Beautiful Things

Welcome to another great Tuesday Morning Sketches challenge. This week our sponsor is the Digi Doodle Shop.  I hope that you'll grab some papers and play along with this week's sketch. I'd love to see your creations.

I simply adore this sketch by Melissa.....Thanks Melissa! The sentiment on this card is one of my favorites. It is from 'The Artful Stamper'.  I love this sentiment so much that I decided to use on the front of my card.  The large double layered butterfly uses two Cheery Lynn dies. The narrow vertical butterflies are Memory Box and three of the little butterflies that were cut out were used on the bottom left hand corner of the card. The edging is from a Fiskar punch, the script stamp is from Hampton arts, oval from Nestability and the pearls are from Michaels.

Here is Melissa's fantastic sketch.

Please stop by TMS and leave a little comment 'love' for the other members of the DT. Click on their names above their cards and it will take you directly to their site.

Back to creating more 'butterfly' cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Flourishes 157

This week Mona is hosting the Timeless Tuesday Challenge at Flourishes. The challenge is to create a corner bookmark using Flourishes images. Since I am trying to concentrate on 'masculine' cards, I though it only fitting that I should make a 'masculine' bookmark. If you are expecting lace, frills and flowers you won't see it in this bookmark. I tried to keep the layers to a minimum so that the bookmark could be used (my DH is an avid book reader!) on a page corner without  indenting the surrounding pages.

The wood embossing was done with a PTI embossing plate, I distressed the edges with Vintage Photo and the coloring was added using various dye inks on a piece of Cut 'n Dry. The rope was stamped then fussy cut
.

The opposite side was also embossed with the PTI embossing plate. A little early for Father's Day but, better than rushing at the last minute. I think I'll make a few more of these for my 'men's basket'.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Winning Cupcake Card

*****Scroll down for the Paper Players Masculine CAS Challenge*****

Last month I submitted a card to the Cupcake Craftroom challenge. My card was chosen as one of the winners and Mandy asked me to GD a card for her. What a wonderful honor to be able to design with these wonderful papers. This is the winning card from January.

I really enjoy 'paper folding' and most of these techniques require double sided papers (not CS).  Since it is difficult to find double sided papers, Mandy has the perfect solution...print your own! You can choose the colors and the designs and you'll never run out at 2 AM because you can just print more. These papers are from the Charlotte Designer Collection. Aren't they beautiful?


The challenge this month at the Cupcake Craftroom is "new beginnings".  Feel free to interpret this as you'd like - new baby, new home, new job, wedding engagement, you decide...What will your New Beginnings be?  The challenge is open till February 29, so there is still lots of time to enter a card.  Won't you join me and tell me about your "new beginnings"?

My "new beginnings" for this year is to make more masculine cards. I have baskets of completed female cards but when I need a card for a man, I have to make one. Hopefully by the end of the year I will have a "men's basket" of completed cards.

I decided to do paper folding on these cards and used "Menswear" Collection to make my cards. I hope you enjoy my new additions to my "men's basket".

I layered four different papers from the "Menswear" collection on this card and used double sided paper to create the mini envelope. The HB sentiment was embossed with gold embossing powder but much to my dismay...it wasn't legible so I simply highlighted areas of the sentiment with a white gel pen.

This Iris Folded card was also made with papers from the "Menswear" Collection.  An Exacto knife was used to create the waves and seagulls. If you look closely you will see different papers from the ones used on HB card.  There are many more designs that I didn't use on either of these two cards. You can see the whole collection HERE.  While looking at these lovely coordinated papers...browse a bit and see the other great paper collections. I am submitting this card to the Paper Players Masculine CAS challenge.

Thanks, Mandy for the great opportunity to make cards for my blogging friends across the pond! I  enjoyed working with these wonderfully designed papers.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Pixie Dust Cupcake

Ready for a 'yummy' card? This weeks image is from Pixie Dust Studio. It is appropriately called 'Lil Miss Cupcake'. The sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches was used to design this card.

The DP was in the bottom of the scraps basket. The brown paper has 'chocolate' written all over it, so I thought it was only fitting to have a 'chocolate' cupcake. The image was colored with Prisma Colored pencils and blended with Gamsol. I had some 'cupcake' ribbon from Michaels but unfortunately I didn't have any 'cupcake' embellishments. I stamped a Heidi Grace 'cupcake' stamp on some 'Shrinky Dink', colored it with Prisma Colored pencils, cut out a circle with my Nesties, applied heat with my heat gun and then watched the circle shrink...Wa La! instant embellishments. These lil' cupcakes and the rhinestone cherries were placed on top of a small punched doily from MS. The sentiment is from Inky Antics.

This is the fantastic sketch that was used to design this card.

