Sketch Saturday Week #565 Submission

I'll admit, I thought I was going to miss out on Sketch Saturday's sketch challenge, because I just wasn't inspired at all until say....10 minutes ago.  (Hey, I work better under pressure!)  I had the sketch laying on my desk all week, and I'd look at it at least 500 times a day, flip through my limited supply of papers and stamps and embellishments, and nothing...not even a tingle.  Don't get me wrong, it's a great sketch, I just wasn't feeling it for some reason.  Maybe a heat wave creative block?  (Laws it's hot here in NC!!) Anyway, here's the sketch:

And here is the card I created! 

I'm super pleased with the way it came out!  As it ends up, while flipping through all my stuff, I found a stack of gift tags that I had hand painted about a year ago, so I hacked off the top (the hole and yarn) and went with it.  I love tea and coffee (probably why I own a coffee shop!) so, I used that as my embellishment for this card and just worked around it.

Materials

I used a white cardstock base and just a scrap of black construction paper I had handy as a mat.

The pink and gold foil rose paper is from various Craft Smith paper pads

Green patterned paper is from my scrap bin (yay) and by My Mind's Eye

Embellishments are from My Mind's Eye

Rubber Stamp is a dollar stamp from Michael's I believe, that I picked up ages ago, but I will update it when I get home to my full craft room, as it's there.

Fabric roses from Wal Mart

Vintage Photo distress ink from Tim Holtz.

All in all, I think it came out beautifully, and now that my creativity is restored, I'm looking forward to participating in some more challenges....the sketches are already on my desk!

If you have any questions, just ask! I'd be glad to help! :)

UPDATE 6/1/19:  I'm honored to have won Sketch Saturday Challenge #565!!!  Thank you so much to the Sketch Saturday team!!  I'm over the moon!  There were so many talented creative cards entered, I'm so very honored to have won!

Paper Players Sketch Challenge #443

I've really jumped back into papercrafting, and I'm loving the sketch challenges!  Today I chose to post this card in response to The Paper Players sketch challenge #443.  Here is the sketch they posted:

Since it's that time of year - you know, the end of the school year, I chose to make a teacher appreciation card.  In all honesty I had a hard time choosing between that and Father's Day.  I created this card using the following materials:

white cardstock base

AC Cardstock in a deep red

papers from The Paper Studio All Seasons 5 paper stack

The apple is hand cut and roughly paper pieced using a Stampabilities stamp called "The Influence of a Good Teacher" - also where the printed quote came from which I just printed on my computer.

Fiskars paper punch

Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo

Peacock Stickles

Brown paint marker

I had a ton of fun creating this card, and since I've rekindled my paper crafting it's the first sketch challenge I've submitted to.  I look forward to many more! :)  I hope you enjoy my card, and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!

UPDATE 6/1/19:  I am so honored to have made the Cut Above with this card!  Thank you Paper Players!

A Missed Challenge - Whoops!

So I took the first step in choosing a sketch challenge that I wanted to participate in, and I created two designs for the challenge.  I had so much fun creating these two cards, and I've realized just how much I missed creating with paper.  When I went to upload my challenge entries this morning, I had missed the deadline! BOO!  Oh well, apparently it's going to take a few tries to get this right, so I will share the cards here for you to enjoy, they will be available soon in my Etsy shop.

Maybe a Cupcake Will Help?

Materials

white cardstock base

Stampin' Up Pretty in Pink mat

K & Co Girl Scout Paper Pack

Recollections rhinestones

Petaloo Flowers

Hampton Arts cupcake rubber stamp

Inkadinkadoo sentiment stamp

a random bit of random rik rak I found in my stash.

 The Sea is Calling

Ivory cardstock base

Authentique "Sea Maidens" paper pack

Recollections flowers, rhinestones and pearl embellishments

Silvertone shell charms from Walmart

Hello Friends, Old and New!

Hello everyone!  It's been a very, very, VERY long time since I've had a blog.  Things have changed and calmed down in my life (we're almost empty nesters!), and I'm at the point where I want to start creating beautiful paper goods again, along with my candles and wax goodness (some of you may remember me as "Auntie Di's").  Laws knows I have enough paper that I will never use it up in this life time.  One of the things I really loved to do when I previously made cards, was submit them to magazines.  I've been published in 4, and what a rush it was see my name in print!!  While researching my options recently, I was sad to discover that most paper craft magazines are out of print now!  While I understand that we've gone to digital options almost completely, it saddens me to not be able to hold a print magazine in my hands and flip through the glossy pages, while looking for my name, or the names of other artists I follow.  On a good note though, I've discovered several blogs with card sketch challenges weekly, and I am VERY excited about that!  One of the requirements to submitting a sketch for these challenges is to have a blog that they can link to, so here we go!  

On this blog, I will talk about many of my creative endeavors.  You never know what you will find here, so visit often to see what I'm up to.  If you're a crafter, I hope I can inspire you to create something wonderful.  If you're a friend, thank you for stopping in to see what I'm up to.  If you're a customer, I hope you can find something you love and must add to your collection.