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Freshly Made Sketches #695

Freshly Made Sketches #695 published on 2 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #695

Happy middle of July! It seems to have been quite the summer for weather and I hope that you and your loved ones are safe from the impacts. I know that out in the flying world, it seems crazier than ever. I always find summer a bit chaotic for crafting…kind of thought that would be over once my boys were older. But no, apparently not. In any case, I am excited to share a card with you today. Two reasons: first, I’m the sketch designer for Freshly Made Sketches and second, a new release from Spellbinders that I get to share.

Just look at this cuteness! So the name of this die set from Spellbinders is Christmas Rocking Chair and it has all these fun little elements. And yet, you are saying…um, Jennifer, there is no rocking chair. Well, there is kind of a rocking chair. I only used part of it to create this little stool. I had all the other parts ready to go but the size of this worked so well for what I had in my head that I just decided to go rogue. I really like how it gives this option too. Great for tags. Plus, all the little elements can be used individually too.

I cut all the pieces out of white card stock to start. Mostly so I could get a look at how they worked and the scale. I inked most of them up with Distress Inks. For the soles of the boots, the straps and the lighting pieces on the tree, I cut from black card stock. For the pail, I had a matte silver metal stock in my stash and I used some gold for the buckles. I thought making a shaker would be fun and chose to use vellum for a frosty look. The panel behind was inked with Distress Inks and just added the sequins for a bit of movement. My sentiment is from Honey Bee Stamps but if you are shopping at Spellbinders, there is a massive sale, including on some holiday items. My order is somewhere with UPS…intended for this card…and maybe one day it will arrive. So much for the best laid plans.

I hope you will enjoy this sketch and have a moment to join in. I tried to keep it basic. I chose an arch instead of the oval and you can choose any shape you want! Thanks so much for stopping in and also for your thoughts on my blog from last post. Hope you have a great week!

Freshly Made Sketches #693

Freshly Made Sketches #693 published on 7 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #693

Hello friends! Glad you stopped by today I’m happy to share a card for Freshly Made Sketches but first…a question for you. Recently I asked you all about the links at the bottom of my posts and was grateful for your thoughts. But now, I’m considering saying goodbye to this blog. I know, for some, you do not do social media and this is the way you see what I create. But truthfully, I’m not even sure you are seeing my posts. My mail service has started charging fees and I cannot tell if you are still getting my posts or for how long you will. (Note: If you see this in an email, I’d appreciate you letting me know) The blog as I have it set up cost more than I can ever make in running it. I pay for the domain, the access to WordPress and the layers of security. Nostalgia has been the only real reason to hold on with 15 years of cards, thoughts and sharing. But it seems blogs are going away as a whole. Before I just cut it off, I’d like to hear your thoughts to make sure I’m not missing something. Will you please drop me a comment or note to let me know what you think? Thank you!

Now on to my card for this week. The lovely Amy O’Neill is our designer this week and came up with one that is super clever. I immediately thought it might be fun to use die cuts so that is the direction I took.

I started with the Lovely Layers: Spring Greenery and Lovely Layers: Dianthus dies from Honey Bee Stamps. Using the Bitty Bunny Blending Brushes from The Rabbit Hole Designs, I inked them up with Distress Inks in a multitude of colors. My lighting on these photos is kind of meh but the greens have more variety in person (thunderstorms rolled in and I had to rely on my craft room lights instead of daylight).

I didn’t want to cover up all the inking so opted for a vellum piece and added a sentiment on top. That allowed me to have attachment points under the sentiment that remain invisible. With the size of the elements, I didn’t want to have to cut them down so I made a 5″x7″ card instead. Kind of fun to work with the bigger space. I did some embossing in the background with the Sandie’s Garden folder and inked the edges just a bit for contrast. A few pearls and done!

Thanks again for stopping in today. I appreciate all of you so much! As I figure out what to do with this blog, just know that I want to maximize the making and sharing part while minimizing the admin and cost part. Hope you have a lovely week!

Freshly Made Sketches #691

Freshly Made Sketches #691 published on 4 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #691

Our sketch designer at Freshly Made Sketches this week is our newest team member, Michele Ferguson, with her first sketch! And, no surprise, she has knocked it out of the park! I think it will be wildly popular this week.

At first I didn’t think I was going to have time to play (only two days off between trips) but with a sketch this great, I had tons of ideas in my head. I may have deviated a little from her intention but I really wanted to play with my new Lovely Layers: Butterflies dies from Honey Bee Stamps. I am completely in love with them! I cut them out of Distress Heavystock paper for easy ink blending and colored them using Distress Inks and Bitty Bunny Blending Brushes.

