FRESHLY MADE SKETCHES #360

I found another new challenge blog on my travels around blogland - new to me as it's been going a long time - Freshly Made Sketches I'm guessing is all about sketches but they ask for Clean cards so that took a little bit of research.  





I chose to use those lovely candles from Stampin Up Merry Patterns again - and grabbed two colours from my stash of SU inks - which turned out to be Lemon Lime Twist and Rich Razzleberry - slight alternative reds and greens for Christmas.  I loved how they looked together on the candles.  I cut out a second stamping of the Rich Razzleberry ones and added them with dimensionals.  I added some holly die cut leaves and very nearly distressed them and added ink to the edges but then I re-read the rules.  I added some Wink of Stella to them instead to make them stand out.

That was nearly going to be my card but it seemed a bit bare, even with the stitched framelits.  So hunting in my DSP stash I found this paper - I couldn't believe my luck that it had the exact colours I'd just used.  Paper like this is normally too busy for me but I like the splodges that it gives.  The little greeting is from an old set from Inkadinkadoo and I liked the fact that it had a holly motif in with the greeting.






 

INSPIRED BY....

On my Facebook Group recently one of our members posted a lovely card which used some fab papers that really caught my eye. Turns out they were called Festive Chalkboard by Craftwork Cards and I was lucky enough to be able to find a pack.

They arrived today and whilst I was drooling over them, the challenge over at Inspired By popped into my feed and this is their image this week - 







Well the flask on the far left is almost the exact copy of one of the papers so that became my inspiration for my card.

I wanted to use the Little Robin stamp again from Wild Rose so I decided to do a Gatefold Card with the robin front and center.   I used some Night of Navy cardstock for the base and the checked patterns of the new papers.  The sentiment comes from Stampin Up Warmth and Wonder.

I coloured him in with SU Watercolour Pencils and added some Frosted Lace stickles to his hat and his pom pom.  The inside stamp was a free one from a magazine with all the little robins.  

            

WHEN THE RED RED ROBIN.....

Look at this cute little robin - I love him - I've found I don't have an awful lot of stamps that I can actually colour in and saw this Little Robin from Wild Rose Studios and thought he would fit the bill.

I'm using him for the challenge over at CAS Colours and Sketches #295 this week which is the following sketch



I used some SU colours to colour in my robin - an old SU colour called Real Rust, Cherry Cobbler for his hat, Soft Suede and Going Gray.  I used a Wink of Stella for all the white parts so that they shine a little bit.  The Merry Christmas sentiment is from Merry Patterns.  I used grey card stock and added some red and grey ribbon to the background.

As this is a CAS card I stopped myself from adding any extra bits and left him alone.  I think he will be making some more appearances though!


 

SOMETHING OLD - SOMETHING NEW

My card today mixed something old with something new.  My favourite all time Christmas stamp is this lovely old image of Santa called Santa Collage from Rubber Stampede - I've had it for over 15 years and I'm always looking for new ways of adding him to a Christmas card.

I've combined it here with some of the new papers from Kaisercraft Wonderland set.  I love the colours in these papers - which is unusual for me as I'm normally a traditional red/green girl but the blues are lovely.  I've used some SU Crumb Cake for the base and for the Santa.  He was stamped with Versamark and I used some silver embossing powder.  Rounded the edges and added some Crumb Cake ink to the card and the base to distress it a little.

The papers are from Kaisercraft and I just adore those little reindeers!  I aded a Die Cut of a reindeer in silver paper and tucked it beneath the Santa.  The snowflakes inked in Crumb Cake are from SU Colourful Seasons.  The sentiment is from the Kaisercraft Wonderland pack.  


I love how this card turned out.  I'm going to add it to the following Challenges

Watercooler Wednesday - Holidays 
Cards In Envy - Favourite Holiday Card 
Sparkles Christmas Challenge - For the kid in all of us!





 

A NOT SO CAS AUTUMN CARD

From a CAS Autumn card to a not so CAS Autumn card - this one is for the Global Design Project#GDP161- who have given us colours to work with - specifically Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive.  These colours scream Autumn and I was determined not to do another Christmas card.



I actually decided to get out Jar of Love and make a wreath - I've never made one before so thought it was about time.   I used the Crushed Curry and Pumpkin Pie for the flowers and also stamped these colours off just to give a variety of shades for the flowers.  The little leaves were cut out with a non SU framelit in Old Olive card stock.

I've added some Old Olive Baker's Twine and some non SU gold rhinestones to some of the flowers.  A touch of Wink of Stella on the bow and some of the flowers also gives it a lovely shine.  The thanks sentiment is from Jar of Love.

Some of the flowers were added with dimensionals to give it some depth.  My little tip for this wreath was to use one of the Stitched Framelits underneath as a guide.  I'm going to have another go at this and try and make a Christmas version.





 

A CAS AUTUMN CARD

Autumn is my most favourite time of the year - I love the crisp mornings, the gorgeous colours of the trees, the provender Mother Nature provides that I can forage and turn into goodies for the winter months ahead.

