Last But Not Least...I'm a Sketch Designer!

When my good friend and SU demonstrator, Deb Horst, asked me to create a sketch for her Last But Not Least challenge, I was a little hesitant initially, but decided I wanted to give it a try...SO...this is my first attempt. I drew up the design using markers and Deb transformed it into this professional design using My Digital Studio software from SU. What I liked about the sketch is that it can be flipped on all 4 sides and be a workable layout. I chose to make a square card for Mother's Day. Even though I lost my mother last fall, I've been making cards for co-workers and for a fund-raiser at work. Here is what I used:
STAMPS: Well Scripted by SU
PAPER: Abrianna DP by K&Co, White
INK: Versafine Onyx Black
ACCESSORIES: Mini Rolled Roses Die-namics by MFT, Foliage Shapeabilities by Spellbinders, Square Lattice EF by SU, Baker's twine, Adhesive lace trim by K&Co, Grommet tag die, Half pearls.

Viva la Verve

This is the first of 5 sketches for the Viva la Verve challenge in the Verve forum on SCS. Amber has come up with this fun-to-use layout. With all the royal wedding festivities going on today, I was drawn to this elegant brocade black paper. I used Raspberry Fizz paper and ribbon for the pop of color...along with Simply Chartreuse leaves. While the sentiment die cut was still in the die, I used a black gel pen to make a fine outline...a simple detail but one I love! This is also for the F4A challenge to use more than 3 layers. Here's what I used...
STAMPS: Serenity (sentiment) and Hope Blooms (flowers) - both sets by Verve.
PAPER: Nambly Screen Prints "Brocade"; Raspberry Fizz, Simply Chartreuse & White - all by PTI. Silver gray paper by American Crafts.
INK: Versafine Onyx Black
ACCESSORIES: Ribbon (freebie from Ellen Hutson's store), Oval, Oval Scallops and Labels Sixteen Nesties, Little Leaves Sizzlet (SU), Brads (Recollection).

Cherry Blossom Branch

Decided to go with a pink/brown color combo for the Wednesday Sketch Challenge in the MFT forum on SCS. I used this branch image from MFT's "Spring" set...stamped in Chocolate Chip and colored with Copics and highlighted with a Sakura Gellyroll "Clear Star" pen. The pink panel was embossed with a plaid EF by Sizzix. The sentiment is from Verve's Friendly Phrases set and was die cut (also from Verve). A punched butterfly with bling, some lace and a touch of twine finished off this card. As you can see...I flipped the sketch. Hope everyone is staying safe from all the tornadoes and high winds that are hitting the states!

No Empty Nest Here

This is one of those cards that makes me say "blech"! Since time won't allow me a re-do version, this will have to suffice. I created this for the Color Throwdown Challenge - some awesome, warm colors - and used Roxie's great layout for the SCS Sketch Challenge. Here's what I used:
STAMPS: Spring (My Favorite Things)
PAPER: 7 Gypsies, Vintage Cream
INK: Chocolate Chip
ACCESSORIES: Plaid EF by Sizzix, Brads by Recollections, Satin ribbon (PTI), Fancy Tags die, Copics.

Hello Friend

This card was created for 4 different challenges:
SCS Color Challenge - Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Baja Breeze (dessert option: embossing)
Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge- Karen Giron's sketch
Shabby Tea Room - butterflies
MMTPT143 - teapotters have lots of free rein for this week's tea party! To see the complete wacky story, click on the link HERE. I'm bringing Beverly Butterfly to the party. She's decked out in fancy glitter and velvet polka dots (just to impress) ever since she called mudder the Queen of Breaking Challenge Rules. She's feeling rather guilty and is now kissing up to mudder with this fancy disguise! So this week's destination is fellow teapotters and I'm planning to play along. Wonder who my gallery neighbor will be...Hmmm...

STAMPS: Faithful Phrases (Verve)
PAPER: Green Tea (SU), Baja Breeze, White
INK: Soft Sky (used to sponge the tag), Baja Breeze, Versafine Onyx Black
ACCESSORIES: Butterfly embellie by Recollections (Mike's), Half pearls, Lace trim, Grommet and Fancy Labels 2 dies from Spellbinders, Plaid EF by Sizzix.

