Oh, do I have a treat for you today!  We have an awesome sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches.  The amazingly talented Rita Wright came up with this super fun layout and I think you are going to love it!

I went all in on products from the Holiday Catalog on this card.  So many pretty things that coordinate perfectly!  Winter Wonderland is a beautiful suite of products that starts with a stunning DSP pack.  The gold and black  in the prints ensures many elegant projects!  I chose two of them  as the background for this card and I just love them.  I pulled the banner from my August Paper Pumpkin (but you can cut one just as easily with your Banner Framelits from Very Vanilla).  Using Momento Black ink, I stamped the sentiment from the Holly Jolly Greetings stamp set.  I love all the combinations that are possible with that set!  I took a snowflake from Snowflake Elements and smooshed it in Versamark ink, poured on some Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder and heat embossed it.  The picture doesn’t come close to showing how pretty it is!  For finishing details, I cut  strip of Gold Foil and flagged the end with my Banner Punch and added some gold sequins from the Metallic Sequins.  Both the snowflake and the sequins are attached using the new Fine-Tip Glue Pen.  This is already one of my favorite things from this new catalog (I know….yes, I REALLY love having the right glue for each job).

A few little hints.  The paper in this Winter Wonderland has a lighter feel than some.  It makes the paper really usable for so many things but on a large panel, it may feel a little too light.  I simply cut another panel from dark card stock to 1/4″ less than the DSP panel and attached the DSP to it.  This allowed me to pop the decorative panel up on Dimensionals and have it still lay correctly on the card.  Also, with the new glue, a light hand is all that is needed.  I place a little dot of the glue on the paper where I want a sequin and place the sequin down on the dot.  Easy!

You already know that the design team will have tons of inspiration for you so I’ll stop talking now and let you get on to the business of oohing and ahhing over their work!

I’ll be back on Friday with a new Fancy Friday project and next week with some other great stuff I’ve been working on!  Until then, thanks so much for stopping in.

Click HERE to purchase wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamp:  Holly Jolly Greetings ; Ink:  Momento Black, Versamark; Paper:  Winter Wonderland DSP, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Gold Foil; Accessories:  Paper Pumpkin (August), Snowflake Elements, Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Heat Tool, Metallic Sequins, Dimensionals

So I may have said the other day when I posted my FMS card for our big celebration that I made a couple versions of the sketch before making the snowflake card.  I thought it would be fun to share some of what I created.  Before I get going, I have had a few people ask me how to join in the fun with Freshly Made Sketches this week.  It is so easy that you just have to give it a go!  Make a card using our sketch (I have a picture below).  Then post that card to a blog, at Splitcoaststampers or at your favorite social media location.  Once you have that done, just go to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and link your project in.  Hoping to see lots of you this week!

My first card uses the new Sleigh Ride Edgelits and the Softly Falling Embossing Folder from the new Holiday Catalog.  I created a watercolor background using Night of Navy.  Then using the embossing folder that had been inked with White Craft Ink, I stamped the stars.  I cut the tree layer from Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper.  Then I stamped the sentiment from Jingle All the Way (it coordinates with the Edgelits), then texture embossed with the Softly Falling folder.  I added a new Iced Rhinestone as a big star and a couple more Basic Rhinestones.

I was so happy with that one that I wanted to keep going and try another version.  I chose a gold dots pattern from the Winter Wonderland DSP for the background then cut the two layers with the Sleigh Ride Edgelits again.  I used Thick Whisper White and Gold Foil for the layers this time.  The sentiment is from Holly Jolly Greetings which is a mix and match sentiment set.  Love it!  Again with the rhinestone combination and done for a totally different look.

I hope that you are enjoying the celebration over at FMS so far.  You really must click over to see all the amazing cards have already been added.  I am in awe of the talent on display!

I’ve still been flying tons and not as much stamping time as I’d like.  I did have the chance to get together with friends the other day to make their Watercolor Wishes Card Kits!  I had such fun!  I hope you are having a great week.  Thanks so much for stopping in today.  See you soon!

