Sketch Saturday #350

What a horrible week.  I had to say goodbye to my best buddy kitty who has been my constant loving companion for 16 years; seeing me through every sadness except this one.   My every move in our home revolved around him, literally, and he has left a gigantic hole in my life.   His wake-up call meow is no more, his food bowls are missing from the kitchen floor, his tail is missing from under my chair and he isn't behind me/in front of me/beneath me to shadow my moves.  He is no longer asking to share my dinner (whether I wanted to or not) or calling to me to come and see to him.  He is not here to sit on my lap of an evening or to wait for me to finish on the computer so he could accompany me to bed. 

My heart may never mend.

But it is Saturday and time for one of our fun sketches at
Sketch Saturday
and we are delighted to be sponsored by our very own

Niki
who is kindly offering a wonderful prize to one lucky winner.

I hope the recipient of my card doesn't see it on my blog.  His birthday is a couple of weeks away but I thought this great Kenny K "Policeman" image would be perfect for him as he is a retired Detroit policeman.   My image is a rubber stamp but you can buy the digital version here.   I used Crate Paper "DIY Shop" and "Party Day" and coloured him with Copics.  

Now we would like you to scooch some space on your craft table and come and play along with us.  Don't forget to share some love with my lovely teamies too.

I am entering my card into the following challenges:
Creative Card Crew - Birthday with a Sentiment
The ABC Challenge - D is for Die Cuts (just my nestie ovals in this case)
Simon Says - Anything Goes; and
Whimsy Stamps -  use a sentiment

Sketch Saturday #349

It's Saturday and time for another great sketch at

Sketch Saturday

and we are delighted to be sponsored by
A Random Fan

I loved Debra's fabulous sketch this week but I did struggle a little trying to incorporate my chosen image which is for some friends who just became engaged to be married.  I hope you can see that I did make an effort to use the sketch.

I used  Random Fan's Swing into Love which you can find here.  I altered the boy's hair line a little to make the couple look more like the recipients and printed it twice; once on the paper I wanted to colour with my Copics and once on a second sheet of the patterned paper I was using for my background. I didn't want the white background of my coloured sheet to be evident on the card and it was going to be way too hard for me to cut out the coloured images so I opted to cut out the negative space from the version I printed on the design paper and paper pieced this on top of the negative space of my image. The whole thing was then layered exactly on top of a duplicate page of design paper. It was still fiddly but it made it so much easier because I could cut through the image to get to the negative space whereas I would have been unable to cut through the coloured image in order to remove the white space and I would have had to use a craft knife.   I hope you can see what I mean.  I coloured on the inside of the lines of my DP image in case my cutting wasn't perfect and to remind me not to cut the wrong bit!

I know my banner is below the feature panel rather than above the couple on the swing like the sketch  but you can see my DP paper already had banners below and I opted to retain them.  I cut out a duplicate set  and added a sentiment and replaced the star with a brad I found in my stash.  It was the perfect colour.

Now we would like you to scooch some space on your craft table and come and play along with us.  Don't forget to share some love with my lovely teamies too.

I am entering my card into the following challenges:
Whimsy Stamps - Add a sentiment
Deep Ocean - Love is all around; and
Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes

Sketch Saturday #348

HAPPY VALENTINE's DAY
It's Saturday and time for another great sketch at

Sketch Saturday

and we are delighted to be sponsored by our lovely friends at
Simon Says Stamp

I'm a bit late posting this morning because I was up late finishing T'ubster's Valentine's card which I hope to show later in the week maybe.

This is a card I made for a special young lady using Mo Manning's gorgeous "Cara Chatting" which you can find here.  My papers are MME "Cambridge Court" and I used some shop bought flowers with a Memory Box (or perhaps it's a Poppy Stamps) leaf and a Little Yellow Bicycle "Smile" die.

Why not scooch some space on your craft table and come and play along with us. We'd love to see you join in!

