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Freshly Made Sketches #166

Freshly Made Sketches #166 published on 8 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #166

FMS Final 166-001

The extraordinary Karren Johnson has created this fun and classic looking sketch for us at Freshly Made Sketches.  As always, the sketch seemed to show up just in time to help my creative spark.  In fact, it was the start of some excellent card making and I actually finished my cards for Dirty Dozen and then got to next week’s FMS card too.  Ah, the power of a great sketch!  Karren is such a clever and creative card-maker (never mind being an extraordinary enabler on crafting products!).  Make sure you go over to thank her for this fabulous inspiration!

FMS166 - Merry Tree

I went back to the Color Me Christmas stamp set and the retired Season of Style DSP.  Much like with the Santa a couple of weeks ago, this image was another NBUS and just called out to be colored with Blendabilities!  I pulled out the Old Olive Collection and added in some Cherry Cobbler ornaments and a Daffodil Delight star (the tree base is the Crumb Cake collection).  The sentiment is from the ever versatile set Petite Pairs.  I have a special place in my stamping heart for great sentiment sets and this one is so flexible and fun.  I tied on some Early Espresso Baker’s Twin and added a Cherry Cobbler button.  The tree was fussy cut and popped up on Dimensionals.  The star is on a tiny piece from the edges of the Dimensional sheet.  The whole image is up on Dimensionals too.  I almost forgot to share something really important with this too…..  Did you see the message about Blendabilities being ok to be used with many of the SU basic ink pads?  Yeah, well it makes coordinating a breeze.  I used my Early Espresso Classic Pad to stamp the tree and it just held beautifully while I was coloring.  So awesome!!

With all that I keep getting drawn to use my Blendabilities, I cannot tell you how excited I was to hear about NEW BLENDIES coming in the Occasions Catalog.  Lighter color collections coming to  add even more depth and dimension to the coloring palette.  I’ve been resisting making a pre-order but not sure how much longer I can hold out.  I have a lot of flying over the next couple of weeks and that will seriously impact any stamping.  Truthfully the only thing keeping me from ordering!

I just know you are going to have a great time using this sketch and I can’t wait to see the gallery this week.  And oh, the cards from the design team.  How do they just get more fantastic each week?!  Love those talented and amazing stampers!  Well, I hope that your week is going well.  I appreciate you dropping by today and look forward to seeing you again soon.

Don’t forget, all twelve PDF video tutorials for my Bright & Beautiful Edition are now available.  Just click HERE or on the picture to learn more!
B & B PDF Tutorials

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp:  Color Me Christmas (ret), Petite Pairs; Paper:  Early Espresso, Whisper White, Season of Style DSP (ret); Ink:  Early Espresso, Blendabilities – Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Crumb Cake; Accessories:  Early Espresso Baker’s Twine, Regals Buttons, Dimensionals

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Freshly Made Sketches #165

Freshly Made Sketches #165 published on 10 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #165

FMS Final 165-001

Ready for a fresh new sketch?  Well, Freshly Made Sketches has just the thing for you!!  Our hostess this week is Cindy Lovell.  She always has a modern take on her cards and they are fantastic!  Make sure you go over to see her work!

FMS165 - Happy Christmas

I had a class this last weekend for my local stampers creating cards with the Watercolor Winter Card Kit from the Holiday Catalog.  I had so much fun and the cards from this kit are amazing.  Well, I think sometimes I should have a special stamp that says “does not follow simple directions well” because I started making changes to the kit using all the elements.  For the record, I DID make a few following the designs from the kit because they really are great.  But when I saw Cindy’s sketch, I had a natural modification.  I took the white card base from the kit and attached the snowflake.  This “happy” is SOOOOO pretty and sparkly and all I had to do was punch it out of the paper full of other great words!  The “Christmas” is from a retired set and I stamped using Gold Encore and embossed with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder.  I confess that I hoard stamp sets with Christmas sentiments for just this reason.  I mix and match every year!  I love this block font with the script cut out.  I added on a few gold sequins to help match the sketch.

Watercolor Winter Variation

The day after the class, my mom was finishing up her cards (with 20 cards, it was a lot to finish in three hours).  While she was busily stamping, I worked on my FMS card…and then I kept going.  I created another card in almost the same way.  I trimmed the edge off the snowflake and used the same sentiment combination for another clean and very mailable card.  All I can say is that this kit was an excellent purchase!  For those who love  cute and “Pin-able” cards, this kit will make you look like you spent hours designing.  For those like me who don’t follow directions well, there are lots of fun elements to mix and match.

