Freshly Made Sketches 598

When I saw our latest Freshly Made Sketch challenge I was pretty sure that I wanted to use flowers to be the design elements in the corners.  Since it's summertime I thought sunflowers would be a good choice.  Jen Timko is our challenge hostess this week and her sketch inspired some fabulous cards from our design team!

I'm not at all sure that I like the placement of the images on this card, but it's my "Mona Lisa" this week so I'm going with it.  That's the great thing about creativity - it's fluid and sometimes you get it right, sometimes you get it sort-of-right, and sometimes things go horribly wrong.  This one is in the sort-of-right category!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you can join us in the Freshly Made Sketches gallery this week!

Supplies
Stamps:  Painted Harvest (Stampin' Up!); Words of Wisdom (Verve)
Paper:  Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!); Fallen Leaves (Versafine Clair)

Freshly Made Sketches 539

Hi everyone!  Welcome to a new challenge from your friends at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week our hostess is Jen Timko and her sketch inspired me to go a little old-school with my card.  I don't often dip into my stash of patterned paper but I love it when I do!  The background is a simple pattern which I adorned with some flowers and leaves - the circle on the sketch.  

I inserted a slim birthday sentiment so that I could join the fun at AAA Birthday.  

Thanks for stopping by!  You won't be surprised to see that my Freshly Made Sketches teammates have made some fabulous cards to inspire you to play along with us.  So check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Summer Silhouettes (Stampin' Up!); Dream Big (Verve); Simple Sentiments (Avery Elle)
Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Twitterpated DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Old Olive, Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!); Orange Cream (Altenew)

Fusion - At the Movies

Hi all!  I'm a bit late to share my Fusion card with you but here we go!  The theme is at the movies, but it was the sketch and the colors from the photo that caught my eye.  The red couch prompted me to incorporate red in my card and the movie theme got me digging around in my stash for this film strip stamp.

I stamped the flowers on this card first then stamped the film strip over them.  I was not happy with how it looked so I stamped the flowers again on some vellum, added some clear embossing powder over those images (a trick I learned because ink and vellum = wet) and then fussy cut the flowers.  I placed them over the original stamped images and I liked this so much better! 

Thanks for stopping by!  Our Fusion challenge is going on now.  You can play with the sketch, the inspiration photo, or combine the two.  It's your choice!

Supplies
Stamps:  Film Strip I (Creative Embellishments); Zig Zag Floral (Altenew); Celebration of Thanks (Verve)
Paper:  Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Vellum (Graphix)
Ink:  Crimson (Altenew); Nocturne (Versafine Clair); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  clear embossing powder

Freshly Made Sketches 535

Hi all!  I'm a wee bit late with my card for the latest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches but here it finally is!  Our hostess this week is Amy and I love the banner she incorporated into the sketch.  So many possibilities!  

I chose to use the colors from The Paper Players and the flowers challenge from Just Us Girls and combine them with the sketch to create a CAS thank you card.  The banner was die cut with some parchment-style vellum and I stamped the sentiment on it using my go-to ink for crisp images.  But by the next day the sentiment was a fuzzy, blurry mess.  This looks cute as long as you don't look too close!  😂

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you can join us at Freshly Made Sketches! Our fabulous design team has made some cards that will surely inspire you to play along with us so check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Celebration of Thanks (Verve)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Lavender Moon, Green Parakeet (Papertrey Ink); Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Weathered embossing folder (Taylored Expressions); Pierced Fishtail Flags die, Plentiful Petals die (My Favorite Things)

Freshly Made Sketches 534

Hi all!  It's a new day and time for a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches!  This week our hostess and sketch designer is Cécile and, as usual, her design has me wishing I had her design instinct.  I tried my best to channel my inner Cécile, so here goes!

I started by using a watercolor background stamp in a pale pink topped with a grungy image stamped in one of my favorite grays (Smokey Shadow). Then I added the square die-cut and a couple of pink flowers.  I toyed with adding a small leaf in a bright green, but it looked to busy to me so I left the flowers alone.  I tucked in a small Verve sentiment to the right.  You can't go wrong with a Verve sentiment!

Thanks for stopping by!  My amazing teammates at Freshly Made Sketches have got some fabulous cards to WOW you so be sure to check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Jumbo Abstract Art (My Favorite Things); Summer Silhouettes (Stampin' Up!); Hope Blooms (Verve)
Paper:  Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Blush, Coral Berry (Altenew); Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories:  Quadrangle Frames die (Simon Says Stamp)

Freshly Made Sketches 526

We've got a great new sketch for you this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our hostess is Amy and she gave us this classic design that you can interpret in so many ways.  In light of what is going on in Ukraine I felt compelled to take the sketch and make a small homage to the Ukrainian people.

