By the Bay

At the beginning of this month I put out a sketch challenge for my direct team. Just something fun and to spark some creativity! I often use sketches when I’m stuck for an idea or as a starting point for a design. But this one I stuck with because it’s a great one for showing off patterned paper. And goodness knows there’s a lot of great patterned paper right now in the Sale-a-bration and Janaury-April Mini catalogues! For this design I’m using the By the Bay 6″ x 6″ Specialty Designer Series Paper. It has so many beautiful designs and I love the gold foil!

With the sketch I already had the layout/design for my card. And I knew I what DSP I was using. So all that was left was to choose my colour combination and stamp set. I pulled my colours from the DSP of course. Originally I thought I’d be using more blues. But it turned into a Petal Pink and Sahara Sand card.

Since I ended up going for a summer/seaside themed card, I decided to use the Friends are like Seashells stamp set. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again… I love how versatile this stamp set is! I framed the seashells and sentiment with some Sahara Sand cardstock. Then I popped them both up on top of the patterned paper using Stampin’ Dimensionals. And instead of adding some pearls or jewels to add a bit more bling, I added some Wink of Stella to the seashells. Too bad it doesn’t really come through in the picture.

By the Bay

I had a lot of fun with this first team sketch challenge! And I hope my team did too!

Check out another card I made using the By the Bay Designer Series Paper here.

You can get this great pack of patterned paper along with some beautiful and FREE patterned paper until Tuesday! That’s the last day of Sale-a-bration. Don’t miss out! Check it all out in my online shop.

Beach Themed Handmade Card

Even though it’s still very wintery outside I decided to make a beach themed handmade card. While I enjoy winter I think I’m eager for the warmer weather to arrive! The design for this card comes from a sketch challenge with my larger team. And I decided to work with the gorgeous By the Bay 6″ x 6″ Specialty Designer Series Paper this week for my projects.

I switched up my card design a little from the original sketch. Instead of a full card base, I decided to only have half a card front. I thought it would look really neat if the 3 diamonds hung off the card front so to speak. My card base is Sahara Sand which is one of the colours from the By the Bay DSP. I also used Sahara Sand cardstock to frame my diamonds.

For my ink colour I pulled another colour from the DSP, Petal Pink. And I stamped a phrase from the Friends are like Seashells stamp set on a piece of Very Vanilla for the inside of my card.

Just behind the diamonds is another one of the designs from this pretty pack of patterned paper. I love the iridescent shimmer it gives off! Then I popped up the centre diamond with some Stampin’ Dimensionals and added a few of the Flat Adhesive-Backed Pearls to add even more shimmer.

Beach Themed Handmade Card

When I decided to craft with the By the Bay DSP this week I was totally not thinking I would be crafting a beach themed handmade card! It just goes to show that things can totally take a different turn once you start creating.

Looking for some more summer-themed cards? Check out my post using the Friends are like Seashells stamp set here.

Want to join in on all the creative fun on my teams? There’s never been a better time to join! Send me an email or you can sign up here.