I am entering my card into the following challenges:
Mo's Digital Pencil - where the challenge is Anything Goes with optional for a boy.  In this case the recipient of my card (and perhaps Cara too) is on the phone talking about boys, boys, boys, boys boys!

Christmas at Sweet Stampin' February Challenge

It's the second Wednesday of the month and time for our new challenge at
Christmas at Sweet Stampin'

where our February theme is
Only Words
and we are delighted to be sponsored by
Sweet Pea Stamps

My Craft Room runneth over with more stash that I can possibly expect to use in my life time.  In particular abundance are Christmas stamps but that didn't stop me from borrowing this Inkadinkado "Dear Santa Letter" stamp from best matey, Julie, when she came to play at my house.  As you can see, the image has a quill incorporated into it which I covered up with a 3D version.   I stamped a feather using a Papertrey Ink stamp and die cut it with a Simon Says Stamp feather die and teamed it with a Sizzix quill nib die.

The side sentiment is from Lily of the Valley and my flower is Prima and backed with a Marianne die poinsettia for the leaves.  I love my new Labels 18 Nesties used for framing too.  At last I made a Christmas card I really like the look of and in fact I made several of these.

My fellow CASSettes have lovely cards to share with you and we would be delighted if you would join in our challenge this month.   I'm going to enter my card into the following challenges:
CraftyHazelNut - Anything Goes as long as it's Christmas; and
Loves Rubber Stamps - Show me some red

Sketch Saturday #347

It's Saturday and time for another great sketch at

Sketch Saturday

and we are delighted to be sponsored by the lovely
A Day for Daisies

I used the same papers as last week for my card today; MME Lost and Found "Oliver" and I love them.  I also love this absolutely adorable image called Hello Baby Giraffe from A Day for Daisies which you can find here.  

There are a number of other giraffes to choose from and as The Hubster has told me that I can't have a real one, I think I might just pop by the store and pick up a few of ADFD's other cuties from the set. I coloured this little guy in a combination of Copics and Promarkers.  A Memory Box wreath surrounds him and my banners were cut with a PTI die.  

We would love it if you would share some love with all of the Saturdays and then why not scooch some space on your craft table and come and play along with Niki's fabulous sketch.

I am entering my card into the following challenges:
Anything Goes at
Loves Rubber Stamps and Stamping Sensations

Sketch Saturday #346 - Pick-A-Sketch

It's Saturday and time for another great sketch at

Sketch Saturday

and we are delighted to be sponsored by
Drawn with Character

As January is one of those months with five Saturdays in it - this week you can Pick-A-Sketch from any of Sketch Saturday's previous sketches between #215 and #345.  You can find our past sketches here.  You just need to let us know which one you used by including a copy of the sketch in your post.   I remember the first time I used Carrie's fab sketch #253.   I liked the card I made for it back in April 2013 and I like this one too. 

I used Valentine's Monster Love 2 which you can find here.  The image comes with the monsters standing separately; each with their own balloon but I merged one in front of the other and removed one of the balloons.  We wanted to send love to the recipient but not go overboard because he's a guy.  The monsters are supposed to represent the hubster and me.  I'm the fat yellow one!  I thought these guys were just crying out for googly eyes and I especially like how 'mine' turned out.    My papers are My Mind's Eye Lost & Found "Oliver".  I used a Martha Stewart punch for the fence and a Papertrey Ink die for "birthday".  And here is the sketch I used but remember you can use any of the ones in our archive...

Now we would like you to scooch some space on your craft table and come and play along with us.  Don't forget to share some love with my lovely teamies too.

I am entering my card into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Bunny Zoe's Crafts - hearts 

Sketch Saturday #345 - Dreaming of warmer climes

It's Saturday and time for another great sketch at

Sketch Saturday

and we are pleased to be sponsored by
Sami Stamps

My delightful and beautiful Goddaughter is travelling to Australia having "done Europe" last year.   She also celebrates a birthday and I chose this lovely image called "Nadia Daydreaming" from Mo Manning which you can find here for a card for her.   I added some pictures of Australia to Nadia's magazine. 

