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Freshly Made Sketches #473

Freshly Made Sketches #473 published on 8 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #473

Hi everyone! Busy week for posts this week but I am thrilled to share today’s Freshly Made Sketches challenge. Our wonderful Amy O’Neill has a sketch that will open up all kinds of creative opportunities!

I knew immediately that I wanted a “border” style image and then I came across this Shake Your Tail Feathers stamp from Picket Fence Studios! PERFECT! Using my Misti, I stamped it on a card base and again on another panel. On the top panel, I just colored with Copic Markers and played with shading on my greens and teals. Such fun! I cut the panel down and then chose a sentiment for the crossing panel from the same set.

I hope you enjoy this take on the spotlight technique and will have some creative time to join us this week. I’ll be back on Friday for a new project for Honey Bee Stamps (and a hop!). See you soon!

Crafty Friends Blog Hop – Picket Fence Studios

Crafty Friends Blog Hop – Picket Fence Studios published on 7 Comments on Crafty Friends Blog Hop – Picket Fence Studios

Today is Crafty Friends Blog Hop day! I’m thrilled to say that we celebrating Picket Fence Studios, a long time favorite of mine. I also have a bit of news. This is our last hop as a group. We have so loved sharing our favorite companies with you! I hope you will enjoy this last hop.

I am such a fan of the BFF Girls and this BFF Kate is one I reach for over and over. Something about her cool attitude makes me want to be her. I gave her a cute fall outfit and added a background that seemed to accent her.

I used the Fairy Wings stencil to add a little bit of detail. After inking the side of the front with Distress Ink, I then added black ink with the stencil. An easy and fun way to add texture and I love this design. Finally I picked a sentiment from the Simply Wonderful stamp set. Love a good sentiment set!

I’m happy to add a shopping code for this hop too! Use CRAFTYFRIENDS20 either today or tomorrow (Sept 20 – 21) for a 20% discount. I have linked my affiliate link and I appreciate you shopping with me (click the button or the code).

Now on to the rest of the hop. I’m sending you to the fabulous Tanya Boser. Here is the whole list in case you get lost.

Thanks so much for dropping by today! Again, I sad that this is the end of an era but crafty friends are the best of friends so you will see us all around!

Freshly Made Sketches #447

Freshly Made Sketches #447 published on 6 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #447

Happy middle of the week! Honestly I’m glad for the Wednesday challenge to help me keep track of the days right now. The oh so talented Kim Singdahlsen is our sketch designer at Freshly Made Sketches this week and this one is such a classic.

In fairness to Kim, I truly started on a path of following the sketch completely. But sometimes designing goes a different path. I think I stayed true enough to the intent at least. I thought a Halloween card was just what I needed to shake it up. And what could be more fun that this Trick or Treaters Stamp Set by Picket Fence Studios. I just love these sweet images! I colored the adorable witch and her, um, friend with Copic Markers. Then using the Outdoor Scene Builder Stencil from SweetPea Designs, I inked the grass. I added a bit of a purple sky and used the same stencil for the stars. I had a couple of great sentiment choices but this one made me smile when used with this little cutey.

I hope you’ll come over and play with us this week. The team has created such wonderful inspiration, as they do each week. Thank you for stopping in today. I’m always grateful for the chance to share with you. Have a great rest of your week.

Freshly Made Sketches #420

Freshly Made Sketches #420 published on 8 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #420

Happy Wednesday! Today I’m the sketch designer over at Freshly Made Sketches and I hope you will like my choice. I love square cards so I went with a square design (you can make it a rectangle, of course). I planted a big old circle in the middle which pretty much means you can put about anything there.

I opted for a big flower…the Big Blooms Daisy from Taylored Expressions to be specific. I started coloring this flower quite a while ago and it sat unfinished on my desk all through the holidays. Well, this was the week to finish it! I wanted to play with the idea of creating a white flower that had some depth and shading. I chose the Y and YR families to add the shadows and I’m pretty happy with the result. I added an orange center to give it a bolder look and then found it popped perfectly off a colored base. I chose Coastal Cabana (left from last week’s card) and added a bit of Distress Oxide ink with the Taylored Expressions Blender Brushes to give it more depth. The sentiment is from Picket Fence Studios and I added some sequins from my stash.

I’m off on a crafty adventure as of today and hopefully I’ll come back with some cards and new to me product to share. I hope you’ll join us with this sketch too. Make sure you go see all the amazing work from the DT. Until next time, have a great week!

Crafty Friends Blog Hop – Picket Fence Studios

Crafty Friends Blog Hop – Picket Fence Studios published on 5 Comments on Crafty Friends Blog Hop – Picket Fence Studios

Hi everyone! It is Crafty Friends day and I’m thrilled to be sharing that our hop focuses on one of my favorite companies, Picket Fence Studios! If you are new to the hop, welcome. We are a group of friends who have a similar craft background and wanted to work together to share inspiration each month.

I had a hard time narrowing down what to use for this hop but thought that a focus on the “BFF Girls” was a great place to start. I love this whole line and “Kate” is one of my favorites. I created the background with the Watercolor Brush Strokes stencil and some Hero Hues ink.

I colored “Kate” in a coordinating green Copic color and worked on some distressed jeans for her. After coloring her pants, I dabbed some Blending Solution with a piece of terry cloth to create texture. I love this when I remember to do it and it is such fun! The sentiment is from the set called Your Eyeliner Straight and is a new favorite of mine (also part of a current gift special from Picket Fence Studios!). It seems perfect for this fashionista too.

As you have come to expect, we have a 20% discount code that is good for Jan 20th – 21st. Just use the code CRAFTYFRIENDS20 when you shop. Click the graphic above to go straight to the shop.

Now on to the rest of the hop. I’m thrilled to send you to Jenny Hall who is next in the rotation. And here is the list in case you get lost along the way.

I hope you enjoy all the inspiration from the hop this month. Make sure you go over and see all the new products that have been announced at Creativation by Picket Fence Studios. You are going to fall in love with them!

Holiday Sales!

Holiday Sales! published on No Comments on Holiday Sales!

It is that time of year and I want to share with you some sales by companies I love. If you are looking for it, I suspect you will find it at one of these wonderful sites! I’ll keep updating this post throughout the weekend so come back to see more. I have included affiliate links and appreciate you shopping with me at no additional cost to you.

Ellen Hutson: Nov 27 – Dec 2

Taylored Expressions: Nov 28 (9p CST) – Dec 2 (9a CST) + Cyber Monday Specials too

Concord & 9th: Nov 29 – Dec 3

Simon Says Stamp: Nov 29 Only

Picket Fence Studios: Nov 25 – Dec 2

My Sweet Petunia: Nov 25 – Dec 3 (Midnight CST)

Altenew: Nov 29 Only

Honey Bee Stamps: Nov 28 – Nov 29

The Stamp Market: Nov 29

Picket Fence Studios August Release

Picket Fence Studios August Release published on 2 Comments on Picket Fence Studios August Release

Happy August release day from Picket Fence Studios! I’m so excited to share a couple of projects using two of the new sets. Also, this is my second post of the day. If you are looking for Week 2 of the Freshly Made Sketches #400 Celebration, just scroll down.

So in that “what did you do on your summer vacation” prompt for blogging, my family did a long weekend in New York City and I finally got to see Wicked. Yep, you can see where I’m going with this. Needless to say, the moment I saw the If You’ve Got It, Haunt It set, I knew I had to create Elphaba. Isn’t she glorious with her green complexion?!

I used my Zig Clean Color Markers to color her on Bristol Smooth Paper and then cut her out using circle die. I found this awesome ombré paper that matched perfectly too. Now this sentiment made me jump for joy! It comes from the Wicked Together stamp set and it was PERFECT! A few green sequins as a finishing touch.

Next up is another adorable Halloween set called Trick or Treaters. This little group of ghouls could not be even a little cuter! And the perfect size for quick coloring. I colored them up using Copic Markers and thought it would be fun to make a wobbler card. Yep, that little spider is on an Action Wobbler and it just makes me chuckle. I’ll have a short video over at Instagram if you care to see it in action. My background was created with Distress Ink in Wilted Violet and I used Tonic Glimmer Paste to add extra dimension with the Random Dots Stencil. The sentiment from the new Witch, Please cracked me up with the spider.

I hope you enjoy these cards and the whole release! Hop on over to Picket Fence Studios to see all the offerings! Thanks so much for stopping in today. And happy shopping…because you are going to want it all!

Picket Fence Studios with Thermoweb and My Sweet Petunia

Picket Fence Studios with Thermoweb and My Sweet Petunia published on 12 Comments on Picket Fence Studios with Thermoweb and My Sweet Petunia

I’m so happy to be joining another collaboration event today! Three amazing companies are joining in. Picket Fence Studios, Thermoweb and My Sweet Petunia and a whole lot of fun.

The hardest part of this collaboration is actually showing the products I used. You see, the Misti is a daily stamping companion (at this point my regular Misti and Mini Misti are fully loaded and used in tandem on everything) but it isn’t always shown in photos. But believe me, it was required for this card. And then I also used the Thermoweb Masking Magic paper for masking my bluebonnets. Again, not glamorous for photos but an absolute requirement to make this card happen.

