Retro Sketches

There's many a week I think I might play along with the current challenge at Retro Sketches -- and then that week slips by, and it doesn't happen. But I'm ready this week -- with several hours to spare! I really liked this week's (RS#13) sketch:

I've been hoarding admiring my Graphic45 The Magic of Oz paper pad for far too long, so I finally cut into it and came up with this:

It always seems kind of weird to make a card with no stamping involved, since card-making is really my excuse to play with rubber stamps! But these papers really do speak for themselves. And at least I stamped a birthday sentiment on the inside. ☺
P.S. Of course I am also entering this in the current Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes challenge! 


Supplies: sand & Stampin' Up Riding Hood Red cardstock, Graphic45 The Magic of Oz collection patterned paper, Marvy corner-rounder punch, dimensionals Pin It Now!

Crafty Creations Challenges #171

Wow, it seems like forever since I've posted anything! That seems to be what happens as soon as summer-like weather hits -- I spend a lot more time outside, and a lot less time with ink and cardstock. But it's Wednesday, and that means it's time for another Crafty Creations challenge. This week, the requirements are to use pastel colours, pearls and lace. For some reason, the challenge utterly froze me for the longest time! I could deal with two out of three, but getting the third element in there kept defeating me. Here is what resulted at last:

The pastel requirement is looked after by the blushing bride cardstock I picked up as part of Stampin' Up's retiring product sale, and by the nicely matching pixie dust chalk ink. The pearls are covered by the string of tiny ones, while the lace is represented by both a lacy punch and the real thing. (Strung with some baker's twine, just because.) Not my favourite card ever, but hope it provides a little inspiration for you to join the challenge!


Supplies: white & Stampin' Up blushing bride cardstock, Unity/Webster's Pages The Little Things stamp, VersaMagic pixie dust ink, Spellbinders oval and scalloped oval dies, Martha Stewart border punch, Recollections pearls, Twinery blossom pink twine, lace scrap Pin It Now!

Friends with Flair and CAS-ual Fridays!

A double Friday link-up! As always, it's Unity Friends with Flair time. Friday is also the day CAS-ual Fridays posts their newest challenge... and this week it's featuring our feathered friends.

I love the elegance of this stamp. I also love this Basic Grey patterned paper that I found on sale (!) at Michaels (!) a while ago. Of course I only bought one sheet, which I now regret. Memento rhubarb stalk ink matched the darkest colour perfectly, totally justifying its recent purchase. :P
Happy weekend and Happy Mother's Day if it applies!

Supplies: white cardstock, Basic Grey euphoria ferver patterned paper, Unity/Webster's Pages Love stamp, Memento rhubarb stalk ink, Spellbinders oval die, pop-dot tape  Pin It Now!

Crafty Creations Challenges: Frame It!

Wednesday already -- and time for Crafty Creations Challenges. This week my teammate,  Donelda, is asking us to Frame It! We are looking for you to frame your creation or main image in some way -- it might be doodling, matting, stamping, a chipboard frame... you get the idea. Our sponsor this week is Create with TLC, who is offering a $15 gift certificate to our challenge winner. The design team was also supplied with some beautiful framed images to use. 

This image reminded me of an amaryllis my mother-in-law grew just after Christmas, so I attempted to colour my flower much the same way. I printed the image a second time on textured cardstock, cut the inside of the frame out, and backed it with vellum. So I guess I have a framed window card? I do like the way it sets off the central image. My window frame qualifies this for this week's Do You Stack Up? (DYSU #70) challenge to use circles. And since I always seem to do Clean and Simple (CAS) cards, I'm linking to this week's Lawn Fawn Lawnscaping CAS challenge.

There are so many possibilities with this challenge -- hope you can join us! 

Supplies: white & Bazzill red devil textured cardstock, vellum, Create with TLC vintage amaryllis, Prismacolor pencils, Spellbinders circle die

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Friday Friends with Flair

Hey, hey, it's Friday! There is even a small chance that it might be sunny and warm this weekend. In the meantime, a little Unity Friends with Flair post...

I am forever admiring Heather's gorgeous masked and sponged panels on her cards, and decided to make one myself. Before removing the masks, I also added the music in gray. (Note the clever angling of the music so that I didn't have to worry about getting it perfectly straight.) After removing the post-its, I stamped and embossed the wildflowers and the sentiment.
I also used that sentiment a couple of weeks ago here. In the comments, Rebecca said she thinks it should be followed by "... olé!" Which is funny, since I go more Dorothy, and in my head hear "... oh my!" at the end. :D 
And with that bit of randomness, hope you have a great Friday!  (Did you know that today is Star Wars Day?)


Supplies: white & blue cardstock, Gratitude=Joy, Bevy of Butterflies & other Unity & Ippity stamps, Market Street Stamps vintage music, Versafine onyx black, Memento london fog, spun sugar, worn lipstick, tumbled glass, broken china & milled lavender distress inks, clear embossing powder, pop dot tape Pin It Now!

Butterfly Flashback

Time to play with Flashback Friday again -- the current challenge is to re-post your first butterfly card (or other project). A lot of butterflies have winged their way across my cards, and here's my first blogged one: 

This comes from my second month of blogging, January of last year. The original post is here. I made it for a Unity Addicts challenge... which no longer exists. 
This card is far from my first butterfly card, however, and since Flashback Fridays is all about revisiting your early days of cardmaking, here is my first recorded butterfly card:

This one was for a virtual stamp night on Splitcoast Stampers, and led to my discovery of paint chips! Note the hand-cut rounded corners, and hand-written sentiment. :D 
Why not dig back into your archives and show off your early butterfly card?  Pin It Now!