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 592

A busy work schedule last week caused me to miss last week's challenge at Freshly Made Sketches, so I was determined to not miss this weeks sketch.  Our hostess is Cécile and her sketch is so fun!

The sketch has got some sailboat vibes but I really wanted to make a card to add to my Christmas stash.  At first I though the triangles might work as Christmas trees, but as I was browsing my stamps I found one that had some wise men with angular shapes that sort of mimicked the sketch so I decided to go with those.  

I sponged the circle and added the star, in keeping with the Christmas theme, and stamped the "wise men" in silhouette.  (Although I think the one on the right is a female (Mary) accepting a gift from the magi).  The sentiment, tucked in perfectly.

As this is a one layer card and pretty simple in nature I'm going to add it to Less is More!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope we'll see you in the Freshly Made Sketches gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Three Kings (Penny Black); Star of Light (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Bristol Smooth
Ink:  Fossilized Amber, Wild Honey (Distress Oxide); Onyx Black (Versafine); Nocturne (Versafine Clair)

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)

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

Fusion - Bookshelf (or Cats)

For some reason daylight savings time really messed me up this year.  Before I knew it, Sunday was coming to an end and I hadn't accomplished much besides vacuuming up cat fur.  Not for nothing, but sometimes I manage to vacuum up enough fur to make my own cat. 😹  So when it came time to make my card for the latest Fusion challenge, there wasn't a whole lot of gas in the tank, so to speak.

I was pretty sure that I didn't own any book stamps but I rooted around in my stash to see if I could find something book-related just in case.  I stumbled on this cat-on-a-line die and thought that it would mimic the horizontal layer on the sketch.  Well, I guess it does but once I put it together I was very under-whelmed.  However, by now it was Monday night and I had no time to go back to square one so this had to do!  And wouldn't you know, the challenge at Addicted to CAS is feline.  That's serendipity!

Thanks for sticking around this long to make it to the end of the post.  I appreciate it!  And head on over to the Fusion challenge to see the beautiful cards cooked up by our design team.  

Supplies
Stamps:  You Crazy Cat (Concord & 9th)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  FeLine die (Penny Black)

Freshly Made Sketches 507

Hi friends!  My thoughts turned to Christmas for our latest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess is Judy and the circles on the sketch got me thinking about one of my favorite Christmas images.  Take a look!

I do love my poinsettias!  I used a neutral background for my poinsettias, inspired by the color challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown.  I embossed the top layer with a bit of texture because...well...everything looks good with texture!  I layered a few banner die cuts and stamped a tiny sentiment tucked around one of the poinsettias.  Ta da!  Done!

I'm so happy to add to my Christmas card stash.  We're almost at the middle of October and December will be here before we know it so I've got to think about my card supply!

Thanks for stopping by!  Please check out our challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  I hope you can play along with us!

Supplies
Stamps:  Holiday Gnomes (Reverse Confetti)
Paper:  Desert Storm (Neenah); Truffle (Avery Elle); Whisper White, Real Red (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Truffle (Avery Elle)
Accessories:  Subtle Dynamic embossing folder (Stampin' Up!); Layered Poinsettia die (Penny Black); Stitched Rectangle STAX, Slanted Sentiment Strips die (My Favorite Things); Autumn Harvest sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

CAS(E) This Sketch 345

Our newest sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch was incredibly CAS.  Even though I'm all about CAS, it still gave me a bit of trouble!  I was able to pick out a sentiment that I wanted to use right away but I was left with a lot of blank space that troubled me because it seemed too blank.  I pondered how to fill it without compromising the simplicity of the sketch.

I ended up using a stamp set that had three kings - those magi - and I stamped them subtly using Versamark ink.  I then embossed them with matte clear embossing powder so that they would apppear in the background but not overpower the sentiment.  It's an interesting look and I'm pleased with how it looks in real life.  I did manage to squeak in another challenge because at CAS on Friday they are looking for a big sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow teammates at CAS(E) This Sketch have really out-done themselves with this sketch so be sure to check them out.  We hope you'll join us in the gallery!

Supplies

Stamps:  Three Kings (Penny Black)

Paper:  Soft Stone (Papertrey Ink)

Ink:  Versamark; Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  clear matte embossing powder

Hello!

I love the moody colors in the Color Throwdown challenge this week.  And when I saw the layout at CAS(E) This Sketch an idea popped into my head.

I envisioned a beautiful sponged background in shades of pink and purple then an image in silhouette stamped over it.  I forgot to take into account that I don't sponge card stock all that well.  For all my years of stamping there a few techniques that I can't quite get the hang of.  Sponging is one of them.  I imagine it's because I don't use those techniques often enough to be good at them but in this case I did discover that those little sponge daubers that come on the hollow, black thingy that you can stick your finger in gives me better control than the Tim Holtz sponging pads.  Those sponging pads look streaky every time I use them.  Live and learn!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Nature's Gifts (Penny Black); Together (Heidi Swapp)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir)
Ink:  Victorian Velvet, Dusty Concord (Distress); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Basic Rhinestones (SU)

Freshly Made Sketches 166

Half way through the work week and it's time for a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  This week our hostess is the supremely talented Karren Johnson.  Karren is an incredible crafter who always encourages me to buy new stuff for my crafting stash, but more importantly she forgave me for taking liberties with her sketch this week!

As you can see I turned the sketch on its side and substituted the rectangular layer for a tag.  This is actually the second card I made for this challenge, the first faithfully following the sketch.  The problem with it was that the colors I chose were horrible!  So I went back to the drawing board (which really means that I turned off the light in my stamp room and watched football instead) and when I went back in there the next day decided to follow the silver, gold and ?? challenge at Merry Monday.  And since I was feeling guilty about not following the sketch properly I showed it to Karren who liked it and then reminded me that it was fancy enough to fit the Black Tie challenge at The Paper Players.  Isn't she the coolest?  She lives half a world away from me, but I can tell you that meeting her is definitely on my bucket list!

I don't have to tell you that there's a lot of inspiration from the design team at Freshly Made Sketches this week so be sure to hop on over there and see it all in one place.  I hope that you can play along with us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Nature's Gifts (Penny Black); Bokeh Dots (Essentials by Ellen); Jingle All the Way (Technique Tuesday)

Paper:  Cherry Cobbler, Brushed Silver, Champagne Glimmer (SU); White (Spectrum Noir)

Ink:  Silver (Encore); Golden Glitz (Delicata)

Accessories:  Tag Sale #5 die (Papertrey Ink); Leaping Deer die (Memory Box); gold embossing powder