Doily Dress

A couple of weeks ago, Di (who blogs at Pixie's Crafty Workshop) posted a card using this technique and a link to the tutorial. I made one almost immediately, then set it aside until I figured out how to use it. Here it is.
I especially like how much dimension there is in the skirt. (I just cut the bodice by hand since I don't have the suggested punch).
I followed the layout from the Catch the Bug sketch challenge and used a bunch of snippets (including three coordinating lilacs from a mat stack) to create the card. That dress is so cute I didn't feel like it needed a lot of embellishments, but a little ribbon and pearls never hurt anything.

This card is for these challenges:
The Ribbon Girl -- colour challenge; lilac
Catch the Bug -- sketch 310
Catch the Bug -- BINGO (lace, ribbon, pearls)
CRAFT -- wedding
Papertake Weekly -- Oh so pretty
Pixie's Snippet Playground #181/182 -- use snippets

Word Art Wednesday #188 -- anything goes

Ivory and Gold

Last week Di featured a card in the Snippets challenge that was made from a variety of white snippets. It was gorgeous and sort of  inspired me to try this card.
I had a snippet of vellum that was just the perfect size for the wreath die. The rest of the card is just bits and pieces of different ivory and white card stock.  I created a chance for additional layers when I tried embossing the sentiment on the linen texture layer.  I don't have detail gold EP, and the gold EP ended up as an unreadable blob rather than a nice sentiment, so I decided to stamp it in gold ink on a little slip and layer it right below the ribbon.
There are gold stickles on the wreath in place of berries. Each layer is also edged with gold ink.

I'm entering the card in these challenges:
Ribbon Girl June Color Challenge -- use ivory
Feeling Sketchy -- Sketch #93
CRAFT Challenge #263 -- Christmas
Holly Jolly -- 3 layers or more
Pixie's Snippet Playground #129 -- All paper is from the snippet file
Clear it Out -- Anything Goes
Simon Says Monday Challenge -- Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday -- Anything Goes

A fishy BDay

Today is my son's birthday. Since he enjoys flyfishing, I created this card with a rainbow trout.

The image is a digi from QKR. It's colored in pencils, and popped up on pop dots. That's baker's twine with a nautical knot.  The feathery fly is a sticker.

I used Fealing Sketchy sketch 90 for this.

I am entering the card in these challenges.

Feeling Sketchy #90
Paper Crafting Journey -- For a man
Sister Act 57, Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday #132, Anything Goes
Crafty Girls, Anything Goes

Caged Bird

I got this bird and cage die on clearance -- after everyone else was tired of it, probably. This is the first time I've used it on a card and I sort of went all Tim Holtzy, with lots of ink applied DTP and layers of stamping. (Well, OK, Tim would have lots more color and lots more stuff on it....)

For the background, I stamped text in Versamark and applied clear EP on it. (My clear EP is getting a little dirty and probably needs to be replaced....) The edges of that panel are sponged in Creamy Caramel.  The cage and bird were die-cut with cream paper. I applied some copper-colored ink directly on the cage, and added a brown ribbon on top. For the bird, I stamped a music score stamp in Creamy Caramel and a darker sepia and applied the sepia ink around the edges. I also stamped the two layers of white flowers with the musical score.

The card is for the following challenges:

Really Reasonable Ribbon #93, Monochromatic with Ribbon
Crafty Ribbons #85, anything goes with Ribbon
Feeling Sketchy #87, sketch
Simon Says Monday Challenge, Winged Things
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge, Animal Antics
Sister Act card challenge #53, Anything goes.

Shopping fun

Here's a quickie card I made with a shopping theme. The image and sentiments are all from a rather old set from My Favorite Things.

I used the current sketch from Feeling Sketchy.  The little tags made me think of price tags (the hand written ones on expensive boutique clothes. (They are sponged with Mint Melody and Baby Pink inks)

Images are colored with pencils, and the felt ribbon is from K&Co.  It's been sitting in my stash for a while; it was time to start using it. 

