My dear friends. Thank you. I have had this blog for a full 15 years and it has chronicled so many small moments and so much of my creative journey. When I started this, my boys were small and I was getting more serious about crafting. This blog has led me to many of you and I am thankful that you have joined me and read my thoughts, sent me kind words, and supported my hobby. I found my Freshly Made Sketches family here. I committed to entering the Artisan Design Team competition for Stampin’ Up and then, in a total surprise, had the privilege of being on that team for a year. Again, I met more of my crafting friends during that time. When it came time to move away from Stampin’ Up, it was a creative leap of faith and again you supported me. Through design teams and product launches, I loved being able to share with you.

The hardest part of walking away from this blog is that it is kind of a journal. Moments in time, cards made for family, the loss of my mom, my United Airlines journey and, the biggest I think, my yearly ponderings on 9/11. I could not walk away from this until I had a way to save it all. Thankfully, I have figured that out so that I will have it as a file and a way to remember.

For now, the blog will stay in place until its permissions run out. Because it is a paid blog, it cannot stay in place forever and I’m sure it will up and disappear with no warning. I’m sorry about that part but also do not want to pay or do the work behind the scenes to keep it viable any further. As you have seen, I’ve been slowly transitioning more to social media for my postings. I’m always happy to answer questions about my cards or other things on those places.

And now, here we are. In January 2010 I set out to share my crafting adventures and I’m so glad I had you all along for the ride. Thanks for riding along with me. It is with gratitude that I wish you all fair skies and tailwinds. Hope to see you on Instagram and Facebook!

The amazing Kim Singdahlsen is the designer for this week at Freshly Made Sketches. Come over to the challenge blog to play along. All the details for my card can be found on Instagram (link here:  jentimko) or on Facebook (link here:  Stampin’ on the Fly with Jen Timko).

Additionally, if you missed it, I created a new video for my YouTube Channel last week. Linking it here so that you can follow that page if you are interested.

The amazing Jen Mitchell is the designer for this week at Freshly Made Sketches. Come over to the challenge blog to play along. All the details for my card can be found on Instagram (link here:  jentimko) or on Facebook (link here:  Stampin’ on the Fly with Jen Timko).

I’m the sketch designer for this week at Freshly Made Sketches. Come over to the challenge blog to play along. All the details for my card can be found on Instagram (link here:  jentimko) or on Facebook (link here:  Stampin’ on the Fly with Jen Timko).

I have mentioned before that I’m likely going to be transitioning away from this blog. I’m getting closer to that point but don’t want to lose any of you in the process, if possible. A quick post with my card for today’s Freshly Made Sketches. You can find the details over on Instagram (link here: jentimko) or on Facebook (link here: Stampin’ on the Fly with Jen Timko)

I’d love to have you join me there! Have a wonderful rest of your week!

What a fun week we have over at Freshly Made Sketches this week! We are celebrating 14 years of sketch challenges and inspiration. Incredible! What is more incredible is that we still have two of the original design team members on the team and our team has such longevity as players too. You can see not only our takes on the sketch this week but each DT member posted their very first card made for the challenge.

In my case, I was a player in challenge #1 and became a DT member at #4. I’m so grateful to the FMS family and while I love the cards, I REALLY love the people.

I was feeling a bit in the fall state of mind when I was creating this and pulled out some favorites from Honey Bee Stamps. I love inking up these leaves and the sunflower and had fun doing that. I found a patterned paper that matched the greens and thought that would be nice for the squares. I added a little bit of Distress Ink to give them more of the fall look.

I thought this sentiment was perfect for the sketch but also for my birthday stash. I used a new to me die set from Gina K Designs for the stitched square and the bigger square – Master Layouts #3. Finally a few neutral pearls to finish.

I hope you will come over and create with us this week. We love being a part of your crafting inspiration and we always find such joy in seeing what you create!

Happy Wednesday, everyone! A lovely new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches by our wonderful Karren Johnson. It can be a mini-slimline or not…whatever works for you! I hadn’t made one in a while so I thought it would be a fun style to make.

When I saw the sketch, I went with my gut and pulled out the new to me set from Colorado Stamp Company called Flower Pot. It has a perfect spring feel and I thought the little bouquet of flowers looked like the semi-circle from the sketch. Or close enough. I spent a little time (much needed) doing some Copic coloring. It was fun playing around with the pot to get a terra cotta look.

For the flowers, I kept the coloring pretty simple, although it did take a craft table full of markers to do it. The real challenge was leaving a white flower in the middle and I added a little bit of shading with my Warm Grays to, hopefully, keep it from looking too flat. I pulled a sentiment from another CCC set called Smell the Roses. Such a pretty font!

I think there is a taste of spring on the agenda all week here in Virginia so I may clear out a few beds to start getting ready for planting. I hope you have a lovely day!

Another week has flown by…literally. Lots of flying! But I did have a little time for some coloring this week. Just in time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches by the amazing Karren Johnson.

My obsession with these gorgeous flowers from Joyful Poinsettia has not waned. I thought it would be fun to create a dark background on a one layer panel for the circle element. All of the coloring is Copic Markers.

I used the Quilted A2 Cover Plate die to add a little interest in the background on Cobblestone Card Stock by Concord and 9th. I used gold embossing on the sentiment and a few gold pearls for a little extra shine.

I hope you like this one! Come over and see all the team has created plus a beautiful card from a guest designer this week too! Thanks for stopping in today. See you again soon!

A little late to post today…sorry about that! Our sketch designer this week is the amazing Amy O’Neill and she designed a fun one. I combined some old and new products to create a sweet little baby card for a dear niece who just had a little girl

I don’t know what it was about this card but getting a good photo of it was just impossible. And believe me, I took a lot of them. Maybe something about the pale colors and the metallics. In any case, I used a sweet little onesie die from Newton’s Nook Designs with gold foiling for a modern look. I brushed on some Tattered Rose Distress Ink for a pale peachy pink and then added a heart from another NND set inked with Bundled Sage. So soft and pretty. I pulled out a little gold clothespin from my stash and added a little twine bow.

I added some gold foiling using Glimmer Matte Gold Foil and the Spellbinders Splatter Sentiments die. I love the texture this adds! The sentiments is from an old favorite, Everyday Sentiments, by SugarPea Designs which was heat embossed.

I hope you will come join us this week at Freshly Made Sketches! We love all the inspiration you give and it is always a joy to see how you used our sketches. Hope you have a great rest of your week!

Our sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week is from our wonderful Karren Johnson. It is a classic look with lots of variation potential. I needed to re-stock on some cards for my college kid so that was my direction.

I just love the Caffeinated series from The Rabbit Hole Designs and this cat is just perfect for my son. I chose some school colors and new paper from Honey Bee Stamps to match.

I used Copic Markers to color with the cat colored with Warm Grays (W0, W2, W3, W5), his robe with Greens (G21, G24, YG67, G28) and Blue trim (B32, B37, B39).

I hope you’ll come over and join us this week! Thanks so much for stopping in today!