I was aiming at a rainbow vibe so I just decided what order I wanted the butterflies in and got to blending. You can see all the colors listed in my link below. Once I was done with the wings, I debated for a bit on what color to make their bodies. I opted to use my Copics in T1 and T2 for a pale neutral that was easy to do. I chose the Quilted A2 Coverplate to add a little interest and picked a sentiment from the new Always and Forever stamp set (both Honey Bee Stamps).

I hope you will come over and join us this week. If you are out traveling, keep an eye out for me. I think I’ll be at most of United’s major airports at some point this week. Have a great week and see you soon!

Freshly Made Sketches #690

Freshly Made Sketches #690 published on 3 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #690

We have a great sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches! Our amazing Karren Johnson has given us some great options and I knew just what I wanted to do.

I had a birthday card that I needed to make for one of my boys and he loves foxes. Naturally, I pulled out my Fall Foxes from The Rabbit Hole Designs and got to coloring. Even though it says fall foxes, I colored him as a spring fox. I love him! To shop for him and other cute things from The Rabbit Hole Designs, just click the link to the store above or you can use discount code on their site: STAMPINONTHEFLY

I chose a woodgrain background from Honey Bee Stamps and found a scrap of green paper that matched the leaves to help with the sketch. The sentiment is from the Mini Messages: Birthday set. But what you can’t see in the photo is that the fox is up on a mini action wobbler. These little gadgets are so fun!!

You can see the video here: Fox Wobble Card

And here is the sketch for your reference:

Thanks so much for stopping in today. Hope you like this and will come over to join us too! See you soon!

Freshly Made Sketches #689

Freshly Made Sketches #689 published on 5 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #689

The unofficial start of summer has arrived! Our weather has still been a bit spring-like and those are the colors I have used for this week’s Freshly Made Sketches card. Our sketch designer, Cécile Ribon, always has the most modern and fabulous cards so naturally her sketch is fabulous.

This card is for a dear friend’s daughter who just graduated from high school. The young women wear all white dresses (an all girls school) for commencement so I thought a more elevated card was in order. I stuck to a “script” and used the beautiful Flowers for the Soul Washi Tape (Pinkfresh Studio) again. Great for so many cards!! I pulled an old card stock from my stash and embossed with the Spring Medley 3D Embossing Folder.

For the center medallion, I chose this pretty shape from the Always and Forever product suite (Honey Bee Stamps). The sentiment is from the same suite. I added some gold pearls to add to the elegance of the gold on the washi.

Hope that you will come over to see the amazing work from the team and join our fun this week. Thanks for stopping in today!

Freshly Made Sketches #687

Freshly Made Sketches #687 published on 4 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #687

Welcome back to more on the graduation theme! Everything went well over the weekend and we had such fun celebrating all of our oldest’s accomplishments.

One of our newest teammates at Freshly Made Sketches has created her first sketch for us this week and it is fabulous! Verena Shapiro is wildly talented and if you don’t already know her, go take a look at all her gorgeous work!

My youngest started drawing during his second semester in college this year and loves creating dragons. He decided that he wanted to make one that is the dragon version of his brother to turn into a card for graduation. What an awesome idea!! I asked him if he wanted me to color it and he agreed that would be ok. So he drew this dragon (using the work of hyperion_draws on Instagram as his inspiration). I love that he is using other artists as he tries to figure out his own style. AND…that he expressly told me that I had to credit the artist when posting. Let’s face it, understanding intellectual property is such a big deal and I’m glad he does.

After he was done getting his details right, I used Copic markers to create a William and Mary color scheme (under the direction of my son). After all the coloring was complete, I realized this would work for the sketch and we set to choosing a sentiment. This is from an old stamp set by Picket Fence Studios and is a phrase we banter about as a family. I added a bit of texture on the back layer using the Burlap 3D Embossing Folder (Honey Bee Stamps) and added a few sequins to finish.

I hope you’ll come over to join us this week. I see so many options for this sketch and might keep using it for a few more cards myself. Hope you have a great week!

Freshly Made Sketches #686

Freshly Made Sketches #686 published on 5 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #686

The big week is here and my oldest graduates on Friday from The College of William and Mary! Technically, he already finished in fall semester but they only do one formal ceremony at the college so this is the big week. He is graduating Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Biology and a minor in Biochemistry. So happy to see him get to walk with all his friends as he finishes his time in Williamsburg.

Using the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches designed by the lovely Kim Singdahlsen was perfect to create a shaker card.