This card is for these challenges:

Feeling Sketchy #80, sketch.
Word Art Wednesday #121, anything goes
Sister Act #45, Anything Goes.

Ready for spring

I am so ready for spring, April showers and all, but Mother Nature appears to have another blast of winter coming my way. The weather forecast is for snow/sleet/ice for the next few days, and there was craziness at the grocery store when I was there at noon.  I snagged one of the last cartons of milk but the guy who checked out in front of me had about eight gallons of milk in his cart. Seriously, that's just hoarding.

My springy card features a cute image from Crafty Sentiments.  The bunny is colored with pencils and OMS, with Sea Breeze ink sponged around the edges.  I added Glossy Accents on the raindrops and puddle (oh, dear, does that look like ice?)

To create the sentiment, I used parts of two different stamps.  To get "Sunshine" I used a marker to color only that word in a Hero Arts stamp.  Then I stamped the Hello from another set (probably studio G, something small and clear, anyway).

The layout is from Feeling Sketchy, #79.

I'm entering this card in these challenges:

Feeling Sketchy --sketch #79
Totally Papercrafts #205 -- Hey Cutie (use a cute image)
Simon Says  Monday -- We love Stamps
Word Art Wednesday #118 -- Anything Goes

New year, new beginnings

Wow, it's 2014!  Happy new years to all.
"New Beginnings" is the theme at this time of year, and that was the perfect reason for me to make a new baby card for my niece, who is due in a few weeks.  I wouldn't consider her old fashioned in any way, but she doesn't know the sex of the baby, and doesn't want to, so I made a card that was neither pink nor blue. I went with pastel green and a very pale yellow.
The sketch is Feeling Sketchy #77.
The image (from Autumn Leaves) is black embossed and paper pieced. The panel is pierced around the edges, wrapped in light green bakers twine and popped up on pop-dots.  There's a little rocking horse charm hanging off of the twine.

I'm entering the card in the following challenges:

Feeling Sketchy #77, sketch
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, New Beginnings
Totally Papercrafts #200, New Beginnings
Word Art Wednesday #113, Anything Goes
CRAFT #240,  Anything Goes

Charlie Brown tree

I saw a bunch of cute little stick tree cards recently and decided to try one on my own. Turns out the ones I've seen on the Internet are actually a die cut, but I made mine with glitter and double-sided tape.  I just cut a strip of brown card stock and adhered it to the paper. Then I added strips of adhesive in a vaguely treelike shape and covered them with glitter. I figure it doesn't matter if the branches aren't straight. This was quick and easy and I think it makes for a fun tree, kind of reminiscent of a Charlie Brown tree. You could also do it with strips of paper or fiber instead of glitter.

To complete my tree, I added a button snowflake on top.  I used Feeling Sketchy #73 for the layout.

The sentiment is black-embossed and comes from Hero Arts.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Feeling Sketchy #73, sketch
Papertake Challenge: Christmas
Totally Papercrafts #191: Button It Up
Sister Act #31, Anything goes
Loves Rubber Stamps #77: Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday # 105  , Anything Goes

Embossed flowers

This is a quick and easy card I made using the current Feeling Sketchy sketch #72.

The flowers (Stampin Up) are black embossed, with  gel dots at the centers. A bow of dotted ribbon is set where the two flowers cross. The flower panel is mounted on a piece of printed vellum cut with scalloped edges. The sentiment (Hero Arts) is popped up for a little dimension,  and I used a matching red dot to tie it in with the flower panel.

I'm entering this in these challenges:

Feeling Sketch #72
Challenges 4 Everybody #32, Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday #102, Anything Goes

Double yard sale inspired

We're having a yard sale this weekend, clearing out an accumulation of items we don't use anymore. And yes, that includes some craft supplies (not many, but there are some things I know I'll never use).  While going through a box of craft items, I came across a flocked flower embellishment that I got at a yard or consignment sale awhile ago.  There were several in the package, actually, but the orangish-brown one with the polka-dot center really attracted my eye. I knew right away I had to design a card around it.

