scrappy sketch

It's a Saturday sketch challenge! I made a scrapbook page using this sketch as the inspiration, but I am having camera issues and will have to post the photo in the morning. Update - I was able to finally get the photos to upload to my computer, but they aren't as good as I had hoped.



This is a photo of my sister and her husband in Rome at the coliseum. I distressed the page to give it an aged feel to compliment the coliseum.




The Rome is chipboard covered in white craft ink, then 3 layers of glassy glaze to make the letters look really shinny and stand out against the distressed background.

For now, please try out the sketch yourselves, and make sure you go to Lauren's blog to add your creation to Mr. Linky on her blog.

Also, be sure to check out the rest of the team's creations.

Lauren
MacKenzie
Maria
Kendra
Kristin
Tracey
Pam
Jennifer
Odette
Lisa
Dana
Alicia

Christmas sketch challenge

The sketch challenge this week was a really simple one for me. I think this sketch lends itself to using patterned paper, and I have lots of that to use :)

Here is the sketch we were given,



and here is my card.



I had originally planned on continuing my week in Unity with the sketch from Lauren this week, but I *just* received my adorable Oven Fresh stamp set from the amazing Clare Brennan and I had to make something right away!

Clare is an absolutely fabulous artist, and her cards, and 3-d projects blow me away. I am so glad she has decided to start designing her own stamps.

The Gingerbread Man was stamped on chocolate chip cardstock, after I had peeled the paper in two and had a softer look to the paper.



The icing is done with Opal perfect pearls, and the buttons are Holly Stickles.

Please make sure you check out the rest of the sketch team to see their fabulous creations.



Lauren
Dawn
MacKenzie
Maria
Kendra
Kristen
Tracey
Pam
Jennifer
Odette
Lisa
Dana
Alicia

Mom

Today it's inspiration time for Lauren's Saturday My Time to Create team.

This was the inspiration photo.



And here is my project. I used the colours in the dress, and the flowers as my inspiration for this project.



I had a wooden frame that I got at the dollar store. I painted it with watered down white acrylic paint, then added the flowers using the eraser from a wooden pencil.



I used acrylic paints that I have had for many years, and some of them were thicker than others, which added to the dimension.



The letters are cut from the sunset sizzix alphabet, and the only stamp I used is my favourite one from Unity, Wish Sticks. It was stamped on a super thin coaster using brown paint.



The centre panel is a quote I found online, and I printed it on flecked cream cardstock using Becky Higgins font.

I love my mother as the trees love water and sunshine
she helps me grow, prosper, and reach great heights.
Adabella Radici

Please check out the rest of the design team, and join us this week!

Lauren
MacKenzie
Maria
Kendra
Kristen
Tracey
Pam
Jennifer
Odette
Lisa
Dana
Alicia

New Sketch Team

Hi! Welcome to the first sketch with Lauren's new full team! The peaks look amazing, and I am sure your will be in for a treat as you visit their blogs.



The sketch this week is one that I would love to use as a scrapbook page, but instead, I made a birthday card for Lauren. Her birthday is on May 3rd, and the optional, additional challenge is to make a birthday card using the sketch.





This is the card I made for Lauren's birthday. We all know how much she loves butterflies, so that was the starting point for me. I didn't add a sentiment because I didn't have one that would fit along the side.

The butterflies are stamped on velum paper using the SU retired set Simple Sketches. I stamped the base image on the velum, then the other two layers on a different part of the velum to add a different element to the dimension. I cut out all of the butterflies with paper snips, and layered them with mini glue dots.



You can kind of see the glue dots through the velum, but not too much, and I love the depth it creates.

I used my piercer to make the trails, and my spica glitter pen to add some glitter to the butterflies. I don't know if you can see it in the photo, but IRL there is some glitter there.



I added the green prima flowers to provide some balance to the green paper on the other side of the card.

I never decorate the inside of my cards, but this one is for the fabulous Lauren, so I decided to make the inside pretty too.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the inside when it was light outside, so the colours are somewhat "off".



I had some extra butterflies stamped on velum, and decided to cut them out to continue the theme to the inside. I used the top note die to create the black frame around the kraft cardstock to again mirror the colours and theme from the front of the card.

I hope you will play along this week!

Please check in with everyone else, show them some love and welcome them to the team. I am really excited to be working with such an amazingly talented group of people!

Lauren
Dawn
MacKenzie
Maria
Kendra
Kristen
Tracey
Pam
Jennifer
Odette
Lisa
Dana

When you participate, please come back and lets us know, and use the keyword mytimess32 in any online gallery so that we can find all of your wonderful creations.

Saturday COLOUR Challenge!

You might be surprised that I am not doing a sketch challenge with Lauren this week, but that's because she changed up the sketch team, and the way we will be doing challenges. Read here for all the details.

So, this week we had a colour challenge using this fantastic bag from Clutterbags.



Instead of making one card using all of those colours, I chose to make one Project using all of the colours. (I substituted Real Red for Pure Poppy, Cool Caribean for Spring Rain, and Basic Grey for Smokey Shadow).




