Freshly Made Sketches 566

Hi everyone!  We've got a great new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches. I've been making a lot of Christmas cards lately and I felt like I needed to take a step away from that for a moment so I chose to do something completely different for our latest sketch challenge designed by Narelle.

The floral images and the leaves were already in my cast-a-way pile (for another time) so this card went together super easy.  

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow Freshly Made Sketches teammates have made some fabulous cards for this challenge so be sure to check them out!

Stamps:  Funky Florals (Papertrey Ink); Simple Sentiments (Avery Elle)
Paper:  Mossy Meadow, So Saffron, Whisper White (Stamin' Up!); 
Ink:  Certainly Celery, Mossy Meadow, So Saffron (Stampin' Up!); Nocturne (Versafine Clair)
Accessories:  Festive Leaves stencil (PinkFresh Studio); Subtle embossing folder (Stampin' Up!)

Freshly Made Sketches 565

Tis the season!  I was inspired by the latest Freshly Made Sketches challenge to make another Christmas card.  Our hostess is Karren and her sketch is classic!

This is a Santa from and old stamp set that I've had in my stash for a long time.  He's a jolly old elf - but don't color him after you've had a few cups of coffee!  LOL!  He's featured on a festive ho-ho-ho background stamped in Christmas green with a few spots in red to be interesting.

And speaking of Santa, at The Paper Players they are searching for him.  Luckily I found him!  LOL!

Thanks for stopping by!  Check out my fellow Freshly Made Sketches teammates cards.  I have no doubt they will inspire you to play along with us!

Supplies
Stamps:  Jolly Holiday (Stampin' Up!); Ho Ho Ho Background (My Favorite Things)
Paper:  Whisper White, Shimmery White, Call Me Clover (Stampin' Up!); Vellum (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Just Green (Altenew); Real Red (Stampin' Up!); Copics
Accessories:  Merry Christmas die (Impression Obsession)

Freshly Made Sketches 564

Christmas is in full swing here at my house.  At least for my cards, that is!  And I'm having fun experimenting with my new hot foil machine, as well.  The two things came together for my card for Freshly Made Sketches this week.  Cécile is our hostess and her card inspired a lot of Christmas possibilities for me.

It was hard to capture a decent picture of this card, but the background is a lovely rose-gold foil and I topped it with a scallop circle also cut in rose-gold followed by a vellum poinsettia.  Unfortunately the color of the rose-gold and the poinsettia itself didn't lend well to my not-so-great photography skills.  But the card is very pretty in real life!

I hope you have time to play along with us at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  As usual my fellow design team members have cooked up some fabulous cards to inspire you!

Supplies
Stamps:  Tiny Words Christmas (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Rose Gold Specialty (Stampin' Up!); vellum (Graphix)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Plaid Tidings Background hot foil plate, Petite Scallop Circles die, Layered Poinsettia die, Rose Gold Shimmer Foil (Spellbinders); Stitched Circles STAX (My Favorite Things); Blooming Poinsettia die (Memory Box); Love Glitter Sprinkles (Doodlebug Designs)

Fusion - Christmas Chalkboard

Due to some technical difficulties I am ages late in posting my card for our last Fusion challenge.  But at least I made it.  After 9 1/2 years Fusion is ending.  Started by Lesley Croghan and Jackie Rockwell,  and for the last (nearly) six years helmed by the amazing Karren Johnson, Fusion was a great way to mix and match a sketch or an inspiration photo, or both!  It's always sad to see an old favorite challenge end, but the inspiration provided by Fusion is invaluable and I think that sticks with us in our card-making journey well into the future. 

Our last challenge features a chalkboard design and a sketch with a big half-circle on it.  I did a little combination of both on my card.

I opted to go with the sketch and incorporated some of the elements of the inspiration photo.  I had some patterned paper in my stash that was chalkboard-y like so I used that for my background.  The circle ended up being a complete disaster!  I initially wanted to do a shaker with the circle but that involved lining up several circle dies precisely in order to create a blank circle in the center to feature the acetate window and my dancing sequins.  After four, and I do mean four, attempts at lining up the dies and having them shift at the last minute as they were feeding through my die cut machine I gave up and went with a boring white circle with a sentiment stamped on it.  I jazzed it up a bit by stamping some of the words in different colors and popping them up with some foam tape.  Fun!

Thanks for stopping by!  And thanks to everyone who played along with our Fusion challenge over the years.  And a special thanks to Karren who invited me on to the design team and then had to put up with me!