Classic Diamonds

This quick CAS card is for 3 different challenges:
CAS116 - artist's rule of 3
CR84FN25 - red, aqua, white
TLC322 - stamping in the dies

I die cut 3 Classic Diamond dies and stamped the script using Bermuda Bay ink while still in the Nestie. The Nestie border was cut on BB CS and the centers were saved and layered to create the 3 flowers. Quick and easy!
STAMPS: Botanicals by SU
PAPER: Bermuda Bay, Real Red, White
INK: Bermuda Bay
ACCESSORIES: Spellbinder's Shapeabilities border die, Classic Diamonds Nesties, Adhesive rhinestones.

Mojo Monday

Sarah Bigelow has a round or square sketch for the Mojo Monday Challenge this last week of April (WHERE did this month go?!). I can't seem to stop using the Bella & Rose papers...this time from the Hattie pad. I used 3 different sized rolled rose Die-namics and added a layered sentiment using Verve's "A Cut Above" dies with a new sentiment from the Faithful Phrases set. Gotta run and get some chores done before time to head to work...

You Mean the Whirl to Me

This is my first attempt at making a pinwheel...the newest craze in papercrafting! It was so easy using Lil' Inker Design's die (which is currently sold out but due to be back in stock within a couple of days). The colors were inspired by this photo from the Play Date Cafe Challenge. The layout is for the Card Patterns Weekly Sketch Challenge.
STAMPS: Pinwheel Sentiments (Lil' Inker Designs)
PAPER: Stella & Rose Hazel papers by MME, White
INK: Real Red, Versafine Onyx Black
ACCESSORIES: Pinwheel die (Lil Inkers Designs), Baker's twine, Button, Grommet die, Lace.

Casing Shelly

Today's featured stamper on SCS is Shelly aka Freshn'Sassy. This was a new gallery to me, but thoroughly enjoyed browsing through Shelly's wonderful creations! I decided to CASE this card - changing the colors, using a butterfly instead of a flower and placing the sentiment on a tag die instead of the lower panel. This card is also for the Free 4 All challenge to use orange, for the Paper Sundaes challenge to use 2 or more of the following toppings (sparkle, pearls, die cuts, yellow) and for the Totally Gorjuss challenge to Bling it On!
STAMPS: Faithful Phrases by Verve
PAPER: Stella & Rose Mabel papers by My Mind's Eye, White
INK: Versafine Onyx Black
ACCESSORIES: EK Success large scallop border punch, Half pearls, A Cut Above dies (sentiment) by Verve, Butterfly by Recollections (Mike's), Adhesive bling (Mike's).
Wishing all my blogger friends a blessed Easter! What a beautiful Resurrection Sunday it's been with gorgeous weather and a meaningful worship service this morning! Blessings to all!

Simply Fizz

Simply Chartreuse & Raspberry Fizz are the focal colors using the new Verve flower from the Hope Blooms set and the leaves with matching die from the Bloom & Grow set - 2 must have sets with so many options for design! I cut slits around each flower layer and roughed up the petals so they would be more dimensional...so fun! Shannon has a challenging sketch for the Viva la Verve challenge on the SCS forum. Fortunately, she has a visual tutorial which is very helpful to know how to achieve the starburst effect. It turned out to be an easier task than I expected! This card is also being entered into the CCEE Stampers challenge to use pleated ribbon or pleated paper. I've had this wide pleated ribbon and never used it, so this was a perfect opportunity!
PAPER: DeLovely Mini Deck by Cosmo Cricket, Raspberry Fizz and Simply Chartreuse (PTI), White

Going Nautical

We're going nautical at Raise the Bar this week...AND using blue, white and stripes! I colored this JustRite image with Copics and layered on an oval Nestie. The punched stars were stamped with swirls and glitter was added to the edges. A little twine bow and this was a quick and easy card to complete. I'm also making this for the Color Throwdown challenge...Tammy has asked us to use navy and white with another color of choice - red gets the vote from me!
STAMPS: By the Sea (JustRite), Stars & Swirls (SU)
PAPER: Seaside (October Afternoon), Real Red, Enchanted Evening, White
ACCESSORIES: Oval Nesties, Star punches (SU), Rickrack Die-namic (MFT), Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Red & Navy baker's twine.

