Inspired By..... basket

Hello crafty friends!

Back today with another Inspired By challenge :)

This week's theme - Inspired By... Basket

I was inspired by the basket, yellow elements, pillow pattern, and the pop of gold.

I was also inspired by the sketch, swapping out the circle for an arch shape.

And here is my floral arrangement.... I mean card ;)

For the focal point of my card, I used dies and stamps from The Stamp Market (basket and tulips).

Love how bright and cheery those tulips are!!

Looking forward to seeing what you will be inspired to create this week! Be sure to check out the rest of the design team's creations on the Inspired By blog!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

xoxo ~ Rae

Supply List:

Stamps/Dies: tulips/sentiment (The Stamp Market); basket die (The Stamp Market); arch die (Pinkfresh Studio

Embossing Folder: Simon Says Stamp

Inks: Distress Oxide Inks; Altenew

Patterned paper: Echo Park; scrap

Embellishments: gold glitter drops (Pinkfresh Studio)

love you

This is a card representing several firsts for me....

• the first time I truly created a one layer CAS card (GASP!)

• the first time I created a mask... yep, masked that little Frenchie so I could stencil the row of hearts

• the first time I linked up to sooooo many challenges (listed below) ... there were so many overlapping challenge themes I just couldn't narrow it down..... I so enjoyed challenging myself with this new to me technique that I wanted to share my first super clean one layer CAS card with them all!! LOL :)

Thanks so much for stopping by, truly appreciate it!! 

xoxo ~ rae

Supply List:

Avery Elle - Pop Up Frenchie stamp

Simon Says Stamp - hearty tweed stencil

Distress Oxide Inks - lumberjack plaid, picked raspberry, worn lipstick

Other: Tsukineko onyx blank ink; Neenah white cardstock

Techniques: masking, stamping, ink blending

Challenges:

AAA Cards Challenge #258 Sketch

Just Us Girls Color Week #712

Color Hues #TCH80

Addicted to CAS #251

CAS on Friday Challenge #276: Valentine

love

 'tis the season for glorious pinks and reds.... yay!

I was inspired by the latest Freshly Made Sketches sketch #621 when designing my bold and graphic card.

Thanks for stopping by, truly appreciated!!

xoxo ~ rae

Supply List:

Simon Says Stamp - boho chain die

Pinkfresh Studio - stitched diamonds cover plate

The Greetery - love word die

The Stamp Market - pink/red cardstock

Other Supplies: rose gold metallic cardstock; white, black, red cardstock

Techniques: die cutting

Recipe for Holiday Spirit - As You See It Challenge #311

 Getting in the holiday spirit with the latest As You See It Challenge #311

Here is my card...

It all started with the floral patterned paper that I found in my stash (hoard??lol) - I just love the non-traditional Christmas floral pattern! I added some berry die cuts over the embossed white cardstock, tied a little gold ribbon around the card front, and added a scripty sentiment... et voilà, my first Christmas card of the season was made :)

Supply List:

Spellbinders diamond plaid embossing folder

Simon Says Stamp pepper berry dies

Waffle Flower Essential Sentiments stamp and die

Pinkfresh Studios matte gold metallic pearls

The Paper Studio patterned paper

Other supplies: cardstock (black, white); gold metallic ribbon; Tsukineko onyx black ink; foam tape

Thanks for stopping by!! 

xoxo - rae

let's celebrate | freshly made sketches

Hi there! Got some crafty time in this weekend, and decided to play along with some of my favorite challenges to keep the creative juices flowing ;)

First challenge I worked on was Freshly Made Sketches #574

Here is the card design I came up with....

I started with a white card base and added some cardstock strips from Altenew's Sea Shore gradient cardstock set. Then I ran the panel through Spellbinders diamond plaid embossing folder, taking special care to align the stripes of the panel with the plaid pattern of the embossing folder.

