Freshly Made Sketches #610

I am a day late and a dollar short with this card!  I still had Halloween on my mind when I made this card for our newest Freshly Made Sketches challenge not realizing that by the time the card was posted Halloween would be over!  But Halloween it is!  This week our hostess is Jen Timko and we are joined by our guest designer Patti Brunter, one of our FMS600 challenge winners!

I was inspired by the color challenge at Addicted To CAS.  I'm not sure that this card fits the CAS mold, but I love it all the same!  The stenciled clouds were a last minute addition and I'm glad I thought of them!

Thanks for stopping by!  I don't have to tell you that our Freshly Made Sketches design team has made some fabulous cards with this sketch, but I will!

Supplies
Stamps:  Autumn Apparitions (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  White (Pure Luxury Gina K); Basic Black, Vintage Violet (Stampin' Up!); Simply Chartreuse (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Vintage Violet (Stampin' Up!); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Mini Cloud Edges stencil (My Favorite Things)

Freshly Made Sketches 590

We've got a fun new sketch challenge for you at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  Our hostess is Kim and I thought the three horizontal layers on it would be perfect for a few stacked sentiments.  

Once I stamped the sentiments I needed something to take up the rest of the space so I stamped this leafy image in a pale purple.  I got some additional inspiration from the color challenge at Less is More and the one layer challenge at Addicted to CAS. 

Thanks for stopping by!  There's some great inspiration at Freshly Made Sketches so be sure to check us out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Botanical Print (The Stamp Market)
Paper:  Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Wisteria (Altenew); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Freshly Made Sketches 585

So last week I forgot to hit "Publish" so my card for Freshly Made Sketches went unseen.  This week I'm just late. 😉 But I do have a card for our newest challenge with a design from Judy.

I will be totally honest and say that those vertical layers gave me.......pause.  What-to-do what-to-do....  So I opted for my rescue when I'm unsure how to mix layers - vellum.  I dug deep into my stash and found this pretty patterned paper with a butterfly pattern to it then I added the five horizontal vellum layers.  I added a die-cut butterfly to it and called it a day!

The challenge at Addicted to CAS is "monochrome" and I designed this card with that in mind, but I'm not sure it meets their CAS standards.  Apologies to the DT over there if this is over the top!

Thanks for stopping by!  My Freshly Made Sketches design team members have made some fantastic cards with this sketch so I'm sure you will be inspired to play along with us!

Supplies
Paper:  Wild Wasabi, Vellum, Afternoon Tea DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Papillons die (4enscrap)

Freshly Made Sketches 551

Happy Wednesday!  We've got a fabulous new sketch challenge for you at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our hostess this week is Kim and I love her design.  It's got layers and wide open space - a perfect combination for the imagination!

I chose to keep my card CAS and following the "pink" challenge at Addicted to CAS I used varying shades of pink for the horizontal layers on the sketch.  Then I got the bright idea to incorporate the vellum challenge at Less Is More and added a simple leafy die cut.

Thanks for stopping by!  You don't need me to tell you that my fellow Freshly Made Sketches teammates have some creative takes on this sketch.  So be sure to check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Tiny Words (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Pink Pirouette, Powder Pink, Rococco Rose, Vellum (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Feuillages Ajourés die (Simply Graphic)

Freshly Made Sketches 532

Hi all!  It's Wednesday so that means we have a great new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is Kim and I know her sketch will inspire so many designs!

I love to take a sketch that looks like it has layers and make a card that has none.  So I stamped a sentiment, masked it off, then stamped the floral design over it.  I drew a box around the whole thing and voila!  I made a card using the sketch!  My colors were inspired by the Just Us Girls challenge and the one layer design was inspired by Addicted to CAS.

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow Freshly Made Sketches design team members have made some great cards to inspire you to play along with us so be sure to check them out.

Supplies

Stamps:  Botanical Silhouettes (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair); Crimson (Altenew)

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 511

Hi friends.  I'm back with a card for our newest sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our hostess this week is Linda and I love her classic sketch.

The space on the smaller layer was perfect for this turnabout wreath stamp that I inked up in traditional Christmas colors.  The stamp creates this awesome circular design that was just the thing for the "circle" challenge at Addicted to CAS.  I love it when challenges collide into a beautiful card!

