Freshly Made Sketches #581

 Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #581!

The always elegant Cécile Ribon provides our sketch this week and, as you can see, I followed it very literally. Of course you can use any element instead of a heart, but once I realized our anniversary was coming up in a month or so, the heart was staying.

A favorite Mama Elephant Love Quotes sentiment was heat embossed on a PTI die cut heart first. The heart is blended with several shades of red Distress Ink and popped up over a number of MFT Wild Greenery die cuts.

I hope you check out the amazing Clean Team designs and play along with us at Fresh Made Sketches this week!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Freshly Made Sketches #570

 Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #570!

I love the sketch from super talented Jennifer Timko this week so much! I've had the Simply Graphic Duo de Carapaces (Shell Duo) dies for a while and had in the back of my mind the lobster would be perfect for a Valentine, anniversary and/or birthday card for my dear husband. He is my lobster. 

My lobster sitting on a Wplus9 Dockside life preserver die was the starting point for the design. I went looking for an anchor washi tape and found this fun boating scene instead. Two staggered strips are taped across the top of a white panel.

The Mama Elephant Love Quotes sentiment is stamped on another white panel before it is embossed with the vertical stripes and adhered below the washi. A few wraps of twine are tied off where the pieces join and then the lobster popped up over them.

I hope you check out the amazing Clean Team designs and play along with us at Freshly Made Sketches this week!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Freshly Made Sketches #568

Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #568!

 

I had so many ideas swirling when I saw Judy Rozema's terrific sketch this week. My first thought was to use speech bubbles for the squares, but the design wasn't coming together so I took a break to play around with the new to me MFT Love You Gnome Matter What stamps.

This sweet gnome with his pouch of hearts ended up taking over the design and the squares became hearts. And it looks like gray is definitely going to be the supporting color for my Valentine's this year.

Please check out the amazing Clean Team designs at Freshly Made Sketches and play along with us this week!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Freshly Made Sketches #548

 Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #548!

I am hosting the sketch this week and came up with a narrow vertical panel to add interest to the card front. I wanted to use the largest of the Simply Graphic Ancres (anchors) dies on the large part of the panel and went looking for design elements that would echo and repeat the anchor.

As you can see, there is no shortage of anchors in my stash. The white stitched rectangle panel is embossed with a Lifestyle Crafts embossing folder and then a scrap of patterned paper added along the right side.

The MFT All About Dad sentiment is heat embossed, divided into two simple strips and popped up below the anchor die cut.

I hope you check out the fabulous Clean Team designs and play along with us this week!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Freshly Made Sketches #536

 Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #536!

Clean Team designer Karren Johnson gave me the perfect sketch to make a last minute anniversary card for my husband. This isn't the first year the date has snuck up on us and, as expected, he laughed at the sentiment.

The Stamp Market Big Bold Number dies are perfect for a couple of the circle elements. The base number is cut from Lawn Fawn Pixie Dust glitter cardstock and layered with a red outline piece. An ancient MFT Clearly Sentimental About Anniversaries sentiment is heat embossed on a vellum banner and adhered to the back of the 2 before they are layered on the heart embossed panel.

A PTI From the Heart die cut takes the place of the third circle to finish the design.

Check out the amazing Clean Team designs at Freshly Made Sketches and play along with us this week!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CASology Challenge #395: ONE

 Welcome to CASology Challenge #395!

One year older, one year old or a tribute to your number one friend, love or whatever, there are so many ways to use our cue word this month. I can't wait to see what you do!

I pulled out a few stamp and die sets to create this collage design. The "you are my" is a partially stamped sentiment from Altenew's Figure effects and stamped on the panel first. The "love" from PTI's Grand Ampersand is heat embossed on the PTI From the Heart die cut before it is layered with the PTI By the Numbers die cut one. A hashtag/number symbol from MFT Little Numbers & Punctuation adds the final piece of the sentiment.

Check out the fabulous design team cards!

Deidre Payne

Jacquie Southas (you are here)

Jen Wills

Joyce Mehrberg

Melissa Chipperfield 

Milka Gubo 

Nancy Elrick

Sandie Munro

Sue Symens

 

We are looking forward to seeing how MASK inspires you - just remember to keep it Clean & Simple! This is a month long challenge, so you have until 9 AM Monday, October 4th (CMT) to link your card to the CASology blog.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Freshly Made Sketches #490

 Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #490!

Jennifer Brum is the creative genius behind a fabulous sketch this week. I had so many ideas and everything from butterflies and designer papers to stencils and shaped dies cluttering my desk before  deciding the long vertical panel would be represented by a Memory Box Small Alder die cut.

The decision to woodgrain emboss the base panel was easy, but then I got stuck with what to use for the circle element. Walking away for a while helped because by the time I was back in the office, I was pulling out a heart die, felt and a little floss.  A simple MFT Greetings and Salutations sentiment finishes this clean and simple design.

I hope you check out the Clean Team designs at Freshly Made Sketches and play along with us this week!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Freshly Made Sketches #478

 Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #478!

Designer Jennifer Timko created a terrific sketch that was perfect for pairing this sweet Simply Graphic die with a little patterned paper.

The sentiment from Ali Edwards Roam stamp set is stamped on the kraft panel first and then partially inked PTI World Map image added to provide a little more interest and a base for the pieced van. When adding the kraft panel to the patterned paper I liked having a little bit of the green peeking out at the top so left it showing.