Using the green and gold color scheme from the college, I started planning. First, I pulled out an old letter die set from SugarPea Designs to cut the word. I chose some patterned papers from Honey Bee Stamps and played around until I found a version I liked. Next up…sequins and confetti in all the proper colors! Just raided the stash and combined some from different companies.

I got all that done and it was missing something. And that is when things went a little nuts. I was looking at some products that JUST arrived from Honey Bee Stamps sitting on my desk and I saw a cap. I mean, it isn’t a cap but it was just the right size and scale. It is from the Always and Forever set that is in the new release and seriously…not a cap. But I cut it out and started playing around. Next I found a tutorial on how to make tassels and gave that a go. Yep, love it, still not enough. Out came the greenery dies. Lovely Layers: Mini Fall Florals to be exact. I mean, he is a Biology major with an interest in plant studies, after all. Finally, that was the answer. So yeah, a little busier than I expected but I do love it for him.

This sketch is a real gem and I suspect you will have fun using it too. Come over and join the fun. Plus, as always, the team has tons of inspiration. Hoping for clear skies in the outdoor event on Friday (always a roll of the dice in Williamsburg) and I cannot wait to see him celebrate all that he has accomplished. Thanks for stopping in today. See you soon!

Freshly Made Sketches #365

Freshly Made Sketches #365 published on 7 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #365

We have a wonderful sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week. Created by the awesome Linda Callahan, who you can always count on for both inspiration and a great big smile. I’ll admit, I’m in a weird place creatively. Youngest came home from his first year of college (YAY!), graduation celebrations are looming for the oldest, I’ve been teaching out at the training center and then passing of my sweet kitty. My brain is cluttered and I am having trouble focusing enough to create. Part of the seasons of creativity and I’m just accepting that is ok. But it is also great to get a push and this is what the sketch did for me!

I have turned, yet again, to the gorgeous washi tape from the Flowers for the Soul suite by Pinkfresh Studio. I just played around with pieces until I got a grouping I liked. They are so pretty and so versatile. I have started doing some coloring on the stamp set with the same images and maybe, just maybe, I have a card with that effort in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I’m happy that the talented Dawn Woleslagle did the creative work and all I had to do was cut out the images.

I used the Spring Medley 3D Embossing Folder (Honey Bee Stamps) in the background to add a little interest. Even though the products come from different companies, they seem to coordinate really well. I embossed a sentiment from the Flowers for the Soul Stamp Set in gold to go with the gold touches in the washi and added a few gold pearls to finish.

Hope you get a creative push from this sketch too and come over to join us! Thanks so much for stopping by. See you soon!

Freshly Made Sketches #683

Freshly Made Sketches #683 published on 6 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #683

Hi everyone! Sorry for the break. We had a lot going on here and sadly, after years of wonderful antics we had to say goodbye to our sweet calico cat, Kate. She has been my coloring muse for many years, the supervisor of all things in my house and a benevolent dictator. I didn’t have any creativity in me, to be honest, but since I’m the sketch designer this week for Freshly Made Sketches, I got down to the craft room to see what I could come up with.

I created my sketch based on a card from the talented Carly Tee and used the same die cut gate fold technique she did.

Using the Good Tidings Stamps, Stencils and Dies from Honey Bee Stamps, I created this holiday greenery. I flipped one and scored the die cuts could wrap around the back of the card. Then I used the Snowy Pines 3D Embossing Folder to create a layer underneath the greenery.

Here is a video to show you how it works:

Die Cut Gate Fold Video

To cover the attachment point on the back of the card, I simply added another plain white panel over that. It does make for a bulkier card but if you are doing a fancy fold, a little extra postage is worth it.

I hope you will come over and play along this week. The team has created all kinds of wonderful cards with the sketch! And we have two new team members to inspire you!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Hope to see you again soon!

Freshly Made Sketches #681

Freshly Made Sketches #681 published on 5 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #681

We have another great sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week. Our designer is Amy O’Neill and she has one that is so clever. I have a friend who lost a sweet kitty suddenly last week so I thought I’d use the sketch to make a card for her.

I pulled out some older products from Newton’s Nook Designs for this one plus a sentiment from Honey Bee Stamps. The kitty is from Furr-Ever Friends and stencil is the Pawprints Stencil. Using some Distress Oxide blue inks I created the partial stenciled panel and a banner.

I added the kitty in black ink and stamped this sentiment from the Rainbow Bridge set and added another sweet one from the same set inside. I thought the clean lines of this were appropriate for such a somber occasion.

I hope you’ll come over and join us. The team has their always great inspiration up and I’d love to see you in the gallery. Thanks for stopping in!

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