I have, in my usual style, flipped the sketch.  I sometimes think that my brain sees things as if through a mirror as I rarely manage to get the sketch elements the right way round for my cards. 

I love these "Something for All Seasons" papers from Authentique.   My birthday sentiment and the frame for it are by Papertrey Ink (I'm not sure which set my Bon Voyage sentiment is from) and the leaves on my flowers are from a Marianne die.  

Why not scooch some space on your craft table and come and play along with us. We'd love to see you join in!

Given that whilst we Brits are freezing my Goddaughter is going to be  experiencing (and Nadia on my card is daydreaming) of fabulous winter warmth and sunshine down under, I am entering my card into the following challenges and I hope to get away with it!
Mo's DP2 Challenge - Anything Goes with optional warm
Deep Ocean - Winter dreams 

Sketch Saturday #344

It's Saturday and time for another great sketch at

Sketch Saturday

and we are delighted to be sponsored by
Bunny Zoe's Crafts

I have been really miserable for the last couple of weeks.   I am still flooded with cold and gloopiness on my chest and I'm well and truly fed up with it.  Worse than that, my dearest and most treasured friend moved away and I'm gutted although of course I wish her and her family every happiness in their new home.

I have to confess to stretching the sketch a little with my make this week. You can definitely see that I followed it here using this entirely WordProcessed and Photoshopped sentiment (I had to Photoshop the white letters on to the green banner because I don't know how to do that in Word) and some papers from MME "Bloom" and 5th & Frolic "Dear Lizzy"

I also made a version using a central rectangle instead of an oval with my Poppy Stamps small window die and Memory Box village.  My papers here are a scrap of Graphics 45 for the stripes and "Seasons" from Authentique.

But both of these photos are just panels in a bigger project.   I have seen several of these types of boxes on blogs and this isn't the first one I've made but gosh I find them tricky.   The box bit is okay although there is rather a lot of it to decorate inside and out but I find fixing the "bouquet" of items inside really difficult.  I like all my waving elements

 but I failed in the engineering and they are all a bit jumbled and floppy.  If anyone out there has a way of arranging them more easily I would love to learn about it.  Here is one more shot showing some of the more hidden elements.  My bouquet includes Marianne dies, Hero Arts and PTI dies too.    

We would love it if you would share some love with all of the Saturdays and then why not scooch some space on your craft table and come and play along with us.

I am entering my card into the following challenges:
Creative Inspirations and Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes;
and a photo inspiration from Curtain Call from which I drew on the colours and the wrap around theme of their scarves.

Bethlehem Inn - No Vacancies - Christmas at Sweet Stampin' January Challenge

It's the second Wednesday of the month and time for our new challenge at
Christmas at Sweet Stampin'

where our January theme is
Nativity
and we are delighted to be sponsored by
Funky Kits

Sadly, my bose (that's "nose" to all you people out there who don't have a horrible cold) is still completely yukky and all that gloop has dropped down to the top of my chest where it is whistling and bubbling and making breathing even more difficult.  I have some antibiotics now so hopefully I will soon be on the mend.  In the meantime though I have had to make a card for our Nativity theme at Christmas at Sweet Stampin' and I'm afraid I don't like it at all!

I picked this cute stamp from Stamposaurus called Bethlehem by Andrea Neville as my main feature and I really liked the idea of teaming it up with this great Waltzing Mouse Seasonal Remedies  sentiment stamp.  When it came to making the finished card, I thought it needed an actual nativity scene (outside of Bethlehem because of course Joseph and Mary were unable to stay at the town Inn) so I put this Die-sire Nativity die cut on a stepped panel at the front of my card.  I don't much like the mix of modern and traditional but I have been feeling too poorly to have another go so it is what it is.
My fellow teamies have done very much better and there is a splendid selection of cards to see over at Christmas at Sweet Stampin'.   We'd love you to join in with us too!