My mom is leaving today and we had such a fun time with her.  I plan to head back to the stamp room this week and hope to have a few things to share with you soon.  I think my mojo took a bit of a vacation too and I like to see it again!  If you know where it went, please send it home!  *smile* I hope that you are having a great week.  Thanks so much for stopping in.  See you soon!

Don’t forget, all twelve PDF video tutorials for my Bright & Beautiful Edition are now available.  Just click HERE or on the picture to learn more!
B & B PDF Tutorials

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp:  A Banner Christmas; ; Ink:  Gold Encore; Accessories:  Watercolor Winter Card Kit, Heat Tool, Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Glue Dots

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Freshly Made Sketches #164

Freshly Made Sketches #164 published on 12 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #164

FMS Final 164-001

Another week has flown by and here we are at Wednesday already.  And the sweet and talented Jen Brum is our sketch hostess this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  Jen makes the most wonderful cards and I love her clean style.  And her boys (big and little) are huge aviation fans.  Needless to say when I was able to meet up with her at the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum over the summer, our kids were fast friends!!  I love the friendships I get to make through this hobby of mine!!

FMS164 - Skinny Santa

Ok, I have a confession to make.  For those of you who were with me during my Artisan Design Team year, you saw the boxes of Stampin’ goodness and all of the incredible things I got to work with during my tenure.  The down side (the ONLY down side) is that I never felt like I got to give some of the stamps I received their due.  So with my apologies to those who prefer “current” products, I am having so much fun going back to some of the stamps that have never even seen ink.  Oh, the travesty of an unused stamp.  There is even a name for this terrible syndrome:  Never Been Used Stamp or Stuff (NBUS).  Now it is even more fun to combine the NBUS with something new like Blendabilities!!  That is what I did here.  This Santa comes from the set Color Me Christmas from last year’s Holiday Catalog and the sentiment is from Oh, Goodie.  They were meant to go together and aren’t they fun.  The paper is from the same catalog, the Season of Style DSP.  I took my Skin Tone Blendabilities and colored Santa’s face and added rosy cheeks with Melon Mambo (the lightest color).  His suit and the candy cane are colored using the Cherry Cobbler set.  Such easy coloring but so much fun!  The image and the sentiment were stamped using Momento Tuxedo Black and I tied on some leftover Black Twine from my September Paper Pumpkin and added a button.  Now is it just me or does this guy remind you of Santa in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?  He is still a little bit of a skinny Santa!  Good thing he has another month for Mrs. Claus to get him to eat!

Now go and take a look at YOUR NBUS and see if adding Blendabilities will make you want to pull them right out.  And guess what??!!  NOW is the time to get Blendabilities.  Actually, December 1st is the day.  Because on December 1st (the last day of the Online Extravaganza), you can get 12 Blendabilities Assortments at at 30% discount.  That is a crazy low price.  You can see all the details plus the other sale items HERE.  You can order at my online store.  These are as supplies last so you need to get in on the deals as soon as you can!!

For those of you in the U.S., I hope you have a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday.  And to all of you who stop in to visit, I am incredibly grateful for your support and kindness.  I count you all amongst my many blessings!!

In case you missed the announcement, all twelve PDF tutorials for my Bright & Beautiful Edition are now available.  Just click HERE or on the picture to learn more!
B & B PDF Tutorials

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp:  Color Me Christmas, Oh Goodie; Paper: Whisper White, Season of Style DSP; Ink:  Momento Tuxedo Black, Blendabilities – Cherry Cobbler, Smoky Slate, Skin Tone, Melon Mambo; Accessories:  Black Baker’s Twine, Neutrals Button, Dimensionals

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Freshly Made Sketches #163

Freshly Made Sketches #163 published on 10 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #163

FMS Final 163-001

Wow, has it already been a week since I posted?  I guess it is that time of year when the time seems to fly.  So that makes it even better when Freshly Made Sketches designers give us a great sketch to inspire us.  This week, the sweet and oh so amazing Cindy Hall is our hostess.  I was working most of the time since last week so I was thrilled to see a sketch that I could use quickly when I sat down to stamp yesterday.  The rest of the team has done it again!  Wow, these ladies are fabulous!

