COLORS

I just found a great website that I've never been to before. Maybe you've heard of it?

Colourlovers.com

I had a lot of fun browsing the "most loved" palettes, and I found some great color combos for crafting. In addition, I wish I had money/time to redesign my living room- I think this would be perfect!!:

The "Just Because" Challenge That Isn't Really a Challenge Challenge

Yep. That's actually what this "challenge" is called at Moxie Fab World. For those of you who know the challenge, it's pretty obvious to see which pic I got my inspiration from. For everyone else, here it is:

It wasn't too hard to find matching colors in my paper stash, since yesterday I organized the craft room! I love saving scraps, so I finally got 12x12 clear storage containers, one for each color. Speaking of scraps, the tree on my card is saved from when I made this card in April! I cut 2, one with more detail (that's the one I ended up using), and could not bear to throw out the simpler tree. I'm glad I saved it! Here it is:

One More EBTKS

I just couldn't resist- I really like the sketch from EBTKS, so I decided to do one more card. I cut the triangles for the banner from patterned paper- it is hard to tell in the pics, but it is shimmery! I sewed them on, then added the circle with the sentiment and some ribbon, and matted it on a scalloped circle cut from pink vellum.

EBTKS #21- wedding card

For some reason, this sketch really makes me laugh. Can you tell what it is?......it's a washing machine! It comes courtesy of EBTKS, and it was fun to make a card to match the layout. I chose to flip it sideways, so it looks less like a big smiley face (is that why I laugh when I look at it?)

I chose an elegant color scheme for a wedding card. The opening is on the front, not on the side or top- you can see how it opens in the last pic. When I was done, I felt like it needed a little something else, so I added the rhinestones along the curved edge. Here it is:

Dress Design for Shabby Apple Dresses

I've got something a little different to post today. Shabby Apple Dresses is having a contest to design a new dress for their collection. Cool, huh? I have been really into painting fashion sketches recently, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to design my ideal dress! I was inspired by the colors on my watercolor palette, and I think they would be perfect for a springtime dress. The silhouette is fairly simple, with the detail mainly on the top half of the dress.

Click on the picture below for a closer look. I hope I successfully conveyed what was in my head!


The submission period runs through until October 15, so I might see if I can come up with one or 2 more designs. Thanks for checking it out!

2S4Y Kazan's 59

Above is this week's sketch from 2S4Y, and below is my card (sorry for the short post, I'm on my way to dinner!)

Plaid Thanks

The inspiration for this card came from this week's CPS sketch (it's a loose interpretation). At first I was just going to have the stamped paper strips, but it was a little too simple, so I added the threaded button.

OTWC Purple, Blue, and White

Above is the inspiration for the current OTWC challenge. Great color combo, as always! I'm really into bicycle images right now, and I was inspired by the white-on-purple silhouette in the lower-right picture, so I went towards that direction with the image on my card. As I did with this card, the bike is adhered with foam adhesive. Hope you like it!

Matt, don't look!

This card is for my brother and sister-in-law (Matt and Melissa) for their first anniversary. I'm mailing it tomorrow, so I hope they don't see this post before then!

I cut the flowers from wedding paper- it has words like "groom," "love," and "wedding" on it. It is a pearly silver color, and goes nicely with the pearls I added to the center of each flower. I stamped the sentiment and heat embossed it in silver. (In the 2nd pic I think the light was hitting it too much which is why it is harder to read.) I submitted this card to the create: blog's challenge to use handmade flowers. Here it is:

Quirky-Cutesy-Clean

Above are the colors for the current Embellish Magazine challenge. The colors were certainly challenging for me- not anything I would normally put together. The theme also threw me off- cutesy clean. I added some black and white to help make the colors pop:

Flashback Friday!

Okay...I'm going to be brave.

Amy from Tsuruta Designs re-posted the first card she ever put on her blog, and challenged readers to do the same. Now, before you see it, I want to remind you of how terrible the photography was (I'm sure in the future I'll say the same thing about the pics I take now once I get a "real" camera and learn how to take photos!). The card itself I actually like, and am not ashamed. Here it is:

You can also check out that first post here. The card was also featured on the Cards blog, the first challenge I ever entered, which is why I made this blog in the first place. Look at all the designers featured here, (mine is Thank You by Jennifer Rzasa), then look up 3 names. WOW! Amy Tsuruta! Isn't that weird! Especially since I first started following her blog last week. Who knew my first blog experience was shared with her as well!

Now you're in for a real treat. I will boldly show you the first card I ever made. Well, not ever- I know as a kid I made a lot of cards for my parents, and made cards at school, etc. But it was the first card I made as an adult (I was 21) when I first started paper crafting 5 years ago.

Where's the focal point? (there is none)
Where's the sentiment? (there is none)
Where's the creativity? (umm....the colors?)

I apparently liked vellum at the time- it's the only thing that actually made it onto the card! At the time, I think I knew it wasn't a great card, which is why I saved it and never gave it to anyone. Oh well- you've gotta start somewhere!

Sign of Peace

I feel like I always enter the Moxie Fab challenges on the last possible day. The current challenge (due today!) is to incorporate a peace sign in an innovative way. Here it is:

I designed the bike image for my die cutter, making sure to add a peace sign in the wheel, and put it on the card with foam adhesive. I kept the card simple, adding a strip of patterned cardstock (layered with some vellum) across the bottom, with a cut sentiment on top. I'm not sure what occasion this card would be good for- maybe Earth Day??

clean&simple 102

For this thank you card, I used the sketch from clean&simple. I stamped the "thank," die cut the "you," and glued on the buttons. Here it is: