Sandra Caldwell New Release Friday

It's Friday, so that means Sandra Caldwell has another batch of new images for you in her Etsy Shop Babycakes Digis and Designs.  This is one of today's releases, called #1645 Jamaican Cutie.  She was fun to color.  I used Copics for her skin, hair and dress and blended pink, yellow and orange Distress Inks on her head scarf.  Isn't the SU! ombre ribbon yummy?!?  Love the way it looks and ties.  I used to add ribbon to almost every card and got out of the habit.  I just love how it gives a finishing touch and a bit of "fancy" to a card.

This is my final card as part of Sandra's DT.  I've been one of her part-time girls since I started 15 months ago - although I have been promised the chance to be a guest DT!  I was drawn to her unique style as an artist and the diversity of her images.  Being part of her fabulous team has been a joy.  It's a great group of women.  I encourage you to check out the vibrant Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans Facebook Group (which has grown to 422 members in the last year) and the Babycakes Digis and Design Shop to support this talented artist.

Challenges Entered:
4 Crafty Chicks #357/ - AG
C.R.A.F.T. #422/ - Add Ribbon and Sparkle
Crafty Girls Creations #37/ - AG
Creative Knockouts #200/ - For the Girls
Star Stampz 6/29/ - Bright Sunshine Colors
As You Like It 6/29/ - Favorite way to add ribbon + why

CAS Colours & Sketches #229 - Sketch Challenge

Holy Hannah, Jane's sketch had me on the ropes and pushed my thinking a lot! I went through my stamps, but couldn't find anything that worked.  In the end, the card turned out, but it's not at all what I had in mind when I started!  When I uploaded it to the CAS Colours & Sketches blog, my design looked super-similar to Jane's card!  Crazy!

I used flower dies from MFT and made the centers with distress inks on watercolor paper.  After playing with ink placement, I sprayed it lightly with water and die cut it.  The variation added some fun interest to the flowers.  The background embossing folder is a larger one from Cuttlebug.  A simple color palette makes the white flowers and centers pop!

Hope to see you card in the gallery this week on the CAS Colours and Sketches Blog!

Challenges Entered:
Stemplegarten #62/ - CAS
Sparkles Forum Challenge #93 July - Embossing
International Art & Soul #11 - Flowers
Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #60/ - AG
Creatalicious Challenges #117 - AG/ dies or punches

CAS Colours & Sketches #228 - Colours

Hi Everyone,
Patricia has some yummy colors for this week's CC&S challenge.  I had to do some substituting, but I think they are pretty close!

I kept my stamping simple. I used Island Indigo ink for Dapper Denim and pulled the ink color in with my colorless blender pen and then used it to color her hair using Peach Parfait and Cazun Craze.  The oval frame was on my desktop waiting to be used from another card!!  The girl stamp is from Stamping Bella and the sentiment from Right from the Heart.

Hope you will play along with us at CC&S this week - but first pop by the blog for some DT inspiration!!

Challenges Entered:
Path of Positivity #50 - Faith, Hope, Love
Let's Craft and Create #126/ - Girls, Girls, Girls
Love To Craft #11/ - AG
Brown Sugar #255/ - AG

CAS Colours & Sketches #227 - Sketch Challenge

Beverly has a great sketch for us to play with this week on the CAS Colours & Sketches Blog.  This one pushed my thinking a bit.  I used a little creative license with the larger circle, trying to keep my layered flowers and bottom leaf to mirror a circle-ish shape.  The flower representing the smaller circle is stamped directly on the card front the others are layered on top using foam dots.  The strip of paper along the left side was in my scrap drawer and really pulls in all of the colors from the flowers.   The card to the right is actually my second card, and one I went back and remade because I decided my original (seen at the bottom of my post) wasn't really CAS because it was too layered.  Maybe I was obsessing too much; maybe Patricia, Beverly, or Karen were channeling me - for whatever reason, it was a good exercise to go back and revise!

The stamp set, Abstract Florals, is from a new-to-me company, called Right At Home.  The sentiment is from a different set, called Grateful Heart.  I was super impressed with the quality of the clear stamps.  The solid shapes stamped perfectly from the first time I inked them - no matter what kind of ink I used!!  I have a feeling I will be ordering a few more stamps from Right at Home!

Hope you will play along with us this week and you find inspiration from the other DT creations!

My original, layered design.

Challenges Entered:
Addicted to Stamps #150/ - Flowers
Crafty Catz #374/ - AG with a die or punch
Jo's Scrap Shack #192 /- AG
Crea Chicky's #11 - Flowers

CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge #226 - Colours

This is my week to hostess for the CAS Colours & Sketches Blog.  Challenge #226 is a color challenge.

I was in need of some thank you cards and happened on my Simply Said: You Sentiment stamp and Elle- ments Die from Avery Elle.  Sorry, I don't know who makes the embossing folder (there's no name on it), but it's one of my "go to" folders.  I die cut the word and then embossed the crumb cake card front.  Because the negative space from the letters o and y were needed, I kept the die cut word and pieces in the folder to be embossed.  As a bonus,  I had an extra word you beautifully embossed from the Crumb Cake background! (*Scroll down to see the CAS card I made with it.)

Not being the neatest of crafters, Floral Frame was still on my desk - which provided me with the stamp for the cute flowers next to the word thank.  This inset style card is so quick and easy - I mass produced six of them in relatively little time!  The sentiment and die set will get lots of use!

Make sure you pop by the CC&S Blog and check out the DT inspiration! I hope you will come and play with us this week.

*Does it get any simpler than this?!?!
The same embossing folder on white paper,
 left over "you" sentiment from my 1st card,
and white embossing powder
on a PTI sentiment.
LOVE IT!!

Challenges Entered:
Crafting from the Heart #162/ - AG
Come and Get It 6/4/ - AG
A Bit More Time to Craft #45/ - AG
Crafting With An Attitude #28 /- AG

Sandra Caldwell New Release Friday

The image I have from Sandra's new releases this week is called #1603 BBQ Dad.  The sentiment is Labeler Alphabet from Stampin' Up!  and the dots behind him are from a PTI set called Celebrate.

I thought about making this a Father's Dad card for my husband, because he is the Grill King in our house, but my brother's birthday snuck up on me - so it's going to him.  The  inside reads:  Hope your birthday is smokin' hot!!   

You can find this new digi and the rest of today's new images on the Babycakes Digis and Designs Etsy Shop.  Check out the rest of the DT images on Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans FB Group page.

Challenges Entered:
Hand Stamped Sentiments #265/ - Sketch
Aud Sentiments #181/ - Summer + sent.
Craft Rockets #38/ - For the Men/Boys