FMS163 - Typeset Beauty

I felt like this set really called for a pretty image and as I looked at the stamps, this fellow from Beauty of the Season jumped out at me.  I really love him so much.  And….with all the cold air, it is time for me to put my bird feeder out.  I’ll be sure to be seeing his friends soon, lol!  I colored this guy with my Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities and then used a little bit of Smoky Slate for the branches.  I added a piece of the Typeset DSP which I thought was a nice complement and striking against the Cherry Cobbler card stock.  I didn’t do a perfect job of following the sketch (sorry Cindy) but this just seemed to call for a fluffy bow.  So I added one with my Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding.  The inside will use one of the fabulous sentiment from the set and I have another Christmas card done.  YAY!

I was out and about in the cold this week and will be back at it starting on Saturday through Thanksgiving.  Being on reserve (on call) I have no idea where I’ll be but I hope to see some stampers along the way!  Also, I have a fun announcement coming tomorrow for you.  Just in time for those last minute holiday cards.  And we’ll be doing our Fancy Friday early this month due to the holiday here in the U.S.  You won’t want to miss this one!  Thanks so much for stopping in today.  See you tomorrow!

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp:  Beauty of the Season; Paper:  Typeset DSP, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla; Ink:  Momento Tuxedo Black, Blendabilities – Cherry Cobbler, Smoky Slate, Daffodil Delight; Accessories:  Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Neutrals Button, Black Twine

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Freshly Made Sketches #162

Freshly Made Sketches #162 published on 11 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #162

FMS Final 162-001

Look at this!!  Isn’t it fantastic?!  I just love our team at Freshly Made Sketches and the cool challenges they come up with each week!  This one is courtesy of the awesome Kim Singdalhsen and I can tell you it is going to be a great week!  You know who else loves Freshly Made Sketches?  The crafting magazine Simply Cards & Papercraft does.  They featured one of our sketches this month (a sketch by Narelle) with designers creating their take on the sketch.  So cool!  Ok, so back to this week….

FMS162 - Snowy Fun

I have ALWAYS loved the little snowmen from Snow Much Fun.  While the set is retired, guess what I discovered?  This set is perfect to use with Blendabilities!!  Just look at how cute this guy is when colored with them!  I always wanted these snowmen to have vibrant colors like this before and now I love the images all over again.  I recently found my stash of this cool paper called Fresh Prints and I cannot get enough of it.  The colors seem so seasonal and fun.  Oh, and did I mention that they go perfectly with Blendabilities?!  *smile*  I know.  The coloring on this was quick and the papers did all the work for the sketch.  Cards like this make me happy.  What do you think?  Do you love this fellow as much as I do?

So how is your November going?  Maybe as busy as mine?  I know, I know….I keep saying this, lol.  I have 6 projects all ready to go for Dirty Dozen later this week and my videos and tutorials for Stamps on the Fly are ready to send to my customers tomorrow.  I love, love, love my projects!  Stay tuned.  In a few days I plan to share a new option for Stamps on the Fly that allows stampers both inside and outside the U.S to have the opportunity to join.  I cannot wait!

I’m back on call for United starting today and I suspect I’ll be out in the system with this crazy winter weather we are starting to see.  If you are flying United, make sure you keep an eye out for me.  Surely I’ll run into one of you one day!!  I hope that your week is fantastic and I look forward to seeing you again soon.  Thanks so much for stopping in today!

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp:  Snow Much Fun; Paper:  Fresh Prints DSP Pack, Whisper White, Real Read; Ink:  Momento Tuxedo Black, Blendabilities – Coastal Cabana, Cherry Cobbler, Smoky Slate, Pumpkin Pie, Copic Markers – T0, T2; Accessories:  Bermuda Bay Baker’s Twine, Cherry Cobbler Button, Dimensionals

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Freshly Made Sketches #161

Freshly Made Sketches #161 published on 11 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #161

FMS Final 161-001

Well after a bit of a blitz last week, this week is a little bit quieter.  To be honest I am catching up from all the stamping events in October!  I had a great time at my Bright & Beautiful class here in the stamp room on Sunday and have started planning another class for the end of the month. Today, my friend Linda has created a clean and wonderful sketch for us at Freshly Made Sketches.  It was just what I needed since my brain was pretty fried.