Click HERE to purchase wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Stamps:  Jingle All the Way, Holly Jolly Greetings; Ink:  Night of Navy, White Craft, Versamark; Paper:  Thick Whisper White, Gold Foil, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer, Watercolor ; Accessories:  Big Shot, Sleigh Ride Thinlits, Softly Falling TIEF, Heat Tool, Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Iced Rhinestons, Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals

The day is finally here!  The 200th sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches!!  I had to stop and take in all that means when it comes to crafty inspiration.  The amazing challenge consistently has over 100 players each week.  That means over the last 4 years our challenge has had over 20,000 cards shared!  Wow.  Just wow!  When Lesley started this challenge, I felt immediately like she had put words to my style.  Clean but not always simple.  Don’t get me wrong, I like Clean AND Simple (CAS) but many times I make cards that have clean lines but also take a long time to make.  Sometimes it is a technique, sometimes it is detail work, sometimes it is working on balance…but many of these clean cards are actually hard.  *smile*  Lesley gave me an a-ha moment and clearly I am not the only one!  The success of this challenge is about the right mix of sketches and the amazing design team (I still pinch myself that I get to be a part of it!).  It is even more about YOU, the greater crafting community.  Our sponsors recognize what you bring and have been so generous in all they are offering as prizes!

We don’t have a traditional sketch hostess today.  The whole team is your hostess!  We chose a sketch that we felt allows for lots of expression and creativity.  Based on what I have seen from both our FMS DT and our guest DT members, we were right.  I hope that you will enjoy it as much as we already have!

I had so many ideas for this sketch that I could barely clear my head enough to use just one (actually I have more cards to share with you later this week).  This one really reflects some of my favorite items in the new Holiday Catalog from Stampin’ Up so I just had to share.  These catalogs should be arriving soon to customers and you are going to be in love!  I started with the new Softly Falling TIEF and embossed my Thick Whisper White panel.  This embossing folder is awesome.  While it is meant to be “snow”, I just used it as a texture layer with the concentrated dots at the bottom (helped me stick to the sketch).  It is so pretty and more impressive in person than in my picture.  Then there are the snowflakes.  These wooden Snowflake Elements are awesome.  I should have gotten more.  There are 24 in a pack and I’ll be through them in no time!  I took them and smooshed them into my Versamark Ink Pad and them poured Silver Stampin’ Emboss Powder on them.  Add a heat tool and they emboss up super fast.  GORGEOUS!  They are attached with the new Fine Tip Glue Pen…so great for tiny things!  I added a Basic Rhinestone to each center with such a pretty effect.  Next, using the new Christmas Greetings Thinlit Dies and my Big Shot, I cut out the sentiment from Silver Glimmer Paper.  Mmmm….glitter!  As if the shine and sparkle weren’t enough already, I added a layer of Silver Foil behind the image layer and popped the whole thing up on Dimensionals.  This card is such a wow in person.  I love it and I hope you do too!

Now if you have ever needed inspiration, this is the week to get ready to Pin.  I’m in complete awe over the talent that is in our guest gallery.  As if I wasn’t already mouth agape enough from the FMS DT!!!  The support from the stamping community has been humbling for all of us at FMS and I cannot begin to tell you what it has been like for me over the last few weeks.  Every time a card was sent to me, I squealed out loud.  As the companies responded with their sponsorship offers, I could hardly believe what I was reading.  At one point I think I channeled my inner Sally Field.  We can’t deny that you like us…you really like us!  *smile*  And that is a fabulous honor for all of us at Freshly Made Sketches.  This community of artists and friends is unlike any other I have known.  I’m grateful beyond measure to Lesley for having given me, a small time and unknown stamper, the offer of being on this amazing team almost 4 years ago.  It changed the course of my crafting life.  Gave me the confidence to enter and be chosen for Stampin’ Up’s Artisan Design Team.  And most importantly, it has given me the chance to meet some of the kindest and most generous people in the world.  The actual world….because we are all over the place and yet we feel like neighbors.

So, I’ll stop being sappy before I can’t continue my post.  I hope you have fun this week!  Here’s to another 200!

Click HERE to purchase wonderful Stampin’ Up products!

Ink:  Versamark; Paper:  Thick Whisper White, Silver Foil, Silver Glimmer ; Accessories:  Big Shot, Christmas Greetings Thinlits, Softly Falling TIEF, Heat Tool, Silver Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Basic Rhinestones, Fine Tip Glue Pen