I'm lucky enough to have an Iron Age Hill Fort just ten minutes down the road from where I live and it's a favourite place to walk my dogs.  This is a picture of my Welsh Springer Tegan enjoying her walk against that gorgeous backdrop of the trees.  She's recently had surgery and is recovering very well = it's so nice to see her out and about again.

My card today is for Addicted to CAS #147 which has given us the prompt word of Foliage.

I was inspired by a card I found by Jan Clothier - I used some old SU ink colours for my card - More Mustand, Real Rust ( a great favourite) and Rose Red.  I masked off a strip and sponged the colours.  I used SU Colourful Seasons and Seasonal Layers thinlets - I used Early Espresso to ink the stamps and cut the smaller leaf out of cardstock.  The sentiment is from an old SU set Yay You and is just right for this card as I got my inspiration from Jan.  I don't know her but I have seen her work around blogland.

            

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS - SKETCH SC301

Another Sketch from Hand Stamped Sentiments for you this week. I'm looking forward to seeing what you all do with this one.




I started out thinking about those circles and I had one example of the Swirly Bird cut out from Stampin Up in my stash that I decided I wanted to use and everything else followed on from there. This was in Dapper Denim.

I decided to keep my background card plain and use some of the new DSP from Stampin Up with the lovely circles on it in keeping with the circle cut out.  I stamped the image of the Dandelion from Dandelion Wishes in Fresh Fig and cut it out with a stitched framelit and layered it with dimensionals.  The sentiment is non SU.  I added a strip of the DSP at the top together with another piece of the Dapper Denim and added some faux stitching as well as around the card.  I finished it off with some gems.



 

TRY STAMPING ON TUESDAY #TSOT382 - SKETCH

A sketch today to play with for Try Stamping On Tuesday  #TSOT382 with the added challenge of adding Die Cuts.





I've used an old SU set here called A Nice Cuppa and added the die cuts of the teapot and the milk jug.  I cut a little bit off the jug to turn it into a mug.  I've used some of the new DSP papers from SU called Share What You Love.  There is another little piece of the paper just behind the teapot where the cut outs are - can you see it peeping through?

I'm looking forward to seeing what you all do with this sketch.










 

CHRISTMAS TAG CARD

The challenge over at Less is More this week is to use Tags - whether they are stand alone tags or on a card.

I've opted to go with a Christmas card and used Stampin Up's retired set Merry Little Labels for the tag.  I love anything with reindeer and love how this little stamp has the deer tucked inbetween those trees.  I simply embossed it with White Embossing Powder onto Night of Navy card stock - added a white eyelet and some blue thread to make the tag and popped it up on dimensionals.

The background dots, to represent snow, is a retired SU embossing folder - the snowflakes are from the Seasonal Layer thinlets and they are covered with Dazzling Diamonds to make them shine.  The little cut out deer is not SU - I found it for 99p in our local craft store - isn't he gorgeous?  He had to make an appearance on this card too.

 

TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS COLOURS - RED, GREEN, GOLD

The challenge over at Allsorts Challenge blog is Traditional Christmas colours - my favourites!  Red, Green and Gold is what they want to see.

I've used the lovely candles again from a retired set by Stampin Up called Merry Patterns.  I gold embossed the candles, then inked them with Real Red and Old Olive and used a stitched framelit to cut them out.  I added the sentiments in Gold Embossing powder and some gold thread behind the  image.  A touch of non SU glitter embellishments finishes this off.


























 

IT'S HIGH TIDE... I MADE SOMETHING OTHER THAN A CHRISTMAS CARD!

I must admit I have a weakness for Christmas cards so once the season is nearly here I'm off making loads of them.  However, not everyone wants to see Christmas cards in October so I've forced myself out of the Christmas grotto and on to something else for the Watercooler Wednesday Masculine Challenge - the hint was in my title - I've gone with Stampin Up's High Tide.

I did lots of sponging for the background for the Lighthouse scene using all Stampin Up's colours.

I used a retired dots embossing folder and folded down the top right hand corner of the card.  The birds were continued on the inside which shows up.

and the inside of the card was also stamped and sponged.

I think this set makes great masculine cards and I love this style.


 

CHRISTMAS REINDEER

I found a different style of card on my travels round blogland and You Tube. It seems this style of card was popular a few years ago - so I thought I'd have another go at trying it out and I love it - I've done a few so far with different themes. I think it's known as an envelope card but I'm not sure.

I've done mine as Christmas cards as Christmas is on my mind at the moment and it's my most favourite type of card to make.

The papers I've used for my card are from Marianne Designs called Artic Winter - probably a few years old now.  The Reindeer is from Stampin Up' Merry Patterns - now retired.  I sponged the edges of the Very Vanilla cardstock with More Mustard (an old SU colour) and Early Espresso to give it a soft vintage look. I stamped the deer in Early Espresso and then coloured in his sweater with More Mustard and Night of Navy marker pens and then added some glitter.  

