CAS(E) This Sketch 223

A friend asked me to make her a Father's Day card so she could get it sent off the England soon. I was a bit stuck on what to do until I saw the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch.

I was very sorry to see that Custom Tee was retiring - in fact, retiring tomorrow! It's such a versatile set. I've dressed up the tee-shirt into a jazzy plaid shirt with a bow-tie. I'm looking forward to the new background stamps in the 2017-18 catalogue but I do love the one I've already got: Hardwood.

I'm also a bit short on Dad's day sentiments but I do like the one from the also retired Going Global 'world's best dad'.

Anyway, I hope my friend likes it. If she doesn't, it will be a happy addition to my stash.

Ingredients

Card: Dapper Denim, Marina Mist, Whisper White

Stamps: Custom Tee, Going Global, Hardwood

Ink: Dapper Denim

Other: Stitched framelits, Layered circle framelits, Washi tape from Morrocan Nights suite, dimensionals

CAS Colours and Sketches 224

Time has been very short for me in the last couple of weeks but I've managed to combined the chance to finally get into some of my box of preorders and to complete a challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches. It's one of my favourite challenges but one I haven't managed to play very much this year.

So out of my box of Stampin' Up goodies came Happy Birthday, Gorgeous which has some good balloon images, some florals and lots of great birthday sentiments. There's also the option of bundling it with a fabulous die cut 'Happy Birthday'. My experiments lead me to this card which is a bit more layered than I originally intended but one balloon just looked like a damp squib celebration, so I had to add some extras.

I stamped a line of the 'Make a Wish' sentiment across the page, masked it off then sponged in Soft Sky from the top and Marina Mist from the bottom. I've used Dapper Denim and Silver glimmer paper as accents.

I think this new set is going to be very useful for both masculine and feminine birthdays and there's a lot more exploring to do with it yet.

Ingredients

Card: Dapper Denim, Whisper White, Marina Mist,  Soft Sky, Silver glimmer

Stamps: Happy Birthday, Gorgeous

Inks: Soft Sky, Marina Mist, Dapper Denim

Other: Balloon punch, Dapper Denim enamel shapes

Retro Rubber 63 - DT card

The gallery for our Spring Flowers challenge was amazing! It was a hard job choosing the winners - there were just so many great cards. Obviously, you like inking up your old favourites just as much as we love seeing them.

So please, join us again this week for our colour challenge.

The first challenge for me was working out just what those colours were! At different angles, the colours on the screen seemed to alter and I seriously began to think that maybe I was colour blind! After consultation, discussion and much screen gazing I decided that the colours were a lime green, a muted teal green and a greyish mauve in a light and a dark. Translating these to Stampin' Up colours I got Lemon-Lime Twist, Lost Lagoon and Wisteria Wonder. I don't think you will have such a problem as the challenge post on the Retro Rubber blog has some guidelines.

One of my all time favourite sets is Butterfly Basics (Occasions catalogue 2015) and it was with real pleasure that I used it for this challenge along with possibly my most-used set, Papillon Potpourri (AC 2012-13) I lament the upcoming retirement of the latter of these sets as I will really miss these butterflies!

I like to layer the butterflies to give them some added interest.

They've been water-coloured, highlighted with white gel pen and then had a touch up with clear Wink of Stella.

And since I was particularly happy with the envelope, thought I'd include a picture of them together.

As always, our rules are simple:  you must use at least one stamp that is a year or more old, you must tell us how old that stamp is (approximately) and not link up to more than ten challenges in total.

You have until 2 June to join us and we'd love to see what you do with these interesting colours.

If you live in New Zealand and don't have a demonstrator, I'd love to help you. You are welcome to message me or shop with me from anywhere in the country. Links to my Facebook page and on-line store are on the sidebar of this blog.

Since this card uses two of my all-time favourite sets, I'm also entering this card into the 100th Stamp, Ink, Paper Challenge which is to use your favourites. 

So sorry, SIP Design Team - I have accidentally linked up without changing the picture. I think I needed more coffee. :-(

Ingredients

Card: Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White, Lost Lagoon, watercolour paper

Stamps: Butterfly Basics, Papillon Potpourri

Inks: Lemon-Lime Twist, Wisteria Wonder, Lost Lagoon, Tuxedo Black

Other: Stitched framelits, Elegant Butterfly and Bitty Butterfly punches, clear Wink of Stella, dimensionals, aquapainter, white gel pen.

All products are Stampin' Up.

Freshly Made Sketches 288

The sketch at Freshly Made Sketches was very appealing to me. There were SO many possibilities but I decided to use it to say a farewell to Botanical Blooms, a set that will retire at the end of the month. I feel bad that I've neglected it in the last few months as it really is a beauty.
Here's the sketch.

So, a last turn before retirement...

Ingredients

Card: Flirty Flamingo, Basic Black, Whisper White, Wild Wasabi, Pear Pizzazz

Stamps: Botanical Blooms, Thoughtful Banners

Inks: Tuxedo Black

Other: Botanical Builder framelits, dimensionals, enamel dot, Pretty Petals embossing folder.

