I just love this week’s sketch at Freshly Made Sketches, don’t you?!  No surprise since it is from the awesome Amy O’Neill and I love everything she makes.  Now I have to admit that I am not sure I have done it justice because I am really pressed for time this week so please make sure you go check the inspiration from the rest of the team.  Some gorgeous work!

I kept to a really clean card today.  Everything is stamped in Midnight Muse (love that color) onto Very Vanilla paper.  I thought the big medallion from Daydream Medallions was perfect for the sketch and I added a layer using the birthday sentiment from Four You.  This is such a great all purpose set!  To add a little bit of a special feel, I pulled out my Basic Pearls and added them all around the medallion and to the sentiment too.  I have to say that I really like a clean card and this one is easy to duplicate.  Maybe change the color and add some Basic Rhinestones to make it girlie!

I can’t wait to see the gallery this week.  I know it is going to be fantastic!  Make sure you go tell Amy how much you like her sketch too!

If you missed it, I posted my first Artisan Wednesday Wow using the new October box earlier.  Links to the hop are there as always.  Speaking of hops…I will be participating in one with my friends the Stampin’ Addicts starting on Friday.  We are celebrating the Holiday Catalog and I can’t wait to share my projects (yes, there are three!).  See, now you know why I was pressed for time, lol!  I hope your day is great and I look forward to seeing you Friday.

Stamps:  Daydream Medallions, Four You; Paper:  Very Vanilla, Midnight Muse; Ink:  Midnight Muse; Accessories:  Stamp-a-ma-jig, Basic Pearls, Dimensionals

 

I am happy to be back with the latest from Freshly Made Sketches.  Our sketch hostess this week is wonderful Linda Suarez and she has brought us an awesome layout!  Just looking at the variety from the design team, I know this is going to be another fun week in the gallery (last week was so great!).

I decided it would be fun to flip the sketch and play with some new things that hadn’t even left their packaging.  I need a card for my dear brother-in-law so I tried to keep it “man card” enough too.  The first thing I broke out was the Chalk Talk Framelits and right after that, Yippee-Skippee.  The papers from Sweater Weather DSP were just what I needed for this one.  I made the Chocolate Chip tag by cutting the paper to the width of the framelit and sliding it under only on the side with the clipped corners.  Then I stamped the sentiment on the Sahara Sand print and cut it out with another of the framelits.  I added on some chevrons cut out with the Chevron Border Punch.  Finally some Soft Sky Seam Binding was tied on with a Crushed Curry button and some Linen Thread.  Now look at that…I used all the colors from the Fab Friday challenge this week too (and I never use that many colors!).  I look forward to giving this to my brother-in-law and can’t wait to meet up with him and the family for his celebration.

 Now head right on over to FMS to see the great cards from the design team this week…then don’t forget to link up and join in!  Thanks to all of you who made such kind comments on my 9-11 post last week.  Your words spoke straight to my heart and I’m deeply appreciative!

My Wednesday Artisan project, a burlap flower box,  went up a little earlier so don’t forget to go check it out!  See you again soon!  Have a great week!

Stamp:  Yippee-Skippee; Paper:  Sweater Weather DSP, Naturals Ivory; Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango; Accessories:  Big Shot, Chalk Talk Framelits, Chevron Border Punch, Soft Sky Seam Binding, Regals Buttons, Linen Thread

Yes, this is a Freshly Made Sketches post but please bear with me…it is also a memorial post for the heroes of 9-11.  For those who have been following me for a while, I have written September 11th post for the last three years.  You can read them here:  9th Anniversary, 10th Anniversary and 11th Anniversary.  Every year at this time I find myself reflecting on the events of that terrible day and the many challenges that have come since. The biggest challenge we face today in the industry is complacency.  When these events first happened, everyone was on heightened alert.  Today, the hassles of security and the inconveniences of the airport annoy us and tend to make us forget the why.

But the why is NOT forgotten by some.  Every single time I taxi into Boston Logan Airport, I see an American flag flying at gate C-19.  It stands there as a reminder of United Flight 175 that left there on the morning of September 11th.  I catch my breath every single time.

The why is NOT forgotten by Ellen Saracini, a widow from that same flight.  She is working on a bill in Congress to mandate secondary barriers on commercial airliners. You see, eventually during flight pilots do have to be able to come out of the flight deck and these barriers provide a line of safety for all passengers and crew.  The bill is called the Saracini Aviation Act.  The airlines do not want to spend the money for this but it is simply the right thing to do.  Mrs. Saracini is fighting to protect anyone from suffering what she has suffered.

I can promise you that I have NOT forgotten and I know that many of you have not either. Let’s make sure as we go through this day that we say thank you to first responders and military heroes who protect us every day.  Make sure we hug our family members extra tight in honor of those who can’t.  Make sure we show an extra measure of kindness to all around us because those people are what matter most.

I guess it doesn’t take much to figure out my inspiration for today’s card.  The Soft Sky print from Sweater Weather DSP was perfect for my background.  I thought the Crushed Curry print was the perfect complement.  This sketch is courtesy of the lovely Jen Brum and it really is wonderful.  I find myself a little off every year at this time and watercoloring is one of my favorite ways to find focus.  This flower from Simply Sketched fit my mood perfectly.

