Inspired By #16

It's my week to be the hostess on the Inspired By All The Little Things challenge blog!  We're at challenge #16 already - how time flies :o)  I chose a vibrant, artsy photo of a bicycle, in what I'm assuming is a European city?  I'm looking forward to seeing how you all interpret this one... the colours, the graphic shapes, the bicycle?

 Here's what I came up with.  It's easy to mainly see the blue & green in the photo, but if you look closely, the bicycle is red & yellow - so I played up all four colours with some patterned papers (Christmas papers if you can believe it?) and a few sequins.  This is about as CAS as I get!

My guest this week is my wonderful friend, Cheri Bury - who I am lucky enough to be on two design teams with!  She has a wonderful flair for bright colours, and making really fun & interesting cards.  Head on over to the Inspired By blog to see what Cheri & the rest of the Design Team have come up with this week.  And don't forget to link up your creation - you have until Thursday the 26th.

Patterned papers are Peppermint Collection by Crate Paper and 25th and Pine by Basic Grey;  Cardstock is White Daisy, Close To My Heart & Blue by Bazzill; Ink is Onyx Black by Versafine; Sequins are Craft Medly; Banner Dies by Verve; Stamp sets are Just a Number and It's Your Day by Close To My Heart.

Fusion Card Challenge

When I saw the current Fusion Challenge sketch... I knew that I had the perfect papers & polaroid die to create a card.  So I picked one of the new High Hopes images, and made a card very similar to one that I did a few weeks ago:

I used the sketch, and pretty much follwed the colour palette in the photo (but my light blue turned into aqua!)

Patterned papers are Perfect Vacation by Imaginesce; Cardstock is Outdoor Denim, Pear, Ruby & White Daisy, Close To My Heart; Inks are Memento Tuxedo Black & Sapphire by Close To My Heart; Stamp is Shake Your Booty by High Hopes; Verve Mini Bookplate die; Instagram die by We R Memory Keepers; Copic Markers.

Art Impressions Southwest Watercolour Mini

 I pulled out my Tombow markers and the new Ai Watercolor Mini - Southwest (Sku #4763) recently and painted up a storm!  So today I have two cards to share with you from my paintfest:

 Both images are quite similar, I changed up the colours of the foliage a little, and added a bit of a design to one of the pots.  I used my Tombow markers to colour directly onto the stamps, and after using my damp paintbrush to soften the lines, I went back in and added some colour by scribbling the markers onto my palette, and picking up the colour with my brush.  It doesn't show much in the photos, but there is a lovely pale turquoise sky around the plants.

 There are all kinds of Ai Watercolor videos on our You Tube channel done by both Bonnie & Kendra that give step by step instructions on using the wonderful Ai Watercolor stamp sets  You can find the one that is using the Southwest stamp set here.

InLinkz.com

Inspired By #15

Jeanne Jachna is our hostess this week on Inspired By All the Little Things - with a very funky, retro inspiration photo!  I loved the direction that I saw most of the Design Team going... so I pulled out my Quatrefoil die from Taylored Expressions that I haven't used in a while, and whipped up a quick card to play along:

I ran the die through my Cuttlebug four times, using up scraps of cardstock, then randomly fit some of them back into my soft grey base.  I popped up the hello die cut with some pop dots, and added a black pearl.  Done!
Cardstock is White Daisy,Whisper, Slate, Sunset, Sunflower & Black - all Close To My Heart.  Dies are Taylored Expressions & Avery Elle.

Art Impressions at Hobby Lobby Blog Hop

The Art Impressions Design Team are hopping today to share projects made with the Ai stamp sets that are available in Hobby Lobby stores this spring.  You should be coming here from the talented Diane Zechman's blog.  I am sharing a cute card from the clear acrylic set Pamper Yourself (AiCS31):

Copics used: E11, E00, E000, R24, R22, R20, W5, W3, W1, W00, G46, G43, G41, B000, B0000

The set includes two images and seven fun sayings!  There are now five wood block stamps and five acrylic stamp sets available in Hobby Lobby stores - so check them out!

Our current challenge on the Ai blog is "Laughing With You" - we want to see your humorous creations!  Aren't Ai stamps perfect for that??

 Your next stop on the hop is Kerry Kung's wonderful blog.  Or if you want to start at the beginning of our hop - head on over to the Art Impressions blog.  Here is a list of all the stops on the hop:

Art Impressions Blog

Cheri Burry

Dana Warren

Diane Zechman

Karen Day

Kerry Kung

Reneé Matarese

Sharon Caudle

Oh, and did I mention that we're having a giveaway??

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Get Well cards

I have a couple of cards that I made for my brother-in-laws recently, using the new Art Impressions Get Well set of clear stamps available at Michaels stores this spring.  I really love the cute guy image, and all the fun sayings that are included with the set.  I used the same card design, and just switched up the papers:

Copics used - E11, E00, E000, R20, W5, W3, W1, W00, BG18, BG15, BG13, BG11, Y26, Y23, YR04, YR02, YR00

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Freshly Made Sketches #235

I am so happy to have a little free time to participate in this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge.  And strangely enough, I was able to put together two cards, using some pre-painted panels that were sitting on my craft desk.  I painted these about 6mths ago, and only bought this Lawn Fawn plaid paper pack a few weeks ago - so the fact that the colours all worked, and the design of the panels fit the challenge was too bizarre for words...

Here was our sketch:

Plaid papers are Lawn Fawn, Stamp set is Close To My Heart, YNS Gumdrops, Tim Holtz Distress Inks.