Freshly Made Sketches #245

Hi all! I'm back today with another card for Freshly Made Sketches. Have you checked them out yet? They are one of my favorite sites for sketch ideas. That's where I struggle the most. I find once I know what I want the layout to be, then the colors, sentiment, and embellishments come pretty quickly. But getting that design down the toughest part for me!

So, I'm playing along with Freshly Made Sketches #245 this week. I'm also entering this card into the gallery for Online Card Classes: Heat Wave. It's my first session with OCC, and I am very happy with the videos, tips, and tricks! (How can you not be when the leaders are Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner???)

Here's this week's sketch from FMS:

And, with a little "Christmas in July" inspiration, here's my take on it:

This card was SUPER simple to get together. Last year, I bought a paper pack from Hobby Lobby with Christmas theme. (It's by Recollections and called the "Cozy Lodge" collection if you're interested). All of the papers, including that deer with the sentiment, are from that pack. I just did some cutting with my Fiskars trimmer to get the paper to the size I wanted. The most difficult part of this card was the heat embossing across the card. I used Wow! Primary Ebony embossing powder. I also included a new technique I picked up from Online Card Classes to include that heat embossing. I finished the card with some black and white baker's twine, and a touch of Wink of Stella on the deer and his antlers. Done!


Anyone else getting an early start on Christmas cards in July? It does take a lot of time to make all of those holiday homemade cards!


Have a great day, and be back again soon!

Freshly Made Sketches #244

Hi all! Hope you had a good weekend. It has been H-O-T here. Gives me more time to stay inside in the AC and make some cards. :)

I recently made the plunge and purchased my first Hero Arts kit, and I LOVE IT. Did anyone else purchase this kit? I think they are all sold out now, but for those of you who were one of the lucky early purchasers, have you played around with the kit items yet? Honestly, I can't stop adding the stamps and die cuts to my cards. It is so perfect for July with the nautical theme, and I think the designers just did such beautiful work. My favorite stamp among the set is that turtle. Adorable! The jellyfish have such movement, too, and even the coral stamps come out beautifully. The ombre ink is so smooth and pretty, and the two specialty papers are amazing in person. If you're like me and you like the look of glitter and sparkle without the mess, these papers are for you!! I think it's one of those ones that I will go to again and again. A new personal fave!

And that leads me to this week's Freshly Made Sketches #244. Guess what set I jumped right to for this sketch? :)

Here's my take on it:

 I thought that turtle from the Hero Arts kit would add a different spin to the oval element in the middle of the sketch, so that was my jumping-off point. (I had die cut some turtles to have on hand when the kit first arrived, so that saved me some time when I went to put this card together. A good tip!) I also wanted to do something non-traditional to make a bit of a water-y look in the back, so I grabbed the shiny green paper that came with the kit, along with Papertrey Ink stencils. I used Blue Ribbon ink from Ranger and a blending took to make that background. I used a phrase from the Hero Arts set and Lawn Fawn Merman ink for the sentiment portion. For some finishing touches, I covered the turtle in Wink of Stella (this effect is so hard to photograph, but I promise it's there!) along with some PTI rainstones to reinforce the water/nautical theme. Then I just mounted this on a white card I had bought in a pack at Hobby Lobby, and that's it!

I'm sending this off soon to a friend with a July birthday. Hope you have a beautiful day! Until next time!

SIP Challenge 52

Hi all! I'm back today and participating in the SIP Challenge for the first time. They're celebrating their one-year anniversary, so I encourage you go over and check them out! I love seeing their themes, sketches, and inspiration, and their team is AMAZINGLY talented! I usually see at least one card each week that I want to try out.

This week, with their one-year anniversary celebration, their theme is "card makers choice," encouraging fellow crafters to use make a card using your favorite stamp set, ink colors, and paper. This worked out just right as I just found some new favorite stamps during a recent trip to Hobby Lobby. So I started out with the stamps and took it from there! Here's what I came up with...

I really love how those soft colors blended well in the background, and that pop of black and white really makes the sentiment stand out. But I have to say that my favorite part of this card is a little hard to see... there's a light heat embossed pattern in the background. See it now? :) When you have the card in your hand, it's a little easier to notice, and I think it'll make you want to actually touch the card and feel the heat embossed pattern. I will definitely be trying this out again!

That sentiment is going to be great for so many uses. I think it's a great reminder, especially if you're like me and tend to get a little caught up in details, that the organized chaos of life is a beautiful thing! (Even if maaaaaybe we don't appreciate it at the time - been there!)

Excited to see the other cards over at the SIP 52 challenge this week. Congrats again, SIP team! Look forward to many more years of cards and inspiration! :)

April Favorites

Hi all! Hope you had a great weekend.

Just wanted to share a few of my favorite creations from the month of April... if you follow me on Instagram (@elle_stamping), some might look familiar!

A quick disclaimer before we jump in... I do not work for any of these companies, and they have not asked me to try out or talk about their products (oh, but I would be THRILLED if that day ever came!). I just like to talk about things that I have found to work really well and share with others. That's how I have found so many of the products that I love, and I hope this is helpful for you fellow card-makers out there...