The background layers on the sketch gave me the perfect layout to mimic the colors of the Ukrainian flag and then I added the top layer with sunflowers against a cloudy sky.  The sentiment is from a breast-cancer-survivor set from Verve but the sentiment seemed apt.

Many years ago I worked with a woman from Ukraine.  She didn't work at my company for very long so I didn't get to know her well, but I hope she and her family are safe.  I'm not exactly sure why I made this card other than that I felt compelled to use these bright colors at a time when the days are so bleak and dark.  What I really want is to send a fleet of fighter jets, but I only have paper and ink.  And prayers that the people of Ukraine triumph over the evil they face.

Thanks for stopping by.  My fellow Freshly Made Sketches teammates have some fabulous cards to inspire you to play along with us, so be sure to check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Believe (Verve)
Paper:  Whisper White, Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Pacific Point (Stampin' Up!); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Mini Cloud Edges stencil, Sunflower die (My Favorite Things)

Fusion - Poppy Door

I knew instantly when I saw the challenge at Fusion what stamp set I wanted to use.  I was sure I had a poppy stamp in my stash but when I went looking for it with my other floral stamps I couldn't find it.  Oh no!  So then I started going through past blog posts to make sure I wasn't hallucinating about actually owning that stamp.  Once I confirmed that I had used it in the past I started going through all of my stash hoping that I had misfiled it.  Luckily that is just what happened!  Whew!

I created some Fusion this week because I combined the sketch with the inspiration photo.  I stamped the flowers in an aptly named poppy ink and their placement gave me a spot to add this lovely sentiment.  In a nod to the bricks in the inspiration photo I added a brick embossed background.

Thanks for stopping by!  Check out our Fusion challenge this week.  You can choose the sketch or the inspiration photo or make some fusion and combine the two!

Supplies
Stamps:  Poppy Field (Rubbernecker Stamps); Hope Blooms (Verve)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Whisper White, Garden Green (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Poppy Parade (Stampin' Up!); Nocturne (Versafine Clair); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Bricked embossing folder (Tim Holtz)

Addicted to CAS - Beach

I'm super excited about my post today because I am a guest designer at Addicted to CAS this week!  They liked one of my cards a few weeks ago and invited me to play along with this challenge.  Since CAS cards and I get along really well, I jumped at the chance!  And then Kylie sent me the challenge graphic and I had a mini panic attack!  The cue word was "beach."

Don't get me wrong, I love the beach.  I grew up close enough to Cape Cod in Massachusetts that I spent many happy summers frolicking in the ocean.  The problem is that I don't own a single stamp about the beach.  So for inspiration I turned to Splitcoast Stampers and searched the gallery for the word beach.  What I found was that Stampin' Up! had a stamp set with an abstract images that, if stamped in the right colors, mimicked beach, ocean, and land and while I didn't have that stamp set I had some abstract images of my own that just might work for a similar look.

So I took that abstract image and stamped it multiple times in colors that would call to mind land, sand, and sea.  I couldn't believe how well it turned out!  I know it's an abstract design but I hope you can see the beach there!  And since I find the beach to be a place of calm - there's nothing like feeling the hot sun on my face while the sea breeze is blowing and the sounds of the ocean are around me - that I added this particular sentiment.  To me the beach is a place to just be.

This is a one-layer card, another favorite of mine, so I'm going to join in with the Less is More challenge too.  They are looking for a favorite technique.  I'm not sure a one-layer card is a "technique" but it is in my book!

Thanks for stopping by!  And thanks again to Kylie and everyone at Addicted to CAS for inviting me to be a guest for this challenge.  I loved thinking a bit outside the box with this one!

Supplies
Stamps:  Celebrate Artsy (Stamplorations); Words of Wisdom (Verve)
Paper:  Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Frayed Leaf, Forest Glades, Sand Dunes, Rocky Shores, Sea Glass, Ocean Waves, Dusk (Altenew); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Mojo Sketch for Mother's Day

By some happy accident I just found that an old favorite sketch challenge of mine, Mojo Monday, is back!  As a new papercrafter, Mojo Monday was one of the first challenges that I played along with regularly as I stretched out my creative wings and I was sad when it retired back in 2017.  But it's back and I'm playing along with the current sketch.

