Sunday, May 31, 2015

Fishes - Freshly Made Sketch #188

We started with a little lazy Sunday, watching the French Open...then I went for the Sunday mountain ride.  I'm creeping closer to my personal best, but not quite there!  Lunch and a little more tennis viewing, before I have to go check out the garden and clean up a few things.


I decided to enter another challenge:  Freshly Made Sketches #188.  It looks like this challenge is right up my alley with clean and simple designs.  Here is the challenge for this week.

I had many ideas, and considered making something with flowers, which would be very elegant---however in the end, I decided to go the cute route.  It's been awhile since I used my fish stamps from Simon Says Stamps, so here's my take on the challenge (and since I decided to use Simon Says Stamps, I'm entering in the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge too!)




Not only do I love these fish, but I've been in the groove of making shaker cards!  So what an opportunity to combine both--and let's face it, a shaker card makes everyone smile.

I've also been excited about making my own shaker elements so I took the opportunity to do so with this card as well--you can kinda see them in the picture :)





Supplies:
  • Bazzill Card stock:  Marshmallow
  • Teal Foil Paper/POW Glitter Paper (for the shaker elements)
  • Simon Says Stamps Card Stock: Aubrey Blue
  • Simon Says Stamps and Dies:  Birthday Fishes
  • Distressed Ink:  Peacock Feathers, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint
  • Simon Says Stamps Wave Stencil
  • Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
  • Copic Markers

Friday, May 29, 2015

Love Never Melts PS Sparks Challenge

Busy morning today.  I did my long ride today (about 25 miles) this morning.  15.3 mph, not my best time but not bad for early in the riding season.  Tacos for lunch....yummy....now a little relaxing before some afternoon tennis practice with Hatsumi and Grace.


I decided to participate in the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge.  I really like the sketch and thought I could finally use the Snow Dudes stamp set that I purchased some time ago and have been dying to use, even though winter is long gone for us!!!  Also, I realized that I could use a few more Paper Smooches stamp sets so I took this opportunity to buy a few more....hopefully they will arrive soon!   Something to look forward to ;)  I finished this card a few days ago, but just now having time to post it.


I thought this sketch is just perfect for a shaker card.  I started off with using an embossing folder to dry emboss the light blue card stock.  I then die cut a large circle.  I used my dies to cut out a hillside border for my snow bank.  I colored the snow couple with my Copic makers, and highlighted them with a bit of Wink of Stella.  I stamped some snowflakes in the circle so if the shaker elements are not seen, there will be some light blue snowflakes in the background.  I made my own shaker elements with glitter paper and a heart punch, instead of using sequins---really like this effect, almost better than sequins!



Here's a close up, where you can really see the embossed background and the shaker elements!

I really like how the card turned out...it's super cute.  Thanks Paper Smooches for the inspiration!


Supplies:


Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Tag Your It Challenge #22

The day started off fun with riding to CSC for some doubles tennis.  Always a good way to start the day!  After lunch I did a bit of work, then off to studio to have a bit more fun....creating.  





Tag Your It Challenge.  The challenge design is posted here and this looks like a fun challenge.

I don't have any fruit stamps or dies, so I used what I found in my supplies focusing on the colors and design of the inspiration tag.

Here's my tag and take on the challenge...











Since I don't have any fruit stamps, I thought I would instead focus on the colors and keep them similar to the inspiration tag.

I made the tag with watercolor paper and stamped the flower and leaves with Versamark and embossed it with white embossing powder.  I watercolored the flower and leaves with distressed ink.

I added washi tape, and die cut the sentiments and the hearts and added a bit of shading at the very bottom with distressed ink.







Supplies:


Sunday, May 24, 2015

Stinkin Cute

I'm getting ready for my Sunday bike ride.  I'm headed up Mt. Eden and Mt. Winery, so need a few minutes to get into the mental state of climbing hills.  Let's see if I can get closer to my personal best time--though trying a new shifting strategy to see if what my husband and brother say works for me.  We'll see!

I worked on this card a few days ago, and just now having the time to take a photo and post.


I used the Simon Says Stamps "Stinkin Cute" set.  I've had this set for awhile now and have been dying to use it.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it, but finally came up with this.  I used a circle stencil to color the background very lightly with distressed ink.  I then popped up the background and the little skunk after coloring it with copic markers and added a little Wink of Stella to the heart.































I'm entering it into two challenges:  1) Addicted to CAS which you can see the code word is animal, 2) Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge, where the technique is using a stencil.

Supplies:


Thursday, May 21, 2015

Love Birds

Wow...a busy day, with a combination of work and fun.  I was able to get in some singles tennis this morning, which is always a bonus--rode my bike home, did some work, then was able to spend some time in the studio before grocery shopping :)



Enough about my day, let's move on to the fun! I've decided to enter into the most current Addicted to CAS Challenge,  As you can see their code word is birds.

I'm also entering this card into the Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge, since the challenge is stencils (which is one of my many favorite techniques :)).

Here is my take on a clean and simple card with birds and stencils.





I enjoy the simplicity of this card and it does capture some of my favorite techniques embossing paste and coloring...oh wait, I have lots of favorite techniques!  I used my copic markers to color the birds and heart.  I used a bit of Wink of Stella glitter on the heart and put some glossy accents on the glasses---it is very cute in real life, and so simple to make.

Hope you enjoy the card!  Thanks for visiting.






Supplies:



Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Birthday Challenge Cas-ual Fridays

Another great day...my husband is feeling so much better today, recovering from a sudden and unexpected illness.  Each day he is feeling a bit better, yeah!  This morning, I was able to join a group of tennis friends for some doubles matches.  Thanks Yan for setting up a fun morning!

After lunch, I was able to play in the studio with my husband giving me design feedback---yes, he is feeling much better :)

Here's my card for the Cas-ual Friday Challenge 139. In honor of their 4th birthday, they are challenging us to use teal, orange, white and black.  I opted for a birthday card not only to celebrate their birthday, but my friend Gina has a birthday this coming weekend.  I hope she will like this card.






For this card, I used the Simon Says Clustered Leaves and cut a portion of the die in the teal card stock and vellum (it is a bit difficult to see the vellum in the picture).  I used a bit of distressed ink to give the teal leaves a bit of dimension.  I also die cut the sentiment in orange card stock and added a few orange sequins and some black enamel dots to finish off the card.








Supplies: