Sketch Challenge and New Toys

Hi Everyone!

Once again, I'm running late with today's post; but that's because I actually decided to do two cards for todays SCS sketch challenge. When I was looking through the gallery at people's samples, I really liked the fact that some people had flip the sketch for a horizontal card. I couldn't make up my mind as to which way I wanted to make my card, so I figured why not do both? For the first card, I had originally tried to do the stain glass technique with the flower; but I think I had the wrong type of vellum, because after 3 attempts, it just wasn't working. Then I stamped it twice and colored it with colors I didn't like before I finally got the result I wanted. I chose Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Sahara Sand, and Old Olive for my color palette. The flower is from Echoes of Kindness and the sentiment at the bottom is from my new Hero Arts set "Everyday Sayings" This set is so versatile and I am really loving it. I will definitely be adding some more to my wish list.
I was really most excited about making the second card because I was able to use my new Top Note Die from SU. I had stayed away from purchasing any of these because I didn't want to buy the Big Shot since I already have a Cuttlebug. Perhaps I will one day; but not now. Then I discovered that you can use the Bigz dies in the cuttlebug and I am so happy! It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to buy some more. I used Chocolate Chip, Not Quite Navy, Artichoke and Pumpkin for my color palette. I like how the Top Note has perforated lines around the edges. I decided to go over the lines with chocolate chip marker and then a Not Quite Navy marker around the two pumpkin pieces. I thought the corner still looked a bit bland, so I added the buttons to complete the card.
So, that's it for today! Have a great evening everyone!