One of the things I always loved about the Mojo sketches were the layers!  They allowed me to get creative with pattern and texture so for this card I dug deep into my patterned paper stash and used a lots of different SU papers.  And in a nod to Julee, the Mojo creator, I used a favorite flower from Verve.  The colors from the latest challenge at The Color Throwdown inspired the floral theme and since Mother's Day will be here before you know it I thought this was a perfect card for that.  And at Tic Tac Toe I managed to squeeze in the first row down - as long as "mother" is a good enough substitute for "mom' LOL! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Dream Big (Verve); Keep It Simple Mother (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Desert Storm (Neenah); Old Olive, So Saffron, Cameo Coral, Whisper White, Sweet Pea DSP, Patterns Stack Brights DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Cameo Coral, Old Olive (Stampin' Up!); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Dreamy Leaves die (Verve); Dotted Borders die (Avery Elle)

Fusion - Green

March seems to always be about green right?  The snow starts to fade, spring (hopefully) is on it's way, and, of course, St. Patrick's Day is only a couple of weeks away.  So it's only fitting that our latest challenge at Fusion is all about green!

 

I think I went a little bit over the top with my green!  I sponged a couple of shades to create the background and then added some leafy stamps in a couple of darker shades.  This is a great stamp set and I just love the little dots.  I love how they add dimension to a flat surface.  

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow Fusion teammates have made some great cards for our challenge so be sure to check them out.  You can play with the sketch, the inspiration photo, or both!

Supplies
Stamps:  Dot Botanicals (Altenew); Forever in Our Hearts (Verve)
Paper:  Bristol Smooth
Ink:  Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint (Distress Oxide); Frayed Leaf, Forest Glades, Evergreen (Altenew); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Freshly Made Sketches 452

Hey all!  It's time for a brand new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is Amy and her sketch design had me reaching for my favorite leaf images!

My color choices were inspired by the latest challenge at Sunday Stamps and I do want to clarify that the darker leaves are actually brown - not black as they appear in the photo.  Once again my stellar photography skills in action. 😉 I actually stamped two versions of this card so that I could die cut the label from the center and capture the little bit of leaf that appears on the corner.  Then I popped up the  label with some foam tape for a bit of dimension.  I love how this turned out!

Thanks for stopping by!  As you would expect from our fabulous Freshly Made Sketches design team the cards are AMAZING, so I'm sure you will want to play along!

Supplies
Stamps:  Leaf Clusters (Altenew); Celebration of Thanks (Verve)
Paper:  Desert Storm (Neenah)
Ink:  Dusty Durango, Chocolate Chip  (Stampin' Up!); Versamark
Accessories:  Labels Four die (Spellbinders); gold embossing powder

CAS(E) This Sketch 384 Meets Fusion

Today I've got a card that I made combining our latest sketch challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch along with the inspiration part of the challenge at Fusion.

Ok, I know the inspiration at Fusion is all about fruit, but I don't own a single image of fruit!  So I had to take my inspiration from the colors.  I chose to focus on the green, blue, and red and inked up some leaves and flowers and stamped them in the corners.  I love how this turned out!

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow design teammates at CAS(E) This Sketch and Fusion have made some fantastic cards this week so be sure to check them out!

Supplies

Stamps:  Floral Art (Altenew); Celebration of Thanks (Verve)

Paper:  Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)

Ink:  Dusk, Ruby Red, Fresh Leaf, Jet Black (Altenew); Onyx Black (Versafine)

CAS(E) This Sketch 378 Meets Fusion

Hey all.  It's Thursday and it's time for me to combine the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch with the inspiration at Fusion. 

I loved the bright colors in the Fusion pic so I chose to pick up the blue, yellow, and green I saw.  I think my bright yellow flower really pops against that gingham background!  And since the challenge at The Paper Players this week is clean and simple thanks I think I'll play along over there too!.

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow teammates at CAS(E) This Sketch and Fusion have got some great cards to inspire you to play along so be sure to check them out!

Supplies

Stamps:  Dream Big (Verve); Simple Sentiments (Avery Elle)

Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Daffodil Delight, Lemon Lime Twist (Stampin' Up!)

Ink:  Lemon Lime Twist (Stampin' Up!); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Dreamy Leaves die (Verve); enamel dots (My Mind's Eye)

Freshly Made Sketches 428

The world has turned upside down but I've very grateful that I can retreat to my stamp room and get crafty now and again.  Today I've got a card to show you that I made for our newest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  Out hostess this week is Amy and I predict that you will love her sketch!

I hope that Amy forgives me because I completely missed an entire layer on my card - I'm obviously not paying attention!  The colors I used were inspired by the Sunday Stamps challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow design team members at Freshly Made Sketches have made some amazing cards to inspire you to play along with us.  I hope you do!

