Painted Flowers "Thanks" - Freshly Made Sketches #250

This is my second post today, so if you stopped in to have a peek at my CAS(E) This Sketch card, click on this link.

I happened to have a bit more time to play today so decided to give this week's sketch by Cecile over at Freshly Made Sketches a try.

Since I was also inspired by this month's challenge over at Altenew that featured this lovely photo/colour combo, I took out one of my favourite floral stamp sets - Altenew's Painted Flowers - for my card.

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Some lovely DP by Echo Park (Be Mine Collection) completes the look -

With such amazing inspiration as that, my card was quick & easy.

If you have a bit of time, why not check out the lovely posts on these two fabulous challenge blogs - you're sure to be inspired by all the amazing talent.

Cheers!

Welcome Baby - CAS(E) This Sketch #186

I had so much fun playing over at CAS(E) This Sketch last week, I just had to do it again!

As soon as I saw this week's sketch, my mind started going in different directions - literally! Those arrow images made me immediately think of flight for some strange reason. Hey, when Mr. Mojo drops in unexpectedly after being away for a while, you just have to go with it if you ask me LOL

Here's the sketch, designed by the talented N@ Ali:

and here's my take on the sketch -

It seems I may have to hang onto this card for a while longer as most babies being born around me tend to be darling little girls. But at least I'm ready when a handsome baby boy comes along!

Happy, crafty weekend & thanks for joining me again today.

Without a Little Rain - CAS(E) This Sketch #185 & colourQ challenge #354

This is my second post today - squeal!!! I can't believe it either.

A rainy weekend definitely worked miracles - both for my garden, as well as my (missing) mojo :-)

I'm again combining 2 great challenges with my card: CAS(E) This Sketch #185 and colourQ #354

And as you can see by my card, I was definitely influenced by our rainy weather ;-)

Thank you again for your lovely visit! Links are provided above for you to check out the creative galleries for each challenge if you need inspiration to join in.

Until the next time, take care!

Freshly Made Sketches #249 - Bring on the Cake

Yesterday provided the perfect opportunity to stay indoors and play in my craft room - we finally got some much needed rain in our neck of the woods, but it came down hard and fast. I'm thankful for the free watering that my garden enjoyed!

Today's card was inspired by this wonderful sketch over on the Freshly Made Sketches blog

My card uses some lovely Sugar Pea Design stamps & dies that I picked up a while back, after I fell head-over-heels for that funky cake design.

I added some clear embossed star cluster images on my white panel, then scattered some single star images stamped in Rose Red along with a few Pretty Pink Posh iridescent sequins for interest. The top tier of the cake was also stamped with tone-on-tone grey with the same star cluster image. The cake and candle are popped up for dimension.

Here's a picture of a winter-hardy Hibiscus in my front garden - it's a lovely 2-toned pink-hot pink Dinner Plate sized variety that provided some colour inspiration for my card above :-)

Hope you're having a crafty weekend as well & thanks for dropping by.

The Heart Desires Challenge #3 - Hello Tag Card

Thanks for joining me today!

Just wanted to play along with the new The Heart Desires Challenge #3, with this inspirational photo as a jump start:

What "spoke" to me was the gold accents and purple flowers, as you can see by my card here:

I used a mix of some new crafty purchases with some old for my card. At first I gold embossed the diamond pattern several times on a cream cardstock base (thank you, Misti!), then cut out my tag from it, keeping the base and centre sections, and inlaying the purple scalloped "frame" section. This provided the perfect backdrop for my watering can filled with purple blooms. The tag was finished off with a bit of green string.

The base of my card was created with Papertrey Ink's Noted: Scalloped A2 card base die, then layered with the purple and green cardstock. The green layer was first run through my Cuttlebug with Papertrey Ink's Linen & Canvas Impression plate to give it some subtle texture.

To add a bit more gold accenting, I diecut the lovely "Hello" sentiment in gold mirror cardstock, which matches the gold embossing perfectly.

The tag, the flowers/watering can and sentiment were all adhered with dimensionals

I've been struggling with my lack of mojo for a while, but challenges like this one definitely help. Now if only I could enter every wonderful challenge I always have good intentions of entering more often :-) I may need to quit my day job LOL

Thank you for your visit today - it's been a treat knowing you were here!

Supplies:
Stamps: PTI Background Basics: Retro; PTI Bitty Bouquets
Dies: PTI Noted: A2 Scalloped dies; PTI Tag Sale #10; PTI Bitty Bouquets die set; MFT Spring Garden Die-namics; MFT Hello There Die-namics
Accessories: Gold Embossing Powder; Green String; Dimensionals

Life is Better with Friends

Today I'm posting one of my favourite types of cards ...

Not Birthday cards (although I do tend to make more of these than any other cards).

A "just because" card. Sent for no other reason than to just say "hello; I'm thinking about you and want to let you know how much I appreciate you".

Nothing makes me smile more than when I receive them, or send them. We always expect to receive lovely creations from our cardmaking pals on our special days (Birthdays, Anniversaries, etc.), but those that arrive out of the blue are truly Happy Mail, aren't they?

I have been itching to use this stamp set that I ordered from Close To My Heart, but wanted to use it along with the Tropical Leaves set from Simon Says Stamp. Unfortunately I didn't order the SSS set as soon as it was released, but my order is in and I'm waiting for it to be back in stock soon.

So I had to search my stamp stash to see if I could find another set with leafy greenery that would work and settled on a PTI set.

I think it turned out just fine!

I love how this CTMH set has 2 Flamingo images that face each other. And it also allows you to stamp the beak, body, legs, and wings separately. The sweet sentiment is also from this set. So adorable!

The wing diecut on the left was brushed with Wink of Stella clear glitter while the wing diecut on the right was accented with stickles to add a bit of bling to my card.

This was a fun card to put together!

Thanks for dropping in - have yourself an amazing day.

Supplies:
Stamps: Close to My Heart Tickled Pink; Papertrey Ink Willow; Papertrey Ink Sand Swatch
Dies: Close to My Heart Tickled Pink Thin Cuts; Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Die Set
Ink: Simon Says Stamp Teeny Bikini; Stampin' Up Sahara Sand + Garden Green; Distress Broken China Ink

Summer Lovin' - Time Out Challenge #63

This week's Time Out challenge seemed to "speak" to me :-)

When I saw what the challenge's theme was, and with our unusually hot temps and the fact that I've been on holidays, this card basically made itself! All I had to do was glue it together.

OK, maybe I had to do a bit more, but not much!

So, here's the challenge:

'Holidays with the Optional Twist of No Stamping' (stamped sentiments allowed)

Obviously I went with the "Summer Holidays" theme, and this is what I came up with:

Flip Flops and a Summer Hat ... does it get any better than that??? Not in my books.

Pop on over to see the other lovely cards entered in the challenge (use the link above) and play along!

Supplies:
dies: Papertrey Ink Flipping Out; Joy Crafts Summer Hat; My Favorite Things Inside & Out Rounded Rectangle STAX Die-namics
Stamps: Papertrey Ink Sand Swatch; Joy Crafts Summer Lovin'

CAS(E) This Sketch #183 meets colourQ #353 - You Color My World

Phew!

It's been so darn hot and dry lately, and it looks like there's no end in sight for the next little while too. I've actually been on holidays so this wonderful weather has been both a blessing and a curse. Too hot to spend a lot of time outdoors, but trying to spend as much time outside enjoying it as I can too.

As I've been in a bit of a card funk lately, the heat has managed to force me indoors to spend more time in my craft room, so that has been fun.

I found some inspiration in several challenge blogs this week, and one of them was this easy-peasy sketch on the CAS(E) This Sketch blog, which I paired with the fabulous colour combination in this week's colourQ #353:

Doesn't that sketch just get the mind going in all sorts of directions??? And those colours? What a fab combination!

Well, all you have to do is check out what the amazing DTs have done with these challenges to help you play along, as I did, and came up with this card:

Hoping that you're enjoying the weather in your neck of the woods! Thanks for dropping by.

Supplies:
Dies: Taylored Expressions Little Bits: Crayon; Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Die Set
Stamps: Papertrey Ink Happy Trails