Take a look at the next sketch from Freshly Made Sketches!  This one is brought to us by the wonderful Rita Wright of Rita’s Creations.  This is one of those that can be used as-is or flipped.  Either is sure to be fantastic!

For mine, I kept the sketch horizontal but used a rectangle.  You see, back when I got to go visit my friend Cindy Elam she showed me her techniques for watercoloring.  I have to say that she is an actual artist.  She draws the most beautiful things and has such talent.  Of course it makes sense that her coloring would bring that artistry!  She showed me how she colors this truck and gives it the nuances of light and shadow.  While I’d love to take credit, all I did was mimic her work.  Look at this card to see how she colored it.  The truck is stamped in Soft Suede and then colored with more Soft Suede.  I added some Cajun Craze for the apples and Night of Navy for the sky.  Most of the work is done with a Blender Pen.  I did use my Aqua Painter for a little extra blending of the sky.  Rita’s sketch was the perfect showcase for this panel and I’m happy I finally found the right home for it.

The design team has created a lovely variety of cards with the sketch and you are sure to love them.  I hope you will be able to join us on this one!

I hope to be back on Friday with a card I’ll be making tomorrow with my stamp club.  It is loaded with Summer Smooches!  Thanks for stopping in.  See you again soon!

Stamp:  Countryside; Paper:  Watercolor, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Naturals Ivory; Ink:  Soft Suede, Cajun Craze, Night of Navy; Accessories:  Big Shot, Square Lattice EF, Quilted Espresso Ribbon (ret), Antique Brads, Blender Pen, Aqua Painter

 

Happy middle of the week!!  I’m back with another fantastic sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  I was so impressed with all the variations of my sketch last week…wow!  This week our layout comes from the amazing Tui Nathan of Stampin’ Time.  She is such a talented stamper and her layout is sure to inspire!

I didn’t quite comply with the half-circle element of the sketch but this flower was calling out to be on this card.  I just love these tissue paper flowers!!  All you do is run a folded up piece of wrapping tissue paper through your Big Shot (in this case with the Fun Flowers Die).  I sponged the layers lightly and arranged them until it looked right.  An Antique Brad hold all the layers together.  This beautiful paper is from the Beau Chateau DSP pack and the prints work so well together.  The only stamping on this one is the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  I am trying to use up some of my DSP since the new catalog from Stampin’ Up is only about a month and a half away.  One of my sisters-in-law and her husband just celebrated their 10th anniversary so I made this card for them.  Fortunately we saw them in person since cards with elements off the edge are hard to mail.

I have a Vintage Card Class tomorrow so I should have some things to share with you over the next few days.  Don’t forget to go check out the inspirational work of the whole design team at Freshly Made Sketches!  Thanks for stopping in…see you again soon!

Stamp:  Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper:  Beau Chateau DSP, Soft Suede, Whisper White; Ink:  Soft Suede, Marina Mist; Accessories:  Big Shot, Fun Flowers Die, Antique Brads, Basic Pearls, Wrapping Tissue Paper

Guess what??!!  I am the sketch hostess for this week’s Freshly Made Sketches!!  When I chose this sketch I had designer papers in mind.  I’m hoping it will be a great way to showcase some of your favorites!

I chose to use the Paisley Petals DSP since it has such pretty spring colors.  My only debate what which stamp set to use.  I decided to go old school and pulled out a retired hostess set called Of the Earth.  This set was a favorite but I didn’t use this particular stamp very much…not sure why!! It seemed perfect here.  I inked it up with lighter colors and then added darker colors for accents.  After doing that, I sponged over the stamp to soften the lines.  I always seem to need thank you cards so I chose the sentiment from Day of Gratitude.  Such a pretty font!!  Finally, I added a little button for some balance to the card.

I hope you like the sketch and I know you will love the cards the design team made with it!!  We have two new guest designers for the month of April, Kathy Tanner and  Lisa Johansen, and they are amazing!

Not sure if I can post again before the weekend so I want to take the opportunity to wish you a wonderful Passover and Easter weekend.  Thanks for stopping by today.  See you again soon!

Stamps:  Of the Earth (hostess, retired), Day of Gratitude; Paper:  Paisley Petals DSP, Early Espresso, Whisper White; Ink:  Calypso Coral, Tangerine Tango, Pear Pizzazz, Always Artichoke, Marina Mist, Not Quite Navy, Early Espresso; Accessories:  Neutrals Buttons, White Baker’s Twine

Ok, don’t say I didn’t tell you that this sketch was cool!  This layout from Freshly Made Sketches is care of Lesley Croghan of Always Playing with Paper.  While I admit that this one intimidated me a bit at first, I think you will be surprised at how easy it is to use!  When you see the inspiration pieces from the design team you will see what I mean.  They are all going into my CASE files!

This card is pretty much all about punches and dies for the Big Shot.  I started with my 1 3/4″ and 1 1/4″ Circle Punches and the Everyday Enchantment DSP from Sale-a-bration.  The great thing about designer paper packs is that they coordinate.  Certainly makes it easy to create a card like this.  All I had to do was decide which patterns to put together and I was most of the way there.  I added some butterflies from the Beautiful Wings Embosslit and the little flowers from the Fun Flowers die, along with some Basic Pearl accents.  I sponged along all the edges with a some Soft Suede ink.  Finally, a little banner with my sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes and done!

This is one that would be easy to duplicate and create a whole pack of cards for myself or a gift.  Hmmm…might have to do that!

Now get right to work and try this sketch.  Don’t let it intimidate you…you’ll be happy you tried it!  Don’t forget to take a peek at the fab cards from the rest of the team.  Amazing!

Glad you stopped in today.  I’m getting ready for my stamping club meeting tomorrow.  If I have any extra stamping time, maybe I’ll have something else to share later this week.  Have a great day!

Stamp:  Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper:  Everyday Enchantment DSP (SAB), Very Vanilla, Baha Breeze, Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz;  Ink:  Soft Suede; Accessories:  Circle Punches (1 3/4″, 1 1/4″), Big Shot,  Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Fun Flowers Die, Basic Pearls, Sponge, Dimensionals

Happy middle of the week!  I hope your week is going well so far.  Just take a look at this cool sketch from Freshly Made Sketches this week.  It is brought to you by Jen Mitchell of I Create.  I’ve said it before but I just love her cards.  I think I have a disproportionate amount of them pinned for later inspiration.  *smile*

I made my card for today while stamping at Cindy’s last week.  Again, I just “had” to use some of her things that I don’t have.  I started with the hostess set Simply Soft.  I inked it with Versamark ink and then Chocolate Chip, stamped it on Shimmery White paper and embossed with Clear Stampin’ Emboss Powder.  I colored the flower first with Pink Pirouette ink and then Pretty in Pink using a Blender Pen.  The background paper was embossed using the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder.  Then came the bow.  I love these double bows and I knew I wanted to add one on this card.  Cindy had some ribbon in her stash that was a perfect match.  How lucky for me!  I stamped a sentiment from Three Little Words to finish it off.  Back to the bow…while I was at Cindy’s, she was kind enough to actually create a video of me tying one of these.  It is so hard to explain but actually very easy when you see it done.  Here is the link to the bow tutorial.  I cannot emphasize enough that when you are done tying the bow, you will need to pull on the tails and re-fluff the loops a bit.  My bow on the tutorial has a knot that is a bit looser than the one on this card.  We did it in only one take and you can get the basics.  This bow has a tighter center and I like it a bit better.  The bow from the tutorial will be on a card next week.

You won’t be disappointed by the cards from the design team this week.  As always there is lots of variety and so much inspiration!  Can’t wait to see what you make with the sketch.

Thanks for dropping by today.  If you have any questions about the bow or anything else stamping related, just drop me a note.  See you again soon!

