Galaxy of Stars

Sunday as I was reading some of my favorite blogs  I came to Karen Giron's blog, The Sweetest Thing and her Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 222 post.

I really liked the sketch....

 

Then as I was looking at all of the cards created by the Sweet Sunday Stampers I came across this bold and fun creation from Tracy Clemente...



Isn't it such a fun birthday card with all the colors, stars and banner? I was so inspired by Tracy's card that I wanted to make a fun Father's Day card for my dad so I got right to it.

 

 Here is how my card turned out...

 It actually turned out very similar to Tracy's. The colors are different and I had to make my banners as all my banner stamps were too large. I used a tiny alphabet stamp set and stamped them with Versa Mark watermark ink onto the cardstock and embossed them with white embossing powder. I then hand cut each letter into a banner and glued them along the stamped line. I then did some pen stitching on each banner to make them look like they were sewed on. I also stamped the red ribbons at each end of the banner and added punched stars and a gold ball to the center of both of the star centers. I also did hand pen stitching along the edge of the circle.

 

And instead of saying happy birthday I changed the sentiment to Happy Father's Day.

I like how the black background really helps the colors to pop.

My husband came into my craft room/office today and saw the finished card laying on the table and made the comment that it was a pretty cool card. Wow, I think that is the first time he has ever made a comment on one of my cards unless I asked him for his opinion. So he really must have liked it to voluntarily offer his opinion like that.  

 

Check out Karen's card that she made with the sketch and all the other Sweet Sunday Stampers. I promise you will be inspired.

 

Thanks for dropping by and have a wonderful day!

 

Teresa







I'm Back!!!

Hello my fellow bloggers and crafty friends! Thanks for sticking with me.  It has been such a long time since my last post but I am out of hibernation and ready to share some new cards I have been working on this week.

First up are these two cards: 

 I based these cards off of this Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #220 :



I needed two thank you cards and both recipients favorite colors are pink and purple. The first card is pink and I stamped the white card base using Worn Lipstick DI and HA Envelope Pattern stamp.





  For both cards I cut a 2 1/2" strip of pattern paper and die cut a circle just below the top of the strip and adhered it to the card base with foam dots. I die cut the butterfly from pattern paper and wrapped black floss around the body and tied a knot at the top to make the head and antennas then adhered the butterfly with foam dots to the center of the circle.

I think I might add a dot of glue to hold the antennas in place. They tend to get stuck under the wings sometimes.

I die cut the banner then stamped the thank you sentiment with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. After rummaging around in my bling drawer I found these pink metal flowers with holes in the center which I filled with a pearl dot and adhered them to each end of the banner. I glued the banner towards the bottom of the pattern paper strip and was done. 

 

I liked the sketch so much that I made a second card with it:

This  is has both purple and pink. I stamped the Envelope Pattern in Shabby Shutters DI and the butterfly is purple.

I made the same banner except I used some glittery pink flowers with a rhinestone in the center. I think I still have time to enter the Sweet Sunday challenge. It has been months since I have entered any challenges so it will be fun getting back in the groove of things.

I found this card by Joyce over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge:

I loved that it was only one layer and thought it made a very nice sympathy card and reminded me that I need to start  replenishing my sympathy card stash.

 

Here is how my card turned out:

 The stamp I used was from an old Rubber Stampede called Palm Leaf (I don't even know if they are around any more). I have used this stamp  several times over the years.

I used Shabby Shutters and Mowed Lawn DI for the leaves. On some of the leaves I used both colors, inking the stamp first with the lighter Shabby Shutters than inking over that with the Mowed Lawn. The rest of the leaves are stamped using just the Mowed Lawn. All I had left to do after the palm leaves was to stamp the sentiment in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and add the butterfly. Such a simple card but I love how it looks.

 

I have so much to share from our winter travels I just need to get on the ball and do it. But right now the weather is super nice and I need to attend to my poor neglected flower gardens. They look so shaggy.

 

I'll be back soon I promise!

 











It's A Circus & A Sweet Sunday Sketch

I had so much fun making the card I am sharing today. It has a circus theme with tickets, balloons, banners and bright colors.

Over at The Twinery they have a new challenge: It's A Circus- The Twinery Theme Challenge

After seeing the creations of The Twinery's Designers I really wanted to create something for the challenge. But then I realized I had nothing with a circus theme so how in the world could I create a card without circus themed stamps or papers. I almost gave up the thought until I saw the Sweet Sunday Sketch #188.

When I saw the large scalloped border it reminded me of the circus tents and that got my circus mojo going and I started gathering stamps from several different sets and went to work.

I used the party hat from a Hero Arts birthday set and colored the circles with bright colors then covered the colored circles with Glossy Accents

 I ran red and white baker's twine from the Twinery along the top edge of the card then stamped banners in Mowed Lawn, Broken China, Fired Brick distress ink and Sunflower Yellow Memento Ink then hand cut them out. The banner toppers were die cut with a Papertrey Ink die before I glued them to the baker's twine.

 The ticket is stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and Fired Brick on  paper that is from DCWV Matstack Citrus. The ticket stamps are from Papertrey Ink. The three green dots are Glitter Epoxy Dot Stickers from Kathy Davis Designs

 The Happy Birthday balloons are Hero Arts stamped on cardstock with Versamark WaterMark ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. I used more baker's twine for the balloons strings and bows.

 I used a red Glaze Pen to do pen stitching around the white cardstock to add shine and dimension. I added a blue punched star with and a small blue Glittered Epoxy dot to the middle of the star. The large scalloped border is from a Papertrey Ink die. I masked off three of the scallops and colored them red with Barn Door distress marker. I then found ribbon with bright colored stars and wrapped that around a green cardstock border and outlined the star ribbon with green and white Twinery baker's twine and then layered it over the large red and white scalloped border.

I had so much fun making the card that I went all out on the envelope using the same colors and elements that were on the card.

I am also entering this card and envelope in the Make it Monday Card and Envelope Challenge. You need to make a matching envelope for your card.

Whew, I think I covered everything!

Thanks for looking!

Teresa

Life is About Who You Love

For my card today I used this darling sketch from Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge:

Check out the details at Karen's blog http://kgiron.blogspot.com/2012/07/sweet-sunday-sketch-challenge-163.html She also makes the most amazing cards! Every card is embellished with her mad sewing skills. 

 For my card I used this little 6x6 paper pack from Studio 18. This is one out of three different packs and they all have this bright and fun retro vibe about them.

 And now for my card:

I was happy how this card came together so quickly.
For the main focal element I just cut it out and popped it up with foam squares and adhered it to the white cardstock that I embossed using the Swiss Dot EF (I don't think I can make a card without using it).  I punched a label and stamped "friend" and put it along the side.

 For the border I again cut a border from the paper and matted it with orange and white cardstock, layered the vertical element over it and layered the Simple Chartreuse ribbon (Papertrey Ink) on top.

 I layered two flowers together and I just had to add a bit of bling to the card so I put a glittered flower in the center to finish off the flower.

 Oh, and by the way the embossed background is one of the two new EF I picked up at Joann's yesterday. This one is called Palm Leaves. I really like how it looks. It also came with a border embossing folder too.
Hope you give this sketch a try because I think you will really like how easy it is to work with.

Have a wonderful day!

Teresa

May Your Life Be Like A Wildflower

Second post for today is a card made with Sweet Sunday Sketch #158

and is for the Doilie & Lace Challenge over at the Moxie Fab World http://www.moxiefabworld.com/2012/05/card-creations-week-doilies-lace.html

And here is  my card:

 The papers are all from The Linen Closet Matstack from DCWV except for the dark gray cardstock which is from Creative Memories.  I really love this sketch and I wanted to do something a little special with it that is why I paired it with the Doilies and Lace Challenge.

 I stamped the flower and sentiment are  Verve stamp set. The flower is stamped with versamark watermark ink and heat embossed with silver embossing powder. The frame around the flower is from a dollar stamp and was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I then cut it out.

I have had  a small stash of Battenburg doilies that I have been saving for years not knowing what I would do with them so I thought this was the perfect project to use one on. I stamped the sentiment in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on the light gray striped PP then die cut it with a circle die cut from Spellbinders. I then inked the edges with Pumice Stone and Soot Black distress inks. And lastly I added gray gemstones on the bottom right of the card.

I have rarely used gray but after making this card and another one earlier this week I think it makes a really striking card.

Enjoy!

Teresa



Three Sketches, Three Cards

I hope everyone isn't getting bored by all the patriotic cards. I think I have about exhausted all of my patriotic stamps but they either have never been used or it has been a long time since they were last used so it feels good to bring them out and use them on cards for a good cause.
In case this is your first visit to  my blog I  am making 4th of July cards for a nonprofit organization called From Our Hearts. They send cards to our troops overseas that they get from card makers all over the US.
So onto my first card. I used a sketch from I Spy Sketch Challenge #12 which was taken from a cute card by Melyssa Connoly. Here is where you can find her card: http://ispysketches.blogspot.com/2012/04/issc12-with-melyssa-connolly.html and here is the sketch:

Here is how I used the sketch:

 I made a few changes to the sketch. First I turned it. I  also trimmed the end of the three strips of paper into banners instead of leaving them straight. I also ran a piece of Craft tape down the middle of each strip.
I embossed the background with the star embossing folder which I seem to have used on almost all of  my patriotic cards. I love how gorgeous it turns out every time. I also inked the edges of the card with Fired Brick Distress ink.
Another change was instead of a circle I used a white star embossed shape and layered another star made out of pp on top.

I also flipped the rectangle shape which I embossed and inked the edges with Fired Brick Distress ink. For the sentiment I used Creative Memories stickers and added a row of gold pearls. I also added smaller gold pearls to the center of three of the embossed stars in the background.

Moving onto the next card:

I used the sketch from CPS#262 and here is the sketch:

Go to their blog for inspiration from their design team:

http://cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/2012/04/cps-262-part-1.html Oh and by the way this week is being sponsored by My Favorite Things.

Here is what I came up using their sketch:

I stayed true to the sketch except I added the sentiment on a banner. I used an eagle stamp as my image which I stamped on kraft cs inked with black ink. I inked the edge of the embossed circle as well as the banner with Fired Brick distress ink. I thought the an eagle was the perfect image to represent America and freedom.

I again added gold pearls to the center of three of the embossed stars.

And now for my third and final card of the day I used the sketch from Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #157:

You should visit Karen's blog and see the cute card she made with this sketch and while your there you should browse her blog as she makes many wonderful cards.

Now here is my last card for this blog post:

 I had fun with this sketch. I used the same start embossing folder for the background and some red gingham pp and navy cs for the banners.  I stamped the fireworks image onto more of the navy cs with watermark ink and heat embossed it with white embossing powder then used a CM circle punch. The white paper is Neenah White Solar and I stamped it with three different stamps for my sentiment in black ink and adhered it to my card base.

 I used an adhesive star gemstone for the big star, colored in the open star with a red Glaze pen and used a clear Glaze pen on the black star.

I have been having so much fun using sketches for my cards. I hope you join in too!

Have a great week.

Just A Note

Sharing two cards today. First one is inspired from CPS #260:



This was a fun sketch to work with and if you would like to play along here is the link:

http://cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/2012/04/reader-ideas-week-of-40812.html

 Can you believe I didn't use any foam dots or gems. This card is pretty much just paper and one piece of rickrack.

 Of course it helps to have cute papers like this Sweet Glitter matstach from DCWV.

Second card of the day:

 For this card I used the sketch from this cute Sweet Sunday Sketch # 156 that was designed by Lynn Put:
And her is Lynn's card that the sketch came from:

I love the stitching around the card especially the stitching zigzag stitch at the top. Here is the link:http://kgiron.blogspot.com/2012/04/sweet-sunday-sketch-challenge-156.html



The stamps are just dollar stamps. I colored the tree with green and brown markers then stamped it on white Neenah paper. The die is Mat Stack 3 from PaperTrey Ink. The ribbon and tea dyed lace is from my stash.

The leaf glitter paper is from Matstack Animal Crackers from DCWV. You can see the glitter in the photo above.

The sun is out so I am going to get out there and soak up some vitamin D.

Have a great day.