Sending Smiles

Hi all!

It's been a long time since I've been able to craft--too long! May has proven to be a VERY busy month with tons of changes and challenges. Add to that the end of the school year stuff that needs to happen and, well, crafting time was very scarce. But, tonight I had a lot of fun in my room. A while back, Jennifer McGuire shared on her blog that we should really send cards to people "just because". I liked that! So, that's what I'm sharing tonight. It's a "just because" card I'm sending to a friend. I chose to use the sketch from the sweetest thing site, too. Here's my card and the sketch:
I chose to keep the sketch pretty much "as is" with a few exceptions. I did change the center shape and I added an embellishment on the small banner--but that was it. I used paper from My Mind's Eye and then brown and cream cardstock. The brown cardstock was embossed to just add some texture to it. I added some polka dots to the cream strip that runs diagonally. The stamp is from an old Stampin' Up set and I used my inktense watercolor pencils to color it in and then added glossy accents for dimension. I also watercolored the sky using distress ink. I added a small dragonfly brad to the banner--I've had that brad for YEARS!--and liked how it added that unique embellishment to the card. The sentiment is from Skipping Stones.

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! We'll be off to enjoy Seattle...Yay!

Thanks for stopping by!
Pat

Color time!

Hi friends!

It's been a busy week but I'm here to share a card that I worked on over several days and finally completed this morning. I'm entering it in two different challenges. The first is Simon Says Stamp and Show where the challenge is to use color on your cards. And lastly, Simon Says Stamp's blog that has an "anything goes" challenge. LOVE those! :) Here's the sketch and my card:




I used the Cuttlebug Embossing Plus folder called Perfect Perennials and then inked the embossed areas using Salty Ocean distress ink. Love that vibrant blue color! I also added a few gems to the centers of the flowers to give them a bit more dimension. Then, I took some strips of cardstock and inked those with the salty ocean color also. The butterfly is from Stampin' Up and I used my inktense watercolor pencils to color in the wings. I then added some glossy accents to those and love the look of it! I then realized I had forgotten to color in the butterfly's body so I used my vintage photo distress marker and used it as a watercolor to color in the body. I free handed the antennae and the swirly flight pattern. Then, I added some orange stickles next to one strip of the blue paper and added some dots of orange around the butterfly. I really like that color combination and the pop of orange was perfect! For the sentiment, I inked up some white cardstock with the same distress ink and then heat set it. After it was dry, I used versamark for the greeting and then embossed it. That way, the whole card has colors that match. The card took me several days to complete but mostly because of lack of time--not b/c it's too complicated...

Hope you all can play along and thanks for stopping by!
Pat

Love you! card

Hi friends!

I hope you all enjoyed a happy Easter and remembered how much God loves you by sending His Son to die for you. What a gift we were all given!

Tonight I'm sharing a card I made to play along with two different challenges. The first is the sweetest thing site that has a great sketch! As soon as I saw the sketch, I knew how I'd use it! The second is the Color Throwdown site. If you know me, you know I'm not much of a pink person but the colors this week intrigued me. Here are the challenge badges and my card:
Isn't this a great sketch!?! I loved it! I began by layering some pattern paper from the Glitter Sweet matstack on some brown cardstock. I stamped the bear (Stampin' Up) in some Versafine ink and then colored him in using my inktense watercolor pencils. I then masked him off and stamped the sentiment (Hampton Arts) all around him and drew a couple of hearts in some empty spaces. I added some faux stitching to some of the papers, inked up the main panel on the edges, and the card was done! He's an adorable little bear and I love using him!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great week!
Pat

CFC 19 and {SFYTT}

Hi all!

Before I introduce my latest card, I just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your very sweet comments! It's a bit surreal to me that people are looking at my cards and that they appreciate the time I've put into them. Your comments make me smile--so thank you! :)

I was able to finish off 2 cards last night--and combine 4 challenges into the 2 cards! Yay! :) The latest challenges are from CAS-ual Fridays, which you can find here, and the i{heart}2stamp site, which is found here. CAS-ual Fridays wanted us to create a Fall-themed card w/some paper piecing and the i{heart}2stamp wanted us to use a sketch. Here's the sketch I had to work off of:

And here's my card.

The first thing I did was turn the sketch counter-clockwise 90 degrees. I knew it needed to be fall-themed so I grabbed this cute stamp from Stampin' Up. I decided to use very fallish colors and used my cuttlebug to emboss some leaves on the burgundy panel. I chose to use the de-embossed side. Then, I stamped the teddy bear in vintage photo distress ink. I colored him in using a fantastix tool and using the distress inks as a watercolor. The leaves and sweater were glaze pens, though. Then, I stamped the sentiment on orange but the sentiment actually included the leaf. I cut out the leaf and distressed it with spiced marmalade, barn door, and mustard seed distress inks--and a bit of vintage photo, too. The sentiment had those circle details on it so I added some glossy accents to those to add some dimension.

It was different to turn the sketch. I usually stick a bit more to the original intent but this worked, too!

Hope everyone is having a good day so far...and we're half-way done w/the work week! I'm hoping to play in my room on Sunday! :)

Pat