Monday, September 30, 2019

Cup of Good Cheer

The sketch for this weeks current Freshly Made Sketches definitely made me think! I had originally done another card but I just didn't like it so tonight I went into the craft room to try again.

I grabbed one of my very favorite sets, Snuggle Down from Power Poppy. I love everything about this set...the images, the sentiments, how you can create your own plaid design.....it's all just awesome! I decided to use the image of the thermoses and cups for the oval in the sketch. I cut it out on a smaller piece of white card stock, colored the image and then mounted it on a piece of Cherry Cobbler with a scalloped edge border. Then I adhered the entire thing to a Basic Black card base. I really like how the black sets everything off, especially since the main image panel is so stark and open. It definitely ensures the image is the main focal point though!

Thanks for stopping by!


Stamps: Snuggle Down (Power Poppy)
Paper: Basic Black (SU), Cherry Cobbler (SU), Neenah Solar White
Ink: Cherry Cobbler (SU), Memento Tuxedo Black
Copics: YG11, YG13, YG17
YG61, YG63, YG67
G43, G46
R35, R37, R39
E81, E84, E87
E31, E74
N0, N1, N3
Accessories: MFT Blueprints 20 and 27
T0, T1, T3



Thursday, September 26, 2019

So Thankful For You

This week over at Creative Confetti the challenge is all about fall and I won't lie, I was very happy to see that! The calendar may say autumn but last weekend I was playing in the snow 3 hours north of me in Denali National Park and the mountains surrounding the valley I live in are covered in Termination Dust (the name given to the first snowfall covering the mtns, signaling the end of summer. As the snow creeps lower down the mountain we know winter will soon arrive here in the valley). In my yard though the leaves are almost off all the trees and reds and yellows are now the color of the landscape. I had to scrape ice off of my truck last night when I left work so YES to fall and bring on winter! :)

As excited as I was about the challenge, do you ever have a day where your creativity is stuck on empty and the universe isn't going to help you out? This was me yesterday! As soon as I saw the challenge I knew what image I wanted to use so I brought it to work with me Tues night to get it all colored up. I went to put my card together yesterday and what a fiasco! I couldn't figure out a sentiment that I liked, I couldn't get the placement the way I wanted, the ink smeared on the sentiment, some of the ink on my copic markers ran out and on one of them I filled it with the wrong ink. By the time I had to shower and eat to get ready for work I was done and ready to walk away from this card! 

This morning I came into my craft room in a much better mood, got the sentiment stamped and in a spot that made me happy and boom, I got it done and ready to go before having to leave for an eye exam this afternoon. Sometimes walking away from a project for a fresh perspective later on is all that you need!

I love this image of the  chair with the pumpkin and flowers, I could totally see a display like this on a front porch!



Stamps: So Grateful (Power Poppy), Fortunes of Fall (sentiment-Power Poppy)
Paper: Soft Suede (SU), Neenah Solar White, Tangelo Twist DSP (SU retired), Hello Honey DSP (SU retired)
Ink: Soft Suede (SU), Memento Tuxedo Black
Copics
Accessories: SU Labels Framelits (SU retired), Banners Framelits (SU retired), Paper Piercing 

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Penguin Friends

It's time for a new challenge over at the Sunday Stamps blog and this week we have a fun sketch from Amy! I love this sketch because it screams simple and between work and other stuff I have going on simple is exactly what I need!

I decided to use this new penguin set from SU called . I adore penguins, they're my number 2 favorite animal, so I could not resist this set. Believe it or not I talk to a lot of folks who think we have penguins here in Alaska, along with our igloos and snow 365/24/7. Oh how I wish!! Between moose and penguins I don't think my husband would ever be able to get me inside and my camera put away LOL 


I stamped the penguins and their scarves and then I used a retired SU embossing folder to create a look of falling snow. I then mounted the image panel on some Shaded Spruce and pulled out a Night of Navy card stock. I didn't like how plain the NON base looked so I used the Buffalo Check background stamp to create a little more action on the card base. It's not too overwhelming but at the same time gives a nice contrast. I love how it looks like the penguin on the left is hurrying over to give the one on the right a big hug!

Make sure you head on over to the Sunday Stamps blog to see what the rest of the DT created and then play along with us, we'd love to see how you interpret this sketch!


Stamps: Playful Penguins (SU), Buffalo Check Background Stamp (SU)
Paper: Night of Navy, Shaded Spruce, Whisper White (all SU)
Ink: Shaded Spruce (SU), Merry Merlot (SU), Night of Navy (SU), Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark
Accessories: Softly Falling TIEF (SU retired)


Friday, September 20, 2019

Moose Memories

When I saw this weeks sketch at Freshly Made Sketches I knew I wanted to use a new set I had just gotten from MFT called Sweater Weather in the Woods. I cannot resist an adorable moose and this set has a fabulous moose plus a bear, fox, owl and beaver. Just take my money already LOL

I picked out some patterned paper to use for the strips and then I colored up my moose, pulling the colors from the patterned paper. After I got that done I felt like the card base still needed a little something so I grabbed a SU background stamp and added a very simple background that wouldn't take away from the moose or paper.

