Freshly Made Sketches 663

Hi friends!  I'm back with my odd-ball not-so-consistent posting of a card!  This is the first year in a VERY LONG time that I'm seriously behind on my Christmas cards.  Not a good thing when it's past mid-November. 😳 But I've got a few days off from work coming up so hopefully I can hunker down in my craft room and churn out a bunch of cards...maybe assembly line style!  🙏🙏🙏

Anyway, I'm the hostess this week at Freshly Made Sketches and since I love square cards so much that's the design I've given you.  Of course, if square isn't your thing feel free to change it up!

Seems like I'm always on a quest to find the right lighting for taking pictures of my cards.  I see so many pictures of perfectly captured cards and I still don't know how they do it!  For this card I used a light ring and my iPhone.  I think it looks pretty horrible so I'll be going back to my light box and my digital camera.  Old school for me! 

Thanks for stopping by!  And apologies for not visiting your awesome blogs very much.  Some day I'll figure out this work-life balance thing and return to my favorite hobby more consistently.  <I'm looking at you, retirement 😉 >

As usual, my super-talented friends at Freshly Made Sketches have been designing and creating the most beautiful cards and this week is no exception.  So I hope you'll check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Tiny Words Christmas (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Cherry Cobbler, Naturals White (Stampin' Up!); Christmas Blessings-Holly (Sheila Reid)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Alpine ribbon (Stampin' Up!); Layered Poinsettia die (Penny Black)

Freshly Made Sketches 654

It's my turn to be the sketch hostess at Freshly Made Sketches and I think I came up with a sketch that has lots of room for interpretation.  Rectangles?  Who cares.  Triangles?  Boring.  The sketch is merely a prompt for you to unleash your creativity.  I can't wait to see what you create!

I, however, did modified triangles in the form of some slim trees. 😉

When I sat down at my desk to turn the sketch into a card I had a vague idea to use some triangular shaped trees, but honestly didn't know exactly how this design was going to go.  Then I looked through my stash of stamps and found these trees already stamped and in the colors that I needed!  Once I had all of those, this card went together pretty quickly. Some pearlescent snowflakes in the background, a bit of colorful paper, and some twine for added texture and my little Christmas card was born!

I've been absent from the Freshly Made Sketches blog for quite a bit this year because my work/life balance is out of whack.  But it felt good to make this card and take back my craft room from my kitties!  They had the last laugh, though, because I used a stencil for the falling snow and when I peeled it back from the card there was a big blob of cat fur stuck to the embossing paste!  

Thanks for visiting and a special thanks to my teammates at Freshly Made Sketches who have been graciously putting up with my absence for many months. 😘 🩷

Supplies
Stamps:  Peaceful Forest (Ink to Paper); Jingle All the Way (Technique Tuesday)
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Merry Moments DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Falling Snow stencil (Simon Says Stamp); Pearlescent embossing paste (Dreamweaver) jute twine

Freshly Made Sketches 642

Well it sure has been a while since I've posted here.  I won't go into the gory details, but suffice it to say that life gets in the way.....of so many things!  But it's my week to be the hostess at Freshly Made Sketches and hostess I will.  My sketch is square and it's got a wavy layer, but as you all know by now, neither is necessary in Freshly Made Sketches Land.  It's all about how YOU interpret the sketch!

I decided to use the gorgeous colors at the Just Us Girls challenge to make a square birthday card.  Blue flowers are hard to come by in my neck of the woods, but they are easy to find when you are the architect!  I love these pops of color!

Thanks for stopping by!  As usual my Freshly Made Sketches teammates have made some amazing cards with this sketch!

Supplies
Stamps:  Birthday Messages (Mama Elephant)
Paper:  Midnight Muse, More Mustard, Bermuda Bay (Stampin' Up!); vellum (Papertrey Ink); Watercolor Wash (My Favorite Things)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Upsy Daisy die (My Favorite Things); Curvy Leaves die (Elizabeth Craft Designs)

Freshly Made Sketches 632

Hey there!  I find myself to be the sketch designer at Freshly Made Sketches this week and I am excited to see how you all interpret this sketch.  For me, I used some of my patterned paper stash and added a floral display in shades of purple.

This is a big card - that floral display takes up a lot of room - but I love it!  The sentiment is hot foiled and tucks in to the florals perfectly.

Thanks for stopping by!  If you haven't already be sure to check out the cards my Freshly Made Sketches teammates have made.  They're awesome!

Supplies
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Lucky Limeade, Lucky Limeade DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Soft Lilac, Lavender Fields, Deep Iris (Altenew)
Accessories:  Climbing Cosmos stencil, Coming Up Cosmos die (The Ton); Super Scripty Thank You hot foil plate +n die (The Stamp Marktet)

Freshly Made Sketches 629

We've got a great new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our hostess this week is Amy and what a great sketch she's given us!

