I have taken photos of my craft table for Julia's What's On Your Work Desk Wednesday the last couple of weeks over at Stamping Ground. I will admit that I took photos of my desk yesterday, but then got side tracked trying to tackle the overwhelming mess that I didn't post them. This morning my son wanted to make a thank you card for a girlfriend of mine (who recently sent him some books). I thought his work station on the dining room table was far more interesting then my overflowing chaos. I love that my children are so interested in cards and I love that Ben remembered that he needed to make a thank you card, I've got this boy well trained.
This CAS card is for several of those lovely 4th of July themed card challenges this week. I just chuckle b/c while I am American, I currently live in New Zealand. I'm going to a 4th of July potlock with some fellow Americans, but it's so very cold and wintery here that the whole thing seems a bit odd. The bonus is that we wont have to stay up late to light the fire works, it should be dark by 5 o'clock. So please enjoy your summer celebrations, I'll be having my hot dog, potato salad & apple pie- which my down jacket and hat on.
A very red card, for 365 Cards 3 shades of red using the CPS- Card Sketch. Still working on taking photos at night, very open to suggestions- I've seen a number of folks mentions light boxes and digital camera settings, please feel free to share your thoughts.
This colorful card is based on the Unscripted Sketches sketch. It uses the rest of the Hero Arts digital sentiment I printed this morning for this card. Love when the scraps on the table become something of their own. The orange background paper is construction paper from my son's art project (b/c of course he wants to join me at my craft table while I'm making cards). The yellow paper is from a trip to Thailand in 2003, so yes ladies I am trying to use up some my fairly decent size stash. The tulip is from Squigglely, which is having a challenge on their blog to use that particular digital image.
I'm not sure folks really want to hear all the details on how some of my cards come to life. I have a very non-linear train of thought and sometimes it's hard to follow along. I saw this lovely color inspiration challenge on Deb's Paper, Ink, Scissors, & Stamps blog and thought it was a great color combination. Then I was thinking about the current 2 Sketches 4 You sketch and wanted to do something with words, but then I printed the Hero Arts digital image too large. So somehow, the card turned out like it is- which is very similar to Deb's DT card... I didn't indeed it to be that way. Will have to try another version for the sketch challenge... but in the mean time here's a very CAS Friends card. Its for the Stamp Simply color challenge. And since it's got a quote about friends it'll work well for the Simon Says Stamps friends challenge. And while hunting for the right shade of grey I decided to recycle the cardboard that came in the card stock packet which works for the Cute Card Thursday recycle challenge. Hope the lovely folks at Cute Card Thursday don't get sick of me this week, such a great challenge!
This very simple card is a combination of the Sentimental Sunday challenge for encouragement & support (with their freebie sentiment of the week) and 365 Cards challenge to use three shades of green. I also used another recycled envelope, so I'll put this in the Cute Card Thursday challenge to recycle. 
An elegant thank you card using the Taylored Expressions sketch. I am so impressed by all the comments I got on my other 3 flowers card from the Speedy Cat challenge, that I'm going to enter this one in the Mark's Finest Papers challenge (the 3 flowers are kinda hiding, but they're there). Aly's Sunday Challenge is to use flowers. Crafty Creations wants to the cards to "shine" and this black and white paper has got sparkly glitter and looks amazing in the light. Corrosive Challenge is celebrating flowers. Character Cafe is challenges us to use vellum.
Okay, we all know I have a coffee card addiction problem. So when I went looking through this week's Etsy Inspired challenge and saw this cute coffee tote bag I knew I had to enter. I'm not overly thrilled with my cards, but I think that has something to do with the dismal weather outside and cold temperatures. Both cards are small, the first one measures 4 1/2 inch by 3 1/4 inch and the second one is 3 inch by 2 1/2 inch. Great little gift tags really. 