FMS161 - Giving ThanksYou know what happens when I’m feeling creatively tired?  I go to my happy colors, stamps and ribbons.  I think we can safely call this a “Jen card”.  Fall colors are always my favorite and this new Mossy Meadow is a perfect green.  And then there is Early Espresso.  I jumped for joy when I saw this new Early Espresso Seam Binding in the catalog this year and it was on an express UPS vehicle right to my house!  I used the Kraft card stock for my base and then stamped Hardwood in Crumb Cake ink onto Naturals Ivory card stock.  The sentiment is from For All Things and the little leaves are from the Color Me Autumn DSP (just fussy cut out).  I added part of a Tea Lace Doily and some retired Natural Trim Ribbon under my shabby bow.  It pays to pull out favorites since this came together really quickly.  Oh….and did you see???

Blog Candy – Color Me Autumn DSP

It isn’t to late to get some of this great DSP for free.  Just click the link above and follow the Rafflecopter.  You can’t win if you don’t enter!!

Ok, now hurry right over and see what the rest of the team has created for you this week.  Amazing stuff as always!  And you have to go tell Linda how much you love this.  Stick around and read her posts.  LOVE her sense of humor!

This week is going to be quiet as I work on videos, tutorials and classes.  I hope to have more to share with you next week.  My boys have been home a lot over the last few days.  Yay for being mom but not very productive for getting stamping done.  Ah well….the stamping will be here….  Until next time, thanks so much for stopping in today!

Sign ups are open for Month 3 of  Stamps on the Fly Bright & Beautiful Edition.  Am I allowed to say that I think this month’s projects are my favorites?!  Click the link for details on how to join the fun!

Stamps on the Fly - Nov 14-001

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamps:  For All Things, Hardwood; Paper:  Naturals Ivory, Kraft, Early Espresso, Color Me Autumn DSP; Ink:  Crumb Cake, Early Espresso; Accessories:  Early Espresso Seam Binding, Regals Buttons, Tea Lace Doily, Natural Trim Ribbon (ret), Dimensionals, Glue Dots

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Freshly Made Sketches #160

Freshly Made Sketches #160 published on 9 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #160

FMS Final 160-001

Wow!!  Take a look at what Rita has created for Freshly Made Sketches this week!  Isn’t this sketch fun?  I just love the potential of all the layers on this one!

FMS160 - Merry Christmas

I decided I needed to pull out some retired products for this one.  I still love the colors and patterns from the Fresh Prints DSP Pack.  I chose two of the prints for the banner and little rectangle.  Then I pulled a page from a This & That journal and stamped the sentiment from Merry Little Christmas.  I added the little star from Hodgepodge Clips and looped on a Real Red ribbon piece.  I embossed the back panel with Stylish Stripes.  I love when I get to combined old and new products!  I can always count on them coordinating and it makes me happy to make a dent in my stash of DSP.

The cool elements on this sketch has given the team all kinds of room to inspire and they haven’t let us down.  I just look in awe every week!  I just know you’ll feel the same way.

I have some more projects coming this week.  First, tomorrow is my big day to hostess for the Hope You Can Cling To Challenges at Splitcoaststampers.  I cannot even wait to share my theme with you!  Then I have my Fancy Friday project for October on Friday and there will be BLOG CANDY!!!  Yep, the whole team will have blog candy for you so make sure you check back!  Until then, I hope your week is going well.  See you soon!

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp:  Merry Little Christmas; Paper:  Whisper White, Fresh Prints DSP Pack; Ink:  Momento Tuxedo Black, Real Red; Accessories:  Big Shot, Banners Framelits, Hodgepodge Clips, Real Red Cotton Ribbon, This & That Journal

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Freshly Made Sketches #159

Freshly Made Sketches #159 published on 11 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #159

FMS Final 159-001

I hope you liked yesterday’s card for the Hope You Can Cling To Challenge.  I am just so excited to be able to be a sample maker for some of the amazing hostesses!  And speaking of hostesses…well we are super lucky to have the fabulous Jen Mitchell as our sketch hostess this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Her clean design lends itself to lots of interpretations!

FMS159 - Bright Star

 

I seem to have stars on the brain so I immediately reached for my Bright & Beautiful stamp set for this sketch.  Now what you can’t see in this picture is that the card is made on Shimmery White Card Stock and the subtle shimmer is SOOO pretty with the gold embossing.  I stamped the star and the sentiment with Gold Encore Ink and heat embossed with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder.  All I had to do was add a few Rhinestones and I have a sparkly card all ready to go!  Want to keep the look all gold instead??!!  Just add gold sequins and you are there!

