CAS(E) This Sketch 337

I had a few ideas swirling around in my head for our latest CAS(E) This Sketch challenge.  I thought of using bright colors or possibly patterned paper.  In the end I chose a rather eclectic blend of Christmas patterned paper!

I think my card is fun.......in a sort of "say what???" kind of way!  I like the juxtaposition of the cute, traditional Santa images with the sassy Santa sentiment!  I'm not sure anyone on my list of Christmas card recipients would appreciate this card, but I'll tuck it away for future use just in case!

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow CAS(E) This Sketch design team members have made some great cards with this sketch so be sure to check them out! 

Supplies
Stamps:  Tis The Season (Essentials by Ellen)
Paper:  Soft Stone, Smoky Shadow (Papertrey Ink); Heidi Swapp patterned paper
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair)

Freshly Made Sketches 400

Will the real Freshly Made Sketches challenge #400 please stand up!  It seems like we've been playing a sketch challenge version of To Tell the Truth these last few weeks!  After taking a bit of a stroll down memory lane and digging some old sketches out of our archives we are ready to reveal the ACTUAL sketch #400!

It's quite a milestone, to be sure, and to celebrate properly we have PRIZES!  That's right anyone who plays along with us is eligible to win a prize from one of our generous sponsors!  We reached out to our crafty friends and asked if they would help us celebrate our 400th sketch and we were seriously overwhelmed by their generosity.

So let's get to it!

Isn't that a fabulous sketch?  SO. MANY. POSSIBILITIES.  For me, I saw that wide strip and new immediately that I needed to dip into my never-ending stash of patterned paper.  I love gingham so I chose this pretty blue one that was a perfect match to some cardstock that I also had (I love it when different brands collide and make something special)!  Then I added a two-tone butterfly.  It's been a while since I've used one of my pretty butterfly dies and this seemed like just the right occasion to use one of my favorite accents.

I also incorporated a couple of other challenges into my card today.  One for color (The Color Dare) and one that gave me an excuse to use a splatter stamp behind the butterfly (TGIF Challenges).

And now for those sponsors!  Drum roll please...........

Wouldn't you love a chance to win a prize from one of these awesome companies?  It's easy!  All you have to do is play along with our 400th sketch celebration at Freshly Made Sketches.  Winners will be randomly drawn from everyone who plays along!  I hope you'll join us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Simple Sentiments (Avery Elle); Ink Splats (Indigo Blu)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Rose Red, Pink Pirouette, Cool Caribbean (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Cool Caribbean (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Vivienne Butterfly die, Darla Butterfly die (Memory Box)

Tag You're It 94

Hi folks!  Today I've got a tag to show you for our current challenge at Tag You're It.  We are in our second week and there's still time to play along!  Our inspiration is all about summer....and flamingos!

I didn't have a single flamingo in my stash so as per my usual off to Etsy I go to find a digital stamp.  I found this cute set that not only had a flamingo but also this palm tree and some other fun tropical images. I tried to use some of the colors from the inspiration and added some colorful circles in the background to mimic the floating balls in the photo.

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to check out the inspiration at Tag You're It and play along with us!

Supplies
Stamps:  Tropical (digital stamp from Terevela Design)
Paper:  Aqua Mist (Papertrey Ink); Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight (Stampin' Up!); Lemon Grass (Avery Elle)
Ink:  Copics
Accessories:  Basic Bookmark I (Papertrey Ink); seam binding ribbon; crochet thread

CAS(E) This Sketch 336 Meets Fusion

Today I've got a card that blends the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch with the inspiration photo at Fusion.

The photo shows some roses climbing up the side of a house (at least I think that's the side of a house).  So I made my card base the same color as the house and added some tone-on-tone horizontal stripes to mimic those clapboards - which you can't see in my pic- but trust me they are there!  Then I selected a peony as a flower, chiefly because all the rose images I had in my stash were too small.  And in the end I like this image very much and a peony makes a nice substitute for a rose! 

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow design team members at CAS(E) This Sketch and Fusion have each created some fantastic cards to inspire you to play along with us!

Supplies
Stamps:  Peony Bouquet (Altenew); Scripty Sayings (Gina K); Sketched Stripes Background (Concord & 9th)
Paper:  Sea Glass (Avery Elle); Basic Gray, Basic Black, Garden Green, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Jet Black, Frosty Pink, Coral Berry, Grapevine (Altenew); Sea Glass (Avery Elle)
Accessories:  Leafy Greenery die (My Favorite Things); Scallop Border Set die (a.muse studio)

Freshly Made Sketches 400 - Week Three

If you've been following us at Freshly Made Sketches for the last couple of weeks you may have noticed a theme.  First we dug into our archives and re-purposed Sketch #1 (which was also Sketch #100).  And then we did the same with Sketch #200.  Well guess what...we did it again with Sketch #300 this week!

That last pic was actually my card for the original #300 sketch.  Whoo!  What a difference from my new card! 

I had it in mind to make a Christmas card with this sketch and even dug into my stash of ancient Stampin' Up! patterned paper to make one of those rectangles.  I was unsure of what to do with the sentiment portion of the sketch and then I stumbled on the "elf" challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown and knew I could sneak on this cute elf and give him a simple sentiment on a simple rectangle.  Simple is better!  The

Now, we are fresh out of old sketches at Freshly Made Sketches to repurpose so you know what that means...we've got a brand new sketch for you next week as we continue our 400th celebration.  That's right an actual Sketch #400!  😀There may be a surprise in store for you as we celebrate this milestone too so be sure to check us out!  In the meantime our design team has made some great cards with this sketch so play along with us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Toy Land, Chill Out (The Alley Way Stamps)
Paper:  Desert Storm (Neenah); Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Jolly Holiday DSP (Stampin' Up!); X-Press It Blending Card
Ink:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Ruby Red (Altenew); Copics
Accessories:  Blueprints 15 die, Horizontal Stitched Strips die, Stitched Rectangle die (My Favorite Things); Christmas Sprinkles (Doodlebug Designs)

CAS(E) This Sketch 335

Our latest sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch had me all be-fuddled this week.  Sometimes what seems simple is actually complicated.  Does anyone else think that or is it just me!  After a few iterations I finally settled on this card:

Obviously I turned the sketch on its side.  But this was a late decision based on the fact that I couldn't find any suitable images for a vertical card.  I stumbled upon this snowflake die quite by accident as I was looking through my stash and quickly cut it from some silver glimmer paper and added a slim sentiment.  Happy Little Stampers has got an "anything goes with dies" challenge going on and I think I qualify for effort alone because punching out all the little bits on this snowflake die took forever!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you join us at CAS(E) This Sketch!  My fellow design team members have created some beautiful cards with this sketch so be sure to check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Travelers Journal December Typed Words (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); silver glimmer (Recollections)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Snowflake Edge Fancy die (Hero Arts)

Freshly Made Sketches 400 - Week Two

We are at Week 2 of our 400th challenge celebration at Freshly Made Sketches.  And we are still walking down memory lane because this week we have reprised sketch #200 for our challenge.  Take a look:

A CAS classic sketch, don't you think?  I went with some comic book inspired paper for a background and a ka-boom image as a focal point.  I added a "wow" sentiment because it's a bit of a "wow" that we are here at 400 challenges!  I was also inspired by the color challenge at the Paper Players - black, white, and one other color.  As per my usual when I see this color challenge I choose yellow! 

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you can join us for our 400th anniversary challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!

Supplies
Stamps:  Explosion! (Uniko)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things)
Ink:  Summer Sunrise (Papertrey Ink); Nocturne (Versafine Clair)

CAS(E) This Sketch 334 Meets Fusion

Hello all!  It's that time again when I attempt to combine the sketch challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch with the inspiration photo at Fusion.  This time around it's all about the hands!

After some contemplation I remembered that I actually had some handprint stamps in my stash.  So I stamped three of that image in varying stages of green - ombre style - then added a simple sentiment across them. 

Thanks for stopping by!  My teammies at CAS(E) This Sketch and Fusion have got some amazing cards to entice you to play along with us.  Hopefully you can join us in those galleries!

Supplies
Stamps:  Baby Prints (Stampin' Up!); Oh Baby (Katie & Co)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah)
Ink:  Mountain Mist, Volcano Lake, Lagoon (Altenew); Nocturne (Versafine Clair)

Freshly Made Sketches 400 - A Redux

It's hard to believe but we are at 400 challenges at Freshly Made Sketches!  Woo hoo!  Our very first challenge debuted on September 7, 2011.  We had six members on our design team (two are still here - me included) and that first challenge saw countless people play along.  And here we are nearly eight years later still going strong!

We've got a month long celebration planned and we are kicking it off with a bit of a challenge redux.  Our sketch this week is actually our debut sketch from all those years ago.  (Incidentally we did the same thing for #100 so this sketch has got some traction)!

Here's my new take on the sketch as well as the cards I made for #1 and #100.

Challenge 1

Challenge 100

I decided to go with a Christmas theme this time around.  I used some colorful striped paper, some white shimmer cardstock (which looks fantastic in real life) and my favorite poinsettia die that I cut from some gorgeous gold vellum and all that is highlighted with this great buffalo plaid stamp.  I love that thing!

Our Freshly Made Sketches design team has really gone all out for this challenge so I hope you can play along with us.  We've got some fun things in the works so stay tuned as we celebrate 400 challenges over the next few weeks.  It's going to be fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Sending Joy, Travelers Journal December Typed Words (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Desert Storm (Neenah); Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Real Red, Ski Slope DSP (Stampin' Up!); Cryogen White
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair); Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Blueprints 21 die (My Favorite Things); Layered Poinsettia die (Penny Black); enamel dots (My Mind's Eye)

CAS(E) This Sketch 333

I'm not 100% sure but I think this is the first time I've made a card with an elephant on it!  I became intrigued with the idea of using an elephant on a card when I saw the challenge at Just Us Girls.  So I thought I would incorporate it on my card for CAS(E) This Sketch this week.   The only problem was that I had no elephants in my stash.  Etsy to the rescue!

I searched.  I found.  I bought.  I've found that Etsy really is a remarkable tool for when I need a specific image that I don't have - especially when I need it in a hurry.  In this case I got a bunch of elephant images for $2.  So I picked one that I liked and used my Brother Scan 'N Cut to cut it out.  I layered it on a couple of "banners" per the sketch.  One of those banners is stamped with the  sentiment which is a nod to the elephants' amazing ability to remember everything!

Thanks for stopping by!  My CAS(E) This Sketch teammates have made some fantastic cards with this sketch so I hope you check them out and join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Live Love Life (Papertrey Ink); #hashtags (Tim Holtz)
Paper: Solar White (Neenah); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things)
Ink:  Gray Granite (Stampin' Up!); Fine Linen (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories:  Elephant svg (ButterflyAndScorpio)