Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches 303

Well hello friends.  It's Wednesday so it must be Freshly Made Sketches day!  This week our sketch comes from down under*.  Karren is our hostess and all that "down under" must have been on my brain because I completely flipped the sketch!


I have a great nephew (in the sense that he is the son of my nephew) and he is turning one in a couple of weeks.  He (and his parents) live quite a distance from me so I had to make a card in plenty of time to give it to my sister who is travelling this Friday to celebrate the happy birthday celebration.  This sketch fit perfectly for the idea I had in my head for his card - except it was upside down.  So I flipped it and all of a sudden my card was born.

I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils and usually when I do that I blend the colors with gamsol.  I went back and forth whether I should do that here.  On the one hand I liked how the unblended coloring on the teddy bears seemed to give them some texture - always a plus with a plush toy.  And on the other I considered just using the gamsol on the number one.  In the end I decided to leave the number untouched and reasoned that it had a juvenile quality to it - which sort of fit with the first birthday theme.  I just hope that the adults at the party don't think this is a horribly colored image!

Now about that "down under."  I am aware that this term is used frequently in reference to Australia, but Karren is from New Zealand.  I googled the term and found that according to the Oxford English Dictionary "down under" is a term that is used to refer to "Oceania" which includes New Zealand.  So I think I am ok using it here.  In any event I've wanted to visit Australia since the 1980's when I first saw Mad Max and I've wanted to visit New Zealand since 2014 when Karren joined the design team at Freshly Made Sketches!

I hope you'll join us at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  Our design team has got some beautiful cards to inspire you so be sure to take a look!  I hope to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Teddy's First Birthday (Pink gem Designs)
Paper:  Bashful Blue, Real Red, Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink:  Prismacolor Pencils
Accessories:  Diagonal Stripe Stencil (Simon Says Stamp); translucent embossing paste (Dreamweaver)

6 comments:

Amy O said...

What a sweet image! And I love how it works perfectly with the sketch -- upside down or whatever. A perfect card for a little birthday boy!

Lisa Elton said...

Awww this is such a cute card! Those little bears are so sweet. Happy Birthday to your great nephew!!

Linda Callahan said...

Another stroke of genius.....you are on a roll! Love how you flipped the sketch.....adorabke catd!

Karren said...

Your "upside-down" card is just gorgeous and the pencil coloring is perfect for a child's card - such a fun touch! And I'm chuffed that you want to come visit NZ - any time, my friend, any time!

Jen Timko said...

I am with you on that "road trip"!! I want to go visit our friends on the islands (big and small) down under! I love the feeling of this card. Simply perfect for a 1st birthday celebration.

Narelle Farrugia said...

Toooooo cute! What a totally sweet little 1st birthday card - happy birthday to your great nephew! I'm with you on a visit to meet Karren and see her fabulous country. Maybe we could have a FMS retreat there!