Freshly Made Triangles

Today, I realized once again that choosing the right color of  a card's feature can make all the difference in the world.  First, I had a different shade of purple...wrong!   Then I tried a bland orange-ish butterfly...wrong again.  I was lucky to have choices.  (This gorgeous butterfly is a Prima creation of years ago; I searched online to find as many as I could when the line was discontinued.)  Freshly Made Sketch 443

Color Throwdown for a Special Birthday

When this popped up in my e-mail, I was immediately in love with the colors!  And I just happened to need to make a birthday card for my youngest sister today.   I started with the colors, of course.  Although I was in love with stripes, my black and white paper pads don't include stripes.  Polka dots, yes!  Choosing a sentiment was next; I don't have many beyond the "Happy Birthday" ones.  The Emerson quote on a Wordsworth stamp seemed fitting.  To make the card decidedly feminine, I added the butterfly for the Color Throwdown challenge.

Tired of Covid 19

Every day for 50 days, I made a card with some kind of sentiment appropriate for the "lockdown."  Finally, I essentially ran out of ideas, so I'm trying card challenges again.  My first non-Covid card is for Case This Sketch 371.  

During this lockdown, I've been buying pads of patterned papers....several pads of paper.  The front layer of this card is a sheet from Adalelne Craft Papers (PolkaDoodles) purchased from Simon Says. 

The DaVinci die is a new one from Simon Says (Memory Box). "Joy" is an old SU! stamp.

Celebration at Freshly Made Sketches

A month of celebration at Freshly Made Sketches begins with Sketch #1 from 8 years ago.

My first thought for this sketch was the shape....I have many flowers that I rarely use anymore, but I also have some Prima butterflies--glitzy butterflies.  So I chose one and tried some cardstock, but abandoned it for this dark teal butterfly.  The papers are also Prima, from a 6x6 paper stack called Firefly. From there, it was choosing which portion of the patterned paper to use for the "boxes."  The sentiment is from a Power Poppy clear set of magnolias. 

Tag It on Less is More

This is at least the third version of this card!  I've changed the color, the embossing, some gold embellishment...and finally decided I was going to stop.  The tag was the one constant: it's cut from a piece of Brusho colored cardstock.  And I really wanted to use that butterfly.  The card began as a green one with some gold rubbed on the embossing.  Didn't work.  That piece was also cut with a fancy rectangle die.  Now I've settled on this autumn-toned card with dry embossing texture behind the tag for Less is More #382

Butterflies on Double D

I don't think I've taken a Double D Challenge before, but lately I have been ready to do something other than a CAS card, and this is that opportunity. "Butterflies" is the theme, and I have more than enough butterfly stamps--many of them years old and still uninked.  However, I chose an old Stampers Anonymous image that I've used several times (there is a dragonfly image in this line that is truly a favorite). I heat-embossed the image with the idea of applying some watercolor.  It worked well, but right before posting, I thought of something else I could add: a vellum image over the stamped one.

 I embossed the image once more in black and cut out the butterfly. Then I applied a wash of watercolor to the back---only to discover that the vellum curled.  Fortunately, it was easy to press out, leaving just enough curl to add some dimension and interest to the card front.  "Imagine" is a Memory Box die.

Freshly Made Sketch for a Fresh Start

As I mentioned in my last post, I've had difficulty getting into the card-making mood for awhile. Today had to be the day that I started up again.

For this Freshly Made Sketch 293, I leafed through some paper pads and settled on these neutral polka dots.  I had a butterfly in mind, but could find only this one with a little sea green accent. Perfect! I am sorry that I do not know the make of the sentiment; that's always a problem with my clear stamps. I lose the card with the name. 

Freshly Made with a "Smile"

Beyond the wintry colors and even Valentine's Day choices, I've decided on a light, "springy" color for Freshly Made Sketch 274.  

Freshly Made with a little Gold

This week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge is a simple one, but my choice of accent proved to be difficult.  The SU! gold thread is the skinniest I've ever tried to work with!  In fact, after I finished the card, I threw the spool of thread away.  However, I was committed to using gold, and I added a bit more with some gold Stickles on the wings of the butterfly.

Mojo Monday 478 --the New Year

Because I started the new year just a bit late, I'm posting my Mojo Monday card on Thursday.  Blue is my favorite color, but I rarely use it for one of my cards.  For this card, I used paper from a 12x12 Docrafts paper pack in various shades and patterns of blue.  I also was able to use one of my favorite butterfly embellishments, a "Fantasy Butterfly" from Prima Flowers, and the "happy" die from Simon Says Stamp.

Less is More with Thread

Less is More ---Does black space count as white space?  I tried to evaluate whether my card is CAS according to the examples on the page, but I'm still not certain.  However, I'm posting my "thread" card, anyway.   I rather like it.   (It's a tall card that will require a special envelope.)

The thread is copper, marking the flight of the coppery butterfly.  Copper is repeated in the heat-embossed sentiment.  

Sketch for Sunday Stamps

It's a sketch for the current Sunday Stamps challenge.

I didn't stray far at all; I even chose a beautiful butterfly! 

Mojo Monday -- Tall and Skinny

My skinny (3.5" x 5.5") card features a new "carpe diem" die from Joy Crafts.  The butterfly is Artisan Chipboard from PinkPaislee.  I enjoyed playing with the Mojo Monday 450 sketch.