Keep It Simple

After seeing this card from Lisa, I decided to make a simple card for the Pals Paper Arts challenge today:  to keep it simple, sweetie.  This was originally intended for my SIL, who loves all things country, but hates buttons!  Do you know how difficult it is for me to make a “country” card with no buttons!  She freaks out and will not touch anything that has a button!  But I think this may be a bit too plain for her, so I’ll make her another one; but this one will make a good masculine birthday card for someone else:

Busy day today, gotta run!  Image is from Waltzingmouse; sentiment a retired SU cutie.  TFL!  Blessings on your day!

Just Add Ink Challenge #13

Browsing about blogs, I found a new (to me) challenge: Just Add Ink.  I am sure it’s been around, I just never checked it out!  This week it’s a color challenge:

I needed a masculine get well card for our retired minister, and after seeing this card on SCS (thanks, Colleen, and I hope you all can see it), I decided to CASE her card and use these colors:

I was too lazy to look for some Kiwi Kiss paper, so I went with Old Olive; I didn’t emboss the tree from Lovely as a Tree, but stamped off once, then added a sentiment from ODBD.  I added a jumbo brad and eyelet for an additional “masculine” touch.  All the DPs are SU’s Sweet Pea.   Although I rarely see my pastor since his retirement, when I do see him, he always comments how much he enjoys my cards, so I hope he enjoys this one too.  Edited to add: this qualifies for the ODBD challenge to use brads!

And since I am on a tree theme here, here are two lovely cards I received back in February, both using trees.  This is from my friend Kathy:

And this one is from my friend Robyn:

Both meant a lot to our family.  Thanks, ladies!

It is a gray dreary day here in PA, I think I will go take a nap and hope my sinuses clear up!  Hope all is well in your neck of the woods and you’re having a wonderful day!

Color Throwdown #89

Woohoo!  I am the hostess for today’s CTD, and these are the colors I have chosen:

My inspiration was some beautiful Wisteria paper from Basic Grey; so many yummy patterns from which to choose!  Be sure to check back on the CTD blog for all the participation details and play along with us…I would love to see what beautiful creations you can come up with using these colors!  And of course, they’re ALL retiring, so let’s give them some love! 

I needed a get well card for a sweet friend who recently had some surgery, so this is what I made for her:

I remembered some stamps I had from Starving Artiststamps, these cute little dragonflies, and I thought they would be perfect for this card, which also uses the Unscripted Sketch #51 for this week:

They are stamped in SU’s Basic Gray and colored with Copics;  I added some bling to them:

and I pierced the bottom of the card freehand, following the scallops….I thought it came out pretty good!  Oh, I added some bling there too:

And the inside, with a sentiment from Waltzingmouse:

Thanks for visiting today!  Be sure to stop by the other designers’ blogs for more creations using these colors:

• Broni - Splashes of Watercolor
• Tammy - Stamp Happy
• Barbara - Paper Pursuits
• Danielle – Wild Dragonfly Designs
• Kristin - Mindless Creativity
• and our Guest Designer of the month of April, Teresa Kline from Enjoy the Va Sunshine!

If you have any questions about anything used here, please send me an email! Have a blessed day!

When I Pray

I finally got some Our Daily Bread Designs stamps….these are just beautiful! (They have awesome music on their blog, too!) I needed an encouragement card for a friend, and when I saw the color challenge at SCS, I thought it would be a good fit:

I used this week’s sketch from Karen Giron:

And this also qualifies for the ODBD challenge to recycle; I used an old gardening book to make my little flower:

And while I am at it, I’ll show you another card I made a couple days ago; this one was a sympathy card:

How beautiful is that Kaleidoscope paper? I hardly had to do any work at all! I know it seems rather bright for a sympathy card, but sometimes you need an uplifting color, rather than a subdued gray or lavender.

Wow, three posts in one day----now I need to get to work. That yard is growing in leaps & bounds and it is finally warm enough to mow! And remember, if you have any questions, just shoot me an email. TFL!

Kindness

The spring mini catalog is coming to a close, so I thought I would make some samples for my upcoming Stamp Camp to highlight the sets and paper that will no longer be available after April 30!  I saw this nice sketch from Makeesha:

and pulled out my I {Heart} Hearts set along with some Sending Love DP:

The sentiment is from Heard from the Heart.  I also snuck in a new stamp, Itty Bitty Bits (the little hearts) which is going to be SO fun to use!  The flowers on the side are from Flight of the Butterfly. Here’s the inside as well:

And I promised to show off some of the cards I have been receiving!  So here are a couple more:

A fun Easter card from my creative friend Penny;

and a beautiful sympathy card from my friend Sandy; this is from when John’s mom passed away in February.  Aren’t they lovely?  I have such thoughtful friends!

Thanks for visiting….I love hearing from you!

ColourQ 29

Tuesdays are  wonderful days, because it’s ColourQ day!!!  This week Arielle has chosen this bright, cheerful palette:

Wouldn’t you like to wake up every morning with some coffee in a cup like this?  As usual, I had an idea in my head that refused to transfer to paper, and when I finally finished my card, I had to laugh…..there are SO many cards this week using this layout and stamp set!  The Clean & Simple girls must be thrilled, because EVERYBODY has been using this fun layout:

And here’s my take on it:

I used Circle Circus in the various colors, as well as the new Itty  Bitty Bits from the upcoming Summer mini catalog….see those tiny little flowers?  CUTE!!!  I added some bling to the various elements, a piece of JUMBO rickrack and used a retired SU sentiment as I don’t seem to have any current sentiments that fit in a circle!!  Isn’t that textured panel cool?  That’s a new EF from SU called Square Lattice…so cool; the reverse pattern is just as neat!!  And here’s the inside; I used a punched–out piece of cardstock “donut” that I was going to toss in the trash, to make an interesting element along the edge of the card:

So thanks for visiting, and be sure to check out what the other CQC designers made today---just click on the blinkie on the side there to be taken to the CQC blog!  And after seeing them, you’ll want to play too!!!

Sunny CAS

The CAS challenge at SCS today is based on a sketch, shown here.  I wanted to use my other new punch, so I chose a beachy theme!  Poor Holiday Blitz hasn’t been used much, so I pulled the flip flops out and made this quick card; I already had the embossed panel laying on my desk, so it really went together fast:

I used Pink Passion, Bermuda Bay and Green Galore for my colors; sentiment is from an older Lizzie Anne set.  TFL!  Gotta scoot!