Freshly Made Sketches

Freshly Made Sketches #184

April 29, 2015 Jentimko 10 Comments

Such a great day here in Northern Virginia!! We are finally having real live beautiful spring weather (complete with the requisite pollen, of course). I was out planting flowers and some herbs yesterday! So wonderful! All my outside time, and the continuing soccer-palooza, has cut into my crafting time. Thank goodness for Freshly Made Sketches to keep me on track! My friend Kim is sending us “over the edge” this week with her sketch. Perfect for how I’m feeling with our family schedule this week!! *smile*

Kim’s sketch is so smart and fun. She has an element hanging over the edge of the card. Just narrow your base to accommodate how much the element goes over. That keeps it able to be mailed easily. I made my card base 5-1/2″ x 4″ (once folded). Now….I need a moment of silence for the retiring Naturals Ivory Card Stock. This has been a favorite of mine for, well, forever. I love the little speckles and I especially love it in the fall. I love how it takes ink just a little differently than the smooth card stocks which adds to a vintage look with no actual work. I stamped the border from Butterfly Basics twice in Crumb Cake. Then I stamped the big flower from Flower Patch in Crumb Cake and the smaller one in Pool Party and fussy cut them out. There are framelits but I didn’t want the borders on this. The sentiment is from Flower Patch too and I love this one!!! A Basic Gold Button tied with Linen Thread to finish.

I hope you are having a lovely week too. Don’t forget that the Retirement List (and sale) is still on and you can see what is still available at my Online Store. I’m excited to be learning more about the new catalog as the Convention in Australia gets underway tomorrow (stalk the demos from down under to see the exciting developments…I will be….). Thanks so much for stopping in today. See you soon!

TOMORROW IS THE LAST DAY FOR:

SOTF - April Sneak Peek

I’m so excited to share my new edition of Stamps on the Fly! You all know how much I love working with sketches and I thought it would be fun to share that with you. I have a brand new page up telling you all the details including the links on how to get these PDF tutorials for FREE!

Available for international customers and demonstrators too! Just click below for all the details!

Stamps on the Fly – April Sketch Edition

Click HERE to purchase wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp: Butterfly Basics, Flower Patch; Paper: Naturals Ivory; Ink: Crumb Cake, Pool Party; Accessories: Basic Gold Button, Linen Thread, Dimensionals

Freshly Made Sketches #183

April 22, 2015 Jentimko 8 Comments

Wow, oh wow….we really did break the internet yesterday with the release of Stampin’ Up’s Retirement List. The site was overwhelmed with orders and was even down for a while. I suspect things have calmed down a bit today so if you weren’t quite ready to jump into the fray, it should be safe today. *smile*

Our sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week comes from my friend Linda Callahan. She always seems to come up with just what I need to prod my mojo along! Since I had seen a preview of the retiring items on Monday when the Australian retirement list came out, I pulled out one of my favorite sets from the list to show you.

First of all, I’m channeling a little bit of my friend Amy O’Neill here, don’t you think?! These seem like her kind of colors!! I can safely say that I’m using her kind of stamp set because she is the one who “made” me buy it. Regarding Dahlias is a set that is never, ever the wrong choice. I resisted it at first but after seeing all the amazing cards Amy was making with it after it was released, I just had to have it. One of my best purchases!! My FMS friends are all well known enablers but I have to really thank Amy on this one!! Almost everything on this card will be retiring. The Epic Day Washi Tape along the bottom is on the list (and isn’t Washi perfect for the sketch?!). The stamp set, of course, and the Basic Gray Baker’s Twine along with the Coastal Cabana (an In Color) base and the Basic Gray Ink Pad (which I used for the sentiment). Now they are reformulating the Basic Gray and the Basic Black so never to fear. They aren’t REALLY gone. I used Calypso Coral ink for the flower and a button in the same color. Those are staying. Whew!

You are going to have a blast with the sketch this week. I predict a gigantic gallery!! The team has done their usual brilliant work. Watch out for them…..you are sure to be enabled!!