Next I stamped the sentiments and adhered them to the card base, the larger sentiment was adhered with foam tape for dimension/interest. I'm not much of an 'embellisher', so I just added some die cut hearts and a few dew drops.

This was a good challenge for me, since I don't typically put sentiments on the diagonal - I felt that the small sub-sentiment strip worked well diagonally with the focal sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo - rae

Supplies:

Altenew: Sea Shore gradient cardstock set

Spellbinders: diamond plaid embossing folder

Simon Says Stamp: XL Birthday Greetings stamp & die

the Greetery: Sentiment Suite: birthday stamp & die

Concord & 9th: Big on You heart die

Other: Tsukineko onyx black ink; white cardstock; Studio katia dew drops; white heart puffy sticker; foam tape

always & forever

 Hello there!

Played along with a new challenge today.... As You See It Challenge #291

I was intrigued by this color combination, so I pulled together some inks and went to work, and this is what I came up with...

For my design, I opted to go with highlighting the bold colors and added different shapes and textures to give the card interest and dimension (lots of foam tape action going on here too!).

Supply List:

Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Inks: kitsch flamingo, festive berries, broken china, faded jeans

Pink Fresh: nested hexagon dies; stitched scallop rectangles

Hero Arts: nested hearts dies

Simon Says Stamp: etched linear heart die

Waffle Flower: love thanks sentiment and die

Spellbinders: diamond plaid embossing folder

Tsukineko: onyx black ink

Other: white cardstock; black/white striped ribbon; foam tape

Really enjoyed this challenge! Thanks so much for stopping by!

xoxo

rae

Real Growth

 hello hello!

Here today to share a card that I absolutely LOVED creating...

I played along with Pink Fresh Studio's January 2023 Challenge | Year in Review

.... which meant that I had a year's worth of challenges to choose from, so I chose June | Rainbow 

I was excited about the 'rainbow' prompt as I knew I wanted to do work with my new Pink Fresh Studio supplies that coincidentally arrived on my doorstep just yesterday :)

Lately I've been motivated to create CAS cards with meaningful and inspirational sentiments, and my new Pink Fresh Butterflies stamp/die/stencil set allowed me to do just that, take a peek...

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I used gobs of Pink Fresh goodies on this card... layer upon layer of yummy die cuts. Although I added texture for interest, my goal was to keep the layered card base crisp, clean and all white so that the bold rainbow color ink blended butterfly would pop off the card. I added black for a strong bold contrast as well.

I did not use all of the stencils in the Butterfly set, choosing to just use the larger stencils and freely ink blending the colors in a rainbow color theme. The butterfly and sentiment strip were adhered to the card with foam tape for dimension.

The card layout came courtesy of the latest sketch at Freshly Made Sketches | FMS 569

I cannot tell you how much I truly enjoyed working on this challenge card, and look forward to making many more butterfly cards thanks to this great set! 

Supply List:

Pink Fresh Studio Supplies: 

Butterflies stamps/dies/stencils

Radiating Background die

Ornate Medallions coverplate

Fancy Oval frame

Inks: berrylicious, clementine, sweet mustard, grassy knoll, mermaid cove, regal kiss

Simon Says Stamp: stitched rectangles dies

Misc supplies: cardstock: white, black; Tsukineko onyx black ink; foam tape

Thank you for stopping by today, appreciate your visit!

xoxo

rae

happy birthday | CTD 726

Back today with a card made for Color Throwdown challenge 726 | grey, navy, white

I was excited about this challenge for several reasons - for one, it's a color combination that I don't think I have ever worked with, and secondly, I was inspired by the photo prompt itself - the minimalism, the single image on a solid background. 

So here is what I designed...

Although I did experiment with embossed/pierced backgrounds, I felt that the simple, solid grey background helped the line drawn flowers embossed in white on navy cardstock pop and serve as the focal point of the card. The sentiment was stamped in grey and I die cut an extra sentiment shadow in navy to serve as a shadow behind the sentiment to create a visually pleasing navy 'triangle' on my card front.... interesting what the eye sees when you're creating, right? 

