Freshly Made Sketches #433

It's Wednesday, and that means a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Jen M. is our hostess for today, with a fabulous abstract sketch with lots of possibilities for interpretation.

My goal right now is to mail a card a day for a month, and bring some smiles to friends and family. I am on week 3. I am terrible at mailing out what I make, so this is a mailing milestone ha! This little bee makes me smile, so I hope its recipient will smile too!

I cut my hexagons from black fun foam. It makes it stand up a bit, without having to pop up such a skinny die cut! The sentiment (Sentiment Sampler from Paper Smooches) was stamped with VersaFine Clair Nocturne. The bee is from the Rainbow Sherbet collection (also PS). I added a little vellum cloud behind his wings. Isn't he cute?

I hope you will join us with your take on the sketch this week! Our challenge is open until 3 PM EDT on Monday. Click on the links on the FMS blog by each photo to see what lovely things my teammates have created on their blogs!

Color Throwdown #591

It has been my pleasure to be the April Guest Designer for the Color Throwdown. This is my last post, and I had a ton of fun! It's already Wednesday in the East, so my post is right before midnight in my neck of the woods! This week Amy Rysavy is our hostess and has chosen a fun color palette to play with: plum, pink, peach, and white.

I have been sending out cards to friends and family every day for a couple of weeks now (I am terrible at mailing things. So this is a big deal to do it every day ha!) and I wanted to make a cheery greeting for a friend to send out tomorrow.

 

I used the balloon from Party Pants (Stampin' Up!) for my background, and drew my strings with the A614 Azteca Everblend marker and a ruler. My sentiment (Stampabilities) is inked with VersaFine Clair Nocturne. My cute cloud is the Stitched Cloud from Whimsy Stamps. Enamel dots are My Mind's Eye. A little of everything today! My card is totally inspired by Maile Belles.

Now it's your turn to play along over at the Color Throwdown Challenge. Be sure to also visit with each of the CTD Design Team members and leave them some love:

** Amy Rohl **  Amy Rysavy ** Barbara ** Broni ** 

 ** Jodi ** Lisa ** Lynn ** Vickie ** Wanda **

Creating With Surface Sprays

I love mixed media creations, and today I am sharing a card using Surface Sprays from Brutus Monroe!

The colors I chose today are Aubergine and Cabbage. I love purples and greens together. I sprayed loosely across my cardstock and let the colors run where they pleased. The depth of color changes depending on the amount of spreading that the colors do. Once it was dry I embossed with an embossing folder for some additional texture.

I found the little flowers and foliage bits in my "save for later" drawer, and they matched perfectly. I added an enamel dot to the flower center. The sentiment from Cozy Coffee is embossed and is perfect for the mixed media background. I added a little strip of black and white patterned paper for interest.

I love it! It's fun art that I let go where it wished. That's creativity - and good for the soul! You can shop the sprays HERE.

Birthday Bears from Brutus Monroe!

Hello everyone! 
I tend to make all occasion cards the most, so that they can be tailored to whatever I need it for. The one occasion I make the fewest of is birthdays. Isn't that crazy? You can always use birthday cards. I guess the ones I send say generic things like "For You" or something. 

Well today, I have an ADORABLE little bear with balloons to share -- and a sentiment for a birthday!
This little guy is from BIRTHDAY BEARS by Brutus Monroe. There are four bears and a cute bunny, along with birthday items and cute sentiments!

I also chose a happy rainbow patterned paper to go with my bear. It's from the Bold Rainbow Paper Pad 6x6. Super bright and fun!

I stamped my images with Raven Black ink on white cardstock, and then colored in with alcohol markers. I love his little heart cone! This is already on its way to someone to tell them Happy Birthday and "make a wish!"

Shop HERE for all your Brutus Monroe products!

Freshly Made Sketches #432

It's Wednesday, and that means a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Jen T. is our hostess for today, with a fabulous sketch you will love.

I decided to go very CAS with my design today, and keep it really clean and simple. I chose a set from Stampin' Up! that I hadn't inked yet: Painted Poppies. It's a super popular set, so maybe you have seen the images around. 

I chose the smaller poppy for the "circle" image in the sketch. I colored in using Copic markers, and then stamped the little graphic stamp with LDRS ink. The sentiment (and poppy) were stamped with VersaFine Clair Nocturne.

For the sketch lines, I decided to score part way across the panel. I love the simplicity! I added a bit of patterned paper (SU!) to peek out behind the image and pick up the green in the leaves. 

I hope you will join us with your take on the sketch this week! Our challenge is open until 3 PM EDT on Monday. Click on the links on the FMS blog by each photo to see what lovely things my teammates have created on their blogs!

