SIP Challenge #64

Hi all! Summer is coming to a close... at least, I thought it was until the temperatures around here went back up into the 90s again this week! Ugh. Last week was cooler, and I got a taste of fall goodness. And now we're back to hot, hot, hot summer. Bring back fall! It's my favorite time of year, so I'm ready for these hot days to depart, and the cool, comfy fall weather to stay for good.

And speaking of fall, the reds and yellows of the season were the springboard for the card I made for this week's SIP Challenge: clean and simple!

I made a simple thank you note with fall colors, nature, and leaves.

For me, the biggest challenge with "clean and simple" is stopping. Just adding a few things and then letting it be. I feel like there's a lot of empty space on this card, but I resisted the urge to fill it up! I do think one of the best parts about this card being simple is that that yellow-gold leaf really pops out!

What do you think? Too simple? Just right? Is clean and simple easy for you, or do you have to remind yourself to keep it simple??

Have a great week!

Materials
Leaf punch - Hobby Lobby
Red marker - gift
Black wood rings stamp - Concord and Ninth
Red enamel dots - Simon Says Stamp
Baker's twine - Hobby Lobby
Red cardstock - Stampin' Up
Yellow cardstock - Stampin' Up

Simon Says: One Layer

The more I've been making cards, the more layers I tend to add to my cards. So it was a good challenge this week with Simon Says: One Layer for the weekly Wednesday post!

I needed a quick thank note for a recent gift, so this challenge came at the right time.

Stamping directly on the card, here's my final product:

I really love when a sentiment plays off of the images or scene on a card. :) And who doesn't like getting a bunch of flowers?

Since I have gotten a score board, it's showing up A LOT on my cards. It's such a simple and subtle way to frame a scene or add some dimension. The scoring on this card is a little difficult to see, especially on the left-hand side, but I think adds a lot to this note.

 Look forward to next week's Wednesday Challenge - it's one of my favorite weekly posts!

Materials

Paper: White card and envelope (Hobby Lobby)

Stamps: Flower and sentiment set (personal gift)

Ink: Range dye inks (Lemon Twist), Stampin' Up (Mossy Meadow & Cajun Craze), Versafine (Black Onyx)

Other: Washi tape (Stampin' Up), black marker (Recollections), blending tool, gold gel pen, score board

Thank You & January Personal Faves

Just wanted to write a quick note to thank everyone who has read, commented, and/or supported this blog in its first month! I had no idea that my first 30 days in the blogging community would be so busy, engaging, and FUN!

As you can tell, most of the posts here will be sharing cards that I'm making for different challenges like Freshly Make Sketches, Papertrey Ink Make It Monday, and others. But I have few other ideas that I hope to roll out soon. Stay tuned...

Here are a few of my personal favorite cards from the month of January - some made it to the blog, so they might be familiar...

Thanks again to everyone for following along! (And if you haven't yet, be sure to subscribe to this blog so you don't miss any updates along the way.) Looking forward to the next 30 days - February is a great month for cards! :)

Freshly Made Sketches #220

Happy Monday, everyone! I'm playing along today with Freshly Made Sketches, sketch #220. A friend introduced me to this blog, and it's quickly become one of my go-to sites for inspiration. I think coming up with a layout and design is one of the hardest parts of cardmaking, so I love that this site provides different ideas. Here's this week's sketch:

I thought about this for a few days before diving in. I thought about snowflakes, balloons, and flowers for the top left corner. And then I remembered some new craft goodies (paper, die cuts, stamps, and inks) I received as a gift, and I wanted to incorporate those into this project. Here's the final card - more details below.

It's a little bit different than the sketch, but I think it still works with the focus in the top left corner and sentiment to the right.

I really LOVED that leaf paper (one of my new goodies!), so that was my starting point for this design. It's so clean and simple, and gives a few different colors to use with green, yellow, and red. I decided to use them all with the flower die-cuts and leaves.

The flower dies are unique because they help add some dimension to the card. Part of the petals actually lift up, giving some added interest. I think it's really neat that the flower isn't completely flat on the card, but comes up off the card. Here's a better view where you can see the petals lifted up off the card a bit...

I think anyone who receives a card with these flowers just couldn't help but touch the petals! The flowers are the focus point, and then it comes with a little more fun with petals coming off the card. So fun!

I really wanted the focus to be the leaf paper and the die cuts, so I left the rest of the card simple with the black paper, white ink, and sentiment that isn't too big or distracting. The small pearls and sequins are also good, subtle embellishments.

This was a fun sketch to try, and there will be more Freshly Made Sketches posts to come!

Materials

Paper - white card, black card stock, green paper (Hobby Lobby); yellow envelope (Paper Source); leaf background paper, red paper, yellow paper (Stampin' Up)

Dies - Botanical Builder framelits dies (Stampin' Up)

Stamps - Beautiful Butterflies (Papertrey Ink)

Embellishments - clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), small pearls (Hobby Lobby)