Mad about Plaid

My little devil of a nephew, Sawyer, will be celebrating his 3rd birthday in early August. He is spunky and has that "I'm into some trouble" sparkle in his eye. He is a daddy's boy for sure and I knew I needed to make him a special birthday card. My sister is thinking about doing a farm/barnyard theme for his birthday. This kid is flannel and overalls all the way. 

I wanted to use the Color Throwdown #300 challenge. First I started by cutting out a "3" from some Navy cardstock. I thought I could make a cool pattern behind it, like plaid from a flannel. Once I covered up the pattern, I didn't like how dark it looked. I had to step back for a bit and reenvision it. I loved the plaid, so I made it simple by just leaving the plaid image in the corner and attaching the Navy "3" I had punched out and discarded. 

I'm not going to lie. I had to check out Google to see how to make a plaid pattern. Once I saw it and did it, I felt kind of dumb because it was so darn easy. I hope he will like the card and his barnyard party. 

Pucker Up: A Punny Card

I love a good pun, especially on a stamp. My students and I watch CNN Student News everyday and we always look forward to the puns at the end of the episode. Naturally, Cas-ology's Joke Challenge was the right spot for a sweet (or sour) little pun!

I took a bit of inspiration from Papertrey Ink's Sketch and this month's On Trend topic: Twine

as well as a combination of color combos (they were virtually the same) from Pals Paper Arts #198 and Color Throwdown #286. 

From this, a super simple, punny card...

Although I love Pool Party, I used it in a subtly in the twine pieces I wrapped around the base of the card. I love twine as it provides an alternative to bulky ribbon. I first took and inked up the lemon stamp (from the Crazy, Mixed-Up Love set) with Daffodil ink and then rolled the edges in Summer Starfruit to get a bit of dimension. A little yellow button to tie it altogether and wahlah!

Have a "pun"tastic day my friends. 

Super Simple Thinking of You

I am all about cards that take no time at all to create. I am a big fan of CAS cards: clean and simple, so today's fits right up my ally. 

I used the color combo from Color Throwdown #281 (which I must admit I was very nervous about)

and My Favorite Things #165 Sketch

to make this little beauty. 

I punch out a partial circle and backed it with some Tangerine colored paper from the Retro Fresh DSP. I stole a hexagon from the Afternoon Tea DSP and plopped a black button on top. Last, but not least, I cut out a Black flag and embossed my sentiment in white embossing powder. Keeping the rest of the card white and open makes these colors less intimidating and gives the card the punch it needs. 

Pumpkin Time

It is no secret that fall is my favorite season. I love the cool nights, baked goods, craft fairs, and leaves turning color. We also love visiting the pumpkin patch. We bought several pumpkins last weekend for cheap and we plan to do all our photo op stuff at the patch. 

This card was inspired by my serious love of pumpkins and fall. I combined a bunch of challenges for a seriously simple Halloween card. 

Color Throwdown #263 provided the perfect fall color assortment. 

Freshly Made Challenge #107 provided a super simple layout. No frills! 

Friday Mash-Up #131 with Spooky and Cas-ology #65 provided the inspiration. 

Last, but certainly not least, CAS-ual Fridays #117 provided a small finishing touch. 

The result is a spooky little card with lots of white space and a few fabulous details. I'm a bit obsessed with the weird white/cream colored pumpkins right now, but for my card I made a gray one. I love Stampin' Up's Jack of All Trades set...too bad it's retired!

Happy Fall y'all!

Color Throwdown Challenge #250

I am trying to find any excuse to be crafty and making cards seems to cure that itch lately. Once Owen lays down for a nap, I have the urge to do something, anything. Most of the time I'm scouring Pinterest for a few hours and then regret not doing something more after he wakes up. 

I have done some Color Throwdown challenges in the past, but stumbled back upon their page this week. Guess what? It's their 250th challenge! That's 5 whole years or color challenges. I decided to participate, even though the color combo was a bit wild for me. Click the link to see other CTD250 card challenges. 

Here is what I came up with. I really like the paper doilies. I think it takes a bit of harshness away from the bright colors. I probably should have added an embellishment or something, but I always get nervous about adding too much!