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Freshly Made Sketches #196

Freshly Made Sketches #196 published on 5 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #196

Did you see the news yet???!!!  Freshly Made Sketches is rapidly approaching our 200th sketch and we have quite a celebration in store for our players!  I’m sure you know that we normally run our challenge unsponsored but we have loads of AMAZING sponsors for this big event.  Plan now to play along!!  Keep an eye on our Facebook page or Instagram feed for more sneak peeks on who will join us!

Now back to the regularly schedule programing of sketch #196.  This week’s challenge hostess is the always lovely and oh so talented Cindy Hall.  You are going to love this one, I just know it!

FMS196 - Just a Note

I used Rose Red and Watermelon Wonder inks on watercolor paper to create a pretty look and then another spot of Pool Party.  Then, using this amazing flower die, I cut out the flower.  I got this one from a giveaway from Ashley Horton.  Fun, huh?!  I stamped the sentiment from the Watercolor Wishes Kit using a combination of the inks (this time sponged on the stamp).  The Dots for Days stamp was inked in Pool Party and stamped onto Thick Whisper White leaving a white border for the sketch.  I added on some sequins from the Watercolor Wishes Kit to finish.  I love this card so much.  It totally does not photograph as pretty as it is in person!

Thanks again to Ashley for the great giveaway!!  Off today to a Nats game with my boys and some family time in DC.  The weather has cooled down and it should be perfect for being a tourist!  Thanks so much for stopping in today.  See you soon!

FMS196 Cindy Hall-001Click HERE to purchase wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp:  Watercolor Wishes Kit; Ink:  Watermelon Wonder, Rose Red, Pool Party; Paper:  Thick Whisper White, Watercolor Paper; Accessories:  Big Shot, Flower Die from Echo Park Paper Co., Aquapainter, Sequins from Watercolor Wishes Kit, Sponge Dauber, Dimensionals

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Stamp Review Crew – Watercolor Wings

Stamp Review Crew – Watercolor Wings published on 16 Comments on Stamp Review Crew – Watercolor Wings

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I am so excited to be a part of this amazing group of Stampin’ Up demonstrators!  If you haven’t heard of “The Crew” yet, you are going to be so thrilled with this.  We are here to show you the versatility of one stamp set every time we hop (the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month).  We have a whole team of people and different stampers participate each time.  Like you, we look to find ways to maximize our investments and the single focus on one set allows you to see all the possibilities!  This week, our featured stamp is Watercolor Wings.  This one is such a beauty and it has so many possibilities!

If you just came over from the wonderful Ann Schach, I’m so glad you are here!  If you want to see everyone who is hopping or if you get lost along the way, just click over to The Stamp Review Crew blog.

SRC - Watercolor Wings

I have to say that this set has exceeded my already high expectations.  I knew that the layering details on the butterfly would be fabulous but wow have I enjoyed playing with the variations.  I chose to keep the body of the butterfly all one color (Pink Pirouette) but with the over-stamping of the layers you get these beautiful watercolor details .  I stamped the base layer and then the layer with the edge dots.  Finally I added the smallest butterfly.  These are so easy to layer together because the stamps are photopolymer.  The pink ink layering together make this look detailed but still so soft.  I added the body and antennae by stamping in Smoky Slate that had been stamped off once.  The dotted stamp and the sentiment are from the set too!  All of this was done on the new Thick Whisper White Card Stock and put on a base of the same paper.  Now for those sequins.  Look at the colors in them!  There is that bit of pink in the iridescent white.  But where did I get them??!!!  They are in the Watercolor Wishes Card Kit and I’m crazy in love with them!  I spent a couple of days putting the kit together (and I’m notoriously bad about getting whole kits put together) and every single card is awesome.  Out of the park awesome!  So there you have it…a fun, quick and yet totally special card.  The stamp set does all the work!

I hope you like this one.  Like you, I can’t wait to see all that the others have for inspiration!  Hop on over to Rochelle Blok to continue on your way around.  So glad you dropped in today.  See you again soon!

