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SugarPea Designs – Guest Week 2

SugarPea Designs – Guest Week 2 published on 1 Comment on SugarPea Designs – Guest Week 2

I am happy to be back over at SugarPea Designs for week 2 of my April guest posts. First, I’m so grateful that many of you visited their site last week and did some shopping. I can’t wait for you to see the sweet box her products come in and the darling packaging. And if you didn’t have a moment to visit last week, I hope to inspire you to this week.

You know by now that I cannot resist a flower and these Meadow Motifs images are the best! Pretty flowers, extra images to pop up for texture. Beautifully designed! I blended pink into orange and then yellow to create the shading with Copic Markers.  I went right to my YG markers for the perfect spring green leaves that also happen to perfectly match the Key Lime Pie Envelopes.  I colored up one of the butterflies from the set in lavender as a contrast to the pink/orange.

Once I completed the coloring, I cut all of the images out with the coordinating SugarCut Meadow Motifs dies.  To create the background, I inked some white card stock in Shaded Lilac Distress Ink and then cut the cover plate from more white with the SugarCut Large Striped CoverPlate die.  The sentiment came from the multitasking workhorse Everyday Sentiments stamp set.  Finally, I found some purple/green iridescent sequins in my stash to finish.

So a reminder about shopping with any of the craft companies right now, there are limitations, just like on all the other aspects of our lives. If something is showing as “sold out”, it may be because they cannot get to their warehouse or their distributor cannot come in to make additional products. Some companies cannot even ship. For now, SugarPea Designs is able to ship what she has in stock but re-stock may take time. Please just make a wish list or notify when available. These companies want your business very much but sometimes there is only so much they can do. When they do ship to you, go over to their social media sites and share photos! They LOVE this and are super excited when they see you happy. I hope you enjoy this bit of spring today. I’ll be back Wednesday for the latest from Freshly Made Sketches. Have a good Monday!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! published on 1 Comment on Happy Easter!

A quick card today for a message to you all. I wish you joy and healing as we celebrate the Risen King at Easter! Blessings to you all and I look forward to the day where we can gather again. Today is a reminder that we can conquer despair and rise stronger.

This set is the Caring Cross from The Greetery. Beautiful for Easter and religious celebrations year round. Thank you for all you do and share in your kind words to me. More than ever, they mean so much. Stay safe, my friends!

Sending Love & Hugs

Sending Love & Hugs published on 3 Comments on Sending Love & Hugs

I mentioned the other day that one of the things I have been doing is just coloring for fun while listening to “Lives” or classes online taught by my friends. One of these is my dear friend Lydia Fiedler. Something about that dear woman’s calming voice and humor just makes my day better. I’d love to say I even did the basic work of stamping the image for this but my Crafty Friends teammate (and of course, friend) Sandi Maciver shared the image with me in the fall (Botanical Burst by Tonic Studios).

I started with my G series Copics on the greens (G20, G21, G24, G28) and played with shading. Once I got those right, I stared on the flowers using some pinks, oranges and yellows (RV09, YR68, Y38, Y17, Y06). I was just messing around with blending while listening to the lovely chatter about shading (with Lydia and Kathy Racoosin) and then while Lydia was showing some swatching. These wonderful friends who share their time and talents make me happy. Friends who send not only pretty cards but pretty things to colors are amazing! In all of this that is swirling about, I love that one my constants is the kindness of my creative community.

Most of the time I share things that were created with a “purpose” but I wanted to remind you that now is the time to create when the actual creating is the purpose. The coloring on this took about 4 days or so, just a little at a time. It is hard to pay back for how these people help but I can attempt to pay forward. Affiliate links are how many of us pay for our crafting blogs and products. They don’t cost you, the customer, anything additional. It just allows companies to reward those who create sales for them. Lydia and Sandi have affiliate links over on their blogs. So if you need a little something for your craft room, I promise they probably will enable you to go ahead and get it. Just click the links on their names above and you will be routed to the right place.

I hope you have a peaceful day. Remember to cut yourself some slack if things don’t be going how you think they should. None of this is normal. It is ok to be on your heels a bit, to feel like you have lost control of things. I know that is how I feel many days. But we have each other and isn’t that a beautiful thing. I’ll be back soon with more to share. Until then, stay safe and healthy!

Freshly Made Sketches #430

Freshly Made Sketches #430 published on 8 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #430

Happy Freshly Made Sketches day! Our wonderful Jacquie has such a clever sketch for us this week (which I kind of followed). I love unique shapes and this is their week to shine.