Why don't you play along with this sketch. Please visit the TMS site for some great inspiration from the DT.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Black & White & Hot Pink

I'm back with another black and white card....guess this is a very popular combo this spring. The challenge at Play Date Cafe is black and white with a SPLASH of HOT PINK. What a fun color combo!

I tried to keep my SPLASH to a minimal amount. To create the background I started with black CS, then used white embossing powder on the Versamark stamped image. The stamp is from Hero Arts. The felt flower was made with dies from Sizzix and PTI. The felt zig zag is also from a PTI die. The pearl brad is from Eyelet Outlet and the edge border punch is from Martha Stewart.

This is the lovely inspirational photo that was used to design my card.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Lots of Dies!

This is my second posting today....I am a NASCAR fan and qualifying for next weeks Daytona 500 starts at 1:00 PM (EST) so I am rushing so that I can sit and enjoy the beginning of the 2012 NASCAR season.

The great challenge at the Card Crafters Circle is to use 'die cuts' in our creation. Since I'm addicted to and collect 'die cuts' this is the perfect opportunity to use them.  This was a fun challenge...the hard part was deciding which 'die cuts' to use. I managed to use 8 different 'die cuts' in this card. YEAH

The die cut behind the image is from Xyron, the butterflies are from C.C. Designs, rolled flowers are MFT, foliage and flourish are Sizzix everything else is from Spellbinders. The image (Repeat Impressions) was stamped twice and colored with Copic markers. A few of the flowers were fussy cut and adhered with foam tape for added dimension. The dps are from a Paper Studio pad and ribbon and pearls are from Hobby Lobby.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden (after NASCAR qualifying).

Black & White & Splash!

The great challenge at Our Creative Corner this week is to create a black and white card with  a 'splash' of color.

The embossing folder is from Cuttlebug, dies are from Spellbinders and Sizzix. The red paper was sprayed with a gold mist before embossing and cutting. Stickles were used to highlight the flower and the leaves. 

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Fuschias

This lovely 'Fuschias' stamp just arrived in the mail so of course I had to ink it up. The challenge for Timeless Tuesdays at Flourishes is to make a card using RED. Of all the colors in the rainbow my least favorite is RED. I was so happy to use this new stamp that I put RED into my card! Many Fuschias are red and the Hummingbirds love them! I had one of these plants last summer and it was so great to see Himmingbirds flitting around these flowers. I don't think my flowers will attract any Hummingbirds, but they definately bring back fond summer memories.

The image was colored with Copic markers, the edger and oval are from Nestabilities and embossing folders are from Sizzix and Cuttlebug. I think that covers most of the companies!(wink) :-) The pearls are from Want2Scrap and were colored with a Copic.

Tulip Bouquet

The snow from last week end is quickly melting so I'm once again "thinking spring". This card is for the great color challenge at CR84FN. The beautiful 'spring' colors for this challenge are Lavender, Gray and Chartreuse. I used the sketch from Card Patterns to design my card.

The "tulip bouquet" stamp is from Repeat Impressions, Embossing folder is Sizzix, edger is MS and the pearl brad is from the Eyelet Outlet. the ribbons and pearls are from Michaels. The image was colored with Copic markers. The tulips and paper edges were highlighted with ultra fine glitter.


Here is the lovely inspirational photo. Be sure to check out the super verse on this one!

This is the sketch that I used to create my card.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Celebrating LOVE

The great challenge this week at Card Crafter's Circle is to make a Valentine 'celebrating love' or to use 'hearts' in your creation. I think I'm the only person on this earth who doesn't 'LOVE' Valentine's day cards and the color 'RED'. So that being said the question is  "how do you make a Valentine card with out  RED"? Here is my version of  'LOVE' and 'HEARTS' for Valentine's Day.

As you can see I fulfilled all of the requirement.  If this doesn't 'celebrate love' I guess I don't know what does. I even included a 'LOVE' charm under the bow and 'HEARTS' on the top right corner. Let me introduce you to Jack and Ginger.....this fantastic image is from Mo Manning Digital Pencil.  It was colored with Prisma colored pencils. The dp's are from HOPT and Fancy Pants, the edger is MFT, the entwined hearts are from Cuttlebug and the bow is seam binding that I dyed to match Ginger's skirt.

As you get older my wish for you is that you may all 'celebrate love' just like Jack and Ginger.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Best Foot Forward

Happy Valentine's Day 

This is the second week of the month so it is a 'judged' challenge at Tuesday Morning Sketches. Each member of the DT will visit your blog so put your best foot forward......we'll be visiting you.   Since today's date is 2-14, the twist for this challenge is to use 2 ribbons, 1 embellishment and 4 layers. Wait till you see the marvelous creations from the DT!

The sponsor this week is DRS Designs, who graciously supplied some of the team members with great images. This card was made with one of their images.