Stamps:  Simply Soft, Three Little Words; Paper:  Shimmery White, Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip; Ink:  Versamark, Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink; Accessories:  Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Blender Pen, Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Heat Tool, Pink Ribbon, Dimensionals

As promised, I’m back with a new layout from Freshly Made Sketches!  This week’s sketch is courtesy of Linda Callahan of Stampin’ Seasons.  What a great sketch.  Last week’s response to the sketch was amazing and I’m so excited to see what you create this week.

Before I get to my card, I just have to tell you how much fun I had with Cindy Elam of Heart’s Delight Cards.  She has the most fabulous stamp room and she gave me free run of it.  Yippee!  We made a card using the same sketch that you will see in an upcoming post.  I love how two stampers can use the same layout to create such different cards.

Speaking of which, back to this week’s challenge.  I wanted to try this print from the Twitterpated DSP after seeing some beautiful cards make with it and thought the little vase from Button Buddies would be a nice match.  I think this set is really cool.  The buttons are such a fun way to add texture.    These are actually the Cajun Craze buttons but they look like Riding Hood Red next to the DSP.  I tried a few different ribbon ideas before finally settling on the Basic Gray Taffeta (retired).  The little sentiment is from Day of Gratitude punched with a 1 1/4″ circle punch.

This sketch has so many possibilities that I may try another card with it later this week.  I’ll also post one of the cards I made at Cindy’s (the other two will be shown in upcoming SUO Challenges).

I’m so glad you dropped by today.  As always the team has amazing cards for you so make sure you go see their beautiful creations.  We welcome Narelle and Allisa as guest designers this month.  What gorgeous examples they have made!  Have a great day and see you soon!

Stamps:  Button Buddies, Day of Gratitude; Paper:  Twitterpated DSP, Basic Gray, Whisper White, Baja Breeze; Ink:  Basic Gray, Pear Pizzazz; Accessories:  Regals buttons, 1 1/4″ and 1 3/8″ circle punches, Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon, Dimensionals

It is time for a new Freshly Made Sketches challenge and we have yet another fantastic layout for you to try.  Today’s sketch is courtesy of Rita Wright from Rita’s Creations. She is a fabulously talented designer and I am such a fan of her work.  When you see her card for this week, you will understand why!!

 I got to pull some of my new Sale-a-bration and Occasions Mini items out in earnest yesterday.  I had a real day off and the kids were at school.  It was so awesome to be able to experiment with some things I have been seeing with the new Framelits.  I used a tutorial from Kari Metzger for  Making Layered Frames.  I went down one size on the frames but otherwise followed her instructions.  I love the shadowbox effect!  I inked up my flower from Fresh Vintage with Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait and Lucky Limeade being careful to only ink the main flower with my markers.  I mimicked the colors in the lovely Everyday Enchantment paper.  I added some sponging to everything since the DSP looks sponged.  I didn’t want to cross the “clean” part of the rules too far but the card still needed something.  Of course a ribbon fixes everything!!  I sprayed some Very Vanilla Seam Binding with water and crumpled it up.  When it was almost dry I sponged on a little Soft Suede ink to give it a tea stained feel.  I have to say that making this card made me really happy!  I have missed stamping and am feeling so inspired when I get the time to create!  Remember that you can get these Sale-a-bration items free with your orders until March 31st.  This is a deal you can’t afford to miss!!  Our amazing CEO at Stampin’ Up, Shelli Gardner, is challenging us to use our Sale-a-bration items this month so I am entering this in the So Shelli Challenge too.

In a work update, I am officially “back on the line” at United Airlines.  I did my first two trips since last week and have been to New Orleans, Vancouver, Denver, San Diego, San Francisco and Chicago.  Some of those were for the night and some were for a few hours. Amazing how much I missed flying across this beautiful country.  I have to admit that it is the best office window ever!  Don’t forget to peek in the flight deck and ask if Jennifer is flying when you find yourself on a United Airbus!

I’m hoping to be back later this week with a “just because” card.  Let’s hope those schedulers don’t need me too much (I’m a “reserve” pilot and my schedule is to be on call).  Make sure you go admire the work of the rest of the FMS team.  Stunning examples again this week!

