Fresh Flowers

There's an awesome sketch challenge on the Freshly Made Sketches challenge blog this week. I'm squeaking in just under the wire to enter--that's the way I roll! Oops, I missed the deadline by a couple of hours. Oh well. Here's the sketch



And here's my creation.

(Stamp Sets: Petite Petals, Sweet Essentials; Ink: Primrose Petals; Card Stock: Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Primrose Petals; DSP: Modern Medley; Accessories: Petite Petals Punch, Banners Framelits, Vanilla Seam Binding, Envelope Punch Board (to round the corners), Basic Pearls)

I started with two coordinating sheets of Modern Medley DSP and added some Primrose Petals flowers stamped with the Petite Petals set and punched with the matching punch. I love to scatter the punched flower randomly. I hope (I hope I hope) this set and punch carry over. We won't know what's going to carry over from the Occasions mini until the new catalog is revealed--next Monday! SQUEEE!!

If you want to know everything that I'm permitted to tell you about the new catalog, follow me on Twitter @kkstamps. I'll be tweeting LIVE from the new catalog reveal next Monday, April 28, 2014!

Friends

Making friends for the world to see
Let the people know you got what you need
With a friend at hand you will see the light
If your friends are there then every thing's all right

OK. I know. You have to be a diehard Elton John fan to know those lyrics. So, I am. (Such a fan, in fact, that I had my firstborn on Elton's birthday. Just sayin')

I made this sweet card for this week's retro sketches challenge. Here's the sketch:

 

And here's my card.

 

(Stamp Sets: Mixed Bunch, Sweet Essentials; Inks: Baked Brown Sugar, Strawberry Slush; Card Stock: Baked Brown Sugar, Pistachio Pudding, Strawberry Slush, Very Vanilla; Accessories: Envelope Punch Board, Blossom Punch, Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, Burlap Trim, Fancy Fan Embossing Folder, Basic Pearls)

I used the Envelope Punch Board to round the corners on the card, the tag, and the Very Vanilla panel.

Monochromatic Bird

Anyone who knows me know that my favorite color is black (it's so slimming!) Actually, I like black because it goes with everything. It can be elegant (think: little black dress) and it can be grungy (think: punk). Black also enhances any color with which it is paired and really makes the color pop. After the next spring rain, take a look and see what I mean. The rain will make the tree trunks darker and the leaves will seem so much more vivid.

For this week's Paper Craft Crew Sketch challenge, I grabbed a stamp set that I love, but never know how to use: Papaya Collage. The set has so many cool elements.  I've never inked up the bird and I thought it would look great in Basic Black on Very Vanilla.  I got out the Modern Medley DSP and discovered a piece I'd never used that had birds on it! That was enough to get me going on my creation.

Here's the Paper Craft Crew Sketch (PCCS #87) for the week



And here's my card.

(Stamp Sets: Papaya Collage, Sweet Essentials; Ink: Stazon Jet Black; Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Basic Black; DSP: Modern Medley; Accessories: Ovals and Banners Framelits; Oval and Hexagon Punches; Antique Brads)

I wanted to use Basic Black to mat the main image and I knew I had a 1/4 piece laying around on my mess of a desk--when I realized I was using it for one of the layers. So I cut the Basic Black oval out of the layer since all you see is the very edge!

For the  banners, I used another sheet of Modern Medley DSP.  I thought using the Oval Punch for the sentiment would echo the Oval Framelits used for the bird image. The Antique Brads are my favorite embellishments, ever! I've been hoarding them--I can't believe I used two on this card!!!

In Love With Color Challenge

I'm a little bit behind on getting a card made for Lyssa Zwolanek's color challenge.  Lyssa posts a color challenge every Sunday and I knew exactly what I wanted to make when I saw color combo #3 from the September 8th post.  I love, love, love these colors together and they're perfect for using with the Papillion Potpourri set--that's on special right now!! Save 15% now through September 30 when you bundle the Papillion Potpourri set with the Bitty Butterfly Punch in either clear (bundle item number 135311--$26.27) or wood (bundle item number 135312--$29.67).  I don't have the Bitty Butterfly Punch, so I used the Elegant Butterfly Punch (127526).

Here are the three choices for Lyssa's color challenge for September 8...don't worry, I'll be creating something for the September 15 challenge, too, and I'll get it posted....eventually!!!

Lyssa's color combos for September 8 are: 

1. Pool Party, So Saffron, Cajun Craze and Basic Gray
2. Crumb Cake, Rose Red, Soft Sky, Soft Suede
3. Pink Pirouette, Rose Red, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake

Here's what I made with color combination #3:

(Stamp Sets: Papillion Potpourri, Sweet Essentials: Card Stock: Early Espresso, Rose Red, Crumb Cake, Pink Pirouette; Inks: Early Espresso, Rose Red; Accessories: Elegant Butterfly Punch, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Adorning Accents Embossing Folder, Adorning Accents Edgelits, Pink Pirouette 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Dazzling Details)

Let me tell you: I also used my brand new Big Shot Magnetic Platform for the Adorning Accents Edgelit.  Those things were a pain in the you-know without the Magnetic Platform and a cinch with it! Wowza! I'm loving my Magnetic Platform.

Here's a close up of the butterflies so you can see the Dazzling Details details! I put a little piece of Stampin' Dimensionals (the part you might throw away at the edge of the sheet) behind each butterfly so they'd be 3D.