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Freshly Made Sketches #64

Freshly Made Sketches #64 published on 10 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #64

It is my favorite stamping day of the week….Wednesday!  Time for a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches and time for loads of inspiration from the amazing design team!  Our sketch hostess this week is fabulous Cindy Hall and her sketch this week is such fun!

I knew immediately that I wanted to use a tag as the “shape” for this and the Joyous Celebrations continues to be my go-to choice.  I love the size of the images and they are perfect for tags!  Then I started digging around in my stash of retired paper.  I seem to have too much of the Christmas variety (I really need to learn not to hoard it when I get it).  I came across this Frostwood Lodge DSP and knew it would be perfect!  Once I chose the two patterns, I got to work on the tag.  I created the tag corners first and then realized that a straight bottom wasn’t working for me so I cut the little pennant bottom by hand.  I stamped the oval and “JOY”, the punched them with the Extra-Large Oval Punch.  I cut out the little holly sprig and added a few Basic Pearls (colored with a Sharpie).  Finally I tied on some Tulle Ribbon with a bit of Linen Thread.

Can you believe that it is three weeks until Christmas??  Me neither!  My kids joyously announced this yesterday on the way to school and I started to panic that my cards aren’t done.  I did order a bunch that I created in My Digital Studio but I still have a lot on my list that will get handmade cards.  I think I will be reproducing a number of my cards this week so that I can get them done.  

I hope that you are having a great week.  Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I look forward to seeing what you create this week!

Stamp:  Joyous Celebrations; Paper:  Frostwood Lodge DSP, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Whisper White; Ink:  Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler; Accessories:  Extra-Large Oval Punch, Early Espresso 3-1/2″ Tulle Ribbon, Linen Thread, Eyelet Border Punch

Freshly Made Sketches #63

Freshly Made Sketches #63 published on 8 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #63

Just look at what we have for you over at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  Rita Wright has given us this fantastic sketch to play with and I love it!  My card came together faster than one has in quite a while.  Thanks Rita!!

I really wanted to go with a vintage style and this sketch left lots of room for interpretation.  I embossed some Core’dinations Early Espresso Card Stock with the Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder and then sanded with the Stampin’ Sanding System.  So easy, so cool looking!  Then I cut out an oval with my Ovals Die (retired) and embossed it with the Designer Frames Embossing Folder.  I sanded it too.  Love how the dots show up!  I stamped the tree from Joyous Celebrations and punched it with the Wide Oval Punch, the popped it up on a Dimensional in the frame.  The Victoria Crochet Lace and the Crumb Cake Seam Binding were attached with a little bit of Sticky Strip which holds the ruffles in place.  Finally, I attached the sentiments (individual words from the New Year’s stamp in Petite Pairs) with a little Vintage Trinkets safety pin.

I know it won’t surprise you but the design team has an amazing variety of cards over on the challenge site.  It never ceases to amaze me how different designers interpret a sketch!  Go take a peek and then join right in.  I hope you are having a great week so far.  Thanks so much for stopping in!!

Stamps:  Joyous Celebration, Petite Pairs; Paper:  Early Espresso, Core’dinations Early Espresso, Naturals Ivory; Ink:  Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler; Accessories:  Big Shot, Lacy Brocade EF, Ovals Die (ret), Designer Frames EF, Wide Oval Punch, Victoria Lace Ribbon, Crumb Cake Seam Binding, Vintage Trinkets, Jewelry Punch, Sticky Strip, Dimensionals

Freshly Made Sketches #62

Freshly Made Sketches #62 published on 7 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #62

Happy Wednesday!!  I hope you are having a fantastic week!  For all of you in the U.S., I am sure you are deep in the preparation for Thanksgiving!  Just in time for the long weekend, we have another amazing sketch from Freshly Made Sketches!  This one comes from my talented friend, Jen Mitchell!  I love her clean and fabulous style and this sketch is perfect for so many things!

I thought it was appropriate for today to make a Thanksgiving themed card.  Day of Gratitude is such a perfect set for this, don’t you think??  I started with the Howlstooth & Scaringbone DSP and chose this More Mustard pattern.  Then I dug out my burlap and decided I liked the two together.  I thought a Cajun Craze background would work well and then framed everything with Soft Suede.  I stamped the leaves in those same colors and cute them out.  The Bronze Button is simply perfect for this look and I tied on one of the threads of burlap that I had pulled to fray the edges. Finally, I stamped the sentiment on the Natural Cotton Ribbon.  I love how you can stamp on this ribbon and guess what??!!  It is carrying through to the Spring Catalog.  So happy about that!  I realized the background layer was still missing something so I ran it through the Stripes Embossing Folder.