Sketch Saturday #343

It's Saturday and time for another great sketch at

Sketch Saturday

and we are delighted to be sponsored by
Simon Says Stamp

I have the cold from Hell.  Seriously - I can't ever remember a worse one.  I am either completely stuffed up so that my head is pounding, my teeth are throbbing and my mouth is permanently open in order to breathe (which makes eating and even talking kind of tricky) or my nose, and astonishingly - my eyes, are streaming like I have a cartoon tap over the bridge of my nose and it's on full burst.   There doesn't seem to be a transition between the two states - I just go from stuffed up to pouring. The Hubster keeps telling me I don't look like me.   Gee - thanks!

Anyway... I used this fun Mo Manning image of The Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz which you can find here.  He is coloured with Copics and teamed with papers from Graphic 45.     I struggled a bit trying to work out how to use my image with Debra's delightfully trendy sketch so I just used it behind my image.  My rather lame sentiment was Wordprocessed.   Forgive me.  I'm sick!

Why not scooch some space on your craft table and come and play along with us. We'd love to see you join in!

I am entering my card into the following challenges:
Creative Inspirations - Finished with a Bow
and of course
Mo's Digital Pencil - Anything Goes

Sketch Saturday #342

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
It's Saturday and time for another great sketch at

Sketch Saturday

and we are delighted to be sponsored by
Bugaboo

But first I need to apologise for my absence last week.  Christmas sure was busy with lots of visits to our new baby grandson and his 2 year old brother PLUS a home invasion from our Greek 5 year old grandson and his mum who stayed with us for pretty much the whole last two weeks.  The Hubster and I are exhausted and whereas I have not managed to do much blog visiting and (so far) I have failed to enter a couple of "Favourites from 2014" challenges I wanted to, I did manage to make a card for today.  

I used some new Theresa Collins papers I picked up at The Maxx with this cute Flower Teapot from Bugaboo which you can find here.  The image is coloured with Copics and Promarkers.  The petals and the main part of the teapot have been popped up with silicone and I glazed the teapot too so it's a darn shame that you can't see it.  For sure my card looks better IRL.  The additional ladybugs are Memory Box (or perhaps Poppy) dies.

Now we would like you to scooch some space on your craft table and come and play along with us.  Don't forget to share some love with my lovely teamies too.

I am entering my card into the following challenges:
Anything Goes at
Simon Says, Creative Card Crew, Cute Card Thursday and (A is for Anything Goes) at ABC
and
Something Old (my MB ladybug dies) and Something New (my image and design papers) at
Loves Rubber Stamps

Sketch Saturday #340

It's Saturday and time for another great sketch at

Sketch Saturday

and we are delighted to be sponsored by
Simon Says Stamp

It will come as no surprise that I rotated Debra's wonderful sketch this week when making this card for a dear friend of ours. I appear to have placed my hanging basket (the star in the sketch) on the wrong side of the window too!  My image is by the fabulously talented Maurie J Manning and is called Max at Hanukkah. You can find him here.  

I used two Spellbinder's banner dies (one for the wording and a different one for the ends) and a Word processed sentiment  with my Memory Box/Poppy Stamps window and hanging basket.  The flowers are cut with a little Fiskars punch I have and the leaves are from a Memory Box tree.  Fiddly little wotsits they were too!  My brick wall is an embossing folder by Design Objectives and I coloured my image in Copics. I did it well too so it's a bit of a shame that most of Max is obscured behind the window. Darn it but I didn't think to use the   window on the actual base card opened through to the inside and have Max inside the card.  Hey ho...next time. 

Why not scooch some space on your craft table and come and play along with us.
Sketch Saturday is taking a Christmas Break so you have two weeks to enter.
 We'd love to see you!

