done! Simple yet elegant...

Hope you guys can play along!

And have a fantastic weekend!
Pat

Lawnscaping Sketch card

Hi everyone!

I hope everyone is having a good week! I have been SUPER busy this week now that homeschooling is back in full swing! Between teaching, cooking, cleaning, laundry, and trying to find some time to exercise--it's been crazy! But, I have several b-days coming up that I needed to make sure got some attention. And I figured tonight was my best shot at getting some time in my room.

I hope everyone has been keeping up with the craze from Simon Says Stamps--they're celebrating STAMPtember and there's been tons of blog hops and chances to win! I figured I'd participate in the Lawnscaping sketch challenge and the Simon Says Stamp! challenge that wanted us to use a stamp on our project. Here's the sketch and my card:

I LOVED the sketch this week! As soon as I saw it, I knew what I would do with it! I used pattern paper from My Mind's Eye (Lime Twist) and some new stamps from Skipping Stones Designs. I stamped the hot air balloon on 3 different papers and then paper pieced it together. The sentiment is also from Skipping Stones. I added some faux white stitching and the card was done! Most complicated part was all the paper piecing but I really like the colors on this card!

I hope you guys can play along...there's some great prizes to be won!

Have a great rest of the week!
Pat