I stamped the center flower from the Bluebonnet stamp set onto watercolor paper (multiple times to get full coverage) and then put down a mask that had been stamped and cut from the Masking Magic. These masks are usable over and over so I don’t mind the cutting! I repositioned the stamp and stamped again to get the layered effects on either side. Once I was done, I watercolored the images with Daniel Smith paints and then added the Thank You sentiment.

Now for the winning opportunity! All three companies are offering $25 Gift Certificates to a lucky winner (one each per company). And all you have to do is comment on team member blogs from each of the three participating companies. Super easy! You can find all the participants at the company blogs (each company will list their team).

Picket Fence Studios – Click here

Thermoweb – Click here

My Sweet Petunia – Click here

Thanks so much for stopping in today. See you again on Wednesday for tons of fun from Freshly Made Sketches. You won’t want to miss it!

Picket Fence Studios and WOW! Embossing Collaboration Blog Hop

Picket Fence Studios and WOW! Embossing Collaboration Blog Hop published on 35 Comments on Picket Fence Studios and WOW! Embossing Collaboration Blog Hop

I love when crafty companies get together and share the joy! It is such a great part of our industry and one to celebrate! Today, Picket Fence Studios and WOW! Embossing are joining together. Two teams, tons of inspiration! Hang on for some AH-MAZING projects! If you arrived from Erica’s blog, welcome. If you are starting with me, just hop along with the list at the bottom until you get back here. Oh, and I can’t forget to mention PRIZES! Yes, of course there are prizes from these two amazing companies! Details later in the post.

I know that we are still in July but, to be honest, if I don’t start on Christmas cards now I will never get them done. One of the things I look for when designing mine for the year is something I can make in bulk that won’t make me too crazy. I don’t love creating in bulk, you see. So the design needs to be simple but with a special touch. As a CAS stamper, simple seems to be what I make the most of but the special part…that is where the WOW! embossing powders come in. When I was playing with this design, I originally tested two powders on this pretty Neenah Desert Storm paper. Both results were so pretty that I could not decide which I liked. So I asked my most honest critics. My boys! One chose “gold” and one chose “silver”. And I realized I didn’t have to actual choose at all!

Armed with my trusty MISTI, I had all the elements in place to stamp multiples. This Fern Picture Frame stamp from Picket Fence Studios is gorgeous for holiday cards! All the detail is perfect for embossing! I stamped in Versamark Ink and then heat embossed with White Pearl and Oyster Glintz powders. I had a happy accident with these choices, by the way. I had played with a number of colors on white card stock and knew how gorgeous they are in “true” color. But on the kraft, these took on the silver and gold look. I love products that can really give value and can multitask. I was pleasantly surprised that this could happen with embossing powder! When I get further along with my creating for Christmas, don’t be surprised when you see this exact card layout done on white with these powders and others. The sentiment for this card comes from the String of Lights Stamp Set. This whole set would be amazing with embossing powders….hmmm, chances are I’ll be making that too. I thought a few sequins were the perfect touch on the wreaths and I found some in my large stash that matched perfectly. Love the monochromatic feel but you could use colored jewels or pearls too. So now to more fun….

PRIZES – No Blog hop is complete without a prize!

WOW! Embossing Powders has 6 powders of your choosing along with a WOW carry case to store your powders safely in.

Picket Fence  is giving away a $50 gift certificate to their store.

The Winners will be chosen at random from the comments left on THE POSTS.

To join this GIVEAWAY you must leave a comment on each blog post to have a chance at getting your hands on the prize. This hop is open internationally. Below is the entire blog hop roll in case you get lost along the way. Next up is ISHA GUPTA and you are sure to be, well, WOW’d!

Thanks so much for stopping through today! See you again soon!

Christmas In July

Christmas In July published on No Comments on Christmas In July

You want to know something about blogging? You can write up a post and then, if you don’t set the time to go live, it can sit in the holding pattern for days. Yeah. Ask me how I know. So, while this was supposed to go live yesterday, just write it off to summer crazies.

I’m continuing my sharing of the Picket Fence Studios July Release today with a fun Christmas card. As soon as I saw this pretty Fern Picture Frame image, all I could think of was Christmas options. So I created this bright happy and almost summery version of a Christmas card.

I used the Colorbox Dyestress Inks from Clearsnap and blended together two colors (Citronella and Inchworm) for a quick and easy background to the wreath. I over stamped the image on the blended section and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder to give it a little more texture. I found this sentiment in the String of Lights set and simply masked off part of it. I found a coordinating green card stock (SU) and some sequins to give a little more shine.

I love all the possibilities with this set and I’m sure you can see them too! Make sure you hop over and look at the whole release. So much to love!

Thanks for stopping in today. I appreciate you spending a few minutes with me and look forward to seeing you again tomorrow for the latest from Freshly Made Sketches.

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