I am entering my card into the following challenges:
Mo's Digital Challenge - Gettog Krafty
Crafty Creations - Something to Die For
Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes
The Ribbon Girl - Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly - Paper Play

Christmas at Sweet Stampin' December Challenge

It's the second Wednesday of the month and time for our new challenge at
Christmas at Sweet Stampin'

where our December theme is
Winter Sports
and we are delighted to be sponsored by 
Iva Nova Chest

I'm sorry (AGAIN) for the poor photo quality.  I take good pictures on my camera when I'm not trying to photograph my cards.  I just don't understand why my card photography is so rubbish.

I have used some old papers from my stash and Spellbinders Labels 18 to frame this pretty winter scene using the Cheery Lynn Winter Neighborhood Border B323 die and Marianne's ice skates. What will you use if you decide to participate in our challenge this month?  Sleds, skis, a snowball fight or something else?   My fellow CASSettes and I would love to see you! 

I am entering my card into the following Anything Goes challenges at

The Ribbon Girl,  Creative Inspirations, A Creative Romance and 

Winter Wonderland at Stamping Sensations and 

Christmas/Holidays at Simon Says Stamp

I am thinking of making some more of these in an all white theme so you may see something similar again on my blog in future.  

Sketch Saturday #339

It's Saturday and time for another great sketch at

Sketch Saturday

and we are delighted to be sponsored by
Art by MiRan

I am as pleased as punch with my make this week.  That's quite rare for me but I just loved this image called Lola Cabaret by Mi Ran Jung which you can find here.  She looks like the recipient of my card, she was a delight to colour and she worked perfectly with Vannessa's great sketch.  I'm particularly happy with her nose - Lola's that is, not Vannessa's - (although Vannessa's nose is lovely too!).   It was a complete fluke and I daresay I am unlikely to be able to repeat it but it's one of the best noses I've ever coloured!

I used Copics for my colouring medium and added Spica sparkle and a little white gel pen to Lola's hair ornament.  Her feather boa has been lightly fun flocked.  My sentiment (including the "YOU") is by Papertrey Ink and the die cut corner and zip are by Marianne.  I drew an open zip last year and sent it to Marianne suggesting it would make a good die.  She agreed and I received one of the first ones off the press.  My design papers are K&Co and Farm House. I've added some DCWV corrugated card, a couple of feathers and some netting behind the open section of the zip.

Now we would like you to scooch some space on your craft table and come and play along with us.  Don't forget to share some love with my lovely teamies too.

I am entering my card into the following "Anything Goes" challenges:
ArtbyMiRan and Whimsy Inspires -and Papertake Weekly 

Sketch Saturday #338 Pick-A-Sketch

It's Saturday and time for another great sketch at

Sketch Saturday

and we are delighted to be sponsored by
Drawn with Character

As November is one of those months with five Saturdays in it - this week you can Pick-A-Sketch from any of Sketch Saturday's previous sketches between #215 and #337.  You can find our past sketches here.  You just need to let us know which one you used by including a copy of the sketch in your post.   I played fast and loose with our challenge this week as my finished card is very much an interpretation of the sketch rather than a replica.

We have a dear friend who entertains at a posh dining establishment we frequent and my card is for him.    He is a great singer and wonderful pianist and he plays at a grand piano with a bar shelf all around it and little tealights on the top.  The hubster and I have spent many a lovely evening sipping a cocktail around his piano and he and his family have welcomed us into their lovely home too.
So I was inspired by this sketch 

and this piano (you can just see the reflection of The Hubster and me in the corner) using memory box dies for the keyboard and music and upside down craft works candy with some gems for the tealights.  

Why not scooch some space on your craft table and come and play along with us. We'd love to see you join in!

I am entering my card into the following challenges:
Creative Card Crew - stripes (my keys are stripes!) and
Anything goes at Simon Says