The image was stamped twice and colored with Copic markers. The second image was fussy cut and layered with foam tape over the first one. The background was lightly stamped with a Hero Arts Envelope Pattern stamp. The sentiment from Flourishes was embossed with gold embossing powder, ovals are Nesties, the die cut strip of butterflies is from Memory Box, the butterfly charm is from Fire Mountain Gems and the ribbon and pearls are from Michaels. Stickles were used for a little "Bling"!

Some members of the DT made 'scraplings' with their card...check them out! What a great idea!

This is the lovely sketch, from Jessica, that was used for inspiration.

Go get your papers and start designing.......I'll be visiting and I can't wait to see your creations.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Winter's Return

My 'think spring' mantra didn't work over the weekend because in a 24 hour period we got 16 inches of snow! :-(  To brighten my day I went looking for some colorful challenges. I found exactly what I was looking for at Play Date Cafe. The colors at the Cafe are bold and bright this week. I used these colors to create a 'Best Friend' card that includes a flower for the challenge at Our Creative Corner. Maybe these bright, bold colors along with the flower will bring our 'springtime' weather back! Ha ha ha. Who am I kidding after all it is only February!

The 'buggie' background paper and the striped paper is from a Debbie Mumm pad. The stamp and sentiment are from Inky Antics and the 'bee' die cuts are from a Cuttlebug die. The rhinestones, ribbon and flower are from my stash. I used a combination of Copic markers and Prisma colored pencils to color the image.

This is the inspirational photo from the Cafe.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Mojo 227

Time for another great sketch challenge at Mojo Monday.

I opted to forgo the usual frilly feminine card and instead decided to try a masculine card. My baskets of completed cards are overflowing with pretty female cards but every time I need a card for a man I have to make one. This year I will try to improve my masculine designs and fill a 'man's' basket.

The map is actually from a page in an old atlas, the movie reference is from an old Movie Guide book that my DH thought he threw away. Ha! I rescued it from the recycle bin and stashed it away. The highlighted movie is 'American Grafitti' because it was the only move that I could think of that had an old vehicle similar to the stamp. Since then I have thought of many other movies...I'll have to write them down for future reference. Maybe I could fill my 'man's basket with antique vehicle cards? Ha Ha. The car stamp is Stampendous and was colored with Prisma colored pencils, the birthday sentiment is actually a gold sticker that I colored with a Copic marker (I sponge a little white on the area under the HB sticker so it was easier to see) and the piece of plaid paper is from my stash. The zigzag strip was embossed with one of those small edge Cuttlebug folders (have to try to use these more!) then faux stitching was applied with a gel pen. The glass area of the car was filled with glossy accents and the chrome was highlighted with a Silver metallic pen.

Here is the sketch that I used to create this card.

Back to creating more masculine cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Pinter-inspiration

***This card won the Pinter-Inspiration Challenge***

The noon time challenge at Flourishes is to make a card based on a 'Pinterest' photo. Earlier in the week I made a black, white and pink card.......the 'Pinterst' photo is black and pink. Not to be repetitious but here is another black and pink card! Two in one week...gotta get some new material.

The stamps are from the Cherry Blossom set. The backgrounds were either dry embossed with Cuttlebug folders or embossed with Stardust transparent embossing powder. Love this embossing powder because it has just a tough of sparkle. The image was colored with Copic markers, the edger is from MFT, butterflies from C C Designs and ribbon and pearls from Michaels.

This is the inspirational photo that I used to design this card.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

WOW

***This card was a Top 3 Winner at Card Crafter's Circle***

Due to the apparent lack of outside "white stuff" here in upstate New York, I made a "White on White" card for the challenge at Card Crafters Circle. We challenge you to create a card that is WHITE .... layers of white... colour is allowed on your image, all the rest is to be white!

Cuttlebug, Spellbinders, PTI and MFT supplied the tools necessary to create this marvelously layered card. Who knew that white on white could have so much texture? The image is a stamp from Prickly Pear and it was colored with Copic markers.

To add a little more eye appeal the smaller scalloped oval was sprayed with a Perfect Pearl and water mixture before it was embossed. Ultra fine glitter was applied on the edges of the small oval and on one doily edge.

Love this technique!!! I  have a new fondness for things that are 'white' as long as they stay on cards and not on the ground outside my home!

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Paper Pretties

Time for another great sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches. The sponsor this week is Paper Pretties and I used the lovely 'Crocus' digi image to create my card. I'm still 'Thinking Spring', even though it is only February.

The embossing folder is from Sizzix, sentiment is Darcies, ribbon A. C. Moore, banner die from Taylored Expressions and silk flowers from my stash. The image was colored with Copic markers.

The challenge at Paper Players this week is to create a "Flowers" card. I am submitting this card to that challenge.

