Pretty Hearts

 Here we are  mid-November and another Tuesday Morning Sketches challenge.

I am done with Christmas cards and skipping New Year's Day and moving on to the next holiday which is Valentine's Day

I used a retired stamp set from Stampin' UP! called Country Bouquet. The heart is a 2 step stamp. I used Real Red and Garden Green inks. I couldn't find any paper for the corners that would go with the heart design so I made my own. I masked off the corner with a piece of paper and stamped flowers that are in the same stamp set. The sentiment is also from this set. 

I hope you have time to create with sketch and share with us.

Wintery Wishes

 I recently received a pack of Holiday cards from a charity group. I don't contribute to them but they keep sending me these cards. There are always some of the pack that I can upcycle. This is one.

The snowman was fussy cut from one of the cards as well as the sentiment. I used a Cuttlebug snow fall E/F on the blue paper and rubbed it with a white ink pad. Picking up the red of the scarf, I backed the blue with a red and then put it onto a white card base. I added some rhinestone to the snowflake centers.

I am entering this at Just Us Girls

Also at Can You Handle The Pressure using an E/F and a twist of winter fun.

Muted Wild flowers

 Trying the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and combining with Cardz 4 Galz challenge to use texture.

My card:

I used papers from SU's Thoughtful Journey. Mossy Meadow woven ribbon adds texture. The sentiment is also SU. I punched a butterfly from the same paper as the background and added black Nuvo drops for the body.

I think these muted flowers are perfect for a sympathy card.

49 and Market

 I am enjoying working with the vintage look papers from 49 and Market. Both of these have a Crumb Cake base.I added a strip of wood paper to the patterned paper.The square picture is one of the cut-outs included with the papers. I winked the flowers and the dragonfly then added black Nuvo Drops to the dragonfly and iridescent gems to the flowers. The sentiment is an old, unlabled one. 

This one is for Sketch Saturday

The second card with the same papers and similar design is from Try a Sketch on Tuesday

This one has a blue strip from the same paper pack and then a wood strip over it. It has the square in the center with an SU stamped sentiment and 3 square silver adhesives. The butterflies are from Simple Stories ephemera pack of butterflies. 

Here is the sketch

Under the Sea

 Here we are at Tuesday again with a new fun sketch by Melissa at Tuesday Morning Sketches.

I've switched from Holiday cards to doing some cards for Send A Smile 4 Kids. What little girl does not like mermaids?

Picking up a color from the patterned paper, I used SU's Bubble Bath pink for a card base. The white is embossed with waves that have a blue ink pad lightly rubbed over it to highlight the waves. The patterned design is from SU. I don't have a dome die cut so I started with a large circle and then cut off the sides and bottom. I think it works well. The mermaid is an old unlabeled stamp, colored and fussy cut. The sea shells are in the same set, stamped on tan paper and lightly colored with some pink. The sentiment is also unlabeled and stamped in blue and trimmed down.

If you have a lot of excess of cards and looking for a source for them check out Send a Smile 4 Kids which donates to children's hospitals. Check out their blog for rules and needs.

I hope you have fun with this sketch and will share a creation with us at 

Nature Elements

This week's challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz is to use 3 favorite colors. 

Blue and Green are my go to colors for guys. I usually add a neutral--in this case Crumb Cake and a nature element like raffia.

The card base is Crumb Cake, then a brown mat, and paper from 49 and Main.  In the neutral space I stamped 2 forest trees  (Mossy Meadow) .from a retired SU set. Then made grass at the base with a Mossy Meadow Stampin' Blend pen. The sentiment is also SU. adding raffia ribbon adds more to the nature feel.

Inside, I did a computer sentiment and stamped a single forest tree at the bottom.

Floral Birthday

This new sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches. is pretty simple but you can make it as elaborate as you want. It is a great sketch to do multiples

.

I kept it even more simple by letting my patterned paper interpret the design.

The paper s from Mintay Papers 6x6 pad called Blissful Time. The sentiment is from SU and stamped on another piece from the same pad. I added 3 iridescent gems in that upper  right corner. And done in under 10 minutes,

I hope you can join us at Tuesday Morning Sketches. Get a good start on those Christmas Cards. Share your creation with us.

Festive Balloons

 Using this sketch from Sketch Saturday 

I made a fun festive card for Send A Smile4 Kids

I've used some retired SU products. The card is preprinted with the blended colors. The confetti is from a card pack. I trimmed it down to 2" and used a topper punch. The balloons are also from an SU punch. The rainbows were on another of the cards. I trimmed on row to go across the center. I used a white gel pen to do the accents on the balloons. The bottom 2 have Wink of Stella on them and the larger green balloon has glossy accents. 

I left off a sentiment so they can use it for any occasion. 

Masculine Thanksgiving Card

 Sharing a masculine Thanksgiving card today for Cards 4 Guyz (A taste of autumn or fall) and The Card Concept (Pumpkin Season)

The base is Crumb Cake. The DSP is retired from SU!  The sentiment and pumpkins and leaves are all stickers. I tied some raffia ribbon to add to the masculine and fall feel.

I made this clean and layered card from this inspiration photo.

More Vintage

 I am really enjoying doing vintage--with the help of 49 and Market. It is so easy when the designer paper does most of the work. 

I started with SU Crumb Cake card stock. Then the patterned paper, torn on the left edge. I used Tim Holtz Tea Dye ink to sponge around the edges and some in the middle. The tag is an SU die cut and sentiment. I tied it up with linen thread.

Entering this at Let's Craft and Create with an optional twist of add a bow.

Vniage

 Tuesday and time for a new sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches This one by Melissa. I hope you have fun with it.

A fellow design team member Walter does vintage really well and has inspired me to try it.  I really like the look but kind of struggle with it. I found some wonderful vintage looking paper from 49 and Market. The paper and some rub-ons make vintage so much easier. This pack of paper is called Vintage Artistry Moonlit Garden. The colors are in the gray tones.

This paper had mostly blank space in the center. It was 8"x6" and I trimmed it down to 4x5 1/2. I die cut an oval frame from another of the papers in this pack. I used the inside cutout from the frame as a mask and used a line stencil from My Favorite Things to make the diagonal lines. I used SU's Basic Gray ink. Then stamped an SU sentiment and glued the frame on top. The butterfly is a fussy cut one from a sheet of the paper pack.

I love the look. I think I achieved vintage look.

I hope you will try our sketch and play along this week.

The current challenge at Cardz 4 Gals is showcase your patterned paper so I am entering there too.