Supplies
Stamps:  Dream Big (Verve); Simple Sentiments (Avery Elle)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Basic Black, Whisper White, Lemon Lime Twist (Stampin' Up!); True Black Gingham (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Orange Cream (Altenew); Lemon Lime Twist (Stampin' Up!); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Petite Scallop Circle die, Standard Circle die (Spellbinders); Dreamy Leaves die (Verve)

Freshly Made Sketches 399

It's hard to believe but we are at sketch #399 at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  That's a lot of sketches!  This week our sketch designer is Jen Brum and she has given us a sketch with three squares.....my favorite - NOT!  I think she is punishing me for a big circle I put on a sketch a few weeks ago! LOL!

But never fear.  After much contemplation I figured out how to tackle this sketch.  I chose this small poinsettia image which I stamped onto small squares.  Then in the fourth space I stamped a simple holiday message.  I put all of that on a layer with a running border of punched dotted circles around the edge.  I like this card way more than I thought I would! LOL!  After I made this I realized it would fit the Less is More challenge of "small images."  As per their guidelines each image here is less than 2 x 2.

Thanks for stopping by!  I'm so happy that I was able to add to my Christmas card stash with this card.  I wonder how you will be inspired to join us at Freshly Made Sketches with this sketch!

Supplies
Stamps:  Joyous Noel (Verve)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah)
Ink:  Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories:  Dual Dotted Square die (Lil' Inker Designs)

CAS(E) This Sketch 332 Meets Fusion

It's that time again when I combine the sketch challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch with the inspiration challenge at Fusion.  This time around the inspiration at Fusion was a groovy tie dye with a kindness twist.  Try as I might I had nothing in my stash that resembled tie dye and had no ideas on how to create it so I went for the next best option:  watercolor!

However, I did manage to incorporate a kindness theme using this beautiful sentiment from the now defunct Verve.  That vertical watercolor is not something I created myself - it's beautiful patterned paper from My Favorite Things - but I did get a little creative by utilizing it as negative space.  The two white layers on either side are popped up on foam tape to give some dimension.

Thanks for stopping by!  We've got some great challenges at CAS(E) This Sketch and Fusion so I hope you have time to check them out!  My fellow design team members have made some great cards with their respective challenges so I hope you check them out.

Supplies
Stamps:  Kind Words (Verve)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Black Licorice, Watercolor Wash (My Favorite Things)
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine)

Freshly Made Sketches 385

Hello, hello.  It's time for a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is Kim who designed a classic sketch for us.

This card is the second iteration that I made with this sketch.  The first one was so boring I couldn't bring myself to post it.  So despite it being the Nth hour I crawled back into my craft cave on Tuesday night when I got home from work to see if I could come up with something better.  I started perusing cards that I had made for a now-defunct sketch challenge and found one that I could use to CASE myself.  Using a few of the colors from Sunday Stamps this is what I came up with.  It's been a long time since I've used a button on a card but sometimes I love that old school look!

I was pretty late getting this card made partly because I am obsessed with watching Jeopardy before I head up into my stamp room.  Please tell me I'm not the only one who is in total awe of the current champion!  Every night watching that show is like watching the Super Bowl!  It's exciting and sometimes nerve-wracking but certainly entertaining.  Too bad I have to schedule my crafty-time around the show's schedule! 😆

Thanks for stopping by!  Our Freshly Made Sketches design team has made some fantastic cards to inspire you to play along with us.  I hope we'll see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Dream Big (Verve); Slight Alterations (Tim Holtz)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Vellum (Stampin' Up!); Royal Velvet (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Daffodil Delight (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Curvy Leaves die (Elizabeth Craft); Dotted Borders die (Avery Elle); Witch Hazel button (October Afternoon); enamel dots (My Mind's Eye)

CAS(E) This Sketch 317

I absolutely love the challenge this week at CAS(E) This Sketch.  It's got wide open spaces that leaves lots of room for interpretation.

I fell back to one of my favorite floral stamp sets and created this layered flower.  My Scan N Cut made quick work of the leaves and in no time at all this card was done!  My colors were inspired by the challenge at The Color Throwdown.

Thanks for stopping by!  Check out the designs of my CAS(E) This Sketch teammates for some inspiration.  See you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Dream Big (Verve); Simple Sentiments (Avery Elle)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Certainly Celerly, Melon Mambo (Stampin' Up!); American Crafts
Ink: Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Melon Mambo (Stampin' Up!); Nocturne (Versafine Clair)
Accessories:  enamel dots (My Mind's Eye)