ColourQ 315, CASology 171, & ColourMe 96

Sharing a few cards this rainy afternoon in NJ. My first card was inspired by THIS fabulous card created by Joyce for this week's ColourQ challenge. I absolutely love this mix of bold colors. It was genius the way Joyce created such a beautiful mosaic. The color is not overpowering with the white space and vellum muting it. I varied it a little by using the PTI waves cover plate. I originally heat embossed my sentiment in the center of the skewed vellum but I had trouble adhering the vellum to the card panel so decided to stick with the bold black sentiment banner to ground all the movement from the colorful waves. 

Send card is for this week's Colour Me....Monochromatic challenge which is to used a mix of neutrals. I've been itching to use the new PTI Cup of Cheer set along with the MFT Clearly Sentimental about Coffee sentiment set so these challenge colors came at the perfect time.  I was inspired by a card from Nichole Heady that was in the November PTI Newsletter. 

Last card uses a bicycle from an old Cat's Meow set in my stash for the CASology:Vehicle challenge. 

Also linking to the current Seize The Birthday:Anything Goes challenge

I stamped the girls' bicycle on a Lil Inkers Stitched Circle diecut. The grounded the bicycle on a strip of striped patented paper which I also cut with the Stitched Circle die so it would blend in with the rest of the circle. Parts of the bicycle are colored in with Copics. 

I'm working on a couple more cards and hope to post them tomorrow. Kids are off from school for a couple days so I'm hoping to find a smidge of free time. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday America!

In our house, the 4th of July isn't just about having or going to a BBQ and celebrating summer. Don't get me wrong, its a day where we eat well, enjoy the weather, and hang out with friends. We usually participate in our town's holiday festivities but we also take a moment with our kids to discuss why America's birthday is so important. As the daughter of immigrants, I can appreciate why this country is so special and the sacrifices it took for my parents to get and raise their family here. There are freedoms and opportunities here that made my parents leave their native county. And now as the spouse of a US Coast Guardsman, I understand the hard work and sacrifice of our military each and every day to preserve those freedoms and opportunities.

So in honor of USA's birthday tomorrow, I created this birthday card.  Makes for a great masculine birthday card too!

I was inspired by this week's CASology cue word FLOAT. As soon as I heard this, I knew I wanted to graphically depict something floating from a word in a sentiment. I decided on stars floating since the toppings option at Seize the Birthday is 'Stars or Stripes). I stamped the sentiment on the bottom (HAPPY from PTI Headline Alphabet, Birthday from Year Round Happiness) and then masked off a triangle coming from the Happy. I stamped stars in the ColourQ challenge colors within the masked area starting at the tip using the generation stamping technique as the stars floated higher toward the top of the card. I added a strip of soft stone (my closest match to sahara sand) bitty dot to the bottom to anchor it and put the whole panel on soft stone card stock.  

Happy 4th to those celebrating this holiday as well and wonderful weekend wishes to you all! Thanks for stopping by! 

Birthday Wishes

I've got two birthday cards to share with you today.

First one uses inlaid die cut technique I learned from the Clean and Simple 3 class this week. Card design inspired by this week's CAS(E) This Sketch challenge. This one was much easier to do than my last card with inlaid die cuts because the die cuts were larger so no little tiny pieces for me to search for! :)

Next card uses my favorite tipped top dies. Color scheme is inspired by Dynamic Duos challenge.

I embossed the sentiment from Ruby Rose in black.

Also linking both these cards to theSeize The Birthday challenge

Happy Birthday Cards

Birthday cards are on my agenda this week. I'm checking in with three birthday cards today that I want to share.

First card is for my nephew who is turning 2 next week. The card doesn't scream little boy in design but I think the colors are boyish enough and the card is cute (just like he is!). Card design inspired by the CAS(E) this Sketch #61 challenge.

Next card is a bit more sophisticated using the colors of dark pink, black, and grey for the Dynamic Duos challenge.

I cut the chevron plate in hot pink dotted cardstock and placed it over the black for high contrast. Cluster of Ruby Rose flowers anchors the grey sentiment banner.

Last card is a bit more delicate in color. Color inspiration is from ColourQ this week which highlights kraft and several shades of pinks. The card design is inspired by the challenge at Freshly Made Sketches this week. I created a vase out of a frame image and stamped two of my favorite mums in two pinks. This Mums The Word set is one of my all-time favorite sets! And what's a card without some enamel dots to finish it off!

Hope you are warm wherever you are. Temperatures are freezing here in NJ and I'm counting the days until spring! Thanks for stopping by!