I just love the look of the white embossed line drawn flowers on the navy..... yum!

Supply List:

Simon Says Stamp: Sketch Lotus Flowers stamps and dies; XL Birthday Greetings stamps and dies

Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink hickory smoke

Misc: Cardstock: grey, navy, white; grey/white bakers twine; white embossing powder; foam tape

Thanks for stopping by today, appreciate your visit!

xoxo

rae

hugs | Color Throwdown 725

hello hello!

I played along with the latest color challenge at The Color Throwdown - challenge 725 colors: red, green brown...

Talk about a challenge... lol! This card took waayyyyy too long to make, lots of trial and error with miscellaneous stamps and supplies, but I am glad that I stuck with it as I truly enjoyed getting out of my comfort zone and working with a color combination that I don't normally work with.

Here is what I came up with....

I started by die cutting the hexagon from brown cardstock and then die cut a white hexagon for the center. I adhered that piece to an embossed white cardstock panel. Then came hours of playing around with random supplies until I ended up using some stamps and dies from The Greetery to create a little foliage collage. I die cut the hearts from red cardstock, and heat embossed the 'hugs' sentiment on the smaller heart. I wrapped twine around the panel before adhering the smaller heart to the card. All layers were adhered with foam tape to add dimension.

So glad this challenge truly 'challenged' me today, it feels so good when you come out on the other side with a card that you like!

Supply List:

Altenew: 3D embossing folder - Deck Planks

PinkFresh Studio: hexagon dies

Hero Arts: heart dies

The Greetery: Pine & Berry stamps and dies

Simon Says Stamp: Greeting Mix 2

Ranger: Distress oxide inks - peeled paint, candied apple

Other supplies: cardstock (white, brown, red), brown twine, white embossing powder, foam tape

Thanks for stopping by today, appreciate your visit!

xoxo

rae

World Cardmaking Day 2022

Hooray for World Cardmaking Day!!!!

I spent WCMD playing along with 5 fantastic challenges offered at Scrapbook and Cards Today.

So, let's get started with the challenge cards...

Challenge #1: Stencil challenge

For this card I used my (new to me) Altenew's Golden Days stencil and just LOVE that big, beautiful bloom! Supply List: Altenew products: Golden Days stencil, Fancy celebrate die, mini ink cubes (sunray, chamomile, snapdragon, marigold, dark chocolate); Ranger Distress Mica Spray tarnished brass; The Greetery Sentiment Suite: Birthday stamp and die; May Arts jute twine; black cardstock; My Mind's Eye patterned paper

Challenge #2: Color Challenge

We were presented with this color inspiration photo:

Initially. I wasn't sure how I was going to mesh the blue and yellow, but thanks to distress inks, I think I found a way! I watercolor painted die cut leaves with distress inks and also created the blue panel using two different blue distress inks and an embossing folder. Supply List: Distress oxide inks: squeezed lemonade, mustard seed, frayed burlap, broken china, uncharted mariner, walnut stain; Simon Says Stamp: Tattered Leaves die, Sparking Facets embossing folder, kraft woodgrain cardstock, stitched banners die; Pinkfresh Studio Heart Smiles sentiment stamp and die; Cardstock: kraft, dark brown; May Arts jute twine; foam tape 

Challenge #3: One Stamp

Never have I ever created a stamped background... but thanks to this challenge, now I can say that I have!!! I used a stamp from Altenew's Simple Beauty set to create the background design on white cardstock. I knew I wanted to keep the design crisp and simple, so I just added a bold sentiment and solid cardstock pieces. Supply List: Altenew Simple Beauty stamp; Concord & 9th Big on You stamp set and die; cardstock: white, aqua, black; foam tape