In April, I continued meeting monthly with a fellow card-making friend. I really enjoy our time together, and it's so fun to see how she uses stamps, ink, paper, etc. I always come away inspired and with new ideas! For our April meeting, I used the Simon Says Stamp April card kit for this card. I wanted to try something different with the black background and white text to make it look a little a chalkboard. And WOW, those flowers just POP against that black. You all might know by know that I REALLY love scripted sentiments, so that "Hello Friend" is going to get a lot of use!!

This was another one of my favorites from last month. I entered in the Freshly Made Sketches weekly challenge, and though it didn't win, it's one that I really love! It was so clean and simple, and there's a scripted sentiment again (told ya, they're my favorite!). The umbrella and raindrops can be used with so many sentiments and sayings, so I'm excited to keep using those stamps! This was a bit unusual for me because there's A LOT of white space in this card, but I think it works! (P.S. If you're interested, the set is Sun Showers from Hero Arts!)

I made my first Altenew purchase this month, and this set is GORGEOUS! It's my first laying stamp set, and I will definitely be going back for more! (Check out the Peony Bouquet set here.) I cannot say enough good things about this set. It was easy to use, stamped well, and turned out beautiful. There are so many possibilities and color combinations with a great layering stamp set like this, so don't be surprised if you see more peonies on my blog. :) Definitely check out Altenew and their gorgeous products!

I've already started a few cards for the month of May, so stick around... there might just be lots of blooms and flowers. It just seems right for this time of year. :)

Whoa...

Just a quick note to let you know one of my cards is featured on the Right At Home Stamps Instagram page today... WHOA! (I cannot believe I just wrote that.)

Check out Nicole and her shop. I don't know her, and she didn't ask me to do this... but she has reeeeeeeeally cute products over there! I loved the Happy Mail set and was so happy to add it to my collection!

I'm gonna go once again check out the Right Home Instagram to make sure what I saw is actually reality... for the 100th time today. :)

Have a great week! Be back again soon with some more cards! Thanks again to Nicole and Right at Home today!!

Simon Says Stamp April Kit: A Colorful Life

Hi all! I'm back again today with a review on the Simon Says Stamp April card kit: A Colorful Life.

I'm gonna be honest - when I first saw this kit, I wasn't too thrilled. The colors were bright, and it did include lots of flowers (which I love), buuuuuuut...

• I really look forward to coordinating stamp and die sets in the kits, and this one doesn't have that.
• I don't use clips and stickers too much in my cards, and this kit has A LOT of those.
• Many of the small patterned sheets also have small squares or sections to cut apart for your card designs, and I prefer the papers that are all one pattern or design.
• Even when I searched for preview cards from the design team, I wasn't loving it. This has NOTHING to do with the impressive talent from the team. The cards were designed very well. It's just that nothing was jumping out at me.

So, my first impression was... meh.

For the first time in a long time, when the kit was delivered to my home, it just sat there. I decided to give it a try to prep for some cardmaking time with a friend. We each bring a card to share, and then we make the cards together. I found a sketch online that I wanted to try, so I start pulling out some elements of this kit.

As I played around, I really liked how the different elements came together. Here's the card I came up with...

The sentiment, floral patterned paper, black card stock, and red, yellow, and light blue paper that the flowers are cut from are all from the kit. I do love that script sentiment, and the coordinating papers make matching super simple. This isn't my normal style, but I wanted to try out a simple technique I saw about how to make your card look like a chalkboard. This works, right? :) I have grown to really like this card... I think it's becoming one of my personal faves.

So after some cardmaking time with my friend, I just wanted to keep creating! So I went home and make a couple more cards from the kit...

So, my new verdict is... I like it. This kit is not one of my favorites, and I'm still challenged by those stickers and clips. But as cards have come together using different parts of the kit, I have been surprised that I like the final results. Another good thing about this kit is that it's not specific to one season or holiday. You really could use this all year round (though those bright florals are just perfect as spring blooms arrive outside).

Are you a SSS card kit subscriber? What have you made with this kit? What kit has been your favorite?

Have a great rest of your weekend!

1 card for 3 challenges

Happy weekend! I'm spending some time catching up on cardmaking - it's been too long! Yesterday, I made one card that I'm entering into three (yes, three!) challenges. Love it when challenges come together. :)

Here are the challenges:

1) Freshly Made Sketches #230

2) Papertrey Ink Make it Monday #244

3) Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

And here's what I came up with:

This turned out very clean and simple. I did have a little bit of an urge to fill some of that white space, but I left it as is. I think the blue and pink colors work well for a friend expecting a new little one. Such an exciting time!

Thanks for stopping by this weekend! Don't forget to add your email to that subscribe email box to get updates as they're posted! :)

Materials

Stamp set - Hero Arts Sun Showers

Inks - Ranger Dye Inks (blue ribbon and wild orchid), Versafine Ink (onyx black)

Paper - White card and envelope (Hobby Lobby), blue and white cardstock (Simon Says Stamp)

Other - Pretty Pink Posh sequins