Stamps:  Fresh Vintage (SAB), Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper:  Everyday Enchantment DSP (SAB), Naturals Ivory, Soft Suede; Ink:  Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait, Lucky Limeade, Soft Suede; Accessories:  Big Shot, Labels Collection Framelits, Very Vanilla Seam Binding, Sponges, Dimensionals

 

First and foremost, I want to tell my mom Happy Birthday!!  The good news is that you get to see your card today.  The bad news is that it won’t be there.  I am woefully behind on birthday and thank you cards to my whole family but I am pretty sure they understand.

Today’s sketch from Freshly Made Sketches was created by the fabulous Tui Nathan.  It is wonderful and I had such fun using it.  I actually got to stamp yesterday for the first time in a long time.  Most of what you have seen over the last month was created before I went to training.  I was so happy to pull out my new Occasions Mini products and play!

The colors from the Twitterpated DSP were my inspiration on this card and I wanted to use the Bordering on Romance flowers again.  I didn’t have much time but the watercoloring is pretty fast and I really love doing it.  While I haven’t even finished putting the set together, I just “had” to use the sentiment from Apothecary Art.  I used some retired Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon to create a double bow and then topped it with one of the new large pearls.  Of course, the flowers needed some pearls too!  My mom is a fan of flowers of all kinds so I hope she’ll like this one.  Hope your day is great, Mom!!

I mentioned yesterday that I finished my training on Friday.  As of today I am out on a 3-day trip to get my final sign-off.  I’ll be looking at your lovely entries on my layovers and I can’t wait to see what you create.  The design team has outdone themselves this week.  Make sure you go see their amazing work.

As a side note, there have been some issues with Blogger this week and the ability of the team to comment.  Over at the FMS site there is a brief set of instructions on how to handle the word verification issue to ensure we can still comment on your projects.  We love looking at them and want to be able to comment on as many as possible!!

Thanks for stopping in today.  I hope the rest of your week is great!

Stamps:  Bordering on Romance, Apothecary Art; Paper:  Twitterpated DSP, Basic Gray, Whisper White; Ink:  Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Basic Gray; Accessories:  Basic Pearls, Large Pearls, Blender Pen, Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon

 

I am so excited to bring you the sketch for this week’s Freshly Made Sketches Challenge!! I suppose it shouldn’t surprise you that my sketch choice for the week is a bit flying inspired.  “Straight and level” flying is the goal of every airline pilot.  Despite the efforts of my instructors and their failed engines, hydraulics, electrics (and anything else they can thing of…in a simulator, of course), my training partner and I have dutifully maintained this over the last few weeks.  Apparently, that is what I needed for stamping too!  The design team has created some spectacular samples and I can’t wait to see what everyone makes this week!

I made this card for my youngest son’s birthday.  Patterned Party is such a fun stamp set and I just love these little presents.  I started with the Real Red polka dot print and framed it using Basic Black.  Then I chose happy primary colors, Pacific Point and Daffodil Delight to go with the Real Red.  I thought it would be fun to add a little banner grounded by a button for the sentiment.  I tied the button with some black thread to mimic the bows on the presents.    The best part is that my little one liked Mommy’s card.

This is the last week of training here in Denver.  My big check ride is this Friday and then I’ll be done.  Sometime next week I can expect to go out on my first trip.  Hopefully I’ll get some stamping in before they send me on my way!!  Thank you for all the encouraging messages while I have been here and I am grateful for your patience on my minimal posting.  I hope to be back to “normal” in the next couple of weeks!!  I miss my stamping friends and can’t wait to catch up with them!

Make sure you go check out the awesome samples the design team has made.  I already see some CASEing in my future!!  Have a great week!

Stamps:  Patterned Party, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper:  Brights Designer Paper Pack, Basic Black, Whisper White; Ink:  Real Red, Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black; Accessories:  Neutrals Buttons, Black Thread, Dimensionals