I’ll be back on Friday with this month’s edition of the Fancy Friday Blog Hop. My fancy friends and I have a real treat planned for you! I hope you are having a wonderful week and I can’t wait to see you Friday. Until then, thanks for stopping in!
SOTF - April Sneak Peek

Available for international customers and demonstrators too! Just click below for all the details!

Stamps on the Fly – April Sketch Edition

Click HERE to purchase wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp: Regarding Dahlias; Paper: Coastal Cabana, Whisper White, Basic Gray; Ink: Calypso Coral, Basic Gray; Accessories: Epic Day Washi Tape, Subtles Button, Basic Gray Baker’s Twine

Freshly Made Sketches #182

April 15, 2015 Jentimko 8 Comments

It is official. I have entered the spring crazy season. Otherwise known in my house as soccer-palooza! Both boys play soccer and my older one also made his middle school team. My feet hurt just watching them. *smile* Two days a week, the older one has both a school practice and a travel team practice and then there are the days that he has a school team game and then a practice. But they are outside and happy and THAT is a good thing! I am recovering from the two weeks of spring break and catching up on some things too. My yard got the first mowing of the year and I am tending to the plants and even planting some new stuff. Spring is awesome! What else is awesome??!!! Ok, you know the answer because it is Wednesday. Yes, Freshly Made Sketches is awesome!!! I just love my friends on the design team and I can’t wait to see what they make each week. This week is going to make you happy. REALLY happy! My friend Rita Wright is the hostess this week and her sketch nearly made me giddy. This is one you’ll go back to again and again.

I have a local friend who has had a rough month or so. She is such a tough person but even tough has a breaking point. We were talking about stamping together because she needed some extra sympathy cards (hers have been used up…yep, rough month) but then more stuff just got in the way. So instead I thought it might be good to make a couple for her to have on hand. Because these are something you don’t want to make when you need them. I just knew Rita’s sketch was a perfect place to start and this came together quickly. I pulled out some hostess sets (one from this year and one from last) and stamped this clean image. The flower from Bloom with Hope is so pretty and just the right size for this image panel. The sentiment is from Simply Sketched. I stamped in Early Espresso and colored with my Blendabilities (Soft Sky, Old Olive). I cut the layers with my Simply Stitched dies (SSS). Finally a few pearls to finish. Clean but perfect for anyone who needs to know you are thinking of them. I had a few other cards already made and I just sent them over. I’m praying she just doesn’t need them.

So it hit me (as it does every now and then) that for all the cards I make, I’m just awful about putting them in the mail. I am going to make an effort over the next few weeks to simply “clean out” the stash and get them off in the mail. Maybe you’ll consider joining me. It will brighten someone’s day for sure!!

Ok…off you go for the weekly dose of FMS inspiration. You know you won’t be disappointed!! I hope that your week is fantastic and I’ll see you soon. Thanks for stopping in! SOTF - April Sneak Peek

Available for international customers and demonstrators too! Just click below for all the details!

Stamps on the Fly – April Sketch Edition

Click HERE to purchase wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp: Bloom with Hope, Simply Sketches; Paper: Very Vanilla; Ink: Early Espresso, Blendabilities; Accessories: Big Shot, SSS Stitched Rectangles, Dimensionals, Basic Pearls

Freshly Made Sketches #181

April 8, 2015 Jentimko 12 Comments

I hope you are having a fabulous week! I am in week two of spring break-a-pa-looza. My younger son has the break this week. We are taking advantage of the nicer weather and doing some gardening and other outside things. I also got to go with my boys on a short trip to the Shenandoah River State Park for some unplugged time. The weather was beautiful for the days we were there and we all had a blast.

So onto my card for this week at Freshly Made Sketches. The oh so amazing Jen Mitchell is this week’s hostess and she has given us another fun sketch that has a cool angled layer. Amazing how the twist changes the card in such a great way.

I decided to base my card on this cool new embossing folder called Splish Splash from Spellbinders. This wave pattern seemed like a fun place to start my image panel. I used my Birthday Bash Washi Sheets to create the little boat. I just cut the right size and applied them to Whisper White card stock and they were ready to go. The patterns are such fun! The base of the boat is my 1-3/4″ Circle Punch cut in half and then I just created the sails with rectangles cut in half. The sentiment is from the So You stamp set (it is becoming a go-to for me) and I added a little bit of extra to the rectangles using the Stitched Rectangles dies.