If snow doesn't close the park road I'm headed to Denali National Park tomorrow for my last hurrah of the season and I've got my fingers crossed that I see plenty of moose, bear, caribou, ptarmigan and if I'm really lucky, lynx or wolves!!

Thanks for stopping by!



Stamps: Sweater Weather in the Woods (MFT), Crackle Paint Background (SU)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Early Espresso (SU), Versamark
Copics: E42, E43, E44, E47
E51, E53, E55
B02, B04, B06
R35, R37, R39
Y15, Y19
C1
Accessories: MFT Blueprints 32, Dimensionals

Sunday, September 15, 2019

A Sepia Christmas

This week over at the Power Poppy blog the Creative Confetti challenge is all about sepia tones. I'm not going to lie, this challenge scared me LOL I knew the tones would have to be brown but I wasn't sure how I wanted to approach it, so I did some googling. I found this tutorial from Ally Cope on the Power Poppy blog and it helped quite a bit.

I'm combining this challenge with the Jingle Belles challenge, which is to create a project with a peace symbol on it, the word peace or a scene that evokes peace for you and so I pulled out the O Holy Night stamp set from Power Poppy to use for this card. I grew up in New England and there are some beautiful old churches that look absolutely stunning and peaceful in the winter, with the light coming from stained glass windows and the world covered in snow around it. 

I used 2 sets of brown for this card.....the moon and snow on the ground, trees and building were all done using the E40 family while the building itself I used the E50 family. For the sky I used W1 and W00 to give it more of  a brownish overcast. I brought in a very light yellow for the glow in the windows and a very light green and red for the wreaths on the building. After my coloring was done I die cut the image out and sponged the images with some Crumb Cake to further blend the image panel with the patterned paper I decided to use.

As I mentioned earlier I was pretty scared to give the sepia look a try but I brought the image with me to work on Fri to color on my breaks and lunch and I'm really happy with how it came out! I showed my husband this card last night and he loves it so I consider that a win :)

Thanks for stopping by!


Stamps: O Holy Night (Power Poppy)
Paper: Early Espresso (SU), Crumb Cake (SU), Neenah Solar White, Deck the Halls DSP (SU retired)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Ink, Crumb Cake (SU), Early Espresso (SU)
Copics: Snow/Trees/Ground: E40, E41,E42,  E43
Building: E50, E51, E53, E55, E57, E59
W00, W1, W2
Y00, G12, R81
Accessories: MFT Blueprints 2 and 23, Framelits Labels (SU retired), dimensionals

Monday, September 9, 2019

On the First Day of Christmas

For this card I am playing along with the current Jingle Belles challenge, which is to create a project that features a numeral or that features an element from the 12 Days of Christmas song. As soon as I saw this challenge I immediately thought of the Power Poppy digital stamp, Partridge in a Pear Tree, as it's perfect for this challenge!

I positioned the top sentiment and the main image in Word, changed the top sentiment color to a red and then joined the 2 images into one. I printed it out and used my copic markers to color it in, adding red and silver accents with metallic jelly pens when I was done coloring. The image panel was cut out with a die and then adhered to an Early Espresso card base. Easy peasy!

Thanks for stopping by!



Sunday, September 8, 2019

Sunday Stamps Sunflower

It's time for a new color challenge over at the Sunday Stamps blog and this week we have a fun color challenge for you!

I decided to draw inspiration from the photo itself and used a digital stamp from Power Poppy called Sunflower Power. I enlarged it so it would take up the majority of my image panel and then used copic markers to color it. I then adhered it to a base of Early Espresso. I thought about putting a sentiment across the front but I really like the image as-is, with nothing drawing attention away from it, so I decided against the sentiment. This also allows the card to be sent for any occasion.

Make sure to head on over to the Sunday Stamps blog to see what the rest of the DT created and then play along with us!


Stamp: Sunflower Power (Power Poppy digital stamp)
Paper: Early Espresso (SU), Neenah Solar White
Ink: Printer Ink
Copics: Y15, Y19, Y38
YG03, Y17, YG67
E23, E27, E29
T0, T1
Accessories: Avery Elle Wonky Stitch Die

Friday, September 6, 2019

Dachshund Through the Snow

I'm sneaking in at the last moment with a card for the sketch challenge over at the Inky Paws Challenge. I've been wanting to play along all week and finally got a small window of time this afternoon before I head off to work!

I decided to use the set Holiday Hounds for my card. I have 2 mini dachshunds, Anna and Elsa, and so I colored up my image to look like my Anna, who is a chocolate dachshund. I then used colors from the patterned paper I used for her sweater. For the bottom half on the middle panel I embossed with a falling snow pattern after heat embossing the sentiment in white.

Thanks for stopping by!