CAS Colours & Sketches: Bee Day

I love creating little scenes so when I saw the sketch at CAS Colours & Sketches that had the full focus on a square area, I started looking through my stash for what scene I could create.  I hadn't yet used this Sizzix Bee Hive set which has the most beautifully detailed little bees that I've seen! (There's also a medium and a small bee in the set plus the honeycomb is bigger so they could all play together!)

I'm not particularly great with bees in real life. I'm not allergic or anything - I just move away quickly. I don't stop to distinguish whether the thing buzzing around me is a bumble bee or actually a wasp - they are all the same to me. I'm told it has something to do with a childhood experience but I have no actual memories. It's sad really because I can logically know that bumble bees rarely sting and I know they are amazing and necessary creatures - but my emotions put me on high alert.  So I guess I'll be satisfied with my bees on greeting cards!

Thanks to CAS Colours & Sketches for the inspiration to pull out this die set. 

SUPPY LIST

Stamps: Concord and 9th Sweet Bee

Dies: Sizzix Bee Hive, Memory Box Double-Stitch Square Cut-Out

Paper: Stampin' Up Daffodil Delight, Flirty Flamingo and Granny Apple Green, My Favorite Things Pineapple, Taylored Expressions Cupcake

Tic Tac Toe and Color Throwdown

I had time to play in my craft room yesterday with nothing in particular that I needed to make and came up with this "just because".

 

I was browsing challenges and perked up when I saw the Tic Tac Toe Challenge that included "just because" in one of their boxes. I love this Just Because die from Simon Says Stamp. It's a simple font but I love that it winds together and I love its shape with the "just" over to the right leaving room for things like flowers.  The Tic Tac Toe board also included flowers and die cuts on the diagonal so I went that direction.

I pulled out the dies, then I started pulling out all of my favorite colors but I wanted something different. Back to browsing challenges and I saw that the Color Throwdown used brown. That caught my attention. It wasn't all that long ago where brown was quite prominent on all of our cards. For instance, sentiments were in brown, not in black.  Then things changed and I was feeling like brown was dated. But the design team and the players at the Color Throwdown changed my mind by showing me how beautiful it can still be. Not to mention, it gave me a chance to pull out Stampin' Up's new Pecan Pie and the blue I used is the new Azure Afternoon. 

Thanks to both of these challenges for the inspiration. Off to do some more browsing and see what others I just have to play along with.

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Simon Says Stamp Just Because, Fab Flower and A2 Thin Frames 

Paper: Stampin' Up Poppy Parade, Azure Afternoon and Pecan Pie cardstock, Glorious Gingham dsp

Other: Doodlebug Designs Bon Bon Glitter Enamel Dots

Freshly Made Sketches: Dragonfly Hello

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Jen Brum and here’s what I did with it! 

I wasn't sure what I was going to do with this sketch - I had a vague notion of brightly colored rays and a bold sentiment.  Obviously I didn't do that.  I was flipping through my stash and saw this graceful dragonfly and was shocked I hadn't used it.  So I kind of forced him into the sketch but I love the results.  I didn't do straight lines just to better match his soft look. His top wings are a pearlescent vellum which is a lovely look. Then I added some subtle floral paper and used a lattice embossing folder on the white.  Super simple but it's all about the dragonfly and I LOVE it!!

I hope to see you playing along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: My Favorite Things Greetings & Salutations

Dies: Alexandra Renke Big Dragonfly, Simon Says Stamp Curved Edge

Paper: Catherine Pooler Twilight Reading, Lawn Fawn Pearlescent Vellum, Stampin' Up Peekaboo Peach

Other: Taylored Expressions Dotted Lattice Embossing Folder

Freshly Made Sketches: Father's Day Fish

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by me and here’s what I did with it!

 

When I made the sketch, my idea was three pink/orange/yellow stripes with a white flower on top but while I was browsing my stash, I saw these fish.  They were the perfect size for the stripes and with Father's Day coming, I now have a card for my fisherman husband! 

I backed it with a retired Taylored Expressions embossing folder. I have other folders with splashes and waves but I liked the quirky look of the spots. 

I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Simon Says/Kelly Purkey Dude! (retired)

Dies: Paper Rose Fish Family

Other: Taylored Expressions On the Spot embossing folder (retired), Honey Bee Stamps Black Gem Stickers

Atlantic Hearts: Floral Birthday

I received an order including the beautiful Four Petal Thank You Floral from Spellbinders on the same day that I saw the sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. They are a perfect match!  (I did miss the deadline for Atlantic Hearts but still wanted to give them a shout-out!!)