The team has some really awesome work to share with you this week and you are going to have a blast joining in this week. I’m going to keep working on the gardening and hanging out with my 9 year old. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll even get some stamping done together. I always love seeing what he creates when his big brother isn’t around to take charge. *smile* Thanks so much for dropping in today. See you soon.

Available for international customers and demonstrators too! Just click below for all the details!

Stamps on the Fly – April Sketch Edition

Click HERE to purchase wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp: So You; Paper: Bermuda Bay, White; Ink: Bermuda Bay; Accessories: Big Shot, Spellbinders M-bossibilites Splish Splash, SSS Stitched Rectangles, Birthday Bash Washi Sheets, 1-3/4″ Circle Punch, Regals Button, Bermuda Bay Baker’s Twine

Freshly Made Sketches #179

March 25, 2015 Jentimko 10 Comments

Has it really been a week since I posted?! Wow. I’d love to say I knew where the time went but I’m not even sure. I did get the chance to hold some stamping events though and those were such fun! So guess what we have up for your this week at Freshly Made Sketches? Yep, another excellent sketch (like there was any other possible answer)!! Amy O’Neill is such an amazing stamper and I love what she has given us this week. I’m hoping that spring break means you’ll have time to join us because you are going to want to join us!

I needed an Easter card for a teacher in my son’s Religious Education class and thought this sketch would be perfect. I used this pretty flower from Butterfly Basics. I really love this flower. Yes, I did color it with Blendabilities but it could easily be made using classic ink and Blender Pens. The sentiment is from a retired set called Blessed Easter. I tend to save sets like that because they are great to have on hand. Sometimes for the images, sometime for the sentiments but always great when you need a quick go-to! In fact, that is one of the the things I look for when I’m purchasing stamps. Long term flexibility makes stamps a great investment! I used this yellow print from Painted Blooms DSP. I cannot get enough of this DSP as you may have noticed. The variety of prints and the awesome spring colors just make me happy! The 5/8″ Organza Ribbon and some retired Lucky Limeade (that’s a throwback, isn’t it) are combined for the little banner element.

I’m already working on the card for this month’s Fancy Friday hop coming on Friday. I’ll also have an announcement for you then. I can hardly wait to share!!

The FMS team has so much inspiration for you this week. I just love these ladies and all the talent they share every week! And speaking of talent…the gallery continues to wow us every week. Your contributions make me ooh and ahh!! Thanks for sharing with us!!

Ok….back on Friday. Hope you have a great week and I’ll see you then!

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Paper: Whisper White, Painted Blooms DSP, Bermuda Bay; Accessories: Big Shot, Mini Treat Bag Thinlits, 2-1/2″ Circle Punch, Everyday Adventure Washi Tape, Dimensionals, Tomboy Multipurpose Adhesive

Freshly Made Sketches #178

March 18, 2015 Jentimko 14 Comments

Do you ever take online classes? Well, I though I needed a perk up from the winter blahs so I signed up for one that focuses on die cutting called Stretch Your Dies from Online Card Classes. I’m even trying to do some of the homework. Ok, yeah, yeah….what does that have to do with Wednesday at Freshly Made Sketches?! I combined the ideas from day 1 of class with the sketch this week and I can’t wait to see what you think!

So the first day of class focus on word dies and I immediately thought of this fun scripty word from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits. After cutting it a bunch of times from Whisper White card stock, I attached them to another panel of Whisper White using Tombow Multipurpose Adhesive (light hand). Then I cut the word again from Bermuda Bay so that I could add it over the circle. The triangle print on the sides comes from washi tape that comes with the Everyday Adventure Project Life Accessory Kit. I cut the circle and the panel from Painted Blooms DSP and then popped the extra sentiment on. I just love the effect from the tone on tone words down the panel, don’t you?! Can’t wait to hear what you think about it. Takes a little patience but worth it.