Supplies
Stamps:  Christmas Feeling (Kaiser Craft)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Real Red (Stampin' Up); Heidi Swapp
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair); Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Baja Breeze (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Circles die (Little B); Festive Mix (Studio Katia)

Freshly Made Sketches 563

We've got a great new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  Jen Brum is our hostess and in honor of the snow she's already seen fall at her house this season, I made a card with snowflakes!

I did something on this card that I haven't done in a very long time - spritz some color with a color mist.  It gave the background a little splash of color and makes the snowflakes stand out a bit more.  I'm also joining the snowflake challenge at Perfectly CAS.

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow Freshly Made Sketches have got some fabulous cards to show you and I know you'll be inspired to play along with us!

Supplies
Stamps:  Ways to Say Merry Christmas (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); glimmer paper (Recollections)
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair)
Accessories:  Lindemon Snowflake die (Memory Box); Let it Snowflake Too die (My Favorite Things); Bazinga Color Mist (Mister Huey's)

Stencil Thanks

So, I think I am in love with layering stencils.  I've only got a couple but I made a card today using the colors from CAS Colours & Sketches and a stencil from The Ton and I love how it came out!

Layering the stencils was so easy to do and the end result is so pretty!  💕

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Thank You Builder (Altenew)
Paper:  Whisper White, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Stormy Sea (Papertrey Ink); Early Espresso, Old Olive (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Climbing Cosmos Layering Stencil (The Ton); Blueprints 15 die (My Favorite Things)

Freshly Made Sketches 562

Hi all!  It's time for a new sketch from your friends at Freshly Made Sketches! This week our hostess is Kim and I love the building block style of her sketch.

I used a combination of stamps, washi tape, and cardstock to create those building blocks.  The sentiment is a fun one, and new to me, the horizontal washi has got some wonderful shimmer and the vertical cardstock layer is backed with some shiny silver washi.  Blue and silver is a great color combination for a Christmas card and this one was inspired by the color challenge at The Paper Players.

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow Freshly Made Sketches teammates have made some amazing and inventive cards with this sketch so be sure to check them out!  I'm sure you'll be inspired to join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Bold Fill in Holiday (The Ton)
Paper:  Enchanted Evening (Papertrey Ink); Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Enchanted Evening (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Bold Fill in Holiday die (The Ton); washi tape

Fusion - Gingerbread

I'm super behind this week in my posting, but I'm finally here with my card for the latest Fusion challenge.  I decided to go with the sketch and incorporated some of the colors from the inspiration photo.

I love the combination of a kraft background with red and black on a Christmas card.  And the plaid makes me smile too! 😊.  And I added another favorite element, the poinsettia.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Be sure to check out the amazing creations from the Fusion design team too!

Supplies
Stamps:  Joy (Concord & 9th); Sending Joy (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Desert Storm (Neenah); Real Red (Stampin' Up!); vellum (Graphix)
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair)
Accessories:  Poinsettia die (Paper Smooches)

Freshly Made Sketches 561

I'm really, really late posting my card for the newest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!  But better late than never.  Our hostess this week is Linda and her sketch inspired some snowflakes, of all things!

I do love cards with sparkly snowflakes!  And I added some clear droplets around the white space because it looked quite plain to me otherwise.

Be sure to check out all the inspiration at Freshly Made Sketches and join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Blizzard Hugs (The Ton)
Paper:  Just Jade (Stampin' Up!); Solar White (Neenah); glimmer paper (Recollecltions)
Ink:  Lagoon (Altenew)
Accessories:  Alexis Snowflake die (Simon Says Stamp); Let it Snowflake Too die (My Favorite Things); Clear Droplets (Pretty Pink Posh)

Freshly Made Sketches 560

I'm the hostess at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  And no surprise my sketch is a square one!  But don't worry.  If squares aren't your thing then feel free to substitute a different shape.

Autumn colors are faves of mine and I love sunflowers too!  I put a big ol' one on this card and added a simple birthday sentiment.  Easy peasy!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you check out our Freshly Made Sketches challenge!

Supplies
Stamps: Splendid Sunflower (My Favorite Things); Easy Expressions Birthday (The Ton)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Chocolate Chip, Afternoon (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Espresso, Mocha, Forest Glades, Honey Drizzle (Stampin' Up!); Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Easy Expressions Birthday die (The Ton)

Freshly Made Sketches 559

It's vintage for me this time around for my Freshly Made Sketches card.  Jen Timko is our hostess and her sketch is an absolute classic!