Thanks so much for stopping in today.  I appreciate you for sticking through my ponderings and I thank you for being so supportive of my work.  If you missed it, I have my Artisan Design Team card that went up a bit earlier.  Please take a moment to remember today and to be grateful for the blessings in your life.

In memory of:

United 93:  Jason Dahl, LeRoy Homer, Lorraine Bay, Sandra Bradshaw, Wanda Green, CeeCee Lyles, Deorah Welsh

United 175:  Victor Saracini, Michael Horrocks, Robert Fangman, Amy Jarret, Amy King, Kathryn Laborie, Alfred Marchand, Michael Tarrou, Alicia Titus

American 11:  John Ogonowski, Thomas McGuinness, Barbara Arestegui, Jeffrey Collman, Sara Low, Karen Martin, Kathleen Nicosia, Betty Ong, Jean D. Roger, Dianne Snyder, Amy Sweeney

American 77:  Charles Burlingame III, David Charlebois, Michele Heidenberger, Jennifer Lewis, Kenneth Lewis, Renee May

 

Another amazing sketch from the team at Freshly Made Sketches!  This one comes from the fantastic Cindy Hall and I just love it!  I can see so many uses for this and it will go right into my go-to sketches.

I knew I wanted to put a pretty flower on that oval but what??  As I looked at stamps, this one from Gifts of Kindness jumped right out at me.  When I saw the polka dots on the flower I immediately thought Modern Medley DSP and the card started coming together. I always love the pop of Real Red against Basic Black so I inked up the image with those two colors using Stampin’ Write Markers.  Then I stamped the flowers again and cut them out to pop them up.  The ribbon is from my stash and I cinched it up with a Basic Black button from Designer Buttons and some thread.

I hope you like this one and I can’t wait to hear what you think!  I know that you will love what the team has created!  Make sure you let Cindy know how much you like the sketch and I hope you can play along this week!

Thanks for stopping in today.  If you missed it, I posted my first September Artisan Wednesday Wow last night.  I hope you’ll enjoy that one too!

Stamp:  Gifts of Kindness; Paper:  Modern Medley DSP, Basic Black, Very Vanilla; Ink:  Real Red, Basic Black; Accessories:  Big Shot, Ovals Framelits, Ribbon, Neutrals Designer Buttons, Black Thread, Dimensionals

 

 

 

Whew, was last week exciting at Freshly Made Sketches!!!  129 entries, guest designers and we had such fun.  Thanks to all of you who participated!!  We are back to “work” this week with a great sketch from Linda Callahan.  She always has an eye for the greatest details so it is no surprise that this layout leaves room for lots of interpretations.

I thought it would be fun to use the Witches’ Brew DSP and show off the fantastic patterns.  I love the text print and knew I wanted to start there and then the spider web pattern called out to be put on the vertical panel.  Not to be outdone, the chalkboard print and skull/crossbones decided to get in on the act and they are topped off with a sentiment from Halloween Hello (appropriately enough).  All that was needed to finish it off was some buttons.  Two of these are retired (more new ones coming soon!!) but they are perfect here.

I have to admit that I don’t usually do much for Halloween but this paper has inspired me.  The prints are really fun and they coordinate with other products from the Holiday Catalog so well (of course).

Now, off to the challenge site to see everyone else’s projects!  You are going to love them! Don’t forget to check out my other post from today.  Remember, there will be two every Wednesday (for subscribers…they will come in the same email).  Thanks for stopping in today!  See you again soon!

Stamp:  Halloween Hello; Paper:  Witches’ Brew DSP, Very Vanilla, Pumpkin Pie; Ink:  Basic Black; Accessories:  Buttones, Thread

 

 

I am so glad you are here for the second post of the day!  From now on, you can expect two posts from me every Wednesday.  My Artisan Wednesday Wow post and my Freshly Made Sketches post.  So Wednesday is REALLY going to be an awesome stamping day!!  Today’s challenge from Freshly Made Sketches is from the lovely and awesome Rita Wright.  I just know you are all going to have fun with it!!

I needed a birthday card this week and this sketch was so perfect to use!  I thought that using my Hexagon Punch to create little windows for the aliens from Blast Off would be fun.  Let’s face it, these little aliens are just so adorable!  And perfect for a 7 yo little boy.  I punched the hexagons and then stamped the aliens on separate paper so I could position them.  I added the scallop for a little pop of extra color and the sentiment is from the same set.  To make sure the hexagons lined up just right, I drew a light pencil line on the back of the card stock and used it as a guide for punching.

The team has created some awesome cards this week and I know you will appreciate them as much as I do.  Now you may notice that this is challenge #99.  Hmmm….what do you want to bet that we have some AWESOME stuff lined up for sketch #100 next week!!  *smile*  We can’t wait to see what you create for this week and then make sure you come back for the fun next week!

Thanks for stopping in for two posts today!  I’ll be back on Friday night (Saturday for e-mail followers) with an extra Artisan treat!  See you then!

Stamp:  Blast Off; Paper:  Pacific Point, Real Red, Whisper White; Ink:  Real Red, Old Olive; Accessories:  Hexagon Punch, Big Shot, Large Scallop Edgelit, Neutrals Buttons, White Baker’s Twine, Dimensionals