Can You See the Forest for the Trees?

My card today was inspired once again my Mynnette Kitchen.  I saw this picture on her web site and decided to check it out.  The original inspiration came from For Your Inspirational Challenge.

Then I went in search of a sketch.  I knew because the picture was busy I wanted something clean and simple...ah yes CAS(e) This Sketch.  Not much simpler than that.  

Now my take on the inspiration picture was that I could see three definite colours, green, yellow and grey.  Those were the colours that I chose for the card. 

The nice thing about making a card like this one, with no sentiment on it until you need it, it allows you to decide if you want to use it in the portrait or landscape form.

To give the focal point a little more umph I stamped and punched out then distressed the edges of the postage circle.

I really like how this card turned out.  I think I got the colours just right and the distressing of the edges goes along with how birch trees shed their bark, even if I did use an oak leaf for the stamp.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.

See It, Do it, Make it RED!

This card was inspired by a sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.

Then I saw a card made by Mynnette Kitchen at Inkspirationals.

       

So with both the sketch and the inspiration in mind I came up with my own version of a card.

I started by using the Apothacary Framelits largest die to create the bottom edge on the card.  Then I folded the CS in half.  Next using the same die I cut out the red backing and then the white front piece. To make the white piece I die cut it twice but the second time I moved the die over to remove about 1/4" of the overall piece.  The remaining red section was used on the bottom of the card.  I secured it to the inside front of the card.

Next the filigree from Bliss was used to stamp the centre image.  Securing my triple bow to the front and securing it in the back with snail and tape. 

 

I then die cut 3 sets of butterflies from the Beautiful Wings Sizzlet.  I like to use 3 together to give a 3D effect to the butterflies.  The body was accented with my usual pearls and wire.  I also used some of the other left over butterflies on the inside of the card as well.

Once I had the card made I went looking for another challenge that utilized the colour "Red". Found this one, Ooh-La-La-Creations, another new site to check out each week.

I hope you like what I have come up with.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.

TST #118 Float Like a Butterfly

Well the warm weather is finally starting to arrive around here and the flowers are all coming out in bloom.  Loads of birds and yes the bee's as well, but I can't wait for the butterflies.  We get a few different butterflies around our place,  mostly Monarch, but regardless of the type I love watching how they float in the air from bush to bush.  So today I decided to take the sketch challenge from Try Stampin on Tuesday and bring a little bit of the floating butterfly theme to my card.

When I printed out the sketch to start creating my card I didn't realize that I had flipped the image and was half way through the card before I realized something just didn't look right, but I wasn't about to start over.  Mistakes happen...we learn to deal with them.  In my case I make a lot of card mistakes (along with real life mistakes) but the card ones work out just about every time.

I started by taking Post-it notes and masking off areas on the card base.  Then sponged in the masked off areas and stamped a border image along the area to complete it.  At first I left the area open that would have been the upper most crossed over area, then I decided to colour it in as well and use that space to place my butterflies.  

Originally I was going to make this an all white card but once I had the purple butterflies on the front I realized that I needed a little more punch around the edges so I made my card base the same dark purple as the butterflies.

Once I finished the entire card and sat back to look at it, it made me laugh because the background was in the shape of the letter "B" and I used "Butterflies" to accent it.  

I hope you like what I have come up with.  Now it's your turn.  Need a little more inspiration?  Hop over to the TSOT site and see what the other Great Designers have in store for you.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.

"LIFE...Live like you mean it"

Wow, I'm on a roll for this week.  Four posts in one week.  Does this mean that I am coming out of my slump?  I sure hope so.

Today I have a card that combines three different challenges.  Maybe it's the challenges that are inspiring me to create more this week. Don't know but I sure am glad to be back at it again.

First I started with the sketch.  I found this one at Cas(e) this Sketch.  I have never used any sketches from this site before so one again I hope I have done them proud.

Next I decided to take a look over at Dynamic Duos.  They always have such great inspiration for colour combinations.  This week the challenge was to use a colour combination from the past year.  I went with DD#41.

Lastly I went with a very clean and simple card once again and turned to Less is More for further inspiration.  This week they want a single layer card with a coloured card base, so I decided to go with Pool Party as my card base.

My plan is to use this card for a co-workers birthday.  The sentiment is truly his way of thinking about life.  So Happy Birthday Izzy.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.

"Kindness"

I'm on a roll right now.  With a few days off and needing to switch my focus from looking after my Father to other things I have decided to play along on a couple of different challenges today.

The first challenge is a colour challenge at 4 Crafty Chicks.

The second challenge is from Clean & Simple Stamping.

I found the sketch challenge first and then decided on the colour challenge.  Next came the stamp set to use.  I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve and needed just the right stamp set to accomplish it.  I love clean and simple cards and enjoy making them, but don't do it enough.

Starting with a little math and using Post-it notes I masked off the top and middle where the sentiment would go.  Next, again using the Post-it notes I started with the individual lines.  Each line is 3/4" wide with a small space between them.  I inked up my stamp set starting with the lightest colour first and then randomly added the additional colours.  Once the area had been stamped I then coloured in the area with a sponge.

Once I had all the stamping and sponging done I removed the masked area for the sentiment and using the Stamp-a-ma-jig I stamped the Sentiment.

 

The inside of the card has the same stamp used just across the bottom corner but with no sponging.

I have not taken part in either of these challenge sites before so I hope that I have done them both justice.  

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.

PCC#41 It's a Girl!

Spring is definitely here and along with the birds and the bee's increasing population the babies are certainly on their way.  One of my husbands co-workers has just had their first baby and yes it's a "Girl".

I received the sketch email this morning from Paper Craft Crew and decided to use it for my card.

Rather than go with pink on pink on pink I decided to through a little more colour in with the DSP, but there is still a Lot of Pink!

Also instead of using ribbon or paper for the accents I punched out 2 white and 1 pink from the Martha Stewart Branch Punch for the accents.  The little duck is a button that I found in my stash along with the ribbon.

For the inside of the card I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig and positioned the hands to form a heart.  In the centre of the heart I punched out the smallest heart from the Heart to Heart Punch.

This is the first time I have taken part in the Paper Craft Crew sketches so I hope that I have done justice to their sketch.  

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.

TST #117 "Dad"

Good morning and welcome again to another Try Stampin on Tuesday sketch challenge.

This week was a stumper.  Yes the old brain had to think long and hard on this one.  The first thing I thought of was a different kind of fold.  Then it hit me while driving.

I was thinking about work and the different sales, etc that were going on for Mother's Day and I thought "mens dress shirt".  I know this has absolutely nothing to do with Mother's Day, but seeing as how my Mom has long since passed and I only fond memories of her, I decided to focus on a Father's Day card.  For that matter it could also be a birthday card, but the subject of the card is "Dad".

So next you ask why menswear?  Well that happens to be the department that I work in so my first thought was a man's crisp white dress shirt.  

I decided to make each of the rectangles look like pockets on a shirt and then to give them a little character and make them stand out more I stamped them with the largest stamp from Clockworks.

Next I took an anchor embellishment that I had and a chain that had been given to me from a co-worker and make a fob watch.

Need some inspiration for your take on this sketch.  Hop on over to the Try Stampin site and see what the other Great Designers have in store for you.  And lastly I hope and wish each and every Mom out there a Happy Mothers Day this coming weekend.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me, so please remember to leave one.