My stash of patterned paper is so old I consider it vintage!  And I was able to use a few sheets on this card.  Not to mention the scallop circle die from Spellbinders.  I remember years ago when acquiring Spellbinders Nestabilities was a mission for me!  I've got quite a few of them but sometimes I forget to use them, so it was a treat to see a big circle on the sketch which was perfect for the Spellbinders scallop circle die.  I added a few layers on top of it then topped it with a poinsettia and leaves as my version of the trio of circles.  

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow design team members at Freshly Made Sketches have some great cards for this week's sketch so be sure to check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Fa La La (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Early Espresso, Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Deck the Halls DSP (Stampin' Up!); Desert Storm (Neenah); Gold Glimmer (Recollections)
Ink:  Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Petite Scallop Circles die, Circles die (Spellbinders); Layered Poinsettia die (Penny Black); Blooming Poinsettia die (Memory Box)

Freshly Made Sketches 558

Hi all.  Today we've got a great new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our hostess is Jacquie and her design got me thinking about snowflakes, of all things!

I opted to go with a square card to mimic the squares on the sketch.  And from there it was a short leap to these square snowflake dies.  The blank space on the bottom was perfect to emboss a fun, scripty, holiday sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow Freshly Made Sketches design team members have made some great cards with this sketch so be sure to check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Peace Love Joy (Right at Home)
Paper:  Enchanted Evening (Papertrey Ink); Silver Glimmer (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Versamark
Accessories:  Snowflake Snippets die (Spellbinders); silver embossing powder

Thank You So Much

I loved the color challenge at The Color Throwdown as soon as I saw it.  And I thought a turnabout stamp would be perfect for showing off those beautiful colors.  I do love me my turnabout stamps!

I'm on a bit of a turnabout stamp kick lately.  I love how they give opportunities to use different colors in a fun and easy way.  No heavy lifting here - just a pretty card that went together very easily!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Wreath Turnabout (Concorn & 9th); Tons of Type (The Stamp Market)
Paper:  Blue Bayou, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Blue Bayou, Night of Navy, More Mustard (Stampin' Up!); Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)

Fusion - Kitchen

I love the colors of the Fusion challenge this week.  The pops of color against the all-white background got me thinking about a clean and simple card!  I chose a favorite turnabout stamp and stamped it against an all-white background in those colors.

I ended up layering the white focal point layer against a couple of green background layers just because.  It looked a bit plain to me otherwise!  And that turnabout wreath needed a bold sentiment so I picked a nice script word and stamped it in black smack-dab in the center.  

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow Fusion teammates have made some great cards so be sure to check them out.  Remember you can play with the sketch, the inspiration photo, or create some Fusion and combine the two!

Supplies
Stamps:  Harvest Wreath (Concord & 9th); Scripted Bold Sentiments 2 (PinkFresh Studio)
Paper:  Certainly Celery, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Pinefeather (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Apricot Appeal (Stampin' Up!); Orange Cream, Frayed Leaf, Evergreen (Altenew); Nocturne (Versfine Clair)

Freshly Made Sketches 557

Wednesday is always fun for me because it's sketch reveal day at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our sketch this week is designed by Judy and her wide horizontal layer got me digging through my copious inventory of patterned paper for some inspiration.

I chose some paper that was perfect for a Halloween theme and fit the color challenge at The Paper Players to boot. I picked a sentiment from one of my favorite Halloween stamp sets and added a few fun bats flying around.  

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow Freshly Made Sketches teammates have made some great cards for you to see and be inspired by!  I hope you'll join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Autumn Apparitions (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Certainly Celery, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Vintage Violet, Whisper White, Halloween Night DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Quadrangle Frames die (Simon Says Stamp); Ebony Black Nuvo Drops 

Freshly Made Sketchs 556

So we've got a great new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our hostess this week is Amy and I love her classic sketch!

I'm not good at putting together little leafy bits into a pleasing arrangement, but that didn't stop me from trying with this card.  I always feel like the individual pieces get lost in the chaos and they look like a big blob of nothing.  But for this card I just kept sticking them down until I found something I reasonably liked.  Then I added the joy die cut on top.  I think the "joy" is the circle on the sketch!  My colors were inspired by the Color Throwdown.

Thanks for stopping by.   My fellow Freshly Made Sketches have made some amazing cards with this sketch so be sure to check them out!

