Canopy Crafts: sketch challenge

Showing posts with label sketch challenge. Show all posts

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Vellum Orchids for a Sketch PP386

Hi there friends! Thanks for stopping by for another week with my teammies at The Paper Players. This week, the fabulously Crafty Claire has an awesome sketch challenge for us:

I'm not really sure where the inspiration for this came from except that I wanted to use a stamp set that had not been inked in awhile and I wanted to think a little outside the sketch. Instead of using the circle in the sketch as the focal point for a stamp set, I used it as a landing spot for my focal image. I really like elements that "fall off" the edge--the edge of a die cut or the edge of an image. So here, my Climbing Orchid falls off the edge of the Stitched Shape element.

There are three orchid pieces to this flower, each one inked in Versamark on cardstock vellum, heat embossed in gold, and cut with the coordinating Thinlits. Usually vellum shows any adhesives but here I was able to hide both glue dots and dimensionals with each layer of the flower. It was only after I glued everything down that I realized I was supposed to have ribbon element around the top of the card front...d'oh! I hope Claire will forgive me!

With a specific placement for a sentiment, the sketch gives us freedom put it anywhere--love that! I had a lot of elements going on here and didn't want to add another element for the sentiment. With that in mind, I did some tone-on-tone stamping with Berry Burst ink on the same color cardstock stitched circle. It's a subtle way to incorporated the sentiment without extra bulk!

Was anybody else excited to see THICK Very Vanilla cardstock in the latest catalog? I was so happy--love it! I didn't need to add an extra panel to the inside because the base is thick enough but with all the layers on the front, it still felt a little whimpy on the inside. So, I cut a 4 x 5.25" panel and inked up my design for the inside. Since I used the Seasonal Layers thinlit to cut the branch on the front of the card, I used this fabulous sentiment from that coordinating Colorful Seasons set on the inside. Such a great sentiment and useful for so many occasions!

Thanks for stopping by today! Be sure to check out the rest of the inspiration over at The Paper Players where my teammates also had fun with Claire's sketch. Perhaps you'll be inspired to play along with us before the challenge closes on Friday, March 30th at Noon (PST). Have a great week!

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

Nance Leedy

Elizabeth Stewart

Sunday, February 25, 2018

An Amazing Number of Years! PP382

Hi friends! This week the my sensational friend, Sandy, has an equally sensational sketch challenge for us at The Paper Players...take a look:

Isn't that a good one?! I could see so many possibilities with this from heavily layered to clean and detailed....I landed somewhere in the middle with today's card:

A colleague at work hits a milestone birthday next week so I wanted to make an extra special card for her. She loves flowers so I loaded her up with as many as I could fit on this card! I wanted to keep the focus on the center panel and chose to stamp a panel of mock paper on the bottom layer. For this I used my favorite Birthday Blooms set in a tone-on-tone pattern on the Pool Party base. Next, is a striped layer from some retired paper--Blushing Bride is such a pretty pair to Pool Party isn't it?

The Number of Years stamp set and coordinating Large Numbers Framelits makes for a fun way to highlight more of this pretty retired DSP by using the negative space left behind from the die-cut. Once I cut out the numbers, I stamped through the shape with the number in Blushing Bride ink. What you can't see in the photo is that I brushed Wink of Stella onto the numbers for some pretty sparkle! The Pool Party ruffled ribbon is long since retired but like some many things in my craft room likes to come out and play. Here it served as a nice base for the Mossy Meadow "amazing" Celebrate You thinlit from the current Sale-a-Bration catalog.

The Number of Years stamp set has a bunch of great sentiments like the one I used here on the inside. I mean who wouldn't feel better about their 50th birthday after a sentiment like this one, right?!

I hope you enjoyed my card today....be sure to check out my teammates at The Paper Players for even more fabulous inspiration. We hope you will play along with us before the challenge closes on Friday, March 2nd at Noon (PST). Thanks for stopping by, friends!

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

Nance Leedy

Elizabeth Stewart

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Beautiful Bouquet of Thanks - PP378

Hey there peeps! Sorry to have missed you last week. Volleyball season has begun and this family is busy, busy--a tournament last weekend and one this weekend too. It's a time commitment but our daughter loves the sport and we love watching her team play! Anyhooooo, I'm back this week to host our Sketch Challenge over at The Paper Players...take a look:

I just recently purchased the Beautiful Bouquet stamp set and matching Framelits--I know, what took me so long, right?! I thought this sketch would be perfect to highlight all the pretty flowers in this set:

So, this card is a little more simple than my usual style. There's not much beyond the big bouquet but I thought the colors and depth of the bouquet was enough to carry the design. Although from a couple weeks ago, I really liked the colors of the Global Design Project color challenge #121 so that was my inspiration for the florals. The stems are cut from Lemon Lime Twist cardstock and the flowers are all stamped on thick Whisper White in Bermuda Bay, Peekaboo Peach and Sweet Sugarplum. A Crumb Cake base is a good neutral to balance all those colors and I think it adds a rustic charm that goes well with the wildflower look of the bouquet. Of course, Linen Thread is the perfect finishing touch of rustic charm!