Color Throwdown #590

It has been my pleasure to be the April Guest Designer for the Color Throwdown. It's already Wednesday in the East, so my post is right before midnight in my neck of the woods! This week Wanda is our hostess and has chosen a wonderful color palette to play with: navy, yellow, kraft and green.
I have chosen Pucker Up from Picket Fence Studios for my card this week.

I used Layers of Clouds Stencil for my background, and added soft sponging with Tumbled Glass DOX. I didn't want the background to overshadow the bright lemons! I stamped the sentiment to one side. Images were stamped with Black Hybrid ink and colored using Copic markers. 

The lemon branch was cut out using the coordinating die. I love that it cuts the middle out too! Perfect! I added a trio of sunny lemon sequins to finish the card.

Now it's your turn to play along over at the Color Throwdown Challenge. Be sure to also visit with each of the CTD Design Team members and leave them some love:

** Amy Rohl **  Amy Rysavy ** Barbara ** Broni ** 

 ** Jodi ** Lisa ** Lynn ** Vickie ** Wanda **

Spread Joy, Not Germs! It's A Blog Hop!

My hope for you today: That you can forget about everything worrisome, scary, sad, hard, and crazy, and fill your tank with color, inspiration, creativity, and JOY! That's why my blog is called Joy in a JAR. My intials are JAR and this is my little haven of joy - papercrafting! 

What a wonderful opportunity to be a part of this blog hop. Thank you to Catherine Pooler Designs and The Hedgehog Hollow for the organization and work that has gone into this hop! It's going to be AMAZING. 

If you are here from CRYSTAL KOMARA's blog, you are in the right place. If you get lost, the full hop list is at Catherine Pooler Designs and The Hedgehog Hollow (links above). If you started here, keep going around! There are sooooo many prizes to be had and just spectacular projects to see. Read on to find out about my giveaway, and how you can be eligible to win one of the sponsor prizes!

I am sharing a joyful coffee card from Brutus Monroe's Cozy Coffee stamp set. I started by making a watercolor background with Frayed Burlap and Weathered Wood DOX ink.

My images are stamped with Raven ink and colored using Copic markers. I LOVE this ink for coloring. It's dark, clean, and doesn't smear. I added some fun embellishments from my stash to accessorize my cup.

We have 31 Sponsors!! Prizes will be randomly drawn from all the blogs and all the comments. Leave as many comments on as many blogs as you can! Some of the companies are offering discounts and freebies, so keep hopping!  

Deadline to enter is April 24 for prizes. Winners will be announced on Monday, April 27 on Catherine and Alexandra's blogs.  Remember to leave a comment to be entered in the prize drawings! Brutus Monroe is giving away a $50 Gift Certificate!

My GIVEAWAY -- I am giving away a jar of Rainbow Sparkle Embossing Powder from Brutus Monroe! Random drawing from all comments.

Next up is the super talented Amber Trubiak! I know you will LOVE what she has in store for you. Happy Hopping!

Freshly Made Sketches #431 Meets Color Throwdown #589!

I am guest designing with the Color Throwdown this month! This week Vickie is our hostess and she has one of my favorite color combinations to play with: red, black, gray, and white.

It's also Wednesday, and that means a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Lee Ann is our hostess this week. 

I went "shopping" in my stash to use something new that I hadn't before, and found these fun Cityscape Skyline dies by Tim Holtz. I cut one in black and one in gray, and gave them a red background. I added a little white cloud (Whimsy Stamps) and a banner sentiment (TE). It's a perfect card to send to a friend right now!

Now it's your turn to play along over at the Color Throwdown Challenge. Be sure to also visit with each of the CTD Design Team members and leave them some love:

Amy Rohl

Amy Rysavy

Barbara Anders

Broni Holcombe

Jodi Collins

Lisa Henke

Lori Tecler

Lynn Put

Vickie Zimmer

Wanda Cullen

I hope you will also join us with your take on the sketch this week! Our sketch challenge is open until 3 PM EDT on Monday, April 20. Click on the links on the FMS blog by each photo to see what lovely things my teammates have created on their blogs! Live at 7 AM CDT.

April Release Day for Picket Fence Studios!

It's an exciting day for Picket Fence Studios - it's Release Day! I adore this release and I know you will too. There are such amazing products in this release - new stencils, stamps, and coordinating dies!

Today I am sharing a fabulous new set called FACE THE SUN. It has a gorgeous sunflower with coordinating images and some beautiful sentiments.

I stamped in VersaClair Nocturne ink on Hammermill White cardstock and colored my image with watercolors. I added some shadows with my Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor Pencils. I matted the panel with a golden yellow cardstock (also for the sentiment), and tied some twine around the bottom.  

I felt that gingham paper would be a wonderful complement, and adhered that to the black card base. I popped the top panel up with foam tape and it's ready to go. I love how it turned out. What do you think?