I had out my Cosmo Cricket "Early Riser" papers and I just had to keep playing. I can't believe I've had the set for an entire year and I still have a bunch left. The paper hoarder in me is letting go and getting creative. This card uses the Card Patterns sketch. Please note lovely Card Patterns ladies that I've had my eye on those stamps you're giving away this week. Would love that couch stamp! Since I'm using more patterned paper, I'll add this card to the Just Add Ink challenge. Digi Doodle's Shop is having an "anything goes challenge.
A cute little card for this week's Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger. I don't normally make black cards, but I thought my CAS approach worked well, even with the absence of my need for white. Mark's Finest Papers is having a Speedy the Cat's Friend Challenge to use 3 flowers. Cute Card Thursday challenge is to Reuse, Renew & Recycle and I stamped one of the flowers on an envelope from my friend, I'm a paper hoarder and I liked the shade of red. Glad I could put it to use. The other two flowers were scraps from my overflowing collection of papers. Other Lovelies is having a flower themed challenge.
Look gals, another coffee card! This card is based on the sketch from Limelight Papercrafts and inspired by Karen's lovely card based on the sketch. I had gone digging for stickers for the Wee Memories challenge earlier in the week and had been waiting for the right opportunity to use this cool coffee cup sticker. Pile It On is having a challenge for stickers. Freshly Brewed is having an "anything goes" challenge (great tie in w/ my coffee theme!). And The Crazy Challenge is having an all things dots challenge, I think the polka dot patterned paper works?
Am I the only obsessive card maker who thinks of ideas in the middle of the night? I saw the current sketch for Waltzingmouse sketch blog before I went to bed last night and at some point in time in the night I had the perfect idea. I recently got this small punch from Paper Source and I realized that it would coordinate perfectly with the birthday cake punch I already had from Paper Source. I had a lot of fun with this week's Colour Q colors on another card, so I figured I'd use them again. I love that Claire's blog says "things I've made while I should've been ironing" b/c I've made this card when I was suppose to be cleaning... oops. The card turned out larger then my normal ones, it measures 6 inches by 6 inches.
Daring Cardmakers is hosting a winter themed challenge this week and I thought that was a nice change from all these summer contests! (It helps that I've been skiing for the first time this winter and it's very, very cold in my little winter world). The sketch is from clean & simple stamping. I stamped the snowflakes on white card stock and vellum which works for the Character Cafe challenge with vellum.
I made a card last night with Kim's Off the Wall Craftiness colors from the photo above and the card just didn't work. So when I saw the Critter Challenge sketch above I thought perhaps I'd try a different version. I couldn't fit my sentiment on the bottom, I tried and it looked too cluttered, so I'm not sticking completely to the sketch, but I was thinking of it! The card also uses the 365 Cards challenge Cut 3 Ways (I used the Fiskars cutter with the scallop and deckle blades and then tore the bottom one).
365 Cards wants a card with 5 of your favorite things, Favorite Color: Red, Favorite embellishment: eyelets, Favorite Sentiment: this one: "Sing, Laugh, Hope, Dance, Love, Wish, Dream", Favorite card shape, I'm a boring rectangular girl, Favorite tool: Fiskars scallop cutter, so handy and easy!
A sketch from Truly Scrumptious. I really need a good sentiment for this stamp, anyone got any ideas? Digital, wood, cling? Happy trails or something like that... I'm not sure. The card also works for the Cowgirl's Sunday Challenge, I think? Simple... might try another take on this card when I have time... or someone suggests the perfect sentiment?
I love CAS cards with lots of white, but when I saw these colors on Colour Q I thought they looked like fun. 365 Cards has a current challenge regarding bed time and while this card doesn't have to do with going to bed, I thought it was a good fit for the theme.
Cas-tastic Wednesday is having a challenge with blue & yellow & neutral color challenge and I was inspired by Karen's hybrid card. I printed the digital daisy from Two Peas in A Bucket on vellum and then put it on a blue paper (the flower is blue though, hard to tell in this photo). Since I was on a vellum kick I used a strip of yellow vellum on the bottom, flipping the scallop cutter to be the opposite side as the top scalloped edge.