The team has created their usual fabulous inspiration and you’ll have such fun with this sketch. Our resident layer goddess Narelle has given us one that has just the right combination of layers and clean lines so that everyone should be happy! I’m going to try to continue with my class work and hopefully have some interesting stuff to share. Until then, I hope your week is great! Thanks so much for stopping by.

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Paper: Whisper White, Painted Blooms DSP, Bermuda Bay; Accessories: Big Shot, Mini Treat Bag Thinlits, 2-1/2″ Circle Punch, Everyday Adventure Washi Tape, Dimensionals, Tomboy Multipurpose Adhesive

Freshly Made Sketches #176

March 4, 2015 Jentimko 11 Comments

So we are switching things up this week over at Freshly Made Sketches. The lovely and oh so sweet Cindy Hall has taken us out of our box. Well, she has taken us out of our standard rectangle, at least. She came up with a plan to create elongated cards and we knew she was onto something. So besides being lovely and sweet, she is brilliant!

One of the reasons I had to have this Sale-a-bration stamp set (You Brighten My Day) is this little light bulb. What is it about certain little stamps that just speak to us? I just don’t have anything like this and I’m so glad I was able to get it. The fact that it was free…well, that makes it even better!! But I digress. I stamped this little bulb twice. Once on a scratch piece and once on a piece of Whisper White cut to 2-1/2″ x 5-1/2. I colored the one on the scratch piece using my Daffodil Delight Blendies (these are currently unavailable for order pending SU working a quality control issue). I cut it out and popped it on a Dimensional. I took some of the washi tape from the So You Project Kit (a work in progress that I’m getting really excited about, by the way) and used the washi in place of the scallops. I tied on Black Baker’s Twine and a Daffodil Delight Button. Then I cut a base of 5-1/2″ square and folded it in half. I put a little strip of Painted Blooms DSP at the bottom and popped the image panel up on Dimensionals. This card makes me happy and I know just who it is going to!

Here in Northern VA we have been having LOTS of snow day. Lots of them. In fact, I think tomorrow will be another. So after too many hours of Minecraft (*smile*), I found something else for the boys to do. I’ll be back tomorrow to show you. Until then, I’m glad you stopped in today. Hope your day is great!

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamps: You Brighten My Day (SAB); Paper: Whisper White, Painted Blooms DSP; Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Daffodil Delight Blendabilities, Copics Markers; Accessories: Washi Tape (So You Project Kit), Baker’s Twine (Paper Pumpkin), Brights Buttons,

Freshly Made Sketches #172

February 4, 2015 Jentimko 8 Comments

Well, didn’t I tell you that the sketch for this week at Freshly Made Sketches was great?! My friend Linda Callahan created this one for us and I love it. The minute she sent it to me I knew we had yet another winner on our hands. And we have so many cool variations this week from our team.

Have you ever had a technique that you’ve been wanting to try but somehow it keeps going to the back burner? That is how I felt about partial die cutting with letter thinlits. I know that there are products out there with certain words that create something like this but with this technique, you can use whatever word you want. The Little Letter Thinlit Dies are PERFECT for this one! I seem to have a bit of a theme going this week using the Stacked with Love DSP Stack. I find that crafting seems to go like that for me sometimes. I find something that works and I stick with it!! As I was starting to figure out how to explain this technique I realized it was just easier to make a video tutorial. So that is what I did!

As I said in the video, it took me a couple of tries to get the letters lined up just right so that I didn’t cut them out completely. I recommend you practice once or twice with scrap paper before going to your DSP. Having the thinnest held together with washi tape make it easy to repeat this and play with the idea. Once you get the cutting part, the rest is easy and quick.

I have another card ready to share with you on Friday that uses this great paper again. And then this weekend I’ll be going to a local demonstrator event and I’m sure I have fun things to share from there. I have helped design a card for the get-together and plan to share with you on Sunday. I seem to be getting back into the groove of stamping again and look forward to more this week. Until Friday, I hope you have a great week! Thanks for stopping in.

