FM75: Back to School

I'm attempting to get back in the swing of things with my design teams, so here goes!    Holly has a perfect challenge for this time of year at the Friday Mashup this week.   I think just about everyone is back to school now, so why not make a fun card or project to celebrate?!   

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge:

1. Make a "Back to School" themed project.
2. Or Make a project with "Sewing".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Back to School project with Sewing". 

I didn't mash it up this week as sewing is a bad word in my house.  :)  I wanted to make up some teacher thank yous for the local shop so this challenge was just perfect.  I LOVE the colors so much!   That Color Coach is great at suggesting combinations that rock!   

Stamps:  Greeting Card Kids, Perfectly Preserved, A to Z (retired), Thank You Kindly (retired)

Ink:  Midnight Muse, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Daffodil Delight, Blush Blossom marker

Paper:  Midnight Muse, Bashful Blue, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Cannery framelits, Window Frame framelits, Festive Paper-Piercing pack, Paper-piercing tool, Stampin' Pierce Mat, blender pen

My girl is learning to hold things! 

colourQ 110: CAS Leaf

Aren't these colors lovely?    I have to say, those cookies made me a bit hungry too!   For my colourQ card this week I decided to go clean-and-simple.   When you look at it, you're probably going to think it took minutes to make.   I wish!   For me, the simple cards are the most difficult!   Every detail of this type of card must be perfect and the spacing must be exact in order for the card to look right.   I think I had to redo this one a few times before I got it where I liked it.  

I have to say, I do love how it turned out.   For the background behind the leaf, I used  Pool Party ink and one of my clear blocks and the A to Z background stamp (stamped off once).   It gives a nice, but subtle frame for my gorgeous leaf.   The leaf is inked with Peach Parfait and then rock-n-rolled in Cajun Craze (the closest color I had to Dusty Durango).   I did this twice and cut them both out and layered them for a bit of dimension and interest.   The sentiment is inked with Soft Suede.  I hope you like it and will try your own CAS card soon!  

Stamps:  A to Z, Gently Falling, Thank You Kindly
Ink:  Pool Party, Peach Parfait, Cajun Craze, Soft Suede
Paper:  Naturals White, Soft Suede, Pool Party
Tools/Accessories:  clear block, paper snips, stamp-a-ma-jig

FMS2: School Kids

Lesley prepared another awesome sketch for us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.   While the sketch is a square card, you can choose to either make one of those or do what I did and go with a traditional A2 card.   That's the fun part of sketch challenges; you can use them as a starting point and see where your card takes you.   :)  

School started back the week I was working on my card and it just so happened that Greeting Card Kids was in the order that I received that week.   Naturally I had to do a school inspired card!   I did go back and pull out a retired apple stamp because teachers need apples.  I can hear all you teachers groaning over that; I bet you have quite an amazing apple collection.  :o)    I decided to go all in with my school theme and try to make my background layer look like a chalkboard.   I don't think schools even have those though; it's all dry erase and smart boards now.   I guess the kids are lucky; the bad ones always had to go beat the chalk out of the erasers back in my day.   I can only imagine what that would do to my allergies...

I hope you enjoyed my card and I hope you'll join us this week at Freshly Made Sketches!   I can't wait to see what you create!

Stamps:  Greeting Card Kids, Apple Blossoms, A to Z
Ink:  Whisper White craft ink, Staz-On Black, Stampin' Write Markers: Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, Blush Blossom, So Saffron, Crumb Cake
Paper:  Cherry Cobbler, Baja Breeze, Basic Black, Whisper White
Tools/Accessories:  Cherry Cobbler seam binding, Baja Breeze seam binding, circle punches

I actually made this card first, but I thought it was too dark.   Switching the Baja Breeze and the Cherry Cobbler really added a brighter, cheerier feel to it and I like that one much better.  Don't be discouraged if your first attempt at a card doesn't turn out; study it, figure out what you don't like about it, and change it for the next version!    Sometimes taking a picture and looking at it on the computer screen will inspire me to go back and add or change something as well.

Another Double Challenge

I had planned on making a card for the Inkspirations Color Challenge last night but time got away from me and I didn't get to make it.   As I was waking up this morning, I had an idea for a card and woke up ready to create.    As luck would have, my idea was a perfect match for the Paper Players Clean & Simple Sketch this week, so I have another double challenge card!

You can't really see it in the picture, but I colored in an h and an i with Melon Mambo to add a little hidden sentiment in the A to Z background stamp.  

Stamps:  Apple Blossoms, A to Z

Ink:  Basic Gray, Melon Mambo

Paper:  Basic Gray, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Whisper White

Accessories:  Basic Pearls, Old Olive 5/8 grosgrain ribbon

Tools:  Big Shot, Beautiful Wings embosslit