This is a mail sorter using Lauren's Filed with Flair template from PTI.

It does not stand for To Be Determined (although with mail that could be the case), but instead it is for Tamara, Bills (yuck), and Deron (my partner).

The front is somewhat plain, but I added more details to the sides.



The second layer on the sides was printed on cardstock weight velum and cut out. Then I inked my texture plates with the corresponding ink and ran them through my Big Shot.



I also added some ribbon and ric-rac, the ric-rac was MUCH easier to get around those corners, and finished off the top of my box with a couple of Prima flowers.

I wanted to keep it kind of plain so that if it gets ripped or something due to daily use with the mail I won't be too upset about it because I can easily make another folder to fit into the tray.

Please check out the rest of the COLOUR challenge team this week!

Lauren
Dawn
MacKenzie
Maria
Kendra

When uploading to any public galleries or forums, please use the code MTTC01 so we can find your AWESOME creations.

Saturday Sketch!

I am back with another of Lauren's FABULOUS sketches.

Here is the sketch.



And here is my card



I used the Chocolate Chip designer series paper from SU for the background. I used a brayer to add the pink to the paper. I am totally in love with pink and chocolate brown!

The stamp, and the smaller brown and pink paper are all from the Kim Hughes collection, available at CHF.



The felt flowers are from the accents and elements kit from SU. The brads are covered with pink perfect pearls because I didn't have any pink brads. I went over the "love", the bird's wing, and some of the flowers on the background with my clear spica glitter pen. It is really sparkly!

Be sure to check out the rest of the sketch team, including Lauren's blog for her changes for the upcoming sketches.

Lauren
McKenzie
Dawn
Maria
Kendra
Kirsten
Kristy


Also, I missed last weekend because I was busy with Easter, so I whipped something up for that sketch as well. I really don't like my card, and I hope to have time to do another one this weekend to vindicate myself with this sketch.



It didn't really turn out as I envisioned. I thought the flowers would be more white, and not so clear. In order to make them stand out more, I drew around them with a white pencil crayon.



The sentiment is also hand written with a white pencil crayon. Then it looked kind of bland, so I added some doodles, but my doodles are not too good, and now it looks very amateurish. I am going to *try* to fix this card, but I am not holding out too much hope.

Sketch Challenge - Unity Style!

Welcome to my World Record Breaking Blog Hop post! Start your inspirational Blog Hop HERE!

It is also Lauren's Saturday sketch challenge rewind where we take any previous sketch and use that to make a card on the last Saturday of the month. This card uses the sketch from March 7.

Here is my card, using my BRAND NEW fabulous 1,2,3,4 Thousand Calorie Cupcakes stamp, and Marvelous from Unity of course.



The cupcakes have Liquid Applique for the frosting and crystal effects for the cherry. The cup is coloured with a silver marker to give the illusion of a metallic wrapper.



Before you go on to the next blog, the fabulous www.mamaolie.blogspot.com, be sure to check out my birthday blog candy in the post below.

And now, my favourite quote:

Well behaved women seldom make history.
- Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

Hop on over to Mamaolie now!!

Sketch for Ethan

Today's sketch is a very special one. Lauren & Mackenzie suggested that all of the sketch team make a card to send to Ethan. Ethan is Alicia's son and his cancer has relapsed. She is a absolutely wonderful person, and another member of our Saturday sketch team. Mackenzie and Lauren thought it would be nice to make something to let Ethan and Alicia know we are all thinking of them, and I totally agree.

Here is the sketch from Lauren.



And here is my card.



I don't have very many "boy" stamps, but I think this astronaut from the now retired All Mixed Up fits the bill. This is actually the first time I have used this set.

The stars are punched from the small star punch from Stampin' Up!, and then embossed with three layers of glassy glaze.



The helmet has crystal effects on it to make it look more like glass.



I hope Ethan likes this card I have put in the mail to him. If you want to send a card, please let me know and I will give you his address.

Don't forget to check out the rest of the sketch team.

Lauren Meader
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
Kim Gasper
MacKenzie Bruckler
Kendra Wisenbaker

Cool Caribbean comes out to play

I {heart} Cool Caribbean cardstock from Stampin Up, and I was really sad when it retired. I have a couple of packs, but I am always scared to use it because I don't want it to be gone forever. Today, for Lauren's sketch challenge, I decided to pull some out of retirement.



This is the great sketch we had to work with. I have lots of ideas for this sketch, but I only had time to pull off one card.




Remember that the sketch is just a starting point for inspiration, and you don't have to follow it exactly.

This image was coloured using my SU markers, and Julie Buhler's technique on watercolour paper.

Please grab your stamps, and join in!

Here is what the rest of the sketch team made this week:

Lauren Meader
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
Kim Gasper
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weimen
Kendra Wisenbaker

Sketch from the past!