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamps: Forever Florals (sentiment); Paper: Stacked with Love DSP Stack, Whisper White; Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black; Accessories: Big Shot, Little Letters Thinlits, Black Baker’s Twine, Buttons

Freshly Made Sketches #171

January 28, 2015 Jentimko 12 Comments

Don’t you love it when you see a sketch that has a classic feel? What makes something a classic?? Something that can be used over and over with different looks. And I think we have one for you this week at Freshly Made Sketches! No surprise when you see that it comes from the wonderful Rita Wright. I just love everything she has been making..so trendy…and this sketch will inspire a busy gallery for sure!

So I kind of went a different direction than the rest of the team. Is there such a thing as clean and shabby? Maybe that is the new CAS, lol! I got the new stamp set Butterfly Basics and could not wait another minute to ink it up! I love the pretty images and the fabulous sentiments! I stamped the honeycomb image twice with Crumb Cake ink and the sewed on some Crumb Cake Seam Binding (scrunched up) and Venetian Lace Trim. I inked the butterfly in Lost Lagoon. Don’t you love the lace look of that butterfly??!! Oh my goodness it is awesome! I added on a flower from the retired Flower Trim (but there is another version available in the new Occasions Catalog in the Artisan Embellishment Kit). In the background I splattered on some Crumb Cake ink with a paint brush and added the sentiment.

I had such fun putting this together. I had another card that I worked on much too long trying to make it fit with the sketch and when I gave in moving on to this stamp set….done in about 30 minutes. When I went over and saw the cards from the Design Team, I totally fell in love with them all. Yep…a classic sketch!

So we have had two “snow days” this week and my boys have been home from school (and mom has had limited stamping). Now snow days is a loose phrase since there is no actually snow left. We got about 1/2″. But I think my FMS friend Jen Mitchell got enough for me and the whole team so I’ll not roll my eyes too much. Still….the boys would have loved a little sledding. *smile*

Ok, hop right over to see what our amazing team has up for you this week and give a special thanks to Rita for the sketch that will keep on giving. I’ll be back on Friday with the monthly Fancy Friday hop. Until then, I hope your week is great!

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamps: Butterfly Basics; Paper: Naturals Ivory; Ink: Crumb Cake, Lost Lagoon; Accessories: Crumb Cake Seam Binding, Venetian Lace Trim, Flower Trim (ret), Sewing Machine

Freshly Made Sketches #170

January 21, 2015 Jentimko 9 Comments

Happy middle of the week to you! I’m here today with a mid-week boost to your creativity! We have such a cool sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week. My friend, the uber-talented Jen Mitchell has created this clever sketch for us and the interpretations are going to be such fun! Already the team has all kinds of ideas for you.

I just had to pull out my new Sale-a-bration products once I saw this sketch. Can you believe that I got most of the things on this card for free?? Yes, FREE!!! My favorite price! The background was created with the new Irresistably Yours DSP which comes pre-embossed and ready for you to add ink. I washed on some Bermuda Bay ink that was diluted just a bit by painting it on with a paint brush. Then I stamped the sentiment from Simply Wonderful with Versamark and heat embossed it with Crushed Curry Stampin’ Emboss Powder. I colored inside the Thanks with a Bermuda Bay Stampin’ Write Marker and tied it onto my base with Crushed Curry Baker’s Twine. A few Candy Dots and done. I attached the whole layer to a Whisper White base. Super cute, super fun, super easy!

Back to the craft room today as I try to get some projects ready for the next couple of weeks. Maybe even a video…..gasp! I finally feel like I’m getting back into a groove after all the flying over Christmas. Class schedule is coming soon too. Yes…I’m that behind. I started with a little “spring” cleaning on my blog. I hope you like the new look. I’ve added on some extra buttons and features in my sidebar that I hope help you out.

Ok…I know you have lots of cards to go admire with the rest of the team. Make sure you tell Jen how awesome her sketch is this week! Thanks so much for stopping in. See you soon!

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamps: Simply Wonderful (SAB); Paper: Whisper White, Irresistably Yours; Ink: Versamark, Bermuda Bay Marker; Accessories: Crushed Curry Baker’s Twine, Heat Tool, Crushed Curry Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Brights Candy Dots

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