JOLLY OLD ELF

The year keeps slipping by so fast. Are we into October already? I am doing a Holiday Market in just one month. Pressure is on to get enough cards done.

For today's Tuesday Morning Sketches

I have a fun Santa card.

This is an old Stampin' Up! image colored with SU blender pens. Doesn't he look quite jolly. The DSP is from Lights Aglow 6x6 pad, currently in the Mini Catalogue. The card base is Cherry Cobbler. The letters are cut with Tim Holtz letter dies. in the Cherry Cobbler. The gold glittery ribbon was in my stash. To give more sparkle to the card, I used a clear glitter gel pen to accent the snowflakes and base,

The design team has some great inspiration for you. I hope you will visit and then share your own creation.

Star Bright

Another Tuesday has rolled around--the last one of September. So another sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches 

My card:

The papers are all from SU Lights Aglow. I love the sparkle of the gold accents. A die cut star repeats all that glitter on the background.  The sentiment is an old one from SU.  I was going to put the sentiment across the star but it covered too much of the star and made the card a little right side heavy. Positioning it on the left balanced the card. 

Go over to Tuesday Morning Sketches and check out all the creativity of the design team and then enter you own creation.

All Retired Products

 I was trying--note that says trying!--to straighten my scrap box. I like to sort it by colors but it gets away from me so I have to stop creating and spend time cleaning. I found a bag of scraps from SU's Boho Indigo so that one got pulled out to work use. Oh well, cleaning will wait. It is much more fun to create.

I used an unlabled E/F with flowers on the the white piece. The card base is Misty Moonlight. The lower white leaves are from Forever Fern. The upper ones are done with a punch. The sentiment is also retired SU.

I've used this sketch from The Paper Players

Fall Leaves

It's beginning to look a lot like fall...  Not too much color change in the leaves yet but cool nights and warm days so it won't be long. I don't normally like orange but I really like making fall cards, so lots of oranges and reds.

Papers are all from the scrap box. Have to like that! Using some of the mountain! The sentiment is SU, stamped and fusssy cut. The leaf is a 3-D sticker with loops of gold thread behind it. I traced the leaf veins with a gold star gel pen to give it more glitter.

I am entering this one at Just Us Girls with this picture inspiration

Birthday Balloon

 Hooray! Another card done for my stash of masculine birthday cards. 

The woodgrain paper is one sided with white on the back and some of that show through after I embossed it. Then I used scissors about the edges to rough them up, accidentaly tore off the corner but it all contributes to a distress look. The sentiment is an SU one and punched out with a punch by SU. I die cut a balloon, tied it with raffia ribbon and popped it up with foam tape. Then finished it off with Glossy Effects. Simple but I think perfect for a man.

Contributing to Cardz 4 Guyz challenge #305, Distressing

And also entering at Double Trouble Paper Crafting, Thing one is use a punch. Thing three is the double dare twist to use wood grain. Thing two is if you use both of these, enter at Use Your Stuff prompt woodgrain. The two sites are joining together this week. There are prizes being offered. 

Makin' A List

 Welcome to another Tuesday Morning Sketches. This one by Melissa.I have to admit I struggled with what to do with this sketch. But that is why they are called challenges, right?

Then I had this chevron paper from SU out for another card and decided it was just perfect for those vertical strips.

They seemed just right for a Santa card too.  I am sorry, I lost the packaging for this stamp. If you know who made it let me know and I will amend with a credit. The stamp does not actually have the list on the paper so I used a Sharpie to make lines like there is a list there. 

It took me awhile to figure out something for those button elements at the top and bottom of the strips. I wanted something flat so this card would mail easily. Then, ah ha moment. Staring me right in the face in the same stamp set was a strip of HOHOHO. I stamped that twice and cut them all apart. After gluing them down, I filled in the letters with a gold star pen--adds just the right amount of glitz.

Repetition

 Repetition is the trend for Trend Week at "Just Us Girls" Challenge

I have a fun birthday card to share, no stamping--all digital images. I repeated chicks as well as "happy"

The birds are from Bugaboo, It is called crows but I thought it would be more cheerful if I colored them yellow like baby chicks. The sentiment is another digital. I printed 4 extra ones and just snipped off the happy. The black polka dots is from SU.

Winter Pines

 Oh, my is it mid September already? And Christmas is only 120 days away. Are you panicky yet? Check out the new sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches for some inspiration. Adding an animal is part of this weeks challenge. 

In the spirit of getting Christmas cards done, I immediately thought of a moose punch from SU.

The paper is from the Painted Christmas DSP by Stampin" Up!. The pine branch and pinecones are also SU. The sentiment is an old retired one from SU.  

Here is the sketch for your inspiration

I hope you will check out the designer creations at Tuesday Morning Sketches and share your designs with us.

Here is another card with that sketch that I shared a few weeks ago at Freshly Made Sketches

Happy Christmas

 Like me, you probably find yourself with a lot of strips of scraps especially from 6x6 papers. This is a good way to use them.

The card base is a dark grey, then a layer of metallic gold. Then the green is Soft Succulent from SU. The patterns are also from SU's Light's Aglow 6x6 paper. I die cut a gold metallic snowflake. The sentiment is SU's Itty Bitty Christmas embossed with gold.

I used the sketch from Sketch Saturday

Butterfly Birthday Wishes

 I usually make funny, snarky type birthday cards. Because all my friends are reaching that age where we just have to make fun of our birthdays. But sometimes you just need a pretty card.

