Welcome back for another week of Freshly Made Sketches. I am the sketch designer this week and I thought I’d go classic for the sketch. Something about ovals always seem so elegant to me so I thought I’d add one to the mix. Lots of ways to interpret this one, I think!

Living in Northern Virginia, the last couple of weeks have been all about cherry blossoms. So imagine my delight when I saw the new Lovely Layers: Cherry Blossoms dies from Honey Bee Stamps! I put those right into the basket as soon as ordering opened. I had the perfect examples for coloring them (the flowers in my photos are snipped from my tree) and I love how details the dies are. So pretty! Using Distress Ink in Spun Sugar, I added a pale pink to the flowers. Then on the centers I added Scattered Straw Distress Ink and a little bit of Saltwater Taffy Distress Oxide. At the base of the flowers I blended greens (Bundled Sage and Peeled Paint) into the Saltwater Taffy to mimic my actual flowers. I placed it all on a branch cut from Concord and 9th Mushroom Card Stock.

Once my branch was built, I cut an oval from this gray wood grain paper (Grain & Grunge) using an old discontinued die. Into the oval, I used a piece of white card stock that was embossed with the new Dogwood Blooms 3D Embossing Folder. Even though it is the dogwood, I love it with the cherry blossom too! I chose a pretty sentiment from Love You Bunches and stamped it in gray ink (Morning Mist Versafine Clair). A few white pearls from the Cool Pearls pack to finish.

I had so much fun trying to copy the beauty of nature on this and, let’s face it, playing with new products is always great! I hope you will come join the challenge this week. Might be quiet here for a bit. Spring break is coming up so I’ll be enjoying some family time. Until next time, have a wonderful rest of your week!