No time to stamp the inside this week and I'm prepping for another tournament this weekend. The weekend keeps me busy as I've ended up in the role of team photographer. Watching the action through the lens helps keep my mama bear tendencies in check and helps me keep calm--I'm sure all you sports moms, dads, and grandparents can relate! Here's a shot of our daughter at the net from last weekend's tournament in Jacksonville. Proud mama! :-)

I hope you've enjoyed my card today and feel inspired to play along with my sketch at The Paper Players. I'm sure the fabulous work of my teammates will get you even more fired up! Just be sure to play along before the challenge closes on Friday, February 2nd at Noon (PST). Thanks for stopping by!

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

Nance Leedy

Elizabeth Stewart

Sunday, August 27, 2017

Spooky Cat but really an Owl PP359

Hi all! Lovely Laurie is our hostess this week at The Paper Players for a great sketch challenge:

Isn't that a good sketch?! You'll see from the fabulous inspiration of my teammates that there are lots of ways to interpret it, too. I recently received a box of pre-order goodies from the upcoming SU Holiday Catalog and have a sneak peek for you! I couldn't quite bring myself to start making Christmas cards yet but I could get started on my first favorite fall holiday...

I have to laugh at myself...I don't send many Halloween cards but I sure do like to buy the stamps and make the cards. Can anyone relate?! I especially like a bundled set like Spooky Cat that is bundled with an awesome cat punch. Instead of the cat, today I feature the fabulous owl from this set. He looks more realistic than the more whimsical owls I have in my collection. The base of the card is a piece of Crushed Curry cardstock run through the Big Shot with the Woodland embossing folder. The rising full moon is cut with Circle Framelits from some retired DSP, Going Places.

The "tree" is actually two branch die-cuts from the Seasonal Layers Framelits. Cut from Sahara Sand cardstock and then layered together with the fine tip glue pen. They make the perfect perch for my owl and coordinate nicely with the embossed Woodland trees in the background.

You have to see the owl close-up as he photographs quite dark. He is stamped in Fresh Fig ink on to the same cardstock. I fussy-cut the image and then heat embossed his beak and claws with copper embossing powder. How did I get just those tiny parts to the owl, you ask? Some time ago, SU carried a Versamarker pen. The same ink as a Versamark stamp pad but in a marker form--great for small areas! It's retired from SU but I found it for you on Amazon...you're welcome. :-)

Just one last image for you....this stamp set also has a fun stamp that layers over the owl with a great sentiment. I used the branch stamp from Colorful Seasons in Sahara Sand for the owl to perch on and Fresh Fig for his eyes and sentiment. I also added a sponged Crushed Curry moon and some Fresh Fig "bats" (née seagulls) from the High Tide stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by today. Be sure to check out the rest of the team at The Paper Players and play along with us before the challenge closes on Friday, September 1st at Noon (PST).

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

Nance Leedy

Sunday, August 13, 2017

Fabulous Flamingo PP357

There's no other title to give today's post because the flamingo set I used for my card really is, well... fabulous! And, so is the tropical color combination Sandy is hosting for us this week at The Paper Players:

I knew right away that I would ink up the new-to-me Fabulous Flamingo set. I can't live in Florida and not own this set, right?! Advance apologies to Sandy....as I sat down to make my card I discovered that my Pear Pizzazz ink pad has dried up! It's the old-style felt ones and I had no ink refills for it. So, I substituted the current in-color Lemon Lime Twist which pairs equally as well with Bermuda Bay and Calypso Coral. I'm also happy to share today's card with my dear friends on our sister site, Freshly Made Sketches as they celebrate sketch #300! Congratulations, gals that is a huge milestone. You'll notice that I flipped the sketch to better suit the orientation of the flamingo. Here's the awesome sketch and my card:

This card is deceptively simple. Deceptively because although it has only two layers, there are some details that take a bit of explaining. In order to match the sketch, I needed a short and narrow panel for the flamingo. Because the image is wider than I wanted, I stamped him on a piece of thick whisper white cardstock and trimmed the sides leaving just a bit of the image hanging off the edge. To do this, use a rotary cuter and cut down each side just to the image. Then use small scissors to fussy-cut around the edge you want hanging off. This might help:

This image is four stamps! There is the solid base of the bird's body, the shadow which highlights the neck, lower body and legs. These were both stamped in Calypso Coral with the solid body image stamped off once. The line art on the body and legs are two separate stamps. All these stamps give a lot of flexibility with how you want your flamingo to look. TIP: I found the best results stamping the highlight image w/legs FIRST. Using this one first makes sure that your flamingo ends up standing straight and tall instead of leaning forward. That's not such a fabulous look, lol!

