Saturday, June 27, 2015

Freshly Made Sketches #192, Simon Says Stamp Wednesday "Anything Goes" Challenge with Avery Elle's "Furry Friends" Set

Happy Saturday!! It has been a busy day for me today. My husband Chris and I walked this morning to the local farmer's market on our green. We live in a small town and we are lucky enough to be able to walk to many places. Chris bought himself a steak (local farms sell local meat that they raise themselves) because I am going out with friend's tonight and some fresh cookies. I bought some dog treats for Zach, dried lavender and some flavored olive oil. Everything is locally grown and made. I am big into supporting home grown businesses and Glastonbury is a town that does a lot to promote them.

Later, my sister Jen and I went shopping. She is on crutches due to surgery to her ankle and I was her clothes carrier. I haven't had one on one time with her in a while so it was nice to get out with her.

Today I am sharing a card I created the Freshly Made Sketches #192 challenge and Simon Says Stamp "Anything Goes" challenge.


I used a cat from Avery Elle "Furry Friends" stamp and die set as my focal image.


My inspiration for this card was the sketch below:

I started by stamping, coloring and then die cutting the cat. I then stamped a couple fish and a ball of yarn from the same stamp set. I made sure while I was stamping that the cat fit in-between the two. I colored in the yarn ball, created some shadows and then used a circle die to cut it out. 


I set that aside to create the card base. I used a piece 4 1/4" by 5 1/2" Lawn Fawn patterned paper and adhered it to a top folding A-2 sized card. I then mounted a 3 1/4" by 5 1/2" piece of stamped, white card stock over the card base. I then layered a thin piece of blue card stock on the right side.


Next I adhered a piece of blue patterned paper that I die cut in to circle. With foam adhesive, I then adhered the circle that I had stamped the scene. The cat was then adhered in the middle of the white circle. My last step was to adhere some sequins.


I actually am really happy with how this card came out. It was simple, the colors are my colors and it did not take me forever to create. That is a winner in my book!!

I intend to actually send this card to Chris' Aunt that we stayed with on vacation. She LOVES cats. In fact, she rehabilitates them. When we were there, she was nursing five kittens and has four cats of her own. I am allergic to them so they were gated in two separate rooms away from me. I HAD to play  with the kittens, though. They were so cute!! I did pay for it but it was worth it.

I thank you for taking the time to stop by today. Have a great night!!

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Friday, June 26, 2015

Runway Inspired Challenge #86 and Simon Says Stamp "Anything Goes" Wednesday Challenge

I am attempting to get back into the swing of things after being away for a week. All vacation I had tons of ideas and was itching to create SOMETHING but when I actually have the time to sit at my desk, my mind goes blank. I decided to attempt some challenges to see if that would jump start my creative juices.

Before I crafted, I ate my favorite lunch of rice cakes, peanut butter and bananas. It is so filling and yummy!! I tend to eat a lot of the same things in the summer and eat less of it. My meals are usually easy to make too because I am lazy and I HATE to cook!! That means a lot of grilling for Chris because I am afraid of lighting the grill.



Today I am sharing a card that I used Runway Inspired Challenge #86 as my inspiration. Here is the image that was posted on the blog to use as a starting point.




Here is what I came up with:


I chose to play with the colors in a fun way for the background. I dabbed distress ink in Wild Honey, Mowed Lawn and Dusty Concord on an acrylic block, using each color separately, misted the block with water and then "stamped" it onto a piece of damp watercolor paper in random places. I then would pick the card up and let the colors "run" into each other. The green I used is not as blue as the photo but I liked it better with the other colors.


When the background was dry, I then used the Hero Arts stamp "Highline Chalkboard Background" inked up in black ink and stamped it over the colors. I LOVE how it came out. It looks so cool with the different colors peeking through. I then die cut the paper and adhered it to a white A-2 top folding card. 


I looked at the photo again for the embellishments that I chose to use for this card. I die cut flowers out of purple and gold glitter paper using the "shiny" material as inspiration. I also used a foil paper for the green because I did not have a green glitter paper that matched the colors I used. (or foil paper in the other colors.) I chose to use white leaves and a black banner to break up the bright colors and give your eyes a rest. 


The final additions were sequins from Pretty Pink Posh. I thought I was done and then I noticed the rose colored waistband on the model. I decided to use Stickles in Thistle to make glitter dots inside the sequins. It is not an exact match to the photo but I think that is okay.

As I was making this, I noticed that the colors are a bit Halloween but I like it anyway. I am sending it to my cousin whose house we stayed with for part of our vacation.

Speaking of vacation, here is Char posing for me at The Biltmore in front of a tree on the grounds.


Can you tell her smile is fake? She was so mad at me and did not want to pose for ANYTHING on this trip!!


Here is a flashback Friday photo of her when she didn't mind smiling for the camera. Those were the days!!

I am also entering this into Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes."


I thank you for stopping by my blog and viewing my creations. I also want to thank everyone who left such lovely comments on the post that I wrote about saying good bye to my childhood home. I appreciate all your kindness and taking the time to read, as well as comment, on something that does not involve crafting. 

Have a Wonderful Day!!
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