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp:  Watercolor Wings; Paper:  Thick Whisper White; Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Smoky Slate; Accessories:  Sequins from Watercolor Wishes Kit, Glue Dots

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Freshly Made Sketches #193

Freshly Made Sketches #193 published on 8 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #193

I hope you are having a fabulous week so far!  Mine has been pretty full of work and fun.  Got back from a trip on Monday and I got to spend some time with two of my amazing FMS teammates – Linda and Jen M – while I was on my trip.  I know….you are jealous, right?!  And they are just as awesome in person as you could ever hope for.  How lucky I am that United affords me the occasional visit with my stamping friends.  Now for trips to TX, FL, CO, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, Australia…..you know, to visit the rest of the team!  At least the first 3 are manageable in my Airbus!

Ok…on to our sketch this week.  It is courtesy of the lovely Rita has created this beauty for Freshly Made Sketches and it is a real winner!  It is unique yet there are so many possibilities!

FMS193 - Bohemian Thank You -

So I got this lovely care package a bit ago from my dear friend Becky Cowley.  It included this Bohemian DSP and some In Color Blossom Accents (why yes, she is fabulous and so generous to send me a care package of goodies!!).  This bold diamond pattern is a bit more manageable when cut down into strips and the cool Hello Honey pattern is one of my favorites from the pack!  I grouped them with the Watercolor Thank You stamp and added a little Hello Honey Blossom Accent to stay true to the sketch.  The Blackberry Bliss ribbon adds another layer of detail and I framed my layers (and created a base) with Blackberry Bliss card stock.  This card is super fun and easy to make as a group of cards.

FMS Final 193-001

The fabulous versions of this sketch already have me ready to Pin so I know you’ll love what you see this week.  Hope you have fun playing along with us!

I busily using my two days off between trips to catch up but hoping for some stamping tomorrow.  I hope you have a wonderful day and thanks so much for stopping in.

Click HERE to purchase wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp:  Watercolor Thank You; Ink:  Blackberry Bliss; Paper:  Very Vanilla, Bohemian DSP, Blackberry Bliss; Accessories:  In Color Blossom Accents, Blackberry Bliss 3/8″ Stitched Ribbon (ret)

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Fancy Friday – Artistic Flowers

Fancy Friday – Artistic Flowers published on 5 Comments on Fancy Friday – Artistic Flowers

FF Jun - Artistic Flowers

I am so excited to share with you this month’s project with for our Fancy Friday monthly hop!  If you just came over from the amazing Jeanna, welcome to the next stop.  My friends and I want to be able to share with you our ideas in a monthly format.  We will use different themes each month – sometimes colors, sometimes a sketch, sometimes a stamp set focus.  The one thing you can count on is that it will be fancy!  Over our year on the 2013 Artisan Design Team,  “fancy” became our word to describe the best projects, the best new clothes, even the best pedicure colors.  Now we want to share with you our take on “fancy” each month.  This month our theme is “New Products”.  With all that the new Stampin’ Up catalog has to offer, the hardest part of the challenge was choosing what to use!

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I loved the Awesomely Artistic stamp set the minute I saw it and it was on my first order.  These little flowers are so fantastic to color!  And guess what I found out?!  You can use the new Thick Whisper White for watercoloring!  I didn’t do a whole lot of blending but it held up to my Aquapainter with no pilling at all.  Yippee!!!!  I stamped the image with Stazon Black and colored the flower with Rose Red, Tip Top Taupe and Soft Sky.  Pretty quick to color and so fancy!  I added the sentiment from the set and some new black sequins from the Metallics Sequins Assortment.  The side bar is retired washi tape. There are some new ones (Everyday Chic comes to mind) that would work here too.

I’m so glad you stopped in to visit today.  I hope you have a great time seeing all the beautiful things on our hop.

My oh so talented friend Becky Cowley is up next!   Wait until you see the fancy watercolor card she created!

And you can click our logo above to get to the Fancy Friday Pinterest page!

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Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

 

 

Stamp:  Awesomely Artisitc; Paper:  Thick Whisper White; Ink:  Stazon Black, Rose Red, Tip Top Taupe, Soft Sky; Accessories:  Metallic Sequins, Glue Dots, Washi Tape, Aquapainter

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Freshly Made Sketches #192

Freshly Made Sketches #192 published on 10 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #192

Happy first Wednesday of summer (at least for those in North America)!  I am full into summer flying and summer activities with the boys.  Camps, swimming and a little more of a relaxed schedule (at least for the kids).  I’m working in a little bit of crafting time and I even have an open house/open stamp event today.  Nothing like getting to see my stamping friends to brighten a week!