This card is perfect for my husband and I'm sure one of the kids will snag it from the pile for Father's Day.

I hope you check out the Clean Team cards for more inspiration and join us at Freshly Made Sketches this week!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CASology Challenge #366: ZODIAC

Welcome to CASology Challenge #366!

I don't have any specific zodiac, astrology or astronomy images in my collection so started off thinking I would play with either stars or animals this week. I have plenty of crab, lion and fish images to work with to create a birthday card for a Cancer, Leo or Pisces friend. Looking at the Chinese zodiac opens up even more options. Along with birthday cards, I thought it would be fun to look at romantic pairings which lead me into the four elements of the zodiac.

I'm not sure earth and water are considered an ideal match in astrology, but Stefan and I will be celebrating 25 years next month so I created an anniversary card for us.

The earth symbol is created with a small triangle die cut and a snipped piece of a Poppystamps Frieda Leaf die cut and paired with an MFT Color Drop die cut and pair of circles for the water symbol. Once again, my MFT Essential Sentiments stamp set is used. 

The design team has great inspiration for you this week!

Deepti Stephens

Deidre Payne

Jacquie Southas (you are here)

Jen Wills

Joyce Mehrberg

Karen Haman

Melissa Chipperfield 

Milka Gubo

Nancy Elrick

Sandie Munro

Sue Symens

Guest Designer: Ma-Mi!

Sponsor: STAMPlorations!

We are looking forward to seeing how ZODIAC inspires you - just remember to keep it Clean & Simple! This is a two week challenge, so you have until 9 AM Monday, April 27th (CMT) to link your card to the CASology blog.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CASology Challenge #361: SWEETHEART

Welcome to CASology Challenge #361!

Just in time for Valentine's Day, we have a great cue word to inspire you! It is also perfect for a new baby, wedding, anniversary or special birthday card!!

I stamped and heat embossed a PTI Penned Elegance sentiment and Lawn Fawn swirly heart on a watercolor paper panel before using a heart die to make a stencil/mask. 

Using a Wine Red Zig Real Brush marker and a water pen, a few layers of color are added in the heart shape. The dry panel is finally popped up on a pink card base to finish this card.

The design team has terrific cards to inspire you!

Deepti Stephens

Deidre Payne

Jacquie Southas (you are here)

Jen Wills

Joyce Mehrberg

Karen Haman

Melissa Chipperfield 

Milka Gubo

Nancy Elrick

Sandie Munro

Sue Symens

Guest Designer: Donna M.!

Sponsor: Uniko!

We are looking forward to seeing how SWEETHEART inspires you - just remember to keep it Clean & Simple! This is a two week challenge, so you have until 9 AM Monday, February 17th (CMT) to link your card to the CASology blog.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Freshly Made Sketches #420

Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #420!

We have another great sketch from Jen Timko to inspire us this week! I am determined to improve my Copic marker skills this year, so pulled out a sweet Pretty Pink Posh Floral Heart stamp set for the circle element in the design.

I kept my card super simple, just adding a stamped sentiment directly to the panel.

I hope you can join us this week at Freshly Made Sketches!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Twofer Card Challenge #23: Hearts Guest Designer

Twofer Card Challenge #23: Hearts!

After winning the Unconventional category for Twofer Challenge #22: Sweets, Darnell invited me to Guest Design along with the fabulous Twofer Design Team for the January challenge. Not only is this the first challenge for the new year (and possibly a new decade depending on where you land in that debate), it is the 2nd Blogaversary of the challenge, which means PRIZES! Please check out Twofer Card Challenge for all the details!!

I scrolled through any and everything heart related on my Evernote inventory a few times before narrowing my supplies down to the Papertrey Ink From the Heart dies and My Favorite Things Essential Sentiments stamps to create Valentine and Thank You cards for the challenge.

I've wanted to use the Queen & Co toppings in a shaker card for a while, so used three of the dies to create a trio of windows for the pink, red and white toppings.

A white embossed sentiment on a bright pink banner is all that is needed to finish this one.

It was the sentiment that caught my eye and had me playing with a few different ideas using gold paper and inks for a Thank You card.

I wasn't getting the look I wanted until I remembered an older Papertrey Ink stamp set and was thrilled to see this design come together once I inked the large Brushed Off brush stroke with Versamark and heat embossed it in the luscious Ranger gold embossing powder. 

The medium heart is die cut from the gold "paint" and layered with the medium die cut heart leftover from the Valentine card, then popped back into place and the sentiment strip added above it.

I am excited to see what you create this month!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Freshly Made Sketches #417

Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #417!

I hope you had a great break and are as excited as I am to get back into a regular crafting routine. The first sketch for the New Year is from the talented Judy Rozema! With Christmas behind us, I'm ready to move onto Valentine's Day cards.

The MFT Abstract Heart die is cut from three different colored cardstock scraps and reassembled using the red outline as a base before being popped up on a white square panel. The panel is adhered to a heart embossed panel and card base before the selectively colored PTI Choose Joy sentiment is added.  This is one of those cards that took more time to think about what I wanted to do than to actually put it together.

The Clean Team has fabulous cards waiting to inspire you at Freshly Made Sketches. I hope you are able to play along with us this week!

I'm also linking this card to Time Out Challenge #152, inspired by the heart plate and the lovely white on white brick texture of the fireplace, which lead to my embossed heart background.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie