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Freshly Made Sketches #657

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Happy to share the fun sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week. Karren has really created a fun one with the angled panel and the tag element. I found my idea came together really quickly for this one!

It all started with these kitties….a phrase that pretty much describes daily life at my house! They come from the Meowgical Stamp Set by The Rabbit Hole Designs and I love them! A couple of weeks ago, I needed some coloring therapy and sat down to Copic color these two. I think I told you about a Copic “belch” and had to rethink a card. It was on one of these that I had almost finished. So I walked away for a bit and then came back to color again. As usual, I chose to make them Kate (the calico) and Meg (my gray tuxedo). I didn’t quite create Meg’s face flash but otherwise it is pretty much them.

There is a fun spider web image in the set and at first I planned to use it. But then I came across this paper from the Spooktacular Paper Pack (Honey Bee Stamps) and thought it was perfect for the sketch. I found this green texture paper in the same pack and used on of my “Free Bee” tag dies to cut it out (Honey Bee has freebies that come with certain order amounts…which I always seem to hit…and this tag set has other fun elements with it too). The sentiments from the stamp set are all so cute and punny! In my brain this is totally Kate casting a disappearing spell on Meg and Meg just looking at her all sassy after drinking some kind of immunity potion. And if Kate could make Meg disappear, pretty sure she would!! Ah, calico kitties!!! Also Kate has one of the loudest and purriest purrs ever so…. Clearly this will end up with one of the boys or someone who knows these two and their shenanigans.

I had an orange and white ribbon that, at first, I tried in the tag but it was too thick. Instead, I used it as a border detail and love the effect. All the ribbon and twine is from my “collection”.

Thanks so much for stopping in today. For the next week, I’m one happy mom. Both of the boys will be coming home for their respective fall breaks. A little staggered but both here over the weekend. For all of you who are in the path of the latest hurricane or have been impacted by Helene, please know my thoughts remain with you. Please take care of yourselves and know that we are waiting to support you in any way we can. See you soon!

Freshly Made Sketches #656

Freshly Made Sketches #656 published on 3 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #656

Hi everyone! Back with this week’s sketch from Freshly Made Sketches. This week our super creative Cécile Ribbon has created a sketch you are sure to love! I decided it was time to peruse through my bowl of unused elements and see what I found.

I think we can agree I went an entirely different direction than last week’s shares. This pink snowflakes were just sitting there waiting to be used and I thought they would be fun for the sketch. I don’t remember which pink card stock this is but all I did was cut out the snowflakes from the Lovely Layers: Large Snowflakes. I also had the glitter paper snowflake already cut and thought, sure, why not?!! The pink ones had been splattered with Hero Arts Shimmer Mist to add a bit of extra shine.

I took a sentiment from the Tag, You’re It stamp set and heat embossed with silver embossing powder. Attached the snowflakes and added some silver pearls from the Metallic Pearls set. Quick and easy for sure, especially since the die cutting was already done!

Hope you’ll come over and join us this week. I bet you have some things that would be perfect for this sketch too! I’ll be back tomorrow with a fun surprise post. See you then!

Freshly Made Sketches #655

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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 #651

Freshly Made Sketches #651 published on 5 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #651

Hi everyone! Happy end of August!! I know it has been kind of forever since I posted but, as I suspected, my month was really taken over by getting ready for the youngest to leave for college. He went a week ago, and then my “emotional support college senior” left on Sunday. Now the real quiet begins. Oh my!! Good thing I have stamping to do and new products to use! I’m the sketch designer at Freshly Made Sketches this week and I chose something that was simple for my brain to handle. And conveniently, it worked with some new products.

When I saw this gorgeous new suite of products from Dawn Woleslagle for PinkFresh Studio, I knew it would be perfect for some of my holiday crafting. She created a stamp and die set but also a coordinating washi tape that can be used with the dies too. This makes for quick cards and an easy way to create multiples that still feel fancy. For this card, I used the washi and put it down on white card stock, then cut it out with the dies. I did doubles of all the images (since it is so fast) so I’d have lots of pieces to play with. Didn’t need a lot for this but now I have them for the next time I sit to create! I created a wreath by layering the die cuts and then got to choosing how to finish the card.

I found this pretty print in the Holiday Wishes Paper Pack by Honey Bee Stamps that was perfect! It mirrors the gold in the washi tape and I love the pattern. I stamped the sentiment (from Dawn’s stamp set) and heat embossed with gold. To complete the sketch, I used some of my Gold Card Stock from Erin Lee Creative (she has some of the BEST papers!) along the edge of the patterned paper. Some gold pearls to finish.

This was a fun way to get back into the craft room after such a long hiatus. I look forward to getting some more crafting fun in over the next week as I adjust to the empty nest. Thanks so much for stopping in today. Hope you can come over and join us with my sketch! See you soon.

Freshly Made Sketches #647

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Hope all is going well with you summer! Here we are at the end of July already. I had a little time to make a quick card for this week’s Freshly Made Sketches so I’m here to share. This fun sketch from our wonderful Karren Johnson was easy to use and I think it will be a popular one this week.

I pulled out my new BetterPress again for this one and used the Floral J and Sentiment Press Plate. Seemed like the right letter for me, don’t you think?! I inked it up with Momento Tuxedo Black with the intent to use Copics and it worked great! Just some easy coloring and I love the detail on this.

To keep to the sketch, I cut out the letter with the Stacking Art Deco Labels dies. In the background, I used the Dogwood Blooms 3-D Embossing Folder on white card stock and then cut it per the sketch. Like I said, a quick card!

Thanks so much for stopping in today. As always, I appreciate you! See you soon!

Freshly Made Sketches #645

Freshly Made Sketches #645 published on 7 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #645

Hi friends!! Coming to you from the surface of the sun (otherwise known as Virginia). Oh, is it crazy! I hope you are not being negatively impacted by the heat or the awful storms that have been affecting so many. I decided I needed an afternoon in my nice, cool basement craft room and I got some time to play with a new-to-me product. And…I’m hooked. Our hiking superstar, Jen Brum, is our sketch designer this week for Freshly Made Sketches and I love the elegant options this one gives.

I just got the BetterPress Letterpress system from Spellbinders. And yes, I’m a late adapter!! I love the letterpress look (always have) but wanted to make sure this wasn’t a fleeting trend before I committed. I got a few plates when I ordered it and this Butterfly Bouquet was one of them. And then it matched the sketch…well almost. Except backwards. But I wanted to break open the box and give this a try so I’m sure Jen will forgive the flip. I thought the circle on the sketch lent itself to the spotlight technique.

I used the Porcelain BetterPress Cotton card panels (A2) and printed the image twice. On the second, I cut a circle out and then colored those with Karin Markers in bright, happy colors. Daring to be different, I did not use the ink that comes with the BetterPress (although it is water safe). Instead I used a known ink to me, Versafine Clair. It worked perfectly and I knew it would hold up to the watercoloring. I stamped the sentiment on part of the scrap from the watercolored panel using the same ink and words from the On the Line: Fall Florals set. The texture on this is so pretty! The paper, the detail, all of it…so in love!

I hope you will have a bit of time to play along this week. Make sure to link up so we can see your beautiful work. My summer is going by so fast…today I’m off to do some dorm shopping…oh my!! Thanks for stopping by today. I so appreciate you!

Freshly Made Sketches #643

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Well, it has been hot as blazes outside so naturally, I’m thinking cool thoughts! Our sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches is courtesy of our amazing Linda Callahan and all I could see was snowflakes!

I had this background sitting over in my stash of unused things and decided it was exactly right for today’s card. I don’t remember exactly how I made it other than with Distress Oxides and Hero Arts Shimmer Mist but ink smooshing was definitely involved. I also had the top snowflake sitting in the pile so I simply cut two more from the same Lovely Layers: Large Snowflakes set. I inked one with more Oxide Ink and left the other plain. Took them all to the spray box and added Shimmer Mist.

It is always hard to capture the shimmer on camera but the second photo give you an idea of it. I pulled a sentiment from the Let Nature Sing set and used silver embossing powder for it. Then I added some of the matte silver pearls from the Metallic Mixed Pearls pack.

