Happy Mother's Day!

Hi Everyone!

Can you believe that Mother's Day is just around the corner?  I am excited because I get to spend the next few days leading up to Mother's Day with my Mom - we haven't done that in probably 15 years.  She lives on the East Coast of our lovely country and I am in Central Canada in Ottawa.  So this is a very nice treat!

I decided to combine a few different challenges this week to get to my card for my Mom.  First, I took some liberations with the sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch.  I love how clean and simple the sketches are over there and I decided to do quite a CAS card.

Next, the theme over at The Paper Players is "Mother" so this was perfect for this week!

Finally, the colour theme over at The Card Concept this week is monochromatic purple.  I love purple so this was a great challenge for me!  My Mom also likes bright and cheery colours - what better than purple?!?!

I decided to enter my card this week into the Clean & Simple category of challenge - it is not too often that I do a one layer card let alone a card this CAS - I'm pretty happy with it.

With all of that said, here is my card for these great challenges!

The stamp set I have used for the paint brush strokes is the brand new one we received at the 2014 Stampin' Up! Catalog Premiere!  I am in LOVE with it!  You will be too, trust me!

I also noticed after I posted this, that this card would be perfect for the theme over at Addicted to Stamps - this week is CAS.  I will also be entering this card into the mix over there.  You should check them out this week as they are also having a Design Team Challenge.  The DT over there is quite inspiring and do some awesome work.

Card Recipe

Card Stock: Whisper White

Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, Wisteria Wonder, Black Staz On

Stamp Sets: Work of Art, Delightful Dozen (retiring)

Tools/Techniques: All of the stamps (other than the greeting) were "stamped off" first before being applied to the card base to give the colours a lighter look.

Thanks for dropping by!

Steph

With Heartfelt Sympathy

Hi Everyone,

I know it has been quite some time since I have posted but there has been a lot going on here in my life - both good and bad.  But, I'm happy to be back and to be able to feel like getting in my craft room again.

Tonight I needed to make a sympathy card for a friend of mine who lost her husband just last week.  I don't believe in having sympathy cards on hand as I am a little superstitious and believe it is bad luck.  But, at the same time, I really dislike making them - don't we all?

I decided that I would combine a few challenges tonight to make my card.  The first is Colour Me...!  This week is the special 5th week of the month which leaves us being "Creative" and choosing up to 5 colours to use in our card or project.

I decided to use the colours over at Pals Paper Arts for this card.  This week they are combining Real Red, Bermuda Bay and Crumb Cake.  I thought that although these colours usually strike me as a happy colour set, that they could also be used for a Sympathy Card to try to bring  a little sunshine into a very sad time.

Finally, I decided to combine the colours with the sketch challenge over at Just Us Girls for this week.  I really liked the clean lines of this sketch and had ideas pop in my head right away.  This is a challenge that I've never played with before so it is nice to enter somewhere new.  

I used one of my favourite stamp sets for this card - Simply Sketched.  I am really disappointed to see this one retire and I haven't decided if I will be letting this one go or not.  We'll see...

And here is my card for tonight:

Card Recipe:

Card Stock: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Fresh Prints DSP

Ink: Basic Black, Real Red. Crumb Cake

Stamp Sets: Simply Sketched

Tools/Techniques: Basic pearls, Sponging, Envelope Punch Board (to round the corners)

I'll post about the Stampin' Up! 2014 Annual Catalog Premiere later this week and post a few photos to go along with it.  It was a great event!

Thanks for dropping by!

Steph