The little snowflake was made using SU Seasonal Thinlets and the dazzling embellishments in that gorgeous gold are non SU.  The Merry Christmas sentiment is also from an old Set and I've added a touch of More Mustard twine.

I'm adding this into the challenge over at Cards In Envy - they ask for your favourite Holiday cards - in the UK we don't know Christmas as the holidays and Hallowe'en is not considered a holiday over here and we don't have Thanksgiving - holidays to us are vacations to the US.

Here's another similar card but this was done with one of my favourite retired SU Sets for Christmas, Winter Post.   I sponged the background and did some reflection inking for the trees from Winter Woods and the skaters.  The papers are Artic Winter again and this time a slightly larger snowflake.  I can see I will be making a few more of these type of cards.

 

CLEAN AND SIMPLE CHRISTMAS CANDLES

The challenge over at CAS Colours and Sketches #294 this week is their Colour challenge and I loved this colours together.  I knew straight away what set I wanted to use and it was Stampin Up's retired Merry Patterns and those gorgeous candles.  When I first got this set I wasn't really that fussed on them but as soon as I started using them I fell in love with them.  I thought they would be lovely for this challenge and give an alternative Christmas colour.




I used Very Vanilla for my card and card base and layered it with some Soft Suede cardstock.  The candles were inked with the soft suede and then I used the Berry Burst for some of them.  The others were inked with an old SU colour Regal Rose as I don't have Blushing Bride but I think it's very similar.  I then simply added the sentiment in Soft Suede.

To stop the card being too flat - I re-inked another of the Regal Rose candles and then cut them out and placed them individually on some dimensionals to give the card a bit of depth.

A touch of Wink of Stella on the flames to make them glitter and the card is finished.

I adore these colours together and will be trying out some more cards.


I'm also including this in the challenge for Addicted to Stamps which is asking for a CAS card.



 

GLOBAL DESIGN PROJECT - WINTER WOODS

I've turned to Stampin Up's Winter Woods for my card for the Global Design Project  #gdp160   challenge today - it's a Case the Designer challenge



I first stamped in Pear Pizazz the bare trees from an old SU set Warmth and Wonder.  I cut out the large conifer tree from Winter Woods - mainly because I don't have the matching framelits.  I used an X-Acto knife to cut a small slit in the tree and slid the greeting inside the tree.  The sentiment is also from Warmth and Wonder. 

I used a piece of burlap ribbon for the background and popped it all up on dimensionals.  The background in Soft Suede has been embossed with the holly embossing folder and I've added some non SU dazzling rhinestones in copper to add a touch of bling.  The tree is also covered in Wink of Stella.



 

FLIP CARD

A new type of fold card from me today - I do like different folding cards.  This one I think is called the flip fold card.

I've used a retired set from Stampin Up called Merry Patterns - at first I didn't like the little candles in this set but now I've started to ink them up I adore them.  I love the way they are two set stamping sets and they make inking them up so easy - the colours I've used here are traditional Christmas (my favourite) of Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke.  I've used More Mustard for the flames and a touch of Cherry Cobbler in the middle of the flame.

I used a retired SU embossing folder for the holly background and the holly cut outs are non SU - little dies I found in my local craft shop for 99p!!  I added a touch of Cherry Cobbler cardstock behind the berries and added Wink of Stella to make them glisten. 

The Sentiment on the front is from another retired set Warmth and Wonder  and the sentiment inside is from an old Inkadinkado set.  I've re stamped the candles inside - cause I love them! 

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

TIME OUT #120 which is looking for Colour.
Addicted to Stamps #313  - Holiday
Tuesday Throwndown - Anything Goes




 

BEAUTIFUL AUTUMN

I love Autumn - it's my favourite time of year and I fall in love with it every time it comes round.  The challenge over at Global Design Project #GDP159 this week is very similar - Fall in Love - 




My card was inspired by one of Michelle Zindorf's cards using Beautiful You and I used the trees from the new Winter Woods set. I used one of the stamps from Timeless Textures to add the leaves at the bottom.  The sentiment is from another retired set Yay You.

I used a mixture of some old and current SU inks for the leaves - Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard and Really Rust.  I used a leaf from the retired set Apple of my Eye and some versamark ink to create the background on the backing paper.

I'm also adding this into the following challenges - 

Sunday Stamps - Colour Challenge - Fall
The Paper Players - Trees and Leaves
Allsorts Challenge - Trees and Leaves
SU Only Challenge #SUOC209 - Holiday Catalogue - I've used Winter Woods






 

TRY STAMPIN ON TUESDAY - SKETCH

We have a sketch for you to play along with at Try Stampin on Tuesday #TSOT381. I've taken a Christmas set from Stampin Up and turned it into a masculine card.  It gives you the idea that with a few tweaks Christmas cards don't always have to mean Christmas themes.  



Here I've taken the lovely deer from Merry Little Labels and using marker pens turned it into a birthday tag.  The sentiment is non SU.  I used some of the Wood Textures DSP and some retired ribbon keeping in line with the masculine feel.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with this sketch.