BRING YOUR SUNGLASSES

 When I saw the challenge at TIME OUT Challenges inspired by your favorite thing to do in January, I didn't even have to think about it. I live in southern Indiana. We had 12 inches of snow and ice last week and then below freezing temperatures so the snow is still on the ground. My favorite January activity is most certainly going somewhere sunny and warm. 

I found the sun print and yellow gingham in the scrap box. Bright enough to remind me of warm climate. The sunglasses and the sentiment are from SU. I coated the lenses with glossy accents and popped them  up with foam squares.

Inside I did a sentiment on the computer and added glasses, a die from Impressions Obsessions.

Glitter eggs

 This is one for the kids at Send A Smile 4 Kids. Especially little girls will like the glitter and sparkle.

I don't have an egg die so I used an oval. I used a glitter green, a shimmery pink, and an orange that I covered with Stickles glitter glue.  I usually use the wavy pattern E/F for water but using it vertically and rubbing with green reminds me of grass. The bunny is a die cut sent to me by a blogger friend Cheryl. I tried sitting it directly on the green egg but it didn't show well so I added a blue oval behind it. The sentiment is Stampin" UP!

Entering a few challenges.

Shopping Our Stash: Glitter me happy

The Paper Players: 

And I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches

Favorite Peeps

 I've hit all the spring colors on this card--yellow, pink, blue, green, lavender. 

The chick is from SU's Easter Friends. I stamped them with Hello Honey and then colored in the white areas with Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie on the beak and feet. The sentiment, an old unlabeled one,  is in Balmy Blue. If you will notice, the "middle child (the favorite peep) is popped up on foam squares. BTW, I am a middle child! hee hee

I used the sketch from Sketch Saturday

Duck

I know I am rushing the season but I am so totally over this winter snowy weather. I have been out of the house only 3 times this past week. Today is finally sunny so maybe we will get a little snow melt.

I pulled out my box of Easter supplies and have been making spring, colorful cards.

The duck is a retired SU stamp set called Easter friends. The 3 gingham strips are from the scrap box. I think gingham is so spring looking. The background is a wavy E/F from SU. To make it look like water I rubbed a blue ink pad over it. The little duck is running through the grass to find a pond of water. The sentiment is also SU. 

I used the sketch from Frehly Made Sketches 

Can You Handle The Pressure challenge has a twist of using.s 3-D folder. The waves are raised so I think it might qualify.

Love

I like making Valentines. I remember getting out the construction paper, doilies, and paste and making them as a kid. Maybe that was the beginning of my card making. I am encouraging my granddaughter by putting together some valentine card kits for her to make for her school class.

I did ombre inking on white card stock. I used all my reds and pinks from Cherry Cobbler to Bubble Bath pink. Then i used a heart stencil and Cherry Cobbler ink to make the hearts. The lace trim was in my accumulated supply of laces. I punched the focal hearts from Melon Mambo and Cherry Cobbler. The sentiment is an old SU one.

Entering this at Group of Seven Cardmakers--use ombre in design.

And Cardz 4 Galz--use a stencil. I'll put this in the gift shop thinking it perfect for a guy to buy for his girl.

 

Fun Guy Card

My feature card today is a fun birthday for a guy.

Inside:

The plaid  is from the scrap box. The dog and hydrant are a Great Impressions stamp. I colored and fussy cut them and glued them above the sentiment. I'm not sure about the sentiment. I have it in a computer file but really don't remember how that came to be. The metallic strip is actually copper picking up one of the thin stripes in the plaid.

I am entering the tic tac toe challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz using the diagonal animal, blue, and plaid.

I've used the sketch from Try a Sketch on Tuesday

And then Double Trouble Challenge having met the requirements of choice of colors, layers, and a warm & cuddly image. and also used the sketch at Try A Sketch on Tuesday,

Sweet Bunny

My sweet blogger friend Cheryl of Paper Panacea sent me a bunch of the cutest die cut bunnies and stools. Here is one of the cards I made with them.

The card base is Highland Heather from SU. The background paper is SU's Perennial Lavender. The frame is Sizzix from the back side of the print paper. I used a light pink color on the ears and shaded the bunny with a gray pencil. The sentiment was suggested by Cheryl, typed on computer and anchored with 2 purple gems.

Inside I used one of my favorite sentiments for cheer cards.

I'll be sharing this with Let's Craft and Create challenge of anything goes + cheers to you.

Sympathy

Sadly I have recently sent several sympathy cards so I need to replenish my stash.

Subtle and quiet colors are what I usually use for sympathy cards.

I used paper from 49 and Market, the Moonlight Garden collection. I cut a section of one of the 12x12 papers and added a die cut rectangle from a coordinating page. I masked off the lower edge and stamped some flowers and glued the frame around them. The SU sentiment is stamped on a scrap the frame paper and then fussy cut around. I punched a butterfly from the same paper as the frame. 

I found several challenges for this card.

Just Us Girls:  challenge 756, Die Cuts

Paper Fun Day Challenge:  Anything goes with a twist of monochrome

Time Our Challenges: Challenge #279 with twist of new beginings. I know a sympathy card seems strange for new beginnings but flowers and butterflies symbol the beginning of a new spring season. 

Freshly Made Sketches I used a landscape orientation and used the frame of flowers as the focal point.

Winter Thanks

 The new challenge at Can You Handle the Pressure is anything goes with embossing and a twist of winter.

This theme is great for those holiday thank you cards.

I found a Pool Party scrap with white circles that made me think of snowballs. I embossed it with a Cuttlebug E/F that is swirly, like snow swirlying with the wind. The sentiment is Stampin' UP! stamped with Pool Party ink and fussy cut.  I added some clear iridescent gems inside the swirls to add some glow.

amended: I have had a bad cold and cough for a few days and have been in a. bit of fog and forgot to post this to Can You Handle the Pressure. I hope they will still accept it.

Gift Boxes

A note from Mellissa: After 15 years of Tuesday Morning Sketches and approximately 700 or so sketches, it's time to sunset the challenge blog. It's very hard for me to let go but times are changing, trends are changing and challenge blogs just aren't what they used to be.  It's been a great ride!  

For the final two weeks of the year for Tuesday Morning Sketches we go with an Anything Goes theme. I chose to do gift card boxes. My gifting is mostly for adults and teens so I go with gift cards and/or cash.

Works for both sides, I don't have to agonize over shopping and they can get exactly what they want.

They are called book treat boxes from Stampin' Up!, They come in white, pre-cut and scored. It took a 3 1/2' x 9" piece of DSP to cover the box. The punched circle with the die cut snowflake fits over the tab box closure. I punched a tag and added another die cut snowflake.

Here is the opened box

 

A gift card fits perfectly in the bottom. You have to either put a glue dot on the gift card or weigh it down with something like mini candy bars. This is to keep the card from sliding out the side opening.

This is what it looks like from the side.

Here are 2 other patterns I used.

I think it gives a little more thought to gift card gifts to present them in a fancy package.

I know it is a busy time of the year but I hope you find some time to escape to your craft space and do some creating. Or share something with us that you have not posted elsewhere.