I would like to take the time to tell you all how thankful I am for you, my readers, and all of the people I have met through stamping.  From the design teams, to my upline, to my extraordinary customers…I am truly blessed!  Thank you for all the support you give me and for allowing me to be a part of your lives!!

You will love the variety from the team this week.  As always you will find loads of inspiration.  I look forward to seeing what you create too!

For those who celebrate, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!!  Don’t forget that Stampin’ Up is having a huge Online Extravaganza.  Just click on the Shop with Jennifer button to see all the deals.

Stamp:  Day of Gratitude; Paper:  Howlstooth & Scaringbone DSP, Cajun Craze, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla; Ink:  Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Soft Suede; Accessories:  Big Shot, Stripes EF, 7/8″ Natural Cotton Ribbon, Bronze Button, burlap

Freshly Made Sketches #61

Freshly Made Sketches #61 published on 12 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #61

Yea, it is Wednesday!!  Time for a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches!  I am the sketch hostess this week and I am so excited to see what you do with this one.  I tried to leave it pretty basic to make room for watercoloring, large sentiments or cool DSP.  The design team has used all of these and you will love their cards!!

I thought it would the perfect place to put this large Happy Birthday from You’re Amazing.  This card had an interesting evolution, I must admit.  It originally started out with a So Saffron base and I had planned on using more rosettes.  When I put it all together, something was missing.  So naturally I added a bow!!  One of LeAnne’s lovely shabby bows…I really do love these!  I found that just one rosette as the center worked perfectly.  Then to the color…yep, had to change that too.  The So Saffron was a little too muted for my taste today so I brightened it up by changing over to Raspberry Ripple.  I embossed the base layer with my Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder (which we just found out will still be available in the Spring Catalog!!).  Of course the rosette needed a Basic Pearl so I added that as a finishing touch.

I would like to take the time to bid a fond farewell to Jen Sannes of Simple & Sincere.  She has been a guest designer over at Freshly Made Sketches and this will be her last week with us.  What amazing talent she has and it has been such fun to work with her!

You know what to do now.  Run right over to the challenge site and see what the team has created.  I hope you like this one and I look forward to seeing you in the gallery!

Thanks so much for stopping in today.  I hope your week is fantastic!

Stamp:  You’re Amazing; Ink:  Basic Gray; Paper:  Raspberry Ripple, First Edition DSP, Basic Gray; Accessories:  Big Shot, Lacy Brocade EF, Very Vanilla Seam Binding, 1-3/4″ Scallop Circle, Basic Pearls

Freshly Made Sketches #60

Freshly Made Sketches #60 published on 10 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #60

Wow, has it been a week already??!!  Where did the time go?  I’m glad I have Freshly Made Sketches to keep me stamping this week!  We have an awesome sketch by the amazing Tui Nathan for you today.  Another layout with so many possibilities!!

I thought it would be fun to pull out my Snowflake Soiree stamp set again for this sketch. Just look how perfectly that snowflake fits on the  2-/1/2″ Circle!  Of course what is a snowflake without a little sparkle so I amped it up a bit with some Champagne Glimmer Paper.  Did you know that the snowflakes from the Snow Flurry Die coordinate with the stamp set??  Just look how pretty they are layered together.  I added some embossing on the Midnight Muse panel with the retired Snow Burst Embossing Folder (which also happens to coordinate).  Finally, to add a touch of champagne color to the pearl, I dabbed on some Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint.  It adds just a little bit of extra sparkle.

This sketch has so many amazing possibilities and I just can’t wait to see what you will create with it.  The design team has provided some incredible inspiration, as always!

Thanks for stopping in today.  I’m hoping to be back Friday with a project I made a while ago for one of my boys!  Until then, have a great week!

Stamp:  Snowflake Soiree; Paper:  Midnight Muse, Very Vanilla, Champagne Glimmer; Ink:  Midnight Muse; Accessories:  Big Shot, Snow Flurry Die, Snow Burst EF (ret), 2-1/2″ Circle Punch, Basic Pearls

Freshly Made Sketches #59

Freshly Made Sketches #59 published on 14 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #59

I am back today with a great new sketch from Cindy Hall.  I love the possibilities for the square elements and can’t wait to see the gallery this week!