Speaking of stamping friends….my friend Jen Mitchell has our sketch for us over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and you are going to smile and head right to your crafting room!  I was so excited for a reason to pull out this gorgeous flower again.

FMS192 - Special Bloom

I remain obsessed with this peony stamp from You’ve Got This and am happy just to sit and color it over and over in different shades.  For today, I used a combination of retired Blendies and Copics.  I joined the image up with this fabulous sentiment from Garden in Bloom…another new favorite!  All of the black was stamped using Momento Black.  I layered the image panel onto some Smoky Slate and then put it on a Pink Pirouette base.  To add a little something special I included these pretty sequins that I just got from Pretty Pink Posh.

FMS Final 192-001

The team has created gorgeous inspiration again.  No surprise, I know!  Every week they never cease to make my jaw drop!

I’m hoping to be able to visit with two of my FMS team mates this weekend (weather and flying permitting).  If so, I’m sure you’ll here the squeals and laughs from wherever you are!!  I will be back on Friday with the monthly Fancy Friday hop too!  YAY!!  See you then!

Click HERE to purchase wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp:  You’ve Got This, Garden in Bloom; Ink:  Momento Tuxedo Black, Copics, Blendabilities; Paper:  Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Pink Pirouette; Accessories:  PPP Sparkling Clear Sequins, Dimensionals

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Freshly Made Sketches #190

Freshly Made Sketches #190 published on 8 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #190

You know what happened yesterday??!!  My order from the new Stampin’ Up catalog arrived!!!  I got to pull everything out (and all the great stuff my hostess club ordered) and admire it.  Then….wait for it…I had to take it to the craft room to wait for me until I return from a trip.  I know.  I almost cried too.  But it is lovely stuff and when I get to stamp next week it will be such fun!!  For today over at Freshly Made Sketches we have a sketch for you from the lovely Amy O’Neill.  We all know Amy as the color queen but I have to tell you, she really is quite the enabler when it comes to certain stamp sets.  When you see her card this week, you’ll understand.  Good thing I already committed to the one she used!!

FMS190 - My Friend

This card seems to be one of those that doesn’t photograph quite as pretty as it seems in person.  Some cards are just like that no matter what I do for angles and lighting.  I chose the Typeset Specialty DSP as my muse for this card and I love how this Black/Vanilla combination can have such a wow.  I layered the striped paper onto a Basic Black base (the paper looks better against a black background than a light one due to the the page-like nature of the DSP).  The I cut the oval frame using two sister ovals from the Ovals Framelits.  It creates a really pretty effect!  The flower is layered using 3 punches but maybe I did too good of a job lining up the designs….it is hard to see the dimension on the flower in this picture.  But trust me, it is cool in person!  I colored my Basic Pearls with a black Sharpie and added them for some interest.  Then finally I stamped this sentiment from Mon Ami (CAS-ual Fridays stamp).  I just loved working with Amy’s sketch and I know you will too!

The team has such a lovely variety of cards to share.  And I look forward to another gallery full of inspiration!  I hope that you are having a wonderful week and that you get a little time to stamp too.  See you soon…thanks for dropping by!

Click HERE to purchase wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp:  Mon Ami (CAS-ual Fridays); Ink:  Momento Tuxedo Black; Paper:  Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Typeset DSP; Accessories:  Big Shot, Ovals Framelits, Basic Pearls, Dimensionals; Pansy, Petite Petals and Itty Bitty Accents Pack Punches

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PPP Watercolor Blog Hop

PPP Watercolor Blog Hop published on 15 Comments on PPP Watercolor Blog Hop

watercolor.bloghopPaulina over at Pretty Pink Posh has been hosting a Watercolor Blog Hop all weekend!  I could not help but be inspired by all the beautiful designs and had to join in!

So Very Giving - Watercolor FlowersSo I’ve had this stamp set for a while.  A long while.  A year to be exact.  It was from the Occasions Catalog 2014 and it was one of my very favorites.  But in all of the Artisan Design Team flurry of activity, this stamp never got used.  I know….it is a tragedy.  Because it is awesome.  Finally, I had just the reason to pull this out and give it the time it deserves.  I stamped the image in Versamark and heat embossed with White Stampin’ Emboss Powder onto watercolor paper.  I colored with Calypso Coral, Watermelon Wonder and Cucumber Crush with a soft shading of Tip Top Taupe around the flowers.  The banner was stamped in Tip Top Taupe and hand cut.  I shaded some Basic Pearls with my Copic W5 marker to give them a little more depth.  I attached the image panel to a Tip Top Taupe base.