I have so many friends and family for whom cards with flowers are just the right choice so I can always justify new flower products.  I actually held off on getting this one for a while because I already have other large flower sets from Spellbinders but I love how this set creates a graceful swoop of flowers. 

On the other hand, I did jump right on getting the Elegantly Modern Greetings set from Simon Says Stamp. Although sometimes I believe I have too many just enough flower dies - I never have enough sentiments. Besides the sentiment itself, they all have different sizes, styles and fonts and I need them all to always have the right fit for a card. In this case, I love the way the bold "birthday" fit the sketch and fit the style.

Thank you for the inspiration from Atlantic Hearts to actually use these dies before they went into my overflowing drawer of not-yet-used supplies!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp Elegantly Modern Greetings and dies

Dies: Spellbinders Four Petal Thank You Floral dies, Ellen Hutson Essential Arches

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Granny Apple Green, Flirty Flamingo, Daffodil Delight, Mango Melody, and Coastal Cabana, Taylored Expressions Cupcake, Papertrey Ink Aqua Mist

Other: Spellbinders Hydrangea Blooms embossing folder of the month (Feb 2023), Taylored Expressions Subway Tiles embossing folder

Global Design Project: The Old and The New

The color challenge at the Global Design Project uses colors from the recent Stampin' Up color refresh. I really hadn't used any of them not even the returning colors in this trio. That's the "new" part of this card.

In the meantime, I've been slowly working through my Stampin' Up collection which goes back 25 years and I'm making some hard decisions about what to keep. I have never edited my Stampin' Up collection and I have SO much. Most of it I'll never use and it's taking up precious stash space!  I decided to keep colors; I have every color of cardstock they have made!  But the stamps, dies and punches are a different story.  In the midst of this, I found a stash of the old embosslits. They are at least a decade old, right? Probably much older. I had totally forgotten about them and I actually really like them.  So that's the old on this card.

Thanks to the Global Design Project for inspiring me to pull out these colors!

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Stampin' Up really old embosslits: Thanks and Flower Burst, Stampin' Up really old Sizzlits: Little Leaves

Paper: Stampin' Up Berry Burst, Azure Afternoon, Blueberry Bushel and Crumb Cake

Other: Stampin' Up Polka Dots Embossing Folder

Freshly Made Sketches: Christmas Tree Squiggle

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Linda and here’s what I did with it!

I struggled for a bit as to how to fit the circle and the center stripe together. It's going to be amazing to see all of the cards by those who are good at a graphic look, but I tend towards things that fit together (I'm not creative enough to just add shapes and have an amazing card.)  In the pile of new-to-me dies that I haven't organized yet, I saw the tall Spellbinders Sealed Christmas Tree Squiggle. My tree uses two layers - I saw the idea on the packaging of layering a glittery tree behind a cardstock tree.  And what better behind a Christmas tree than stars.  I got a little giddy when I saw that I had this Circle of Stars from Ellen Hutson which is a perfect fit with the sketch.  Then to add a bit of interest, I pulled out the fun sentiment set by The Ton, Easy Expressions Holiday.

I wasn't able to play in the last challenge due to a very busy week.  I made this card between six days spent at my youngest son's graduation college, including the 1,700 mile drive back and forth to bring his stuff back, and a quick 3-day trip to Georgia for my niece's high school graduation.  Our son is home with us while he hunts for a job in Colorado. Fingers crossed by both he, and my husband and I, that it happens quickly; however, I'm not sure he's fully grasped the cost of living here and the likelihood of being in our basement for an extended period. To add to the excitement(?), while we were in Georgia my oldest son moved in. He's in the process of moving and his new roommate won't be out of his lease for two more months. It's a full house and, yes, they are my children and I adore them - but four grown adults who are used to their own space in the home that we moved to after they left when we thought we'd be empty-nesters, is going to be interesting.  My guess is that you'll see a lot of cards on my blog as I hide in my craft room!!

I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches!!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: The Ton Easy Expressions Holiday (and dies)

Dies: Spellbinders Seals Christmas Tree Squiggle, Ellen Hutson Circle of Stars, Trinity Stamps Modern Embossed Rectangle Stack

Paper: Papertrey Ink New Leaf, Stampin' Up Real Red, miscellaneous glitter

Ink: Papertrey Ink New Leaf