I actually decided to use a different shape and went with butterflies instead.  I need a card for a dear family friend who is fighting breast cancer.  She is over halfway through her chemo treatments and is such an amazing and inspirational woman.  She is in need of a bit of a lift so I wanted to make something special for her.  I chose to use stitching instead of ribbon for the sketch and added the gorgeous 3-1/2″ Scalloped Tulle Ribbon for the crossing panel.  Yes, I actually sewed on my card!!  My wonderful mom gave me an awesome sewing machine and I have been wanting to use it on a card so badly.  I really like the stitching here!!  I thought the little touch of pink would be nice to put in a pop of color and perfect for the last day of October (Breast Cancer Awareness Month).

I hope that you are having a good and safe week.  I am glad that I had pre-posted for yesterday and today because we lost power for about 27 hours.  Through the overwhelming kindness of friends, we were surprised when a generator was brought over yesterday afternoon.  It saved all the food we had and my gratefulness for their generosity is without words.  Unlike so many, we did not sustain any damage and are incredibly lucky.  All those in the path of Sandy remain in my thoughts and prayers.

Make sure you take a look at the amazing design team work this week!  It is LeAnne’s and Narelle’s last week as guest designers.  What a joy it has been to have them join us for October!!  Have a great rest of your week!

Stamps:  French Foliage; Paper:  Crumb Cake, Naturals Ivory; Ink:  Crumb Cake; Accessories:  Big Shot, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Neutrals Buttons, Subtles Buttons, Basic Pearls, 3-1/2″ Crumb Cake Scalloped Tulle Ribbon, Sewing Machine, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Freshly Made Sketches #57

Freshly Made Sketches #57 published on 9 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #57

What a fantastic sketch we have for you over at Freshly Made Sketches this week!!  This one is courtesy of our guest designer LeAnne Pugliese of WeeInklings.  She says that it is one of her “go-to” sketches and I can certainly see why!!  Dress it up, dress it down, change the shape of the focal point…any way you use this one, it is going to be great!  Just take a look at the design team’s work and you will see what I mean.

I knew that I wanted to use my new Joyous Celebrations stamp for the focal image but the rest of my ideas were a little fuzzy.  Off I went to my file of designer papers and I came back with an oldie but goody…Jolly Holiday DSP.  I love the traditional feel to the colors and I thought they were a nice fit for the stamps.  I stamped the oval and the JOY and then punched them out with my Wide Oval Punch.  I stamped the little holly leaves and fussy cut them to attach, then colored some Basic Pearls with a Sharpie marker to make them little berries.  I love how the oval stamp mimics the  Designer Frames Embossing Folder oval so I popped out an oval with my Ovals Die (ret) and embossed it.  The sentiment went up on Dimensionals and I had my focal element.  Then I simply chose two patterns that I liked and added a bow made with Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding.  This one used the “potato masher” technique shown here.  This is one of my very favorite ways to make a perfect bow every time!!

I am so glad that LeAnne shared this sketch with us and I know we will have another fabulous gallery this week!  If you need inspiration, just go take a look.  It goes without saying that the DT’s cards will wow you!

I will be back on Friday with a fun guest blogger so make sure you plan on dropping back by.  She has a project to share with you that you are sure to love!!

I hope you have a great rest of your week!  Thanks for stopping in today.  See you Friday!

Stamp:  Joyous Celebration; Paper:  Jolly Holiday DSP (ret), Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla; Ink:  Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive; Accessories:  Big Shot, Ovals Die (ret), Designer Frames EF, Basic Pearls, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Dimensionals

Freshly Made Sketches #56

Freshly Made Sketches #56 published on 17 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #56

Happy Wednesday!!  So happy to see you!  I am so excited to share with you this wonderful sketch from the amazing Rita Wright.  Rita loves layers and this sketch gives so many options for how to layer that focal panel.  You will see that the design team has such pretty interpretations and I know you will love playing along this week.

I started this card with one thing in mind…the bow!  One of our guest designers this month, the amazing LeAnne Pugliese, created this awesome tutorial on shabby bows.  I LOVE these bows and have never quite figured out how to make one.  Now I know!!  I thought that the Daydream Medallions stamps would be an appropriate style to go with bow.  I love Crumb Cake with Razzleberry (let’s face it, I love Crumb Cake with about anything) and I think the colors set just the right tone for the shabby bow.  Yes, it really is all about the bow!  I added a little detail to the crossing panel with my Adorning Accents Embossing Folder and the sentiment comes from the beautiful Affection Collection set.

I apologize for being mostly absent over the past couple of weeks.  I have a check ride (flying test) coming up this weekend.  Every 9 months, airline pilots are required to do one of these to prove our worthiness and maintain certification.  It is a really big deal and lots of studying is always a good idea.  Once that is done, I’ll be able to turn on my crafting brain again and hopefully get some more creating done.  I am planning on a fun surprise in the next week with a visit from a guest blogger that you are sure to love!

Until then, I know you will be amazed by the design team and our two guest designers this week!  Hop on over to Freshly Made Sketches and take a look!  Have a great day!!

Stamps:  Daydream Medallions, Affection Collection; Paper:  Rich Razzleberry, Crumb Cake, Naturals Ivory; Ink:  Rich Razzleberry, Crumb Cake; Accessories:  Big Shot, Adorning Accents Embossing Folders, Crumb Cake Seam Binding, Brights Buttons, Linen Thread, Dimensionals

Freshly Made Sketches #55

Freshly Made Sketches #55 published on 15 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #55

We have a wonderful new sketch for you this week and it comes from the super talented Jen Mitchell!  I love her clean style and this sketch gives so many avenues for interpretation!  Look no further than the design team’s examples for the variety possible!  So many pretty cards!  We also welcome Narelle Farrugia and LeAnne Pugliese as guest designers for the month of October.

I thought that it would be fun to use the Howlstooth & Scaringbone DSP for a non-Halloween card and I love how this pattern is so great for lots of projects.  I had my Day of Gratitude out on the table from yesterday’s project and wanted to use the leaves from it.  What pretty leaves they are!!  I inked them up in More Mustard and Cherry Cobbler and cut them out.  Then I tucked them behind a Basic Gray button and added a sentiment.  As I was putting the card together I realized that it seemed a little blah.  Out came the Big Shot and the Square Lattice Embossing Folder to add that something extra!  I love the masculine feel to these colors!

Make sure you hop on over to the Freshly Made Sketches site to see all the inspiration both from the design team and then from the gallery as the week goes on.  So many talented designers every week!!

Back to studying today for a big flying checkride (test) that will happen next week.  I’ll be back next week with a fun surprise visit from an amazing stamper!  Until then, have a great week!

Stamps:  Day of Gratitude, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper:  Howlstooth & Scaringbone DSP, Basic Gray, Very Vanilla; Ink:  Basic Gray, More Mustard, Cherry Cobbler; Accessories:  Big Shot, Square Lattice EF, Neutrals Buttons, Black Thread

Freshly Made Sketches #54

Freshly Made Sketches #54 published on 9 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #54

It is another fabulous Wednesday and I get to share a new Freshly Made Sketches Challenge with you.  This week’s sketch is courtesy of…me!  I know this is kind of a classic sketch but I love how it leaves room for lots of interpretation.  Just take a look at the design team to see what I mean.  All those wonderful cards from one sketch!  Love it!!

Leave it to me to design a sketch and then change it!  That is what happens when you design the sketch well before you make the card!  Hmmm….  In any case, I am so happy with this card.  We made this one at my Holiday Catalog Class last week and we all had a good time with it!  The star of the show are Stampin’ Up’s Glimmer Papers, both Silver and Champagne.  The Snow Flurry Die creates this amazing snowflake and is just perfect for the sketch.  I tried a number of colored backgrounds before I settled on this tone-on-tone Very Vanilla.  I always love this look and was so happy that it works well here.  The sentiment is from More Merry Messages and was sponged with Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint then stamped (I used a Sponge Dauber).  It keeps the sentiment subtle but adds another element of sparkle!  Because apparently all that shine wasn’t enough, I finished the snowflake with a Vintage Faceted Button and a Basic Rhinestone.  The button picks up the shimmer from the snowflake and is so awesome!

I can’t wait to see what everyone makes with the sketch this week!  Make sure you hop on over to the challenge site to see all the inspiration!  Thanks for stopping in today.  See you again soon!

Stamp:  More Merry Messages; Paper:  Very Vanilla, Silver Glimmer Paper, Champagne Glimmer Paper; Accessories:  Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint, Sponge Daubers, Big Shot, Snow Flurry Bigz Die, Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder, Vintage Faceted Buttons, Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals

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