Creative Sketches Week 4 Holiday

 Right on time with this week's Creative Sketch challenge. I had fun creating this card earlier this week and getting my challenges all caught up so far. As you can see from my design, I flipped the sketch. I actually had put the stamps together on my acrylic block a little over a month ago for an idea when I was designing my swap card for the Texas Regionals. That idea didn't happen but I kept coming across these images still on the block waiting to be stamped. When I saw this week's sketch, I knew I had the perfect set up for using my design.

I used Candy Cane Christmas DSP and the Merry Crittermas stamp set from the Holiday Mini, Real Red 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Baja Breeze, Real Red and Garden Green cardstock, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, and a retired Baja Breeze corduroy button. I colored my images with Stampin' Up! watercolor pencils and used a blender pencil to blend.

Be sure to visit Creative Sketches to view more designs using this week's sketch.

Creative Sketches 1st Sketch Caught Up

 There is nothing like being several weeks behind, LOL! I actually have taken some time to get back on track this week and have found it refreshing to just create and work on my challenges. Kind of the calm before the storm as I have 7 events during Nov. for From Our Hearts.  I am estimating these events will produce around 2100 cards!
That's a lot of work but oh, so worth it.

I took some time to create this weeks card (check back Thursday) and finally create the first sketch that I missed.

I actually had something in pink in mind for this sketch originally but the idea didn't quite gel. Worked perfectly for last weeks sketch so sometimes you have to go with the flow. This card kind of meandered it's way into the creation you see. I just pulled out a bit of this and that and started to tweek it. I used the Just Believe and Sincere Salutations stamp sets, Pear Pizzaz cardstock, Concord Crush DSP from the Level 1 hostess paper pack, the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch (love how this punches out), Basic Pearls, a retired flower from the Pretties kit (which I believe is available in the Paper Daisies pack), Pear Pizzaz, Concord Crush and Blushing Bride markers.

I used the Blushing Bride brush tip on the marker to color the edges of my flower and the tiniest pearls down the center of the punched ribbon strip.

Be sure to check out the designs on Creative Sketches.

A Bit Of Oriental

Well this weekend saw the death of my laptop. Fortunately I was able to rescue all my files before it's final swan song. And these are a couple of the pictures saved. I recently participated in a moongate mingle on OSA 
and created 2 versions of my card. One for my partner and one for our hostess. The background is hand painted with shimmer paints. When I have a couple of hours and my muse is stuck, I will often make backgrounds with no particular goal in mind and tuck them away for future use. You can the shimmer in the second card. The image itself is enhanced with Smooch inks.

It's always amazing how holding the camera at different angles and distances changes the light on a card. Both of these were taken in the same photo booth and have an entirely different look. But the 2nd one captured the shimmer and shows the true colors better, while the first shows more details.

Creative Sketches Technique & Sketch Wk 3

Wow, it's late but I got my week 3 card done. Woohoo! Still have to backtrack to week 1 but hopefully in this next week. Life keeps throwing me curve balls. This weeks challenge was to use a dry embossing technique with a sketch. I took liberties with the sketch design. Here is the sketch:

Pretty sweet sketch design. I opted to make a pink card this week honoring Breast Cancer Awareness month. I am really tickled how it turned out.

I used 3 pinks but it looks like 2. The card base is Pink Pirouette, the frame is Regal Rose and both ribbons are Pretty in Pink. I used the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder, the Ribbon of Hope stamp and the sentiment is from the Hope Happens set. I love the variety of sizes in the Basic Pearls, using the medium ones for the flowers. I love using embossing folders and running them through my Big Shot. The make very quick, elegant backgrounds for cards without a lot of work. They are also great for adding texture to punched shapes. I use them a lot when designing for From Our Hearts.

If you are fighting breast cancer,
I wish you much strength and hope,
if you are a survivor,
I honor your victory
and if you have lost a loved one,
I wish you beautiful memories
and offer prayers for a cure
so the future is indeed brighter
for all women everywhere.

Visit the Creative Sketches Blog to view more great works of art. 

Creative Sketches Color Challenge Week 2

Welcome to Creative Sketches Week 2.

As usual I am trying to play catch-up.. I will backtrack later and post a sketch for Week 1 as soon as I can. This week's challenge was all about color. I decided these colors lent themselves well to a masculine card so I opted for a birthday card.

I like simple layered cards so I used a Soft Suede base, a layer of Marina Mist with a layer of Always Artichoke. I used the leaves from my Day of Gratitude set for the Always Artichoke background design. I realized afterwards that I accidentally grabbed Old Olive for the leaves, then decided I liked it that way. So I added a color not on the list. I used the pine trees from Plant Hope and used my Soft Suede and Always Artichoke markers to color the image and stamp. I then used Birthday Wishes from the hostess set Occasional Quotes for my sentiment stamped in Soft Suede and punched with the Modern Label Extra Large punch. I popped it with some SU! Dimensionals and added a bit of Marina Mist 1/8" taffeta ribbon for the bow. Simple, elegant and done.