I really wanted to use use patterned paper for the background on my card so I scoured my stash for just the right thing.  I ended up choosing one in shades of blue.  I added white daisies and some colorful green leaves for contrast.

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

Supplies
Stamps:  Scripty Sayings (Gina K Designs)
Paper:  Baha Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, So Saffron, Whisper White, Walk in the Park DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories: Upsy Daisy die (My Favorite Things); Scallop Border dies (The Stamps of Life)

Freshly Made Sketches 626

I went a bit literal with the Freshly Made Sketches challenge this week.  Our design is by Cécile and her designs always inspire me to dig deep into my CAS roots.  

The colors of my card were inspired by the bright colors of The Color Hues challenge.  I used turquoise and green to create the two half circles and then stamped some leaves and a slim sentiment over them.

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

Supplies
Stamps:  Brushed Off (Papertrey Ink); Natures Treasures II (Uniko); Tons of Type (The Stamp Market)
Paper:  White (Gina K)
Ink:  Parrot, Turquoise (Altenew); Nocturne (Versafine Clair); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Freshly Made Sketches 624

Our newest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches comes to us from Kim.  Her sketch just called out to me to use up some of the patterned paper in my stash.

This particular patterned paper that I used is a favorite of mine for Christmas cards because of the earthy colors.  The rich greens and dark reds are perfect together and look great with my favorite Christmas flower:  the poinsettia.  I accented the earthy tones of this card with some leaves in brushed gold cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a chance to play along with us at Freshly Made Sketches!

Supplies
Stamps:  Signature Christmas (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke, Brushed Gold, Deck the Halls DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Blooming Poinsettia die (Memory Box)

Freshly Made Sketches 622

It's my turn to be the hostess at Freshly Made Sketches and the sketch I made was pretty straight forward I thought.  And then as I thought about what my own card might look like I got the idea to do a slimline.  The proportions are a little off, but I think you can see the sketch there.

I used stencils to create these gorgeous floral images.  I love using layering stencils because they provide an super simple way to create dimension.  For the horizontal layer I used a piece of vellum and added a gold-foiled sentiment.  The sentiment is hard to see so I included a close-up so you can see it better.

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

Supplies
Stamps: Miss Your Smile (Pink Fresh Studio)
Paper:  Pure Luxury (Gina K); Certainly Celery, Basic Black (Stampin' Up!); vellum (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Sea Glass, Dusk, Frayed Leaf, Forest Glades (Stampin' Up)! Nocturne (Versafine Clair)
Accessories:  Superscript Thank you hot foil plate + die (The Stamp Market); Scallop Border dies (The Stamps of Life)

Freshly Made Sketches 621

We've got a great new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  Our hostess is Jen Timko and her sketch put me in mind of some snowflakes.  I haven't seen many of those flying around this winter (fine by me) but I have no problem adding them to a card.

      

This card is pretty big - six-inches by six-inches but I needed it to accommodate the snowflakes.  The snowflakes are a mix of silver shimmer ink and glitter cardstock. So pretty in real life!  Thanks for stopping by. 

Supplies
Stamps:  Bizzard Hugs (The Ton)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); silver foil (Recollections)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine); Silvery Shimmer (Delicata)
Accessories:  Blizzard Hugs dies (The Ton)

Freshly Made Sketches 619

Hi friends!  I've been a bad stamper lately, but I'm back with a card for our newest Freshly Made Sketches challenge.  Our hostess this week is Judy and her card put me in mind of butterflies!

The color challenge at The Paper Players influenced the design of this card.  I used some grungy Stampin' Up! DSP for the black and white background and then used a butterfly as my pop of color.  

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow Freshly Made Sketches design team members have made some fabulous cards with this challenge so I hope you check them out!

Supplies
Paper:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Tempting Turquoise, Night and Day DSP (Stampin' Up!);  vellum (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories:  Papillons die (4enscrap); Blueprints 15 Die (My Favorite Things)

Freshly Made Sketches 617

It's our first sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches in 2024 and despite the holidays being behind me I went with a Christmas card!

Narelle is our hostess this week and using her sketch I chose to do three Christmas trees for the main focal point on my card.  The trees were foiled in gold and in true fashion, are nearly impossible for me to photograph properly.  The tree on the right looks gold, but the others look like......something less than gold.  

One thing I learned in 2023 was that I didn't have enough Christmas cards made 😳 so I'm starting early this year!

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

Supplies
Stamps:  Fa La La (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Real Red, Whispher White, Christmas Cocoa DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Geometric Trees foil plate (Trinity Stamps)