If you read Lauren's blog you know that she had some SUPER exciting news last week, and has been really busy with family commitments, so there isn't a new sketch for this week. What we have decided is to do a recap of our favourite sketches. This will become a regular feature of the sketch challenge participants.

I have chosen a sketch I missed from a few weeks ago. I hoped to have two cards done, but time got away from me. I do have another image coloured, but I am in meetings all day so I don't know if it will get up today or not.




I have been participating in a fantastic image swap for Canadians on SCS, and this Bride to be image is one I got from the swap. If you are Canadian you should check it out.

My sister is getting married this August, and her colours are pink and chocolate brown, so that is where I drew my inspiration for this card.



I just opened a new bottle of crystal effects, and I cut the hole to big, so the CE came out of the bottle too quickly and the glossy-ness of the work bride turned into the messiness of the word bride. I really like the way the glitter flowers turned out though, and I think I may reproduce this card before her shower this summer.



Please visit the rest of the sketch crew to see which sketches they chose to reproduce.


Lauren Meader
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
Kim Gasper
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weimen
Kendra Wisenbaker

ARGHHH!

I am so sorry this is so late. I can't find my camera. The photo was taken by my husband on his camera because mine seems to be MIA. I had to wait for him to get home to be able to post this week's sketch challenge.



This is another card that I am going to send to Julie's mom as part of the 1000 Valentine's Drive. It uses Bubs the Beaver from Our Craft Lounge. It is a super cute set, and I *love* the storage built into these sets. Be sure to check them out if you haven't yet seen the OCL stamps.

Here is Lauren's sketch



Remember, the sketch is for inspiration, and it is okay if you don't follow it exactly, the point is to get creating!

Be sure to check out the rest of the sketch team for their take on this week's design.

Lauren Meader
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
Kim Gasper
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weimen
Kendra Wisenbaker

Valentine's for a cause

I am sure many of you have heard that the stamping community is trying to collect 1000 valentines to send to the Children's Hospital in Detroit. I am a regular reader of Julie's blog, and this post explains how her mom regularly donates cards to the hospital, and how YOU can get involved in this campaign.

There's also an opportunity to win blog candy!
Check out these blogs for more information.

This is my first card to donate, and it also follows Lauren's Saturday sketch.





This card uses all SU product (except the dew drop), although I think all of it is probably retired. The heart and flower stamp was stamped on the same light pink paper that I used for the larger background piece, then it was embossed with clear embossing powder. The paper was sponged with Pomegranate ink (love that colour), and the embossing resisted the ink. I then traced over the heart with stickles to add some bling.



Be sure to check out all of the members of the sketch team for more amazing inspiration.


Lauren Meader
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
Kim Gasper
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weimen
Kendra Wisenbaker

Cute as a Bug!

Lauren's sketch challenge this week is such an easy and versatile sketch.



I decided to pull out some much under-used Unity Stamps. Their stamps are HUGE, but this is one way to break them up and use them on a card.

I stamped the caterpillar from Buzzin Around, then punched out three sections of 1.25 inches to create the squares in the sketch. The background is was created with a flower stamp from the same set using versmark to create a watermark feel.



I coloured the sections of the caterpillar using a paint brush and the bashful blue ink. It was "pounced" on and gives kind of a sponged appearance, but with more control and the ability to get into smaller areas.

The antennae are made with some craft wire, and I love the whimsical feel of them.



I stamped the sentiment using a $1.50 set from Michael's. The "cute as a" is stamped off once, and the "bug" is at full strength to make it more prominent.

Please the new addition to the sketch challenge team for 2009, Kendra Wisenbaker. As well as the rest of the team.

Lauren Meader
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
Kim Gasper
MacKenzie Bruckler
Alicia Weimen

Quick Card, Quick Post

This was a super quick card, and will be a really quick post as I am out the door for meetings all day.

Here is the sketch that Lauren gave us.



She also gave a few instructions. The flowers are meant to be any flourish, and the vertical piece is hanging ribbon or cardstock.

Here is the card that I came up with.



I am in Christmas mode trying to get all of my Christmas cards ready to put in the mail within the next week. This card came together REALLY quickly. Under 15 minutes. That must be some sort of record for me. DH even commented when I showed him the completed card "wow, that was fast".

I love making holiday cards that don't use traditional colours, and I wanted to use some of that luscious Chocolate Chip satin ribbon. The snowflake is a plastic ornament that came in a package of 25 for a dollar at Dollarama. What a bargain!



As always, please check out the rest of the sketch challenge team. And we would love to have you play along.

Keep in mind the sketch is just inspiration to get you going, you don't have to follow it exactly.

Lauren Meader http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com

Maria Levine http://riacreations.blogspot.com/

Dawn Easton http://www.TreasureOilerDesignz.blogspot.com/

Kirsten Dubosque www.kirstendubosque.blogspot.com

Kristy Vernon http://www.kvernon.blogspot.com

Kim Gasper http://stampinintherain.blogspot.com
MacKenzie Bruckler http://midnightscramper.blogspot.com/

Alicia Weimen http://happystamp.blogspot.com/