I decided a giraffe would work with the coloring of the flower, and that led to this card.  The giraffe is an old Rubber Stampede image, stamped in Chestnut Roan ink and colored with pencils.  I pierced in opposite corners, and matted the image on coordinating card stock. The other papers are from the scrap file. The sketch is Feeling Sketchy #71, along with their bonus option to do a monochromatic card.

I'm entering the card in these challenges:

Feeling Sketchy #71, sketch and monochromatic
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, Going Dotty (dots on flower and pierced dots)
CRAFT Challenge #227, animals
Papertake Challenge, Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday, Anything Goes
Loves Rubberstamps Challenge #72, Anything Goes

Pirate's cove

The current C.R.A.F.T. challenge (#216) is a photo challenge.  Most of the people who have taken the challenge are posting idyllic beach scenes, but I went in another direction.  It is a beautiful beach, but with those ominous cliffs and the deserted look, I can see this being the kind of place pirates hide out. And since I have the new pirate set from The Alley Way Stamps, that's the tack I took on this card.

The image is stamped and then colored with pencils and OMS.  I don't usually do a lot of distressing, but since pirates aren't known for being shiny and new, I used a few distress techniques on this card as well. The dark blue panel is embossed and then roughed up with sandpaper  -- it you use a white-core card stock, this makes the white show thru in random places and gives you a nice distressed look. I also made a panel by splattering ink onto it. That gave me another distressed look.

The layout for this is Feeling Sketchy #65, although the original sketch calls for the image to be quite horizontal, and I switched it to vertical.

Gotta love that "arrgggh!" sentiment -- it covers so many different emotions all in one word.

The old red, white, blue

I shy away from doing red/white/blue color combos because I associate the combo with flags, but I decided to try making a non-patriotic card with that color combo.  I'm pretty happy with the results.

I used Feeling Sketchy #64 for the layout. Even though there are a lot of elements, everything seemed to come together easily for this one.  The image is from an old Stampin Up set, Country Morning, that I  got at a consignment sale. I've always liked these little bouquets but I don't think I'd actually inked up this image before.  Blue glass jars and red and white flowers seemed just right for this.  The image is stitched on a navy panel (and for once the sewing machine didn't act up on me. Yay).

The partial circle is embossed with dots to add a little dimension to that side of the card, and the flower image is up on pop dots, both for dimension and to accommodate the ribbon tabs. 

I am also entering this card in Victorine Originals challenge #62, to make a red/white/blue card.

It's pool time

Summer has definitely settled in, and floating in a pool with an icy drink in my hand sounds like a great way to spend the afternoon.  I won't be doing it, but it sure sounds enticing.

I made this summery card using Feeling Sketchy #63, which I rotated 90 degrees to accommodate the image I wanted to use.  The image is colored with pencils, and I added some Glossy Accents on the icy glass, which probably isn't showing up in the photo.  The image is by Hambo, and the little "what 'cha wadin' for" ticket is from Paper Cupcakes.  I had printed out a sheet of tickets for a previous card, and this was one of the ones left on my desk.  It was perfect for this card. I added bakers twine in two different colors in place of ribbon.

I'm also entering this in Stampin' For the Weekend's Anything Goes challenge.

Enjoy the ride

I love this image of a frog on a Vespa.  How cute is that?
The image is colored with pencils, and there's glitter pen on the chrome parts of the bike, as well as on the wings of the little bug hanging onto froggie for dear life.  (Like I said, how cute is that?)
All the images on this card are from Paper Cupcakes, which sadly closed up shop about a year ago. I did a guest designer stint with them, so I have several iamges and they are all quite cute.