When I saw the diamond shape, I thought of this stencil. I don’t know why…it is sort of a diamond shape, I guess. But once it was in my head, that was all that was going to be in my head. Does that happen to you? Please tell me I’m not the only one. This is the Scandinavian Stencil from Erin Lee Creative. So pretty! I inked it up using a gradient of smokey blues from Altenew onto Bristol Smooth paper with my Taylored Expressions Blender Brush. I chose a sentiment from the Oh Emm Gee set by Erin Lee Creative. That set is really fun if you read them all!

So glad you stopped in today. Looking forward to seeing all the creative takes on this one during the week. Stay safe and I’ll see you soon.

SugarPea Designs – April Guest Designer

SugarPea Designs – April Guest Designer published on 1 Comment on SugarPea Designs – April Guest Designer

Hi everyone! I hope this finds you healthy. I’m excited to share some happy news. Which is really nice to give and get these days. You know that I’m such a fan of our crafty industry and most especially, I’m a fan of the small business owners that drive it. SugarPea Designs is owned by Wendy Ramlakhan and she is the embodiment of all that is great with stamp companies. Not only are her stamps and products fantastic, she is a genuinely awesome human! And in this time of difficulty, I very much want to support companies like hers! She has supported challenges and celebrations with gift cards and chances to win. Now is a great time to pay that back. And good news, she is still able to ship from her inventory!!

For my card today, I used the SugarCut Interlocking Circles Die which is really unique and such fun to use.  I first cut it out using black card stock and then it got really fun.  Using multiple colors from the “spots” pattern in the Spots & Stripes Brights Patterned Paper, I used the die to capture the negative parts of the die.  I like puzzles and I had a blast fitting the colors into the different areas in the circles.  Best part, with the cut outs you can create multiples of this just putting different colors in different places.  

After adhering the circles to the white panel, I chose the SugarCut Friends Word Die as the focal sentiment.  I cut the shadow from vellum and the word from black card stock.  The Everyday Sentiments set was perfect to complete the sentiment.  I chose the Happy Birthday, stamped it in black and cut it out using the SugarCut Sentiment Strips Dies.  I put the whole panel on a black card base and the card is ready to brighten someone’s day.

I hope that you are finding some time to create. I try to eek out a bit of crafting every day. Usually I do it while watching one of my dear friends on their “Lives” or in a tutorial. This new normal is not at all normal so I just try to roll with each day as it comes. I hope you are able to do the same.

Thanks so much for stopping in today. See you again soon!

Freshly Made Sketches #429

Freshly Made Sketches #429 published on 7 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #429

Happy Wednesday to you all! I hope this finds you healthy, safe and secure in your homes. Like many places, Virginia now has a stay at home order so we are hunkered down. I am still considered essential but with the flying pulled down for April, I’m on a reserve (on call) status. My boys are waiting for the real plan to start distance learning so we are trying to do what we can to stay engaged. My husband is also essential so works from his office every other day and teleworks on the others. All in all, we seem to be adapting as well as can be expected. The cats are confused and, no surprise, are the big winners. With all this at home time, I keep thinking that I’ll do so much crafting but somehow the mojo has just flown away. I’m glad for Freshly Made Sketches to keep me motivated! This sketch by the lovely Judy allowed me to follow my previous formula of finding a favorite stamp from a favorite company and just keeping it simple.

The Posie Fill-In stamp set from Concord and 9th remains a favorite of mine, especially on sketches with circles. I stamped using Altenew inks in Aqualicious, Lime and Jet Black. I found this piece of patterned paper in the stash and it seemed just right behind the flowers. The sentiment from the same set is bold and fabulous. I’m trying hard to mail more cards to friends. It makes me feel better and I hope it brightens their days too.

I just bet the cards from the design team will inspire you and I hope the sketch gives a boost to your creativity. I am grateful for you all. Please stay safe! See you soon.

Freshly Made Sketches #428

Freshly Made Sketches #428 published on 4 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #428

I can’t imagine that any of you are feeling different than I am. Every day seems to show new obstacles. I am overwhelmed at times. Clearly working for an airline right now is challenging. But so is working pretty much anywhere. I have come to the conclusion that the only way to maintain my sanity is to try to share kindness. Like many crafters, I have an insanely large stack of cards. And now is the moment! Time to mail them. Medical personnel, first responders, other airline people, all of these people need encouragement. So that is my inspiration for today’s card. Our latest sketch for Freshly Made Sketches is designed by the lovely Amy O’Neill and I knew right what I wanted to use.