This is the lovely sketch that was designed by Theresa.

Everyone loves comments, so please stop by the DT blogs and leave them a little 'love' and thank them for their constant inspiration. When you visit the Tuesday Morning Sketches blog...just click on the name above the card and this will take you to their blogs. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Black & White & Sketch

Last week was so buy that I almost forgot about the Timeless Tuesday Sketch at Flourishes. As I checked the blog this morning I realized that I still had about 10 hours till the deadline. YEAH!!! enough time to make a card.

As I scrolled thorugh the site I saw the B & W + 1 challenge.  Black and white with a one color. So I decided to combine these two challenges into one card.

The black CS was embossed with white embossing powder and vice versa. The stamps are from the the Flourishes Cherry Blossom set. The image was colored with Copic markers and highlighted with Stickles.  I used a gold metallic pen on the edges of the CS and the center edges were also highlighted with Stickles. MS butterfly punch.

This is the lovely inspirational sketch by Silke. Great sketch.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Ragged Romeo

Tui Nathan, the Guest Designer Coordinator for Our Creative Corner, contacted me a few weeks ago, with an invitation to be this week's GD. I am extremely honored to have the opportunity to be associated with this fabulous DT. If you're looking for inspiration and variety check out both the OCC and Tui's blog.

The challenge for that week is being hosted by Sharon Wheet and this is what she has to say:

"Love is in the Air - make a Valentine's Day item (card, scrapbook page layout, 3-D item, or an altered item) using the colors: Pink, Grey, & Kraft.  Now add some sparkle, (rhinestones, glitter, metal) anything that shines!  And don't forget to include a heart shape."

This is a Mo Manning image that has been colored with Copic markers, embossing folders from Sizzix and Cuttlebug and the rhinestones and flowers are from Michaels. The small hearts were highlighted with PTI Fresh Snow Pigment ink, applied with a piece of Cut 'n Dry. The ribbon was colored with a Copic marker to match the sketch. Why don't you grab some paper and play along with this great challenge, would love to see what you create.

Thanks to Tui and whole DT for giving me this wonderful opportunity. I've loved every moment of this experience.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Hip to be Square

Lately I have been making a lot of square cards. I stayed away from them, but now that I have envelopes for square cards, it's "full steam ahead". I like to have envelopes for all of my cards because I just hate putting a beautiful card into a mismatched envelope. I think first impressions are important! Anyone else think this way?

Our Creative Corner Challenge this week is 'hip to be square'.

If this was a layered challenge, I could enter this card. Counting the card base it is 6 layers.  Layer 1: card base.  Layer 2 is DP from JoAnn's.  Layer 3 is teal scalloped circles from Spellbinders.  Layer 4 is also a Spellbinders circle that has been embossed in a Cuttlebug folder, then the raised areas were colored with Prisma colored pencils. The birds are a part of the embossed image. I lined the birds up to fit inside the respective cages before embossing.  Layer 5 is Taylored Expressions birdcages stamped on acrylic, colored on the backside with markers and mounted to layer 4 with clear pop dots.  Layer 6 is leaves cut from a Sizzix die. The sentiment in the middle is from a Stamping Sensations' Perfectly Said Rubber Stamp set called .....wait for it....."BIRD QUOTES". How appropriate is that?

This is the sketch that was used to design this card.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

Friends

***This card was a top three winner at Card Crafters Circle***

Challenges are a great way to keep those brain cells active. This card is for Crazy4Challenges (yup that's me ...CRAZY), using the Mojo Monday 226 sketch and the theme of 'Friends" at Card Crafters Circle.

The image is a Tina Wenke stamp, colored with Copic markers and Prisma colored pencils. The papers were at the bottom of my stash so I have no idea where they came from. The edger and tag are Spellbinders, small doily and sentiment are MFT, the ribbon from Hobby Lobby and the flowers and pearls are from Michaels.


This is the Mojo Monday sketch that I followed to create this card.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.

All You Need is Love

"All you need is love...bum ba da dum".   Remember that song by the Beatles? This is the time of the year for 'love', so this card is for the "Love is in the Air" challenge at Simply Create Too and the 'Love' and 'Ribbon' challenges at Paper Pretties. Every "love" card need fantastic colors so the colors are from the inspirational photo at CR84FN.

The image is from Mo Manning, colored with Copic markers, DP from MME paper pad, Eiffel Tower die from MFT and the ribbon, flowers and rhinestones are from Michaels  OMG alphabet soup in that last sentence (wink). I had to color some of the floral background paper to get it to match the colors on the image. This was accomplished with Prisma colored pencils. You get a lot more use out of your papers if you can 'tweek' them with colored pencils...YEAH.

This is the inspirational photo that was used for this card.

Back to creating cards in my Butterfly Garden.