I am entering this card in several challenges:
Feeling Sketchy -- sketch 62
Simon Says Stamp -- transportation (Vespa)
Victorine Originals #61 -- animal or insect (I have one of each)
Stamping for the Weekend -- Cute (we've established this is a cute image, right?)
Simply Create Too, #39 -- masculine card
Tammy's Scraping Corner #66 -- Masculine card

Happy day

I haven't made a card first thing in the morning for a long time, but that's what I did today.  I had been playing around with ideas for Feeling Sketchy #60 and decided to give it a try. 

My original intent was to die cut the butterfly out of the circle and use both the negative and positive in the design, but I couldn't figure out how to make it look good. I know I've seen other people do it, so I'll have to study some pictures and figure out what they are doing that I'm not.

The papers are all from a Cosmos Cricket set, and the stylized flowers go with my stylized butterfly die.  The ribbon is a little sparklier than I first realized, but I'm going to claim that makes the card fun.. I also used some diliberately wonky sewing around the blue panel.  I was going to do a second row and weave the two, but the bobbin starting catching and I didn't have time to try to fix it (again - it's an ongoing issue).

Bird of a feather

It's been a cold and rather dreary day here today, so I've spent my time playing at Virtual Stamp Night over at Splitcoast. The theme is "birds, bees and creepy crawlies."  One challenge required using a feather as an embellishment. Since Mr. Stampingwriter is a fly fisherman, and ties his own flies, feathers are readily available, so I took the bait, er, challenge.

My card is based on Feeling Sketchy Sketch #48 although I scooted the oval to the other side of the page. I remembered I had some great paper with a funny bird print, so I decided to feature that and just use a "bird- type" saying.  The feather is maribou. I was hoping to find orange or green to go with the paper, but most of what I found was amazingly gaudy -- which, apparently, is what fish like. However, I'm not making cards for fish, so I settled for brown.

Pun fun

While attending a rubber stamp show last weekend, I saw a cute card featuring bees and the sentiment "thanks a buzzillion." This isn't really a CASE, because I don't even remember what it looked like, but I did appropriate the sentiment -- I just printed it out.

This card uses Feeling Sketchy sketch #45. The bees are black-embossed, with the yellow stripe done in marker. I cut them out and popped them up in the corners. The alternating corners are punched with a rounder. Additionally, I added piercing around the edges of the sentiment panel. Obviously the piercing was done free-hand. I thought I could depend on the pattern to help me space out the pirecing, but it turns out in this gingham pattern, the white stripe is wider than the yellow. Who knew? There's also a little piercing detail in each corner.

All the supplies are from my stash. No idea who made the cute bee -- it's a UM, probably from some grab bag I've purchased.

Doggone Cute

I have been wanting to work a card for The Alley Way's Be Inspired challenge #19 for days. When the newest Feeling Sketchy Challenge, #42, came out, I knew the two were a match made in heaven.

Is this pooch not the cutest thing ever?  I love how The Alley Way images are so good for paper piecing, which is one of my fave techniques.  Obviously, I paper pieced the brown on his face. (I made another version using striped dp, and it's stinking cute, too.)

I also love using up scraps, and for this card I just pulled out all my orange-ish scraps and picked up some that looked they were from the same family.

I heart 2013

Time to get started on crafting for the new year.  A COTM group I am in has the theme of fiber for this month, and we're supposed to do something more than just tie a bow with it. I ended up wrapping my fiber around a chipboard heart. I actually like the effect. The fiber is like velvety, like chenille, and has patches of glittery threads in it. I got it in a fiber swap back when fibers were all the rage, and just stumbled upon it in my stash when working on this challenge. Don't you love it when stuff from your stash jumps out at you and works perfectly?

The layout is Feeling Sketchy #41. This is also for 365 Cards #2http://feeling-sketchy.blogspot.com/2013/01/feeling-sketchy-41.html, to do a Valentine's card, or at least to use a heart.

The patterned paper is from Cosmos Cricket. Sentiment is Hero Arts, done in Memento black.