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Freshly Made Sketches #601

Freshly Made Sketches #601 published on 6 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #601

We had such fun with our sketch #600 celebration last week and now, onward! This week’s Freshly Made Sketches challenge designer is the one-of-a-kind Linda Callahan. She is the BEST!

I felt this one was perfect for a little scene and what better than Christmas mice from Merry Little Mice? I went with some non-traditional colors and had such fun coloring these elements.

I think I stuck close enough to the sketch on the background. I played around with adding an additional pattern under the teal but it just didn’t work for me. I love the stars on this pattern from the Make It Merry Paper Pad and found the crossing teal patten in an older, retired pad. The sentiment is from one of my workhorse sets called Inside: Holiday Sentiments. If you don’t have a set like this one, go grab it!

Thanks so much for stopping in today. I hope you have some crafting time this week and will join us. I have to say that I had a pretty challenging week last week at the day job and I’m so thankful for my coloring and creating time to bring balance to the stress. I hope you have a wonderful week!

Freshly Made Sketches #598

Freshly Made Sketches #598 published on 7 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #598

Hi everyone! Happy August to you! I am this week’s sketch designer at Freshly Made Sketches and I hope you will like this one. When I designed it, I had a floral in mind for the corner. I had this gorgeous poinsettia on my table from my last card so I opted to color the single image and go with Copics this time.

I stamped the image from Joyful Poinsettias twice and then colored. Dawn’s images have shading built into the design so I just followed her lead. I enjoyed spending a little time with my Copics! For the base I started with a light blue card stock and added Faded Jeans and Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide Inks.

I decided to add some splatters with white gouache and some red pearls. The sentiment comes from the same set. I love all the options this set gives and I suspect you will see it in heavy rotation for this holiday season.

I hope you are having a wonderful start to your August. Thanks so much for stopping in today. I’ll see soon!

Honey Bee Stamps Vintage Holiday Release – Sneak Peek Day 4

Honey Bee Stamps Vintage Holiday Release – Sneak Peek Day 4 published on 1 Comment on Honey Bee Stamps Vintage Holiday Release – Sneak Peek Day 4

Welcome to the Honey Bee Stamps Vintage Holiday Release Sneak Peeks! Today is the last day of our peeks at the new release and, as usual, you will be totally wow’d by all the amazing sets.

Today I am introducing new Falling Snow Background Stamp and the Riding By…Holiday Style Stamp Set and coordinating Honey Cut Dies. (These affiliate links will not be live until the release opens for sale TONIGHT, October 14th after the Release Party on IG and FB at 8p CT.)

The Riding By…Holiday Style is an add-on set to the Riding By Set and Bicycle Builder Honey Cut Dies. I love all the options! AND, these images could be used just for tags or without the bike too. Love that. But I used it in the intended way. I stamped a bunch of the images in Momento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored in non-traditional colors of pink, teal and lime green. After cutting them out with the coordinating dies, I started playing with how I’d build my bike. I left the frame white and colored the tire in pale gray. I added a few pink accents too. I did cut two more of the “tire” die (not the spokes part) and the bike frame to give a bit more depth.

I used the Honey Bee Stamps Precision Glue to attach all the parts together. Then, I decided I needed a bit of pop from the background. I stamped the new Falling Snow Background Stamp in Versamark Ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I brushed on a bright pink ink and the emboss resist worked perfectly. I pulled some of the Bubblegum Confetti Mix out as the final accents.

So glad you stopped in today. Remember the release goes live tonight! I hope you will consider shopping with me via the affiliate links highlighted at the top of the post. Have a wonderful day!

World Card Making Day with Ellen Hutson

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Happy World Card Making Day! Really. It is a thing. And it makes me super happy! I was lucky enough to be invited to help share some of the new Essentials by Ellen product line by Ellen Hutson and they are really fun. You’ll see that they were practically made for me!

As soon as I saw these products I knew exactly what card I was going to make. I wanted our little friend to be all ready to go on the adventures they have missed out on over the last year or two. Passport – check. Bag packed – check. Globe to spin for deciding – check. Ready to go! This adorable set is called the Bear Ware Grand Tour and comes with coordinating dies. I joined it with the new Planet Surface dies.

The bear is super cute, of course, but it is all the extra elements that really make the set. You can see the iconic buildings and there are fun details that go with each along with sentiments. I chose a few and used them like a banner.

Try not to fall over but I actually created a video to go with this card. I know, it is has been over a year since I made one. I thought it would be more fun to show you how I made this so hop over to check it out. I kept the video short and I’d love your feedback on it.

YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/dAiZ5RrKr6s

I hope you enjoy this release and have some time to craft today. Below I have listed links to the new release (the first one should take you to the shopping page). These are affiliate links which help me but have no additional cost to you. Have a great weekend!

Wheatfield Dreams with Taylored Expressions

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I have a real treat for you today!! I was lucky enough to get to use the new Wheatfield Dreams Kit designed by the amazing Lori Craig for Taylored Expressions. And what a dream these products are!

I started by stamping the sunflower in Momento Tuxedo Black and then just got to enjoy coloring with my Copic Markers. In full disclosure, Lori was my first instructor on Copic so I REALLY wanted to live up to the beauty of her design. After I was done, the coordinating dies in the kit make short work of cutting the flower out.

I thought that kraft would be the perfect background for this flower and I love a tone on tone look. The Burlap Background stamp is also a part of the kit and it gives such amazing texture. I added the Frame in Frame 2 scalloped rectangle as a way to focus on the wonderful sentiment from the set and then added a few gold pearls to finish.

The Wheatfield Dreams kit includes the following:

  • Wheatfield Dreams Stamp Set + Coordinating Dies
  • Burlap Background
  • Foil It – Wheatfield (12 panels for heat foiling)
  • Mini Embossing Powder – Copper
  • As always, this kit will be packaged in a zippered pouch with an exclusive kit pouch sticker, envelopes, and envelope seals to match. 

If you love this as much as I do, I’d appreciate you shopping with me via my affiliate links (at no additional cost to you): Taylored Expressions Shopping

Thank you for stopping in today! See you tomorrow with the latest from Freshly Made Sketches.

Freshly Made Sketches #500 – A Decade of Sketch Inspiration

Freshly Made Sketches #500 – A Decade of Sketch Inspiration published on 25 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #500 – A Decade of Sketch Inspiration

Yes, you read that right. Freshly Made Sketches is celebrating 500 sketches. A decade ago, the amazing Lesley started this challenge during a time when “clean” stamping was not a dominant style. She put together an idea of clean, but not always simple, designs based on layouts. BRILLIANT! I played along as a player from the first challenge and soon joined the team. It has been my biggest consistent inspiration in my stamping and it has been a great joy to be on this team for so many years.

As you can imagine, 10 years of a challenge is really worth celebrating. We have sponsors and the winners will simply be randomly chosen from all the players this week. Additionally, I have a personal prize too! As a thank you for the support you have given me over these many years, I will choose a winner from all who comment on this post. See the end of the post for details.

I love that Linda chose 5 layers for the sketch as a nod to the 500 milestone. I wanted to explore a little more on some of the products from the Honey Bee Stamps release we just featured. The Garden Harvest Florals is such fun to color and I thought it would be perfect for this sketch. All of the elements were colored with Copic Markers. I chose a pretty gingham from the Summer Stems paper pack that had a bit of a late summer/early fall feel.

The sentiment is my favorite part of the card. It comes from the Bitty Buzzwords: Fall stamp and die set. Truly, this sums up how I feel about this team. Some have been together for the whole 10 years, some joined us more recently, but all are amazing. In every possible definition of the word, our happy little group is a team. And one that has given me immeasurable joy!

For my personal giveaway, I will send the above products to one lucky winner, randomly chosen from those who comment on this post. Giveaway is limited to those in the US only. It include: Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry Ink and products from Honey Bee Stamps: Team Tie Dye Paper Pack, Precision Tip Glue, Bee Young: Blooms Stamps and Dies. Winner will be contacted via information left when you comment.

Again, thank you for playing along, supporting our fun challenge and for always sharing your time and talents in our gallery. We are so grateful you have included us in your crafty adventures!

FMS498 and SPD Mix It Up #82

FMS498 and SPD Mix It Up #82 published on 8 Comments on FMS498 and SPD Mix It Up #82

Happy Wednesday! I am here today with a combo card that joins two of my challenges, Freshly Made Sketches and SugarPea Designs’ Mix It Up Challenge.

When I looked at the inspiration photo, I fell in love with the colors! And then I saw Jen Mitchell’s sketch and I knew just what to do. I pulled out the Meadow Motifs Stamp Set and chose two of the floral sprays. To match the sketch I put the smaller one in the bottom right corner on Desert Storm card stock. Then I pulled out some fall colored Copic Markers in yellows, oranges and browns.

I love how those colors change the entire feel of the images! And it made me so very happy. For a sentiment, I reached to the Floral Envie Stamp Set. This sentiment is really beautiful and I thought it provided just the right balance for the card. I hope you enjoy this combination and will come play along!