I just love the look of white embossed watercolored images and this card makes me really happy!  I hope you find a little bit of watercolor inspiration here and will go take a look at the beautiful work of all the participants.  Thanks so much for stopping in today!  Have a great week!

Click HERE to purchase wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp:  So Very Grateful (ret); Ink:  Versamark, Calypso Coral, Watermelon Wonder, Cucumber Crush, Tip Top Taupe, Copic W5; Paper:  Tip Top Taupe, Watercolor (Tim Holtz); Accessories:  Heat Tool, White Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Aquapainter, Basic Pearls, Dimensionals

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Fancy Friday – A Butterfly in Gold

Fancy Friday – A Butterfly in Gold published on 6 Comments on Fancy Friday – A Butterfly in Gold

FF May - Gold Tipped Butterfly

I am so excited to share with you this month’s project with for our Fancy Friday monthly hop!  If you just came over from the amazing Jeanna, 11270325_10204003131390964_700205068466670104_owelcome to the next stop.  My friends and I want to be able to share with you our ideas in a monthly format.  We will use different themes each month – sometimes colors, sometimes a sketch, sometimes a stamp set focus.  The one thing you can count on is that it will be fancy!  Over our year on the 2013 Artisan Design Team,  “fancy” became our word to describe the best projects, the best new clothes, even the best pedicure colors.  Now we want to share with you our take on “fancy” each month.  This month our theme is a sketch designed by me!  Hope you like this one!

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There are so many crafting influences that focus on gold and foil and I have found them so inspiring.  So I thought it would be fun to create a card focusing all on gold.  I started by stamping the cross-hatch from the new You’ve Got This in Versamark and then heat embossing with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder.  Then I cut out the butterfly from White Vellum with the Butterflies Framelits.  I “smooshed” the sides of the butterfly in more Versamark and then embossed those with the gold powder again.  So pretty (and even more so in person).  I used an old gold marker to color the pearls and added them to the body of the butterfly.  Finally for the vertical element I used some Gold Sequin Trim and tied it with Gold Baker’s twine.

I’m so glad you stopped in to visit today.  I hope you have a great time seeing all the beautiful things on our hop.  I’d love it if you use the sketch for your own projects.  Make sure you link to your work in my comments if you do!

My oh so talented friend Mercedes Weber is up next!   As always, you are going to love what she created!

And you can click our logo above to get to the Fancy Friday Pinterest page!

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Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

May Sneak Peek

I’m so excited to share my new edition of Stamps on the Fly!  You all know how much I love working with sketches and I thought it would be fun to share that with you.  I have a page up telling you all the details including the links on how to get these PDF tutorials for FREE!

Available for international customers and demonstrators too!  Just click below for all the details!

Stamps on the Fly – May Sketch Edition

Stamp:  You’ve Got This; Paper:  Very Vanilla; Ink:  Versamark; Accessories:  Big Shot, Butterflies Framelits, Heat Tool, Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Gold Sequin Trim, Gold Baker’s Twine, Dimensionals, Basic Pearls, Gold Pen

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Watermelon Peony

Watermelon Peony published on 2 Comments on Watermelon Peony

Ok, my post name might be a little deceiving since I usually use part of the stamp set name but the flower in the new You’ve Got This looks like a peony to me.  And I love peonies.  And they are blooming so beautifully in Virginia right now….but not in my yard.  I finally found the perfect spot for one and planted it but I don’t think it is going to bloom this year.  But I’m patient.  Because I see the amazing flowers in my friend’s yard a couple of doors down.  Instead I just created one in my stamp room!

Watermelon Peony

I got to meet with my hostess club last Saturday and this is one of the cards we made.  I had just gotten my preorder box from Stampin’ Up on Friday and I flew down to the stamp room to make something so my friends could see this awesome new stamp.  I pulled out the Tip Top Taupe (you know you just want to say that over and over) and inked up the cross-hatch stamp.  I stamped it off a couple of times before stamping onto Whisper White.  Then I stamped this peony and the sentiment in full strength Taupe.  One more time I stamped the flower top on another piece of Whisper White and pulled out my Blender Pen to use with Watermelon Wonder and Delightful Dijon.  I quickly cut the flower after coloring and attached with Glue Dots.  I had curled the petals just a little before attaching.  I popped the image panel up on Dimensionals and put it on a Tip Top Taupe base.  Some Basic Pearls add a special touch.