Now speaking of stars….did you hear about the new Holiday Supplement from Stampin’ Up?!  Well, you need to check out this Pinterest page:  Merry & Bright.  So many cute things and totally easy to make with the new kits!

See…that is why I have stars on the brain!  Now, off to see the work from the rest of the team.  Make sure you come back tomorrow since I have another card for the Hope You Can Cling To Challenges!  See you then!

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp:  Bright & Beautiful; Paper:  Shimmery White; Ink:  Gold Encore; Accessories:  Big Shot, Stars Framelits, Heat Tool, Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals

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Freshly Made Sketches #158

Freshly Made Sketches #158 published on 9 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #158

FMS Final 158-001

I am so excited to share a new sketch with you today from Freshly Made Sketches!  I am this week’s sketch hostess and I can’t wait to see what everyone does with it this week.

FMS158 - Sweet Friend

I designed this sketch with the opportunity for pretty images or great sentiments on the focal panel.  I (finally) pulled out this great new set called You’re Wonderful.  I wanted to use this Blendabilities technique using White Stampin’ Emboss Powder.  First you stamp the image using a light color of ink (Stampin’ Up just released a list of classic inks that also work with Blendabilities) and I used Crumb Cake.  Then I colored using Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive Blendabilities.  They using your Stamp-a-ma-jig, stamp again using Versamark Ink and emboss with White Stampin’ Emboss Powder.  I cute the images out and layered them.  The sentiment is from the same set and stamped in Old Olive.  The little piece of DSP is from a retired pack and the scallop punch is retired too.  They both seemed perfect to use here, though.  I added a Candy Dot to the flower center.

I know you’ll love the work from the design team this week.  Seriously, they are so amazing every week, aren’t they?!  I hope you’ll have fun with this one too.

Well, I promised to be back yesterday with more on my cards from the weekend’s blog hop (I did have a video posted on Monday).  Well, soccer tournaments (all weekend) and a field trip (yesterday) got in the way of that post.  So sorry!!!  But I’ll have it up tomorrow instead.  I get to meet with some of my Hostess Club ladies today so I’ll have a fun and stampy day.  Looking forward to it!  Until tomorrow, I hope you have a great one!

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp:  You’re Wonderful, Paper:  Whisper White, Old Olive; Ink:  Crumb Cake, Versamark, Blendabilities – Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive; Accessories:  White Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Heat Tool, Scallop Punch (ret)

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Freshly Made Sketches #157

Freshly Made Sketches #157 published on 12 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #157

FMS Final 157-001

I have to say that the design team over at Freshly Made Sketches has been on a roll for the last month.  Talk about some amazing sketches and crazy cool inspiration cards!!  No surprise, but the trend continues this week.  Amy O’Neill, the queen of fabulous color combinations, has created this one for us.  Yeah….just head to the stamp room now.

FMS157 - Silver Joy

I saw the star and knew I had to just continue playing with Bright & Beautiful.  For those who participated in month 1 of my Stamps on the Fly, this card uses some of the supplies you already have!    I chose this cool metallic polka dot print from All is Calm DSP and backed it with Silver Foil.  Then I cut the sentiment with the Wonderful Wreath Framelits out of more foil.  The star was stamped with Versamark and embossed with Silver Stampin’ Emboss Powder.  I added a little Rhinestone to the center which shows more in person.  The crossing layer is a piece of the new White Cotton Ribbon wrapped around more foil.  This card made me so happy and I can see it being one of my go-to personal cards this year.

After a couple of days of being gone flying, I’m glad to be back in the stamp room today.  More work to do for later in the month!!  I am, however, all ready for a blog hop that starts on Friday.  I’ll be focusing on the stamp set The Newborn King.  Can’t wait to share!  You’ll see the projects on Friday and then I’ll be back on Monday with a video tutorial for one of them plus more specifics.  I have my Frightful Wreath class tomorrow so I’m off to work on a spider today…..  Plan to see that next week!  Until then, I hope you have some stamping time.  Thanks so much for stopping in!

Sign ups are open for Month 2 of  Stamps on the Fly Bright & Beautiful Edition.  Click the link for details on how to join the fun!

Stamps on the Fly Peek - Oct 14-001

 

Click HERE to purchase these wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp:  Bright & Beautiful; Paper:  All Is Calm DSP, Whisper White, Silver Foil; Ink:  Versamark; Accessories:  Big Shot, Wonderful Wreath Framelits, Stars Framelits, Silver Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Heat Tool, Basic Rhinestones, White Cotton Ribbon

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