I hope this finds you staying cool and having a nice summer. I will be intermittent in my cards over the summer. Trying to take advantage of every last moment before the youngest heads off to college in August. There will be plenty of time for stamping after the nest is empty. *sigh* Thanks for stopping in today!

Freshly Made Sketches #641

Freshly Made Sketches #641 published on 7 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #641

Hi everyone! I am the sketch designer over at Freshly Made Sketches and I hope you will enjoy the options on this one.

I’m still working on finding the right card for a friend to give his wife. After narrowing some things down and showing him some previous cards he narrowed it down to: hummingbird, vintage feel, touches of blue. I think maybe I’ve gotten closer to the mark. I did lots of ink smooshing, splattering and brushing it on. Almost all of it was Distress Oxide ink and all the paper was Distress Heavystock. I’m simply obsessed with the details on this hummingbird from Honey Bee Stamps. I just played with shading on greens and grays (Peeled Paint, Rustic Wilderness, Lost Shadow) plus a bit of Rusty Hinge and Candied Apple for his throat. I added Lost Shadow Distress Spray Stain for more splattering.

For the flower, I used Tattered Rose and Worn Lipstick plus a little bit of the Rusty Hinge left on the brush to pull in a little bit of orange. I used the Vintage Flora background stamp inked with a combination of Antique Linen and Rusty Hinge Oxide inks. I spritzed, stamped off and then applied the paper to the stamp to get a less detailed image. I then spritzed with Tumbled Glass Distress Spray and added more Tumbled Glass Oxide to the edges. The sentiment is from my go-to Mini Messages.

Thanks for dropping into today. Let me know if you think I hit the mark for my friend’s request. See you again soon!

Freshly Made Sketches #640

Freshly Made Sketches #640 published on 5 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #640

Hi all!! I’ve been dodging weather around the country for the last week but managed to have a day to create a card. I opted to pull out a new to me die set that matches the sketch (although in reverse). Our sketch is courtesy of our wonderful Judy Rozema and it leaves lots of fun options.

The Lovely Layers: Dianthus dies have this little group of 3 flowers that I thought would work for the sketch…hopeful Judy forgives my flip. Using my Distress Inkds with pinks and oranges, I blended the flowers. I just love how they layer! Added the extra leaf layers for dimension and the flower was done. I wanted to use a dark background the make it pop but it seemed a little plain.

I added an extra panel that I embossed with the Sandie’s Garden 3D embossing folder. The sentiment is from the Lean on Each Other stamp set with white heat embossing on the same blue as the background.

Hope you are having a great week and will come join us for the fun! Thanks so much for stopping in. See you soon.

Freshly Made Sketches #639

Freshly Made Sketches #639 published on 4 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #639

Hello everyone! Well, the last few weeks have been all that I promised…busy! But we got the youngest graduated from high school (and I didn’t fall apart), I got to see the oldest’s regatta and we went on a family vacation. Now I’m trying to get back to reality and out on a trip. We have a beautiful sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches from the lovely Amy O’Neill.

A bit of a simple take to get back into the groove (and to actually get it made). I was inspired by some beautiful flowers I saw when we were on vacation in Seattle. I think they are lupines but if you know differently, please let me know (photo below)! Using some paper that already had some Distress Ink stamping and splatters, I cut out the flowers and greenery. I added more Distress Ink for shading and character.

I chose a some pretty papers from the Grain and Grunge plus Vintage Love packs by Honey Bee Stamps and then added a sentiment from my go-to set, Mini Messages. I opted for gold embossing and added a few gold pearls to go along. A Captain that has led the way for many women is retiring this month so I thought it would be nice to make her a special card.

I hope this finds you well and starting to enjoy a bit of summer. As you can imagine, this is the beginning of the busy work season for me. I’ll create as much as I can but also I’m trying to hold on to every moment with my youngest before he heads out to college in August. Thanks for always being so supportive!

I showed a closeup of the flowers but there was a whole field of these. It was glorious! Thanks for stopping in today. See you soon!

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