For those of you in the United States, I hope you have a happy and safe Memorial Day.  If you get the opportunity, take the time to stop and remember those who have sacrificed so much for all of us.  Enjoy a day of soccer, a moment with friends, and a hug from family knowing that these are possible because of those who chose to serve.  Back next week with another showcase of the new colors.  Until then, thanks so much for stopping in!
May Sneak Peek

I’m so excited to share my new edition of Stamps on the Fly!  You all know how much I love working with sketches and I thought it would be fun to share that with you.  I have a page up telling you all the details including the links on how to get these PDF tutorials for FREE!

Available for international customers and demonstrators too!  Just click below for all the details!

Stamps on the Fly – May Sketch Edition

Click HERE to purchase wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp:  You’ve Got This; Paper:  Whisper White, Tip Top Taupe; Ink:  Tip Top Taupe, Watermelon Wonder; Accessories:  Blender Pen, Basic Pearls, Dimensionals

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Freshly Made Sketches #187

Freshly Made Sketches #187 published on 10 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #187

So I do still exist.  Sorry about the extended break from posting but I just had to take care of family and work things with stamping falling to the back burner.  I don’t often write about my work schedule, mostly from a family safety point of view.  But I have been on a leave of absence from United Airlines for the past 3.5 months because of my husband’s military responsibilities.  United was amazing enough to allow for the leave but there are things I have to accomplish when that time is over to be in good standing.  Needless to say, I don’t want to abuse the privilege afforded when they help my family out so much.  So last week I had to head out to Denver for requalification on my airplane and that took a bit of logistics planning and preparation, as you can imagine.  I am blessed with friends and a community that provided so much help and I am grateful beyond measure.

I can safely say that I missed a great week over at Freshly Made Sketches but we have another all ready for you.  Our hostess, the incredible Cindy Lovell has such a creative and fun sketch for us this week.  I needed something that I could use while still distracted with tons of work stuff and this was just the thing!FMS187 - You've Got This

Just in time for me to get back from Denver, my pre-order from the new Stampin’ Up catalog arrived.  Yippee!!!  I ordered a new stamp set called You’ve Got This and the new In Colors.  So here is my ode to Mint Macaron.  This color is really pretty, don’t you think?  I admit that I didn’t depart too much from the sketch but hopefully you’ll over look that as you see the pretty new things.  I took my Butterfly Thinlits and used them to cut this new In Color Envelope Paper.  There are stripes and a wood grain print backed with the plain color all on paper that is a bit thinner and great for lining envelopes…..or cutting with thinlits!  I added a piece of the new 1″ Dotted Lace Trim in the Mint and a tag cut from the Chalk Talk Framelits out of White Vellum.  This sentiment is one that is great for so many cards and I’m so happy with this stamp set (more with that one later this week).  I added a little bit of thread behind the butterfly to finish.

FMS Final 187-001The ladies over at Freshly Made Sketches have created beautiful inspiration for you.  Week in and week out, this team brings the most lovely work to share.  And never mind the laughs over on our design team FB thread.  I’m so fortunate to be a part of this group!!  Make sure you go over and say hi to them and thank Cindy for this great sketch.

And to you, my followers.  Thank you for understanding the craziness of my schedule.  I’ll see what I can do to get ahead so there won’t be any large breaks again soon.  I’m back to flying for the June schedule so if you are traveling over the summer, keep an eye out for me!!

Thanks so much for dropping in today.  See you again soon!
May Sneak Peek

I’m so excited to share my new edition of Stamps on the Fly!  You all know how much I love working with sketches and I thought it would be fun to share that with you.  I have a page up telling you all the details including the links on how to get these PDF tutorials for FREE!

Available for international customers and demonstrators too!  Just click below for all the details!

Stamps on the Fly – May Sketch Edition

Click HERE to purchase wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp:  You’ve Got This; Paper:  Whisper White, White Vellum; Ink:  Mint Macaron; Accessories:  Big Shot, Chalk Talk Framelits, Butterflies Thinlits, Heat Tool, Clear Stampin’ Emboss Powder, 1″Dotted Lace Trim, Vintage Faceted Button, Thread

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