Supplies
Paper:  Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer (Stampin' Up!); Vellum (Graphix)
Ink:  Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, Blushing Bride (Stampin' Up!); Velvet (Altenew)
Accessories:  Festive Leaves stencil, Festive Leaves die (Pinkfresh Studio); Joy die (The Stamp Market)

Fusion - Autumn Leaves

My calendar says "autumn" but the weather says "I don't want summer to end!"  It's been lovely here and although I don't want to admit that summer is over, I know that the leaves will be changing soon.  As luck would have it, our challenge at Fusion embraces those autumn-colored leaves  so I jumped on the bandwagon1

I combined these gorgeous Fusion colors with the sketch at The Paper Players.  I stamped a bunch of leaves in these beautiful colors and arranged then haphazardly horizontally to mimic the sketch.  Then I added a simple sentiment at the bottom.

Thanks for stopping by!  Remember at Fusion you can use the sketch, the inspiration, or both! It's up to you!

Supplies
Stamps:  Leaf Prints (Papertrey Ink); Always There (Altenew)
Paper:  Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Ocean Tides (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Pumpkin Pie (Stampin' Up!); Honey Drizzle, Burnt Red (Altenew); Ocean Tides (Papertrey Ink); Nocturne (Versafine Clair)
Accessories:  enamel dots (Freckled Fawn)

Freshly Made Sketches 555

Hi all!  This week at Freshly Made Sketches our hostess Narelle has given us a terrific sketch.  I chose to make a Halloween card with it.  Take a look.

I made a little night scene with a big harvest moon against a dark background.  Then I added these cute birds on a wire across the moon.  Now, what I don't want you to question is why my little bandit birds are sitting on a wire that is floating in mid-air!  When I was putting this card together I was so focused on the sketch that I apparently forgot the laws of gravity!  I still think it's cute (but I think I'll draw in the wire on the left and right to make it a little more plausible).

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow Freshly Made Sketches teammates have some fabulous cards to show you to inspire you to play along with our sketch.  I hope you'll check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Ghouls & Goblins (Inkadinkado)
Paper:  Bristol Smooth
Ink:  Peacock Feathers, Chipped Sapphire, Fossilized Amber, Spiced Amber, Wild Honey, Black Soot (Tim Holtz Distress Oxide); Nocturne (Versafine Clair)

Freshly Made Sketches 554

We've got a great new challenge for you at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  Our design this week is brought to you by Karren.  I decided to go with a monochrome one-layer card.  

I thought combining the black and white challenge at Less is More with our Freshly Made Sketches challenge would be a good idea.  I think I was right!  The flower on my card becomes the vertical layer and I drew a rectangle around the sentiment to create the horizontal layer.  The result was a simple, one layer card.

Thanks for stopping by!  My Freshly Made Sketches have some fabulous cards for you to see so I hope you check them out!

Supplies
Paper:  Whisper White (Stampin' Up!
Stamps:  Foral Art (Altenew); Deepest Sympathy (My Favorite Things)
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine)

Fusion - Front Porch

Hi all.  I don't know where my brain is lately because not only did I forget to schedule this post for Thursday morning, but I also forgot to upload a picture of my card on the Fusion  DT blog.  😕  Here is my card, all the same.

I opted to go for the sketch this week and made a Christmas card.  But in a nod to the inspiration photo I used a brick embossing folder for the background.  The right side of the card is a long vertical layer in shimmery white, which is pretty in real life, but difficult to see in the photo.  I added one of my favorite poinsettia die cuts with a bit of gold cord behind it.  A couple of layered pieces of ribbon became the flag on the top of the sketch.  I was undecided about where and what I wanted the sentiment to be so I left it off for now.

Thanks for stopping by!  Remember, at Fusion you can play with the sketch, the inspiration photo, or combine them both!

Supplies
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Shimmery White, Poppy Parade, Mossy Meadow, Gold Foil (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Layered Poinsettia die (Penny Black); Poinsettia die (Paper Smooches); Bricked embossing folder, Tiny Attacher (Tim Holtz); gold cord, gingham ribbon (Stampin' Up!); white seam binding ribbon

Freshly Made Sketches 553

Hi all!  We've got a great new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week our hostess is our clean and simple queen Cecile.  She's given us a great sketch, so let's check it out!

I chose to use some of the colors at The Paper Players for my card (with the addition of a pale grey which I hope is an allowed neutral).  I pretty much followed the sketch and added a little thread behind the flowers for some texture. 

Thanks for stopping by!  As usual my Freshly Made Sketches teammates have made some fabulous cards using this sketch so be sure to check them out!  I hope we'll see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Simple Sentiments (Avery Elle)
Paper:  White Linen (Essentials by Ellen); Powder Pink, Blackberry Bliss (Stampin' Up!); Soft Stone, Mint Julep (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Leafy die (Reverse Confetti); Pierced Square STAX (My Favorite Things)