Sunday, February 15, 2015

Curtain Call: Donut Delight

It's time for a new challenge at the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Donut Delight!


photo source: howsweeteats.com

The LEAD of Donut Delight will be invited as a Guest Designer in our next challenge!

Donuts are absolutely on trend right now, but a month or so ago, when the design team got an advance preview of upcoming challenges and I saw donuts - I didn't have any.  (Stamps, that is...I love real-life donuts!)  So I went shopping.  So many cute donuts...so many cute dies.  But the sentiment in this Simon Says set made the decision for me...

Suck the Jelly


I have just realized that I never colored in the sprinkles on the pink donut, but the card has already been mailed off.  Just imagine chocolate and purple candy sprinkles!

Anybody who is feeling down would have to smile at that sentiment!

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Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Freshly Made Sketches: Make a Wish

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and guess what?  I got to create it!!


The team has had great fun with this one - not just in making cards - but in arguing over whether the graphic is straight.  The sketch looks crooked to us - it clearly looks lower on the right side as compared to the title.  But we've all had rulers out measuring it on the computer screen and it is straight.  There's something about those angled panels in the middle that give the optical illusion that the card is crooked.  It's an odd one!  

This card that I made that inspired this sketch is here, but I made a new one for today.

Make a Wish

I liked the idea of some party papers and cheerful colors thinking that the angled panel would make it extra fun!

I hope you have fun with this one!

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Sunday, February 8, 2015

Sunday Stamps: Pile of Gifts

Today is Lisa's birthday (My Little Creative Escape).  Happy birthday Lisa!!

Lisa and I are both on the Curtain Call design team.  She's on multiple design teams - so I'm always getting ideas for my shopping list from her!  As I read Lisa's blog, I see color (although not bright colors as she said in a recent post).  Her cards are beautifully layered with fun mixes of color and each one stands out.  I tried to add color on my card to her, but I think my use of a vast expanse of gray doesn't do justice to her colorful style!

Birthday Stack

I used the current sketch at Sunday Stamps.  I liked that big open space for adding my die cut presents and sentiment.


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The pile of gifts is backed with Stampin' Up Summer Starfruit and the word is cute in Stampin' Up Purely Pomegranate.

Friday, February 6, 2015

retrosketches: Faithful Friend

The loss of a pet can be so painful.  A friend recently lost her beloved dog in the midst of a number of other family and personal crises and I didn't want to ignore the depth of her loss.

Faithful Friends

The coordinating inside sentiments says:

With heartfelt sympathy
on the loss of your beloved
companion.

This card uses with the current sketch at retrosketches.



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Thursday, February 5, 2015

Taylored Expressions Release Day: Calla Lily Bouquet

It's here!  All of the new products from Taylored Expressions are available!  Also be sure to head over to the TE Blog for a few more sneak peeks and, if you've been leaving comments, the winners of the giveaways.

I have one more sneak peek set for you - but I've tucked in a few extra cards.

The set Calla Lily Bouquet was previously released, but new to the store is the coordinating die.  I adore coordinating dies - although I could have easily made a card like this without the die, being able to pop it up adds so much dimension.

KIMCallaLilyBouquetTHU

I used a piece of designer paper from the new For Peep's Sake pack and the other cardstock is Peapod and Lemon Meringue.  

The card itself is 3 1/2" by 5 1/2" which is a good, eye-pleasing size and it also allows me to let the calla lily vase go off of the side - another great reason for coordinating dies!

I hesitated for awhile in showing you my next two cards.  The entire focus of this release has been Easter which is a time for rejoicing, but so many of the products are also perfect for sympathy cards and praying for you cards which can be so difficult to make.  Since I make cards for our church, I seem to make more than my fair share of these type of cards (although they are much easier to make when they are simply for sale on a card rack vs. for family and friends.)  All of the Christian dies and stamps in this release can easily be used for sympathy cards also.  This first card is exactly the same as my cheerful Easter card, but with much more muted colors.

KIMCallyLilyBouquetTHUb

Then I couldn't resist showing you one more of the At the Cross die series - this is At the Cross 2.

Pray Hope Trust

The wood paper comes from the Woodgrain Textured Cardstock Pack.  The cardstock is Sweet Basil, Granny Smith, Peapod, Lemon Meringue, Candy Corn and Pumpkin.  The sequins are from the new For Peep's Sake Sequin Pack.

When I saw that this release had multiple cross dies, I immediately ordered two previously released sets from TE  The first is Care and Comfort (there's also Care and Comfort ii).  It's full of elegant script sentiments for difficult times - you can see it on my first sympathy card.  The second set is Faith in Bloom which you can see on my "pray hope trust" card.  The set has fun florals and a more contemporary look to the sentiments.  You'll be seeing more of these and of the cross dies, because I definitely do a lot of this type of card.

The inlaid technique on this cross looks fantastic but can be a bit of pain, particularly with the itty-bitty pieces. I used a sheet of double-sided adhesive that covered about half of the back of the white cardstock so that I could just lay down the pieces and they would be adhered.  For the bigger green pieces, I just used tweezers, but even my micro-tweezers couldn't get a good grip on the tiny orange pieces.  So I cut a small part of the cross, lined it up and used a paper piercer to push the small pieces down to the adhesive!

Pray Hope Trust Inlaying Small Pieces

I do hope you have seen something you like these last four days on my blog or any of the rest of the design team.  The TE Store is now open and all of the new items are available.  Happy shopping!

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Calla Lilies for Easter

Calla Lily Easter Copics

Calla Lilies in Sympathy



Calla Lily Sympathy Copics

Pray Hope Trust