Thanks for stopping by!  My Freshly Made Sketches teammates have some beautiful cards to show you so hop on over to check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Wreath Turnabout (Concord & 9th); Fa La La (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Whisper White, Mossy Meadow (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, Real Red (Stampin' Up!); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Freshly Made Sketches 505

The funny thing about Blogger is that you have to actually click "Publish" in order for your blog post to be seen by others!  Sorry folks.  I'm late for my Freshly Made Sketches post because I forgot to do just that.  But I'm here now with my card designed by the very talented Narelle.

The air has cooled quite a bit where I live and that has got my digging around in my stash for autumn themed stamps.  The challenge code word at Addicted to CAS is "autumn" so I took that as a sign that I was on the right path.  I made three versions of this card because I kept messing something up and I'm still not entirely happy with it, but as my friend Linda advises, call it a Mona Lisa, post it anyway, and move along to the next card.  Good advice.  The card I'll share tomorrow is much better looking, I promise!

Thanks for stopping by!  My teammates at Freshly Made Sketches have some fabbo cards to share so check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Fall Colors (Precious Remembrance); Confetti Shapes Circle (The Ton)
Paper:  Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Cocoa Bean (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Autumn Blaze, Firebrick, Espresso (Altenew); Versamark
Accessories:  Confetti Shapes Circle die (The Ton) copper embossing powder (Ranger)

Addicted to CAS - Guest Designer

Happy Saturday!  I am super excited to being joining the team over at Addicted to CAS once again as their guest designer!  The code word for the challenge is "fishy" and that had me pondering and then some!  Ultimately, I turned to Etsy and the plentiful supply of digital images there to fulfill my fishy quest!

There were actually quite a lot of digital fish images to choose from, which kind of surprised me, until I saw that many were being used as fisherman themes for screen printed t-shirts or vinyl decals on vehicles.  

But there were also some cute fish clearly made for card-making and scrapbooking.  I chose this image because I loved the long swoosh behind her (which I took to be the movement of water but now that I look again maybe it's part of her tail???) and her pursed lips.  I colored her in shades of blue then I then hunted around for some fish-appropriate sentiments and settled on this one that I simply printed on regular paper, cut, mounted to some cardstock for stability and stuck down with foam tape. 

All in all this went together pretty easily!

Thanks for stopping by!  And I owe a huge thanks to Kylie and everyone at Addicted to CAS for liking my cards enough to invite me to play along with them for this challenge.  I can't thank you enough!

Supplies
Stamps:  Pretty Fish (2cuteink)
Paper:  Ultra Smooth Premium White (Spectrum Noir)
Ink:  Copics

Freshly Made Sketches 494

Hi all!  It's time for a brand new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is Narelle and she's given us her signature clean design which can be dressed up to your heart's content!  For my card I went clean and simple.

It's July so that means CHRISTMAS right?  Sure it does!  I don't know how the Christmas in July thing started but I like to take advantage of it to add to my holiday card stash.  And of course a couple of other challenges helped me along.  Addicted to CAS and Less is More are both looking for Christmas themes and since all that white space fits their criteria I decided to play along with them too.

This card was super simple to put together because as I was perusing my stash for something to use as the long vertical layer I happened upon these trees that were already stamped and cut.  They were long and slim and fit the design perfectly so it was just a matter of adding a sentiment and I was done.  I think I spent more time cutting out small pieces of foam tape to mount them to my card front than I did creating the design!

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow teammates at Freshly Made Sketches have some amazing cards to wow you with so be sure to check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Peaceful Forest (Ink to Paper); December Typed Words (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah)
Ink:  Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler (Stampin' Up!); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Addicted to CAS - Beach

I'm super excited about my post today because I am a guest designer at Addicted to CAS this week!  They liked one of my cards a few weeks ago and invited me to play along with this challenge.  Since CAS cards and I get along really well, I jumped at the chance!  And then Kylie sent me the challenge graphic and I had a mini panic attack!  The cue word was "beach."

Don't get me wrong, I love the beach.  I grew up close enough to Cape Cod in Massachusetts that I spent many happy summers frolicking in the ocean.  The problem is that I don't own a single stamp about the beach.  So for inspiration I turned to Splitcoast Stampers and searched the gallery for the word beach.  What I found was that Stampin' Up! had a stamp set with an abstract images that, if stamped in the right colors, mimicked beach, ocean, and land and while I didn't have that stamp set I had some abstract images of my own that just might work for a similar look.

So I took that abstract image and stamped it multiple times in colors that would call to mind land, sand, and sea.  I couldn't believe how well it turned out!  I know it's an abstract design but I hope you can see the beach there!  And since I find the beach to be a place of calm - there's nothing like feeling the hot sun on my face while the sea breeze is blowing and the sounds of the ocean are around me - