Viva La Verve: Welcome Baby

It's been a long time since I've participated in online card challenges! Today I'm linking up with Viva La Verve and their July Week 2 sketch (click here to see the post). I love layered sketches, so this one caught my eye!

 

I looked through a couple of colour challenges this week for inspiration and loved the colour combo from Colour Throwdown (minus the lime-y green). So, while I can't participate in this colour challenge because I didn't use all the colours, I still loved 3 out of 4 of the colours and decided to use them for my card -- Basic Grey, Smokey Slate, and Bermuda Bay. These colours could be use for any occasion. For me, 'baby' came to mind! My daughter's nursery has similar colours - light grey and teal/aqua. Here's a couple pictures of the card:

 

 

I love how it turned out!

 

Card Ingredients:

Stamps: Celebrate Baby (SU)

Paper: Bermuda Bay, Basic Grey, Smokey Slate, Whisper White, I Am Me DSP

Ink: Smokey Slate, Bermuda Bay

Tools: Decorative Dots embossing folder, Circles nestabilities

Accessories: Basic Grey satin ribbon, Bakers Twine (CTMH)

Loads of Love

Last night was a busy night... Did some grocery shopping, cooked a delicious tuna casserole for dinner, went off to Zumba fitness and of course, fit in some papercrafting! It was the first Zumba class of the year and it felt so good to be back at it again! It was a different routine, so I may have been fumbling around trying to follow along, but after a couple more classes, I think I'll have the moves down :) I've been going to Zumba for the past year and a half and I absolutely love it! While I may not be very coordinated and don't have the greatest dance moves, Zumba gives me a great workout, makes me feel energized... and it's fun! Afterwards, it was nice to wind down and spend some quality time with my crafting supplies :)

Freshly Made Sketches came with out a nice clean and simple sketch this week. I'm starting to get used to these clean and simple designs and tried my best to keep my card clean and simple for this challenge. Here's the sketch:

I found this sketch to be very versatile! Just about any image can be used in place of the butterfly. I almost had a hard time making a choice between a few stamp sets! But I decided to pull out a retired stamp set that I hadn't used in awhile - Loads of Love! This stamp set (along with Loads of Love Accessories) is so fun! There are so many different occasions you could use it for. I chose to make another Valentine's card:

I love the pile of hearts in the back of the pick-up! I used a blender pen to colour in the truck and hearts. It's a great technique of making it look somewhat like watercolour. I used More Amore DSP for the card front and embossed a strip of Basic Gray cardstock with the Fancy Fan embossing folder (one of my new favourites!) The scallop edge border gives the card a little bit of detail. I stamped "Loads of Love" on a tag shape and added Primrose Petals stitched satin ribbon to embellish it.

Card Ingredients:

Stamps: Loads of Love (ret.)
Paper: Pool Party, Primrose Petals (In Colour), Real Red, Basic Gray, Whisper White, More Amore DSP
Ink: Real Red, Basic Gray, Regal Rose, Basic Black marker
Tools: Blender pen, Large Tag Punch, Extra-Large Tag Punch, Scallop Edge Border Punch, Fancy Fan Embossing Folder
Accessories: Primrose Petals Stitched Satin ribbon

Thanks for stopping by!

Mojo276 {Be My Valentine}

Happy Tuesday!

I can't believe how fast yesterday flew by...I had a productive day at work, which is quite unusual for a Monday! My evening wasn't as productive, but I did manage to make a card based on the Mojo Monday sketch and I just love how it turned out!

Here is the sketch:

I found this to be a nice simple sketch and with Valentine's Day being only one month away, I decided to make a card for this special occasion. I chose the new More Amore DSP from the Stampin Up Spring Mini and picked the colours that coordinated with it (so easy to do with Stampin Up products!)



I like adding detail to my cards. This was the first time using the hearts embossing folder and I just love it! The embossed butterflies and button with bakers twine add that finishing touch :)



Card Ingredients:

Stamps: P.S. I Love You (ret.)
Paper: Basic Gray, Pool Party, Primrose Petals, Whisper White, More Amore DSP

Ink: Basic Gray

Accessories: Beautiful Wings Embosslits, Primrose Petals satin ribbon, Pool Party button, Pool Party bakers twine, Adorning Accents embossing folder

Thanks for looking!



A Cheerful Friend

Hello!

It's the beginning of a new week! Can't say I accomplished a whole lot this past weekend, but it was nice to have a couple days to lounge around and do a bit of crafting. I also did some research on top sites to see along the west coast. My hubby and I are planning a 2-week road trip this coming June through Oregon, California, Arizona, Utah and Yellowstone National Park. SO excited! It's going to be a trip of a lifetime!

I decided to play along with the Paper Players colour challenge this week. These three colours coordinate so well together!

I had a look through my designer paper stacks and came across the "Ice Cream Parlour" DSP. I had bought this on clearance from Stampin Up not too long ago and just loved the bright and cheerful colours! I picked an older sketch from Mojo Monday and this is what I came up with:



The accessories coordinate so perfectly with the designer paper! I just love how vibrant and cheerful these colours are together against the Basic Gray card base. Using embossing folders is probably one of my most favourite 'techniques'. I love the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. It is my "go to" when I want to add a little something extra to a card.



The bottom of the card seemed a bit empty so I added three small rhinestones to complete the card :)

Card Ingredients:

Stamps: Button Buddies, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Paper: Basic Gray, Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Whisper White, Ice Cream Parlour DSP

Ink: Basic Gray

Tools: Decorative Label Punch, Circles Nestabilities

Accessories: Ribbon and buttons (Ice Cream Parlour), Rhinestones, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder

Thanks for looking!

Simply Masculine

Good morning!

It's a chilly one! Thermometer reads -18 deg C this morning. Brrr! In looking at the Sunday forecast for St. Catharines, Ontario (my hometown), they are having spring-like temperatures! Really missing home right now... Although, I shouldn't really complain. We have had a pretty mild winter for the most part.

As I was crafting last night, I decided to combine two different challenges -- The Colour Q challenge and the Retro Sketches challenge.

In looking at the inspirational photo and colour combos, I right away thought 'masculine'. And the sketch, being quite clean and simple, made it easy to come up with a design. Here's my card:

I used Natural Composition DSP for the card base. This designer paper is a great collection - each sheet has an embossed pattern on it and the paper is a little thicker than other designer paper, almost like cardstock. I thought it would be perfect to add a bit of texture to this simple card design.



At first, I wasn't too sure I liked how it turned out. Maybe it's because it is so simple. (I like using lots of layers on my cards). But, every once in a while, simplicity is a nice change. :)

Card Ingredients:

Stamps: Loved Ones

Paper: Natural Composition DSP, Night of Navy, Basic Gray, Summer Smooches DSP

Ink: Night of Navy

Accessories: Framelits Die, Daffodil Delight button, Linen Thread, Rhinestones

Thanks for looking! Have a blessed Sunday!