Cold Air Fuels My Creativity

Its FREEZING around here! The temperature in NJ yesterday hit the lowest its ever been in the last 20 years. 8 degrees yesterday morning (plus wind chill factor) makes for frozen toes and fingers after waiting at my daughter's bus stop for 25 minutes and the bus never even came!

But apparently for me, this cold spell has my creativity at a peak. Thank goodness I have time, or at least I'm making the time, to hang in my craft space. My work, spreadsheets, and chores I've been putting off will come a calling soon....

I'm longing for the warm weather so flowers and springtime images seemed to be my focus yesterday.

I don't have many flowers in my stash surprisingly. First card uses a pretty graphic circle from an old Lily Bee stamp set. Honestly, its the only image I've used from the set. I created a flower out of it and used an old Papertrey card sketch for inspiration as well. Colors are inspired by this week's Colour Me...Striking challenge. I'm also entering this into this week's "Anything Goes" challenge at Seize The Birthday.

This next card uses PTI Mini Blooms set which I never use because the flowers are well, too mini for my liking. Might have to sell this set & dies on the forum soon. I like how this card turned out though. I dry embossed the leaf vine and then stamped inside. I raised two of the flowers with foam tape for a little variety and added some pearls to the centers. Colors are inspired by the Bold & Cheery challenge at Dynamic Duos this week.

This last card is for the fun new challenge blog called The Card Concept. I'm hoping that this challenge will push me to try different card styles but for now, I kept to my usual style - Clean and Simple. I used my PTI Notched Flowers dies for the first time I think and paired it with some pretty patterned paper from Lily Bee. Background is dry embossed with the PTI stripes impression plate.

Wish you all warm thoughts and creative fingers! Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday Tracey!

I'd like to wish Tracey McNeely of In My Creative Opinion a very wonderful birthday! Your blog and cards are always so inspiring - you may have noticed that I CASE'd more than a few of them! The sweet comments you leave on my blog make me smile. And hope you like black velvet cupcakes (just like traditional red but even extra chocolately!) because I'm having one today in your honor.

Glad your family is all home to help you celebrate. Have a amazing day Tracey and enjoy your virtual birthday party!

If you want to check out the fabulous party that Joyce has organized on her blog, click HERE. You can join in on the fun and make a card too.

I'm also linking this card to this week's Seize The Birthday challenge.

ColourQ #211

The fun colors at ColourQ this week are a very interesting combination. Its another color palette that lends itself to Halloween. Since I don't have any Halloween stamps, I put this old Hero Arts monster set to good use. I paired it up with the PTI chevron coverplate to act as the wall for the silly monsters to be popping out of.

I'm also linking this card to the Seize the Birthday anything goes challenge.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Busy Crafty Saturday

The temperatures were high here in NJ and I was able to head down to my little craft nook in the cool basement while DH and the kids were at our town pool. Here are some of the cards I made yesterday:

First card was made using the Smoke & Sky color palette at Play Date Cafe this week. I thought the muted colors would work best with the PTI Watercolor Wonder set for the artistic look.

This card was inspired by the sketch challenge #18 at Seize the Birthday. I made this brightly colored card for my niece's second birthday next weekend.

Next card was inspired by the bright rainbow of colors at the Pinspired Challenge #10. Never played here before but have always wanted to. They have great photos for their jumping off point.

More cards to come! Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies:

With Sympathy:
Stamps: PTI Watercolor Wonder and Botanical Silhouettes
Ink: PTI Lavender Moon, Plum Pudding, and Berry Sorbet
Paper: PTI White & Lavender Moon

2nd Birthday:
Paper: Memory Box, American Crafts The Goods-Bubbles
Other: PTI Stars and By The Numbers Dies, EK Success Medallion Sticker

Let's Celebrate:
Stamps: PTI Sketchy Shapes, Comfort Food Additions
Ink: PTI Hibiscus Burst, Plum Pudding, Limeade Ice, Hawaiian Shores, Harvest Gold, Raspberry Fizz and Momento Tuxedo Black
Paper:PTI White and Hawaiian Shores

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Seize The Birthday #16

I found a fun little challenge blog called Seize the Birthday and decided to play along this time. I can always use birthday cards right? Here's a card I made for my brother's upcoming 40th birthday.





Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies:
Paper:PTI Ocean Tides, Soft Stone Dotted, Smokey Shadow Striped & Aqua Mist
Stamps: PTI Big Birthday Wishes & Headline Alphabet
Other: Marvy Uchida Circle Punch

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