Mondo Hydrangea is a gorgeous set by Ellen Hutson. I love to watercolor it. And it jumped right out and I knew it would be perfect for the sketch. I stamped in VersaFine Ink and watercolored with Daniel Smith paints. The matching die was used to cut it out. I decided that the Nordic Frames layer would be a nice detail and I used it on Fog Gray card stock. Needless to say, I think this sentiment will be getting heavy rotation. It is from a new to me set called Everyday Sentiments from SugarPea Designs. It has awesome sentiments!! There is a coordinating die for it too (which I used).

If you are looking to mail some cards and don’t have any place to send them, message me and I’ll be happy to share the addresses. And speaking of grateful…I am incredibly grateful for all of you. These days are hard. Each of us has our own battle in this war against a wicked foe. We need to stay strong and we are stronger together! Make sure you go over to see my amazing teammates at FMS. They are some of the most remarkable people and I’m blessed to be a part of the team. Stay safe, stay home, let’s do this!

Erin Lee Creative March Release and GIVEAWAY

Erin Lee Creative March Release and GIVEAWAY published on 17 Comments on Erin Lee Creative March Release and GIVEAWAY

This is my second post for today. If you are here for Freshly Made Sketches, please scroll down.

I have wonderful news today! I have joined the Erin Lee Creative design team and I’m so thrilled. Erin is an amazing human and I had the joy of meeting her in person a month ago. And her new release is fabulous! She released it early (over the weekend) as additional incentive to stay home and craft! And today our team is holding a blog hop complete with a GIVEAWAY (details below).

One of the new sets is called Sweet Succulents and it is just that! Sweet! I took a few moments for watercoloring last week and I enjoyed playing with the greens and violets. I cut out the images using the coordinating dies. I then created a watercolor frame to highlight the violets but still needed a sentiment. The You Are Enough die is also part of the new release. I cut it out a few times and layered them to give the words a bit of dimension.

I hope you enjoy this card but now it is on to more inspiration! Here is a look at the whole team!

Hop details: 3 random winners who comment across all blogs will receive a $25 gift code to use in the ELC shop. Winners will be announced March 25. So be sure to comment!

One to the amazing Ceal who is sure to make you smile! Here is the whole hop if you get lost along the way.

Freshly Made Sketches #427

Freshly Made Sketches #427 published on 5 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #427

This is the first of two posts today for me. Our latest sketch for Freshly Made Sketches is designed by the lovely Narelle Farrugia. Another beauty for sure! First though, a brief update. Like everyone else worldwide, I’m finding my world turning upside down. A week ago I was on my way to Amsterdam when the first travel ban went into place. Since then, my airline has been trying to adjust and adapt. As pilots we are conflicted. We understand the need for social distancing but we also know there are circumstances that require people to fly. We love bringing people together safely. My airline is suffering (like so many businesses) and we have no idea what will come next. I’m trying to focus on one day at a time, as I’m sure you are too. So, with that, crafting! I’m thankful I have this hobby for respite.

I had trouble focusing even with such an inspiring sketch so I went to what makes me happy. I started with a stamp from a company I love (Gina K Designs) and colored it with my favorite Copic colors. After some debate, I just kept the rest of the card white. The pretty circle behind the butterfly is from Pinkfresh Studios and the sentiment is from Tonic Studios. All the links are below.

Our design team has created marvelous works of inspiration. How lucky I am to work with such an extraordinary group of people! My friends, as always I am thankful for you all. While we all have some turbulent days ahead, I have faith in the kindness of people. I have confidence that we can find our best selves. Please be safe, stay home and know that I hold you in my prayers.

Make sure you come back for my second post and a fun announcement too!

Freshly Made Sketches #426

Freshly Made Sketches #426 published on 4 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #426

I love our fun sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches, as always. Our dear Karren is the sketch designer and this is a classic you are sure enjoy using.

I took advantage of the circle to use a new to me stamp from Erin Lee Creative called Coffee Girl. Isn’t she sweet? I met Erin at Stamping Away and found her to be such a joy (and super funny!!). When you see her fun line of stamps you are sure to enjoy the humor. This image was fun for working on shading and hair. A work in progress but always fun to play!

After coloring her, I used a stitched circle die to match the sketch. Then I went searching through my stacks of patterned paper and found this old set from Stampin’ Up. Perfect colors too! I thought this sentiment from the stamp stamp set was perfect for the little hearts and it is fitting for this week of the time adjustment.

It seemed easier to just show you which markers I used on my coloring that to write them all out. The top picture contains the colors for her clothing and accessories. The bottom has her skin and hair (the top row is hair, the bottom is skin).

I hope you have fun with this one and find inspiration from the team! So glad you stopped in today. Thanks for visiting and see you soon!

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