A Birthday Note Card and Some Awesome Cards Made by Lynn

Here's a look at another little note card we'll be making at my Friday 3-4-5 Card Buffet Class tomorrow night.  Also, as I do the final prep for my Team Meeting today, I realized that I hadn't shared some of Lynn's cards yet from the last meeting.  She does an awesome job!  The cards are pretty self-explanatory, so take a look.  Enjoy the cards and I'll go finish getting ready for my Team Meeting.

The little dots in the paper reminded me of confetti, so I added some snips of ribbon to look like streamers.

Now, here are Lynn's cards:

 

See what I mean?  She does an awesome job!  Thanks for sharing, Lynn.  Come back soon for more ideas and inspiration.  I think you'll really like what we're up to in our Team Meeting today, so be sure to come back to check it out.  

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Midnight Butterflies!

Here's another of the card choices for my Friday 3-4-5 Card Buffet Class.
It's all done with midnight muse and whisper white -- a classic, clean look.

 

The stamp set is Kindness Matters.
I've used the decorative label and modern label punches and a tiny touch of bling with a little rhinestone.
Hope you'll sign up to join us for a fun night of stamping.
Make 3, 6 or 9 cards and enjoy some stamping time with friends.

While you're here, you can shop the tail end of my remaining retired stamp sets.
I'm having a special --- 1/2 off all remaining items / Buy 3 and get 1 free.
If you order from the new catalog, you can have that amount in credit to 'shop' the remaining retired stamp sets.

Beautiful Wings

Today, I'm back with trying another sketch challenge.  This one is for a new blog I discovered that looks like a lot of fun.  I missed the deadline to link it, but had fun trying the sketch anyway.  Here's my creation:

I used Marina Mist for my card base, added a torn layer of textured Soft Suede CS and topped that with a layer of Beau Chateau DSP, trimmed out with pleated satin ribbon.  The butterflies are from the Beautiful Wings embosslit.  I love that it cuts and embosses, all in one easy step.  I mounted them on punched pieces of Soft Suede, punched with the Modern Label punch.  The text, from the Heaven Blessed stamp set is also punch with the Modern Label punch.  My color story is based on the colors in the Beau Chateau DSP, an easy way to plan out your project.

Here's a little close-up.  I tied two pieces of ribbon into a knot and attached it to the corner of the card.

I hope this inspires you to try some spring projects.  Spring is in the air!

A Gorgeous Color Combo / Vintage Cards

Would you like to try a gorgeous color combo?  Try Marina Mist, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede and a touch of Very Vanilla.  It's a winning combo!
Today's sketch was inspired by another sketch challenge.  I want to show you why I get my creative juices flowing by starting with a good design.

In today's post, I will show you 2 cards -- both inspired by the same sketch design.  The first card is has a feminine, vintage look.  The second card is all guy.  I decided to stay with the same exact color scheme, so you can readily see just how easy it is to follow a good sketch design and go most any direction that you'd like to try.

The first card uses the Elements of Style stamp set, along with snips of ribbon, seam binding and crochet lace trim.  I added lots of texture by using textured CS on the Soft Suede layer, using one of the framelits dies (1/2 on each side of the focal piece), and embossing the Crumb Cake layer with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.  An embossed image from the Notably Ornate stamp set adds even more texture to the Soft Suede background.  The text is punched out with the Modern Label punch.  The circle punches are 1" and 1 1/4" circles -- for the little accent piece.  I actually used Stampin' Write Markers to color all the stamps, except for the embossed image in the background.  I love the look of this technique in stamping.

The second card is all guy --- a cowboy!  I started with all the same colors / same layers, including the embossed image from the Notably Ornate stamp set.  I used only 1/2 the piece cut from the framelits die this time and added embossed horseshoes to go with the cowboy theme.  The cowboy and horseshoes are from the Out West stamp set.

I tied a few knots along the hemp, to give the look of barbed wire.  One horseshoe is 'hanging' on the 'barbed wire' and the other 2 are hooked together.  I don't know if my arrangement is lucky or unlucky.  I'll hope for the best:)

Both cards have lots of layers, lots of texture and lots of dimensionals. 

I've never really had any trouble coming up with my own designs, but I just love the challenge of trying to follow a given sketch.  I think it's always good to push yourself to try new challenges, new color combinations, new styles, new everything --- just to keep yourself motivated and constantly growing as an artist ... and to keep your designs fresh and alive.

I hope this post inspires you to really jump in and try creating cards using design sketches for a good place to start.  Plan out your colors and choose your stamp sets.  You can plan out embellishments to compliment your design as you work through your project.