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Freshly Made Sketches #655

Freshly Made Sketches #655 published on 6 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #655

So, as I sit to write this, I realized that I never posted my card here from last week’s Freshly Made Sketches challenge. Sigh. Not exactly sure how that happened other than the card was a complete re-vamp after a Copic “belching” incident… Oy. Moving forward, as they say. This week we have a super fun sketch from our adventurer extraordinaire Jen Brum. Now mind you, this is a woman who says she doesn’t like circles in her sketches…um…. But I took a loose interpretation of those circles and I’m hoping she doesn’t mind.

I totally took this as an excuse to play with the new products from Honey Bee Stamps, starting with the Lovely Layers: Mini Fall Florals. This set abounds with fall awesomeness to include a fun boot but I lasered in on the sunflowers. Using my Bitty Bunny Blending Brushes, I had fun blending Distress Inks onto the die cuts. I added in a few branches from the Lovely Layers: Seasonal Frame for extra texture and I love that the two sets are at the same scale.

I chose a sentiment from the Bloom with Grace stamp set (it also has sunflowers) that I thought was really sweet. To help keep more to the sketch, I added a few gems from the Grain and Grunge gem sticker pack. I did brush a little Distress Ink on the edges of the base too for a bit of depth.

I hope you like my version of the sketch and will come over to join us. The team has a wide variation on it and I think you will enjoy it as much as we have. Thanks again for stopping in today. Sorry about skipping the card last week. For those who only see my cards on the blog, here it is (tree die cuts and papers are from Honey Bee Stamps). Have a great week and see you soon!

Freshly Made Sketches #596

Freshly Made Sketches #596 published on 5 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #596

A cool new sketch idea at Freshly Made Sketches! Judy has us doing halfsies! Designs only on the top half of the card and the bottom is clean. I found it a bit of a challenge but happy with the final result.

Along with the new set from WPlus9 that I used last week, I ordered another set called Joyful Poinsettias. I like the background style design along with the single flower and sentiments in the set. Again with the watercoloring (because I know Dawn designs like a water colorist). I stamped the image in black then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I colored the flowers and leaves and tried to keep to a more vintage palette. After it was dry, I added a little Vintage Photo Distress Ink with a light hand to “age” the white spaces.

I waited until I was done coloring to choose the base and I went with Artichoke by Concord and 9th. I stamped and embossed the sentiment, going with a small one to keep it on the top half of the card. Finally I added some champagne colored pearls as accents.

I hope you find a bit of inspiration in this card. I had lots of fun spending a little time on the watercoloring. Thanks so much for stopping in. See you soon!

Freshly Made Sketches #589

Freshly Made Sketches #589 published on 6 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #589

I hope you are doing well and I’m so glad to have you along today for the latest from Freshly Made Sketches! Our lovely Linda Callahan is the sketch designer this week and she created a unique and super fun sketch for us.

I pulled out some products that haven’t seen any love in quite awhile and I love them for this sketch. Most of the products here are from SugarPea Designs with colored paper (and coordinating inks) from Concord and 9th. The Paint Palette Dies come with the palette, paint splotches and brushes. Super fun! I cut the palette from a wood grain paper in my stash. Then cut the splotches from different colors of C9 paper in ROYGBIV order. I used some black and a matte silver for the brushes and two of the colors again for the brushes. I sponged on a little bit of matching ink for a bit of depth and that is it.

I chose a sentiment from the Color of Life stamp set that makes me happy! I love this one for a number of my friends! I kept the rest clean so the focus stays right on the center of this fun design.

So glad you stopped in today. I hope you are having a beautiful start to your summer! See you again soon.

Freshly Made Sketches #582

Freshly Made Sketches #582 published on 7 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #582

I’m back today with the latest from Freshly Made Sketches! Our sketch is by the oh so talented Karren Johnson and it is super fun to use. I, of course, saw flowers in the circles. And I’ve opted to pull out some old favorites and some brand spankin’ new colors!!

I thought the Elegant Asters from Gina K Designs was perfect for the flower elements. And then the colors. If you haven’t heard (can’t imagine that is possible), Concord and 9th just added colors to their line and I had my order in 10 minutes after it went live. I love their papers and the little ink cubes are so great for expanding color options on a reasonable budget. And this is TWENTY-FIVE new colors! Using a sponge dauber, I added a little color with some fade on white card stock and then stamped over them with the images using Versafine Clair Ink.

I cut them out with their respective dies and started with the sketch. The flowers are Pink Lemonade and Lilac, the leaves are Lemongrass, the centers are touched with Honeycomb and the background paper is Powder (I’m going to need a whole pack of this ASAP). I mixed companies on this one and used the Clover Petals 3D Embossing Folder and then pulled a sentiment from my already foiled pile (I tend to make a bunch when I’m foiling for using later). This one is from Pinkfresh Studios. You can expect to be seeing these colors in all the things for a bit!!

