It's an Aqua and Teal kind of day....

...at least that seems to be the colors that I have used in both of my cards today.   It's also one of my favorite colors and comes to very close to my favorite, which in case you can't guess is Purple.  I started to realize just how much I loved this color, after falling in love with Hero Arts Pool and Tide papers and inks and every since, I find I'm drawn to it and love to create with these colors all the time.

    I'm also very happy that I found time to create two new cards today, both of which are for two of my favorite challenges, which I really did miss while I was away at "Summer Card Camp".  As much as I had hoped to keep up with the challenges too, I quickly fell behind, but did continue to vote and browse the Galleries looks at the awesome cards.

    My first card to share today was created for the cute Cas(E) This Sketch Challenge and I'm thrilled that I actually finished before the challenge was over!  I loved this new sketch from the first day I saw it and had the image printed out and sitting on my desk, all along waiting for time to work on my card.  I actually started on one last night and that card was all done in Pink, but I missed it up, when I decided to try and round the corners, at the last minute and ended up ruining my strips!  OOPS!!  That's what happens when I try to do things in the evening...I'm too tired and nothing ever seems to work out.  I'm much better in the morning and that's when I started on this card!

    I'm also sharing the current sketch, just in case you have time to get a card done and uploaded before the challenge ends

CTS # 38

My Card

and a close up view....

   I pulled out a white card base and knew I wanted to use a teal background and wanted to cut my strips out of patterned paper, which I pulled from my overflowing Scrap Bin.   I cute the middle strip to be the widest and then all the rest were cut to be 1/2", and each new section was 1/2" shorter than the next one.  I adhered them to white paper, just to line everything up and then transferred it direct to the teal cardstock.   I used that same color and picked out my sentiment from a Paper Smooches Set.  I wanted it to be in white, so I stamped it in Versamark and then heat embossed it with white powder.  Its' a very CAS style, but I really love the colors!!  

  Right after that I went right to work on my card for the brand new MUSE challenge which was posted yesterday!  I had fun creating my own little version of the MUSE card, which reminded me of a framed image almost like a Polaroid photo.   This is a copy of the MUSE card, which was created by Lynn Mangan, who was chosen as the Guest Designer for this week!   Congrats to Lynn!!

 

    As you can see, I again kept with the Teal/Aqua them and actually started this card using scraps left over from the first card.  The first step was to cut my frame which I did using a Spellbinder "A2" matting die, which I just love!  This set is designed for cardmakers who create A2 card and it makes perfect mats.  To have the bottom section a bit larger, to look more like Lynn's card, I move the die up toward the top of my Tide Layering Cardstock and once it was cut, I then used my Trimmer to cut the bottom, so I could make it any size I wanted.  Looking back, I think it maybe should have been a bit wider???    I then lined the inside in a deeper teal color.   I pulled out the flowers from my stash and was so happy that I had the perfect match using some of my favorites from this Hero Set!   I also have a new love for sequins and find myself using them a lot of my cards.....!   The patterned cardstock I used to created my card, is brand new and it's from Amuse and I LOVE it.   It's an assortment set and comes in a variety of colors, I have this and also bought it in pink and love that set too!    If you love Amuse and need a nice Demo, I highly recommend mine, Tobey, who even has a online store, where you can shop from home!    It's nice having a local Demo, as I also have the ability to go to her fun little workshops too.   

   And now it's time to clean off my desk for today, something I do almost every day, so I can start with a fresh clean space the next time I create.   That has me wondering, if I am a super messy crafter or if everyone can make a mess this big, simply making two cards?  YIKES!!