Lately, I've been making simple cards with less layers and I didn't want to use another layer of paper under the panel with the flamingo. I decided to mask off an area that would mimic a layer of paper and stamp directly on my card base instead.

That's all for the tricky parts---oh, the Bermuda Bay "enamel dots" aren't really Bermuda Bay. I didn't have any in that color but I did have a aqua colored Sharpie marker which did wonders for changing the color of my enamel dots!

Have to show you a close up of the flamingo as her plumage is bedazzled with Wink of Stella.

And, lastly a peek at the inside with some stamping in the corner. Just shows how pretty these three colors look together. Whew, and that's it! I hope you liked today's card. Be sure to check out the rest of my teammies with their lovely creations at The Paper Players! Also, pop over to Freshly Made Sketches and wish the team there a Happy 300th!

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

Nance Leedy

Sunday, July 23, 2017

A Floral Statements Sketch - PP354

Happy Sunday, friends! The awesome Jaydee is our hostess this week at The Paper Players and she has a fantastic sketch for our inspiration:

As soon as I saw the sketch, I knew exactly which stamp set I was going to use and I couldn't wait to play with it... Floral Statements:

It's another one that I couldn't wait to order from the new catalog and it didn't disappoint...so pretty! I like the combination of the vintage looking flowers with the bold crisp letters. It's a combo that feels modern and fresh. To keep that crisp look to the letters, I stamped it with Archival Black ink and used my MISTI to re-ink and stamp in the same spot three times for a good solid black on the letters....worked like a charm!

I used a lot of water in my Aqua Painter to wash the background with Pool Party ink. The flowers were also painted with the Aqua Painter and a blend of Powder Pink and Berry Burst inks. Yummy Lemon Lime Twist colored the leaves and centers--what a fun color! Here's a tip I learned from my teammie, Jaydee...unlike cold press watercolor paper, hot press watercolor paper is perfect for solid stamped images like this one as it has no texture. I never knew the difference between the two until Jaydee mentioned it on her blog one day. I bought some that very day and have been using it ever since--thanks Jaydee!

There's not much else to this card--it's all about the watercolor! Be sure to pop over to The Paper Players and check out the rest of the eye candy from my teammates. Maybe you will even join us before the challenge closes on Friday, July 28th at Noon (PST). Thanks for stopping by!

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

Nance Leedy

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Climbing Berry Orchids - PP352

Hi friends! I took a short unplanned break while family was in town for my hubby's 50th birthday! I'm back today at The Paper Players with a pretty monochromatic color challenge from lovely LeAnne:

I combined it with the awesome sketch this week at the Global Design Project:

Todays colors seemed like the perfect opportunity to play with my new stamp set, Climbing Orchids. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this set. Not only is there nothing else like it in my collection but it's also photopolymer (love) and has coordinating dies (double love)!

The monochromatic color palette provides the perfect combination of colors for shading--each one slightly darker than the next. I used the lightest shade, Sweet Sugarplum, for the base color of the orchid bloom. Berry Burst was used to stamp the flower petals and Rich Razzleberry shades the tiny centers of the blossoms. Not wanting to bring in another color, I also thought the dark Rich Razzleberry made the perfect stem for the flowers. It's actually a die from another set called, Seasonal Layers Thinlits.

I thought the plain white background set off these colors nicely but it also needed a little something....I washed the card base (Thick Whisper White cardstock) with Wink of Stella and the effect is gorgeous IRL. Difficult to capture in a photo but it gives a soft shimmer to the background and just a little bit of interest. Another tip, the retired gold stripe vellum was attached to a scrap piece of white cardstock and then popped up on dimensionals. Attaching it to the cardstock gives it weight so it doesn't sag when popped up and also hides any adhesive which would otherwise show through the vellum.