The butterfly paper is black and white from SU. I wanted a little bit of color so I lightly sponged all over with 4 different colors. Then die cut the butterfly in black (to create a shadow) and in white. The white was just too stark against the background so I sponged on some of the same colors. Nuvo drops line the body. The sentiment is from SU, stamped and fussy cut. Inside is a computer made sentiment and another butterfly punched out and sponged with color.

Entering this at TIME OUT Challenges. I don't have the traditional rainbow arc but the inks are in rainbow hues.

The Right Tools

Cardz 4 Guyz new challenge is Sports and or Hobbies.

So for the guy who loves woodworking.

The stamp is by Stampendous and colored with SU Blends and gelly roll metallic pens. The die cut happy birthday is from SU and layered 3 times to make it more prominent.

Inside the card is a computer made sentiment and a die cut pliers. The die cut tools no longr have a label so I don't know who to credit.

School

My kids are grown so I don't need teacher's gifts or cards and don't have many school theme products. But I did find a scrap of paper with alphabet letters. And, I always need thank you cards.

Just getting in under the wire for the challenge at Make the Cards Challenge

I picked up the green in the letters to use Garden Green by SU for the base.  The T and U are Tim Holtz dies. The strip sentiment is from SU. All tied together with some twine. 

I used this sketch from Sketch Saturday

Ducks in a Row

 Do you have all our ducks in a row? Some days I feel like mine are flying all over the place. 

"Just Us Girls" current challenge  has the cue word "basket". I went in search of a basket stamp. I only found one in my collection. Hm, may have to do something about that. This set is by Rosie's Roadshow.

The card base and frame are Daffodil Yellow from SU. I die cut the frame with SU deckled rectangles. Looks like ruffled duck feathers? The basket is a separate stamp that is fussy cut and then glued over the middle duck's head. Do you feel like that duck somedays? I added some shading with gray and blue to add some depth. 

This is also for Let' Craft and Create #187 "Frame It"

And Cardz 4 Galz #180 "3 of Anything"

Winter Scene

 I have a fun little winter scene to share for this week's sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches. I am finally breaking out the Christmas and winter theme papers. Time to start on those Christmas cards.

The woods scene paper is from Storybook Gnomes in the current SU mini catalogue. I used SU Diorama dies for the cutout, then stamped some snowflakes all over and embossed it with a falling snow E/F from SU. The deer is fussy cut from another paper in the Storybook Gnomes collection and is popped up with mini dinensionals.  I added 2 sparkly snowflakes and a tiny sentiment.  A little Wink of Stella to the snow on the trees adds a bit of sparkle.  

Here is the fun sketch

I hope we have inspired you. Check out the designer cards aat Tuesday Morning Sketches and then share your own creation. 

The diorama dies are new so  I will share this at My NBUS blog.

Chicken Soup

 I am trying to get a stock of get well cards made up. before the cold and flu season arrives. And what is better for colds and flu than chicken soup?

This is a digi image from Bugaboo Stamps.

I colored the image with SU blends and a silver metallic pen. The die cut gray scalloped circle is from DCWV. The bottom rows of chevrons are from SU--actually backside of one of the Christmas papers.  Then I used a Cuttlebug chevron E/F turned sideways so it would mimic the colored chevron rows.

I used this sketch from Freshly Made Sketches

Beautiful Fall Leaves.

 I live in a part of the United States that has a lot of hardwood trees. Every fall they put on a really colorful show. We will just get in the car and drive around our area looking at the beauty.

This week's sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches is a perfect one to display some gorgeous colored leaves.

The background paper is from a 6.6 pad in SU's new catalogue. When I first saw this paper it just reminded me of falling leaves. 

A few years ago, I bought a long garland of silk colored leaves at JoAnn's. I pulled off all the leaves and use them on cards. The leaves are attached at the base with large glue dots and then I added a raffia bow. The sentiment is a really old unlabled one.

I hope you will check out all the design team cards at Tuesday Morning Sketches blog and then share a creation of your own.

Duct Tape

There are a lot of jokes that go around about duct tape and men.   So for a masculine card for Cardz 4 Guyz why not use duct tape? I was going to use burlap on the card but Cardz 4 Guyz challenge is to use a stencil so I pulled out Tim Holtz stencil called burlap.

I used a Kraft card base. The sentiment is done on the computer. I saw this saying on a sign somewhere on my travels a few years ago. I die cut it with a deckle edge rectangle from SU. The edge of the sentiment is also stenciled. Then it is secured to the card with real duct tape and a bandaid. Inside I added another strip of duct tape at the top of the white liner.

Summer Weddings

 Tis the season for summer weddings or at least it was for me. My anniversary is August 31, 54 years ago. Using our sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches this week 

This is my interpretation switched from landscape to portrait.

The bride and groom is an old unlabeled one. I highlighted the bouquet and the man's cummerbund and tie  with red and then added a red ribbon accent. The background is a white floral from Sizzix. I love the elegance of black and white for wedding cards.

Go to Tuesday Morning Sketches to check out the designer's cards and share your own creation.

Flower Bouquet

Wow! Tuesdays roll around really quickly.  Time for another Tuesday Morning Sketches 

When I saw this sketch, I knew exactly what to use. And, I actually followed the sketch exactly!

The bouquet is an SU stamp, colored with markers. This is the actual stamp, unfortunately now retired.

I covered the hugs with a white fish tail banner. Then added die cut circles. The sentiment is an old unlabled one.

Check out all the design team cards at Tuesday Morning Sketches then share your design with us.