As You See It 150 - DT card

Welcome back to another challenge at As You See It. There were a lot of creative entries in our last three-of-a-kind sketch and we love to see what you make. We'd love to see what you do with this week's theme challenge:

Since an anniversary seems to me to be a time for opulence, the new Eastern Palace suite was my go-to place for this card. I've enjoyed having this suite to play with ahead of the general catalogue release and it's proved to be more versatile than I'd ever imagined. It's still available to you in pre-release bundles and will be available after June 1 when the new annual catalogue goes live. For more details, visit my on-line store. There's a link in the sidebar and you can shop with me if you're in New Zealand.

I've mixed vanilla and gold with one of the new in-colours, Fresh Fig, for this anniversary card.

Photographing the gold, especially the embossed sentiment (from Best Birds) was quite tricky. 

Please, join us in our anniversary challenge. You've got two weeks to play. Just link up by 11.55 p.m., Wednesday 21 May PST.

Ingredients

Card: Fresh Fig, Very Vanilla, Gold Foil

Stamps: Eastern Beauty, Best Birds

Ink: Versamark

Other: Gold embossing powder, Eastern Medallions, Gold Acetate stickers, mini-tassel selection.

Freshly Made Sketches 287

It was a perfect Mother's Day: I got the house to myself this afternoon and I spent it in the craft room.

There were a few tasks in there: tidy up, unpack the Big Brown Box that arrived earlier in the week, prep some classes... and then some time to play with one of the new things and the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.

The stamps are from the new catalogue, a set called Colourful Seasons. There are the most amazing co-ordinating dies: Seasonal Layers. I couldn't resist using the gorgeous leaves, especially since it is the colours of autumn that I can see outside my window right now.

The panel is masked and sponged using So Saffron, Delightful Dijon and Cajun Craze - a colour I seldom use. I might need to rethink that!

Even the sentiment is from Colourful Seasons. Watch out for this bundle in the new Annual Catalogue, from 1 June.

Update: Delighted to be a Perfect Princess at Freshly Made Sketches.

Ingredient

Card: Delightful Dijon, Cajun Craze, Shimmery cardstock, Soft Suede,Whisper White

Stamps: Colourful Seasons

Inks: So Saffron, Delightful Dijon, Cajun Craze, Soft Suede, Early Espresso

Other: Seasonal Layers framelits, sponges, dimensionals, enamel shapes

Retro Rubber 62 - DT card

Welcome to another Retro Rubber Challenge! As Spring approaches, at least in some parts of the world, we're asking you to use flowers in your card.

Here in New Zealand, it's autumn and the leaves are falling, but it was good to start thinking of flowers for this challenge. 

This time, the stamps I've used are really only just retro. The Altenew Peony Bouquet I've owned for about a year and I remember umming and ahhing for a while before buying it so I think it was part of the January 2016 release. It's a beauty but its four-step stamping meant it took a bit of practice to get it consistently right. But when it works, it is just so, so, so gorgeous and what says Spring more than the first peonies? 

The sentiment is much more retro, since it's been retired for a while and came out in the 2013-14 Annual Catalogue.

The designer paper and the embossing folder are also both retro, having been around for well more than a year.

As always, the rules at Retro Rubber are very simple: use at least one stamp older than a year and tell us how old it is and don't link up to more than ten challenges in total.

We'd love to see what you do with our challenge when you dig out your old stamps for a bit of an outing. Link up your entry by May 19.

Since this card was inspired by the sketch at Fab Friday, I'd like to enter this card at their challenge too.

Ingredients

Card: Flirty Flamingo, Whisper White, Subtles DSP,  Pear Pizzazz

Stamps: Altenew Peony Bouquet, SU Four You

Inks: Tuxedo Black, Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, Flirty Flamingo, Blushing Bride, Rose Red

Other: Peony Bouquet dies, SU Square Lattice embossing folder, dimensionals, Basic Grey Stampin' Write marker, Blushing Bride enamel shapes

Freshly Made Sketches 286

I've made a last-ditch effort to get an entry done for the lovely sketch at Freshly Made Sketches - such an effort that my husband has had to cook dinner!

Ingredients

Card: Soft Sky, Watercolour paper, vellum, scrap of Whisper White

Stamps: Best Birds, One Big Meaning

Inks: Versamark, Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, So Saffron

Other: Birds and Blooms dies, Layering circle dies, Pretty Petals embossing folders, Gold embossing powder, Soft Sky enamel dots, Gold ribbon, dimensionals

As You See It 149 - DT card

This week at As You See It, we have a great sketch challenge for you.

Lots of possibilities in this one but those balloons on strings just made me think of the those big cornflowers in Touches of Texture. I haven't used this set for a while and enjoyed getting it out.

You have two weeks to join us. Just link up by 11.55 p.m. Wednesday 17 May, PST. We'd love to see how you see the sketch!

Ingredients

Card: Pacific Point, Crumb Cake, Shimmery cardstock

Stamps: Touches of Texture, One Big Meaning

Ink: Tuxedo Black, Crumb Cake, Sweet Sugarplum, So Saffron, Early Espresso; Watercolour pencils in Pacific Point, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight with blender pen

Other: clear Wink of Stella (bee wings), Sweet Sugarplum ruched ribbon