Sketch Challenges and Simple Saturday ... on Sunday

How's your weekend going? So far, so good for me. The party yesterday was great fun. The birthday girl is the sweetest little thing, and it's so cool to see my sister as enthralled with being a grandmother as I am.

About my cards, this first one is my take on Weekend Sketch Challenge #82 hosted this week by Mary Jo Albright on her Beauty Lies Within blog.

Materials & Tools: Colonial White, Blush, and Garden Green cardstock; Basic Grey Porcelain 6x6-inch paper pad; Blush, Garden Green, and Bamboo ink pads; Basic Grey Porcelain Bitsy and Close to My Heart Say it in Style stamp sets; Basic Grey Porcelain Brads; Sponge dauber; Sanding block; 3M foam mounting tape.

As soft and subdued as my first card is, the second one is bright and bold. The sketch is Jen Del Muro's latest A Sketch for You to Try on her i{heart}2stamp blog. Isn't that some wild and crazy bird paper? I love it and thought this would be the perfect sketch to show it off. As for the buttons, I don't know if I got carried away or not. Instead of using Glue Dots to attach them to the card, I sewed them on using crochet cotton. I stamped the Big Pinks paper flower with a stamp from the Spot on Backgrounds set.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Citrus Leaf, and Topiary cardstock; Basic Grey Lime Rickey 6x6-inch paper pad; Topiary and Orange ink pads; Hero Arts Anytime Messages and Close To My Heart Spot on Backgrounds stamp set; Just Blooms Big Pinks paper flower; Hero Arts buttons; White crochet cotton; Needle; EK Success Dotted Wave Edger punch; Cuttlebug w/Nestabilities Classic Ovals set.

This last card is a Simple Saturday qualifier and a sketch you've seen me use before. It's my all-time favorite for bolder prints and/or paper that's too pretty to cover up.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Indian Corn Blue, and Outdoor Denim cardstock; Basic Grey Granola 6x6-inch paper pad; Outdoor Denim ink pad; Happy Birthday stamp set; Navy organdy ribbon from my stash; EK Success corner rounder; Sanding block.

Now that I've somewhat satisfied my need to stamp, I'm off to do something others might deem a bit more productive. I also need to sneak outside and soak up a little sunshine. It's currently 65 degrees and sunny with no wind. It's supposed to rain tomorrow. Bummer. Whatever you're doing, I hope you're in the midst of a great weekend. Thanks for stopping by! Later ...