I keep thinking things will calm down a bit here but nope. I’m flying max schedules and still trying to finish some end of school year things for the boys. Last week and next week, college visits for the youngest. And nope, can’t even talk about it because it is happening too fast. So glad you stopped in today. I appreciate you all so much!

Freshly Made Sketches #579

Freshly Made Sketches #579 published on 6 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #579

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!

Freshly Made Sketches #463

Freshly Made Sketches #463 published on 5 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #463

Happy Thanksgiving Week to those of you in the US! I hope you are all safe, first and foremost! While this is not the holiday many of us want, I pray for us all to stay vigilant and follow whatever best guidance you have for your area. If nothing else, I hope that you have a bit of down time and time to craft. Our new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches is fun for using your papers or maybe even some other elements. The lovely Amy O’Neill is the sketch designer so of course it is fun!

I continued playing with the Gina K Designs Sparkle and Shine Kit and used the Holiday Tapestry Stamp Set from the kit. The rectangle stamp had such a pretty design that I thought it would be nice for the panels under the sentiment. I also love that this set has a Hanukkah stamp. I didn’t have one in my repertoire and so happy I do now.

So glad you stopped in today. I am so incredibly thankful for each of you!

Freshly Made Sketches #458

Freshly Made Sketches #458 published on 8 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #458

Another week has flown by and I’m busy getting used to combining flying and stamping again. But I have a quick card for you using the latest from Freshly Made Sketches. Our wonderful Kim Singdahlsen has created a unique and fun sketch.

I kept it pretty straight to the sketch and tried to just focus on the shimmer and shine of glitter paper. The fabulous sentiment die is the Happy Word SugarCut and I used its coordinating stamp set, Happy Thoughts.

The background texture is an old Stampin’ Up embossing folder.

I hope you will enjoy playing along with us this week. Lots of fabulous inspiration from the team, as always. Thanks for stopping in. See you soon!

Freshly Made Sketches #457

Freshly Made Sketches #457 published on 6 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #457

Happy Wednesday! I am happy to be back with this week’s sketch from Freshly Made Sketches. Our ever so wonderful and witty Linda Callahan is the sketch designer this week and this one is great for all of you who love layers.

I decided to go all in on fall and pulled out this Leafy Layers die set by Concord and 9th. I love all the leaves, the banner, the options! Using some old patterned paper from my apparently never-ending stash, I opted for plaid and textures. The effect from cutting the outline and the solid die from the same print surprised me with its “just right” pop. I love how you can die cut a sentiment into the banner and thought that just a bit of the pattern peeking through would add a nice detail. Best of all, cards like this are easy to make and put together in bulk.

I hope you have as much fun with this one as I did. Lots of room to play with colors and textures, stamped images or none at all! Come on over and join us. Back tomorrow with a new card for SugarPea Designs. See you then!

Freshly Made Sketches #451

Freshly Made Sketches #451 published on 7 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #451

Happy middle of the week. I hope yours is going well. I’m happy to bring you the latest sketch from Freshly Made Sketches. Our lovely Narelle is the sketch designer and this one is fabulous.

I was in a bit of a watercolor mood and I really wanted to play with my new release products from Concord and 9th. I watercolored the green as a background and then layered color onto the varying die cuts. These leaves are from the retired Layering Leaves and the new Leafy Layers. The sentiment and banner are from the new set too. I just watercolored a panel, cut the letters and used the negative as a guide for setting the letters on the panel.

I hope you will have some time to join us this week. We love seeing all the beautiful creations in the gallery. Thanks for stopping in today. Look for me on Friday for a great Instagram hop with SugarPea Designs.

Freshly Made Sketches #445

Freshly Made Sketches #445 published on 10 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #445

Happy Wednesday! I hope your week is going well. I’m happy to share the latest sketch from Freshly Made Sketches designed by Jen Mitchell. This one is fabulous!

I took a pretty literal view of the sketch. The truth is, I wanted to play with my brand new, hot off the presses colors from Concord and 9th. I picked a little flower from the Furry Friends stamp set and stamped it with a variety of the new colors. The outlines, sentiment and wreath are stamped in Mushroom. This is a fantastic neutral that is kind of a dark taupe. Wonderful! The flowers here are Honeysuckle, Ballet Slipper, Buttercup, Sprout and Aqua Sky. I got the bundle of Ink Cubes and Card stock and the colors are beautiful! In the card stock, there came white and black as well. This white is really nice. I find that using the same brand of paper and ink tends to work well since they are tested together and this combination backs this up. The Mushroom was perfect on the sentiment (always a good test of ink/paper).

I think you will have a great time wit this sketch. Those little circles give lots of room for fun! I hope you will come over and join us. Thanks so much for stopping in today. See you soon!

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