Easter Blessings

For my FYI challenge entry, please scroll down to the second post!
Mothermark's Teapot Tuesday Challenge was to bring tulips for Kay...a soon to be 91 year old lady who is hospitalized for a prolonged time and needs some cheer! For the complete story about Shelly Mae Shulep who drinks mint juleps from a tulip, click HERE. Kim's Ways to Use It challenge was to use ovals on a card, so here you have an Easter card with oval Nesties as the focal point. The tulips were colored with Copics and cut out. Lace, seam binding and pearls finished this off.
STAMPS: Everlasting Life (Verve), Tulip Corner (ODBD)
PAPER: Lilac Avenue Collection (KaiserCraft), Lemon Tart (PTI), White
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black
ACCESSORIES: Adhesive pearls, MS seam binding, Oval Nesties, Lace, Copics (Y11, Y13, G40, G82, BV11, BV13).

To the Moon & Back

Steph has another amazing photo to inspire us on the For Your Inspiration blog! I totally went with the subject matter as well as the round shape of the moon for my inspiration (round Nesties, round brads, polka-dotted DP). I wanted to use this sentiment from Verve's To the Moon set - stamped in Versamark, then Chocolate Chip ink, then embossed with clear EP. The aqua DP was embossed with Cuttlebug's 5x7" plaid EF. The layout is for Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge. Thanks for stopping by...enjoy your day!
PAPER: BoBunny, Chocolate Chip, White
ACCESSORIES: Blossom & Circle Nesties, Star punch (SU), Chocolate baker's twine, Brads, Corner chomper, Plaid EF by CB.

Hope Perches

I loved the soft, romantic colors of the Just Us Girls challenge this week: aqua, black, kraft & coral! This Webster's Pages DP fit perfectly and I kept a CAS layout by using the Fall to Layout for this week. Some machine stitching, a lacy die border, a Prima pebble and a puffy bird finished off this card.
STAMPS: Hope Perches Plain Jane by Verve
PAPER: Petite Papers (Lullaby Lane & Life's Portrait) by Webster's Pages, Aqua Mist (PTI), Vintage Cream, Black
INK: Versafine Onyx Black, Tim Holtz tea dye distress ink
ACCESSORIES: Labels Four Nesties, Sponge dauber, Prima pebble, Puffies bird, Sewing machine, Die-namic border die by MFT.

Spring Birdie

It's Wednesday already, so that means it's time for another MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge. This card is also for the Shabby Tea Room Challenge to be inspired by this photo and use pastels and stripes. The aqua border has 2 different Die-namic dies layered on top of each other. The PI image was colored with Copics and cut out.
STAMPS: Pure Innocence "You're So Tweet" by MFT
PAPER: DeLovely Mini Deck by Cosmo Cricket, Hawaiian Shores (PTI), White
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black
ACCESSORIES: Doily Lace & Large Scallop Die-namics by MFT, Satin ribbon, MS lace doily tag, Copics.

Color Challenge

Betty has a unique color combo for the Color Challenge on SCS this week (crumb cake, vanilla, concord crush) with a dessert option to create your own DP by stamping a BG. I guess you could say I took 3 bites of dessert, since I used a small circle Nestie to cut out 3 circles then stamped the hydrangea blossoms in concord crush on vanilla CS and placed it inside the card to "shine through" the circle openings. I saw this idea on a card by Julia Stainton in a magazine, so it's not original with me.
STAMPS: Because I Care (SU), All Year Cheer I (SU) - sentiment
PAPER: Crumb Cake, Concord Crush, Vintage Cream
INK: Concord Crush, Memento Tuxedo Black
ACCESSORIES: Circle Nesties, Concord Crush ribbon, MS butterfly punch, Kaiser pearls, Copics.

Trio of Challenges

I'm entering this card into 3 different challenges:
Mojo Monday - sketch by Maria.
ODBD Shining Light Challenge - no coloring.
Paper Sundaes - texture
The textured leaves were die cut using Spellbinders new foliage set. The sentiment was stamped on a grommet die shape then layered over a Labels Two Nestie. The paper and pleated ribbon is from Flourishes April 1-2-3 Create Kit - Prima Botanical.
STAMPS: Framed Wishes (Verve), Tiny Tags (SU)
ACCESSORIES: Chocolate twine, Tiny tags punch (SU), Foliage, Grommet & Labels Two dies, Prima, Vintage brads (SU).