Challenge #4: Layers

So, not gonna lie, this card is my favorite :) Love the gold, the soft muted colors, and I guess after making it I realized that my typical go-to style is definitely 'layering'! Supply List: Pinkfresh Studio products: diagonal stitched circles dies; modern script sentiments and die; dainty plaid rubber background stamp; Pinkfresh/Altenew Celebrate Us stamp and die; Altenew branches and berries die set; American Craft gold embossing powder; Echo Park colored cardstock; Simon Says Stamp white woodgrain cardstock; Other supplies: kraft cardstock, May Arts jute twine, Versafine vintage sepia ink, foam tape

Challenge #5: Paper

This challenge called for paper weaving... another new technique for me! After looking at the end result (weaving), I see some things that I'd change up next time, but all in all, it was definitely a fun challenge to attempt!! Supply List: Pinkfresh Studio: Shaker Hearts dies; Concord & 9th Big on You stamp set and die; Simon Says Stamp white woodgrain cardstock; Echo Park colored cardstock; Other Supplies: heart embellishments (for shaker heart), May Arts jute twine, foam tape

I am so grateful to have come across these World Cardmaking Day challenges, thank you Scrapbook and Cards Today for giving me a great reason to 'celebrate' OUR special holiday!!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

xoxo

rae

Freshly Made Sketches #555

Another fabulous sketch is up at Freshly Made Sketches, so of course I had to play along, being World Cardmaking Day (weekend) and all....

So, initially I was a little stumped about the rectangle element of the sketch ... me, with my literal interpretation of everything... lol. After digging through my supplies I came across the Celebrate Us Altenew/Pink Fresh Studio stamp and die and thought, voilà, there's my 'rectangular' element! The rest of the card just sort of fell in to place after that!

I used Pinkfresh Studio plaid background stamp and gold embossing powder to create the circle background, matted with kraft cardstock. The flower element was also heat embossed in gold. I added some cardstock strips to ground the circle element. Being a berry fanatic, I added some die cut berries from the same colored cardstock. The sentiment was stamped in vintage sepia.

This was a fun one to create, grateful for another great FMS sketch to get me started!!

Supply List:

Pinkfresh Studio products: diagonal stitched circles dies; modern script sentiments and die; dainty plaid rubber background stamp; Pinkfresh/Altenew Celebrate Us stamp and die

Altenew branches and berries die set

American Craft gold embossing powder

Echo Park colored cardstock

Simon Says Stamp white woodgrain cardstock

Other supplies: kraft cardstock, May Arts jute twine, Versafine vintage sepia ink, foam tape

Thanks for stopping by!!

xoxo ~rae

let's be the fairytale

 hello hello!

Was *finally* able to get creative again this weekend, and as always, turned to Freshly Made Sketches for my inspiration, particularly their latest sketch challenge

and here is my creation...

Initially I was a little daunted by the sketch... I mean, it's been MONTHS since I've made a card LOL... but while rummaging through my supplies, I stumbled upon this Simon Says Stamp stitched heart collage die and decided to build my card around it and everything else fell into place!

Felt good to create again... so grateful for the sketch challenge to spur my creative mojo!!

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

rae

CAS(E) this sketch #389

hello hello!!

Spent a little time in the studio today doing a little one-armed card making! LOL

(just had rotator cuff surgery last Thursday and my dominant right arm is immobilized)

I was losing my mind just sitting in the bed doing nothing, so I thought I'd see if could make a card?!

I was happy to come across the latest sketch challenge at CAS(E) this sketch

Here is the card I designed:

Pretty pleased with how it turned out... for a one-armed creation ;)

I chose some neutral tone on tone patterned papers for the color blocks, Hero Arts nesting US maps die, sentiment stamp from Simon Says Stamp Crafty Hugs release Greetings Mix 2, stitched rectangle die, some puffy heart stickers, pearls, and twine. The map and sentiment panel are popped up with foam tape.

It may not be my best work, but it is a special card nonetheless... I made it to send to my daughter who just returned to college yesterday.... she flew home this past weekend to take care of me after my surgery ♥

Thanks so much for stopping by and taking a peek!

xoxo

Rae