Another cool tip....extend the use of your photopolymer stamps by using the solid back of the stamp! For the inside of the card, I needed a solid base of Sweet Sugarplum. I flipped over the stamp and attached it to my clear block with the wrong side facing up. I stamped first in Sweet Sugarplum then, took the stamp off the block and reattached it to the block right-side up. Next, stamped the details of the image in the darker shade of Berry Burst for a full color orchid. Here's a couple photos to illustrate:

Although they started last week, this is my first week playing alongside our two new Guest Designers, Annie & Jan! Along with returning GD, Deanne, I am so happy to be crafting with all of you! Check out all of our team's amazing works over at The Paper Players. Maybe you will be inspired to play along before the challenge closes on Friday, July 14th at Noon (PST). Thanks for visiting!

Edited 7/11/17: So excited that my card was chosen as a #GDPwinner at The Global Design Project--wow! Many thanks to the team for selecting my card. There are always so many gorgeous entries, it's an honor to be selected!

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

Nance Leedy

Sunday, June 25, 2017

Lakeside Anniversary PP350

Hiya friends, did you miss me?! I had a nice little break as we wound up the club volleyball season with my daughter's team at AAU Nationals in Orlando. They placed 5th out of 118 teams in their division and we are so proud of their spirit and tenacity!

Anywhooo...this week I am excited to host our sketch challenge at The Paper Players:

I love the look of tone-on-tone stamping and that's what I tried to capture in the sketch. With some new goodies from the 2017-2018 SU catalog in hand, it was good to get back into the creative groove and create this for you:

I won't lie, the first thing I did was cut out these adorable Adirondack chairs with the [new] Seasonal Layers Thinlits. Aren't they cute?! I wasn't exactly sure what I would do with them but started to get the idea of them sitting by a sunset--what better way to celebrate an anniversary, right?

Here you have a better view of the tone-on-tone stamping with Pool Party ink on the Pool Party base. The congratulations sentiment is from the companion stamp set, Colorful Seasons. The strip of paper on the side is a design (I think it's Tip Top Taupe?) from the retired Cherry on Top DSP stack. The neutral color helps ground the other bright colors of Real Red, Crushed Curry and Pool Party. I stamped the sunburst from the retired Kinda Eclectic set directly on the new Color Theory DSP stack; this paper has a gradient stripe which works well with the idea of a setting sun.

The Colorful Seasons stamp set has some beautiful sentiments and this one is no exception. Love the sentiment and love the font! It's stamped in Early Espresso on top of a Crushed Curry sun with a little random heart from my stash. I think it's the perfect sentiment for an anniversary, don't you?

I know this has been a photo-heavy post but I also have to share this one. I know my bird-loving teammies Jaydee & LeAnne will love it!

We live on 1.5 acres with lots of live oaks, water oaks, and pine trees. Hawks and owls are our resident companions and this guy was squawking up a storm while I was photographing my card. He feels so comfortable in our yard that he stayed on this branch while I went inside the house to swap out my camera lens for the zoom. Managed to get him mid-squawk too! Isn't he majestic?

Thanks for stopping by my blog today and humoring me and all my photos! Check out the rest of the inspiration from my fabulous teammies at The Paper Players and come play along! It's also our last challenge with Guest Designers Valentyna and Crystal. Thank you ladies for all your hard work and participation with us--it's been great having you on the team!

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

Nance Leedy

Valentyna Komisarenko

Deanne

Sunday, May 28, 2017

Hello Gorgeous Birthday! PP346

Hi friends! The lovely Laurie has a fantastic sketch challenge for us this week at The Paper Players. Check it out:

I received a few new toys in my Stamping' Up pre-order and thought I would feature them along with some pretty retiring designer paper:

My stamp set and Happy Birthday Thinlit are from the Hello Gorgeous bundle and I love 'em! This thinlit makes for such a quick and easy card. The retiring Affectionately Yours DSP inspired my color choices of Crumb Cake, Night of Navy and Watermelon Wonder.

I used this sweet little blossom stamp from the Happy Birthday Gorgeous stamp set to stamp the background of the card base--I love this trendy tone-on-tone stamping look. This little stamp coordinates very well with the blossoms on the pretty paper.

A close-up shows you the detail of the Happy Birthday Thinlit. I was pleasantly surprised with how easy this popped out of the cardstock after running through the Big Shot with the Precision Base Plate. Cut through like butter! I cut a second piece from Crumb Cake cardstock and used it like a drop shadow behind the main Watermelon Wonder die-cut.

I hope you liked my card today....be sure to pop over to The Paper Players and check out the rest of the inspiration from my friends on the Design Team. Maybe you will play along with us before our challenge closes on Friday, June 2nd at Noon (PST). Thanks for stopping by today....on my birthday!

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

Nance Leedy

Valentyna Komisarenko

Deanne