I also wanted to show one of the new stencils: KNOTS SCALES. I chose the gorgeous previously released A BRIDE'S BOUQUET for the foreground, with the stencil in the background:

Isn't is a fabulous background? I colored in the tie on the bouquet with Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor Pencils. The mat is a sparkly gold metallic.

It's a simply fabulous release, so head over to Picket Fence Studios to see it all! There is so MUCH MORE to check out! Shop {HERE}.

I will see you back tomorrow for more cardmaking ideas!

No Probllama with Chroma Glaze!

Today I am sharing my favorite color - PINK! And if it can't be giraffes, then it should be goats --- or LLAMAS! 

I am using PUNCH CHROMA GLAZE from Brutus Monroe. This glaze is so easy to work with. You just need some kind of spreader (I have used old credit cards, hotel keys, palette knives, and plastic silverware!). I started by taping my stencil to my craft mat. The stencil I chose is RANDOM DOTS. The different sizes and placement just seemed to fit these zany llamas.

It has a beautiful shine to it and dries pretty quickly. I would suggest air drying, because it can lose some of the shine with a heat gun. That intense heat changes the texture and look somewhat, so I prefer to let my glazes and pastes dry naturally. 

The llamas are from the LLAMA FRIENDS stamp set. Super cute with five different llamas and four sentiments:

I stamped with Raven Black ink, and then gave them some highlights, and a touch of pink to match the background, with alcohol markers. I embossed the sentiment on vellum with Raven Embossing Powder. A few sequins and some silver thread for bling, and it's ready to send! What do you think? Pink Llamas for you?

You can shop for all Brutus Monroe products HERE.

Stencil Fun with Picket Fence Studios

I love working with stencils for making backgrounds, don't you? The Fancy Flourish Stencil from Picket Fence Studios is a beautiful design, and was a perfect choice for Sandra Girl.

I used VersaFine Clair Warm Breeze ink and my Life Changing Blender Brushes to create the background. The sentiment from Fancy Sentiments was stamped right on top of the stenciled backgound with VersaFine Clair Nocturne. Sandra Girl and the butterfly were stamped on Hammermill White and cut out using the coordinating die. I backed the main panel with Peacock Curious Metallic and the base is Hammermill White. 

I colored in her flower with a Copic marker. I love how it turned out! Did you know that everything at Picket Fence Studios is 20% off? Use code PFS20. Head on over to the site by clicking one of the links below and start shopping!

Challenges:

• Allsorts - #567 - Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue (I tried to make all four fit! Sandra Girl, Fancy Sentiments, 20% off code (that's stretching it!), Ink Color)
• Crafty Calendar - Add a Butterfly 
• CAS on Friday – Black, White, plus One Color

Freshly Made Sketches #430 Meets Color Throwdown #588

I am guest designing with the Color Throwdown this month! This week Lynn is our hostess and she has some bright and bold colors for us to play with: orange, green, pink and yellow. What a fabulous combination!

It's also Wednesday, and that means a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Jacquie is our hostess this week. While her sketch shows a diamond shape, she says "If you have a forgotten shape die in your collection, I'd love to see it get used this week!"

So I went with this fun Stitched Hex Tag from Reverse Confetti.
I paired it with that adorable crafty zebra from Crafty Critters. I did a watercolor background with Twisted Citron DOX on the tag, and then colored in the images with Copics. 

You can see all the colors in the little paintbrush holder!

I added some fun patterned papers from the Cheerful and Kind 6x6 Paper Pad, and a sentiment from the Crafty Critters set. So cute to share with a stamping friend! I added some pink and white baker's twine at the top of the tag, and a few enamel dots for embellishments. My card base is my favorite Melon Mambo pink!

One thing that my daughter and I did this past week for a fun quarantine activity was to design a floral bouquet. You could have the flowers delivered or picked up curbside, and then you watched a video from the florist (our sweet friend, Todd!) to help you design. They came wrapped in a bunch, and then you cut and arranged how you wished. It occurred to me that they are a perfect complement to the colors for this week. This is my finished bouquet, and it was a blast creating it! Something new for me during these crazy times (and a real stress reliever - just like cardmaking!).

Now it's your turn to play along over at the Color Throwdown Challenge. Be sure to also visit with each of the CTD Design Team members and leave them some love:

Amy Rohl

Amy Rysavy

Barbara Anders

Broni Holcombe

Jodi Collins

Lisa Henke

Lori Tecler

Lynn Put

Vickie Zimmer

Wanda Cullen

I hope you will also join us with your take on the sketch this week! Our sketch challenge is open until 3 PM EDT on Monday, April 13. Click on the links on the FMS blog by each photo to see what lovely things my teammates have created on their blogs! Live at 7 AM CDT.