card patterns #161

I needed a quick card for a birthday party Sofia was invited to this past weekend.  When I'm in a time crunch, the best place for me to start is a sketch challenge - I'm usually able to picture what's-gonna-go-where within the first 5 minutes... (but that's not always how things turn out!)

Here's the sketch from the Card Patterns blog:

And here's my take:

I figured since Clear & Simple stamps is sponsoring the challenge this week, why not play along using some of their stamps? *wink*

I started out by stamping my cute kitty (from "taglines: critters") onto a scrap of orange patterned cardstock, and cut her out.  I then stamped the kitten again onto a die-cut circle, and stamped the speech bubble nearby.  Once I masked those two elements, I stamped a woodgrain pattern (from CSS "background basics 1" set) and used some distress ink to darken up the whole circle.  I used a pattern from that same background set to create the blue+white pattern on the triangle mat.  Love it.

My favorite part of the card?  (besides miss kittie, of course...)  The swirly pattern climbing the card alongside the orange scalloped border.  It's the little things that make me happy!

I'm also entering this card into the current CAS-ual Fridays challenge: using 2 colors, opposite each other on the color wheel.  

Thanks for peeking!

retro sketch #6

Another week, another sketch :)

This one pushed me to create my first-for-this-blog (I think) square card.  And how fun!  I have a few matching envelopes.

I started out with a kraft card-base, and stamped the herringbone pattern from my clear & simple stamps background set (I'm working my way through it, can you tell? hee.)  Then I grabbed my PTI heart prints dies, and cut into a square of "dearest jane" pattern paper, and with a smaller heart in my vintage cream layer.  The thick embellishment is just 5 layers of coaster-board, sandwiched together, topped off with a brown patterned paper heart.... and a layer of glossy accents for some added shine :)

The sentiment is from lawn fawn's "making frosty friends."

Thanks for peeking!


ps, thanks for the sweet comments about my card photography - I've been having lots of fun playing around with different set-ups for each card!  The most daunting step can be the editing!  How much do you edit your photos?  What are your steps?

CAS-ual fridays - egg hunt.

We've known each other awhile, right?

So let's not pretend.

I had the best intentions for my kids' easter baskets, but the truth is, the hubs and I threw chocolate eggs around the house and had a coffee while they hunted.  They asked me what to put their eggs in and I handed them a mason jar.... I have 3 kids... and they got 1 mason jar.

sigh.

At least it had a cute tag on it, even though Thomas took issue with the pink...

This tag is a united-colors-of-benetton-3-stamp-company-mash-up:  The circle frame and greeting are from PTI, the pattern at the bottom is from clear&simple stamps, and the bunny image is from lawn fawn (I cut off the "winter bunny" scarf).

Oh, and the ribbon is from Stampin' Up.

I'm entering it into the lastest CAS-ual Fridays challenge: things you'd find inside an easter basket...

mmmm.... chocolate eggs....

CFC46, take 2.

Another one for CAS-ual Fridays...and this one? painfully cheesy.  I give you: Whitney Houston... in owl form.

You know you love it :)

I used *new to me* clear & simple stamps to create this masterpiece.

 I layered some sheet music on top of a hexagonal background, and fussy-cut the top of the hexagons before mounting that mat onto a white card base with foam squares.

Thanks for peeking!



ps, come back Friday for the *spring-themed* lawnscaping blog-hop!  I can't wait to share what I've created!