Last week I promised a sneak peek week from Honey Bee Stamps. Well, Covid strikes again and there was a delay in shipping the release to the company. In order to make sure customers were able to order, the peeks were delayed. But they are scheduled to start this Friday. I cannot wait to share! Until then, I hope you have some time to craft.

Beautiful Birds for Gina K Designs

Beautiful Birds for Gina K Designs published on 1 Comment on Beautiful Birds for Gina K Designs

I’m thrilled to be able to offer you inspiration for Gina K Designs new release! It goes live tonight (when this post goes up) so you can head right over to see all the amazing products.

For today, I’ll be showing you Beautiful Birds. And the title says it all. The images are incredible and were designed by Melanie Muenchinger.

I’m sure Melanie had a specific bird in mind when she drew this but I decided it was a bluebird. Because I love them. The image shading is great for showing where colors go and makes it fun to color. I thought my bluebird would be perfect on a cherry tree (I “might” be looking towards spring) so I colored the branch that way and added another branch and leaves from the set too.

After splattering the Kraft card stock with some distress ink, I cut a vellum circle as a layer for the bird. All of the sentiments in the set are beautiful but this one called out to me. And how pretty is the combination of script and print on the fonts?

I hope you enjoy this showcase of the Beautiful Birds set. Again, the shopping is live and I’d very much appreciate you shopping with me here: Shop at Gina K Designs

Spring Bliss Release Sneak Peek Day 3 – Honey Bee Stamps

Spring Bliss Release Sneak Peek Day 3 – Honey Bee Stamps published on No Comments on Spring Bliss Release Sneak Peek Day 3 – Honey Bee Stamps

You may have seen that Honey Bee Stamps has started sneak peeks for their Spring Bliss Release. As a member of their social media team, I get to join in on the release fun too! I am sharing today’s Day 3 peeks along with the rest of the team.

The products featured today are going to be must-haves for many of your stamp rooms. First is the Old Rugged Cross stamp set and coordinating dies and I combined them with the Wood Frame Builder Honeycut Dies and the Basketweave Stencil that was revealed on Day 1. ** Please note that the links will not work properly until the release goes live on Feb. 16th at 11p **

As we approach Lent this week, I was particularly drawn to the Old Rugged Cross set. All of the images and dies combine for many, many variations. This is a multi-purpose set that is wonderful for Easter and Christian holidays but also for sympathy cards. As soon as I saw the set, I knew what I wanted to make. The crown of thorns image is perfectly sized to work with the crosses in the set and the die cuts the center to allow it to hang. The draped banner comes in two images that you can use together or separately to create the layered appearance on the cross.

Once I had the cross built, I wanted to use other products to highlight but not overshadow it. I started with the Frame Builder dies and just cut a white frame to add texture. But the card seemed a little too clean even for me. So I grabbed the new Basketweave Stencil and brushed on some Antique Linen Distress Ink to add more depth behind the cross. Finally, I had to choose a sentiment and this one seemed to be just exactly right. Again, the detail on the dies that cut the sentiment close allow so much more of the rest to show through.

Thanks so much for stopping in today. I’ll be back tomorrow with another peek.

The release will go live tomorrow night (Feb. 16th) at 11p Eastern after a release party at 9p Eastern. You can find the party on Instagram with Honey Bee Stamps!

Sweet Sunflower for Honey Bee Stamps

Sweet Sunflower for Honey Bee Stamps published on No Comments on Sweet Sunflower for Honey Bee Stamps

Hello my friends! I hope the week has been good. I’m here to share a card I created for Honey Bee Stamps on Instagram today. Even though I have lots to be doing creatively this week, I just needed to take a moment for some coloring. And what better than a wonderful flower.

While it isn’t quite sunflower season, it is ever really NOT the time to color one this pretty?! Yeah, I thought the same. I pulled out lots of yellows and browns and got to work (a picture of the colors below). I just played with shading until I was happy.

Next I worked on leaves and then the wheat. The wheat adds a nice texture element with the flower. The Farmhouse Check background stamp is one that I will use over and over. Today I purposely under inked it for a tattered effect. Kind of loving that! And then finally the sentiment from the set. Perfect!

I hope you enjoy this one and that it inspires you just to sit down and color a bit. I didn’t do this all in one sitting and I highly recommend projects that take a bit of time. Thanks for stopping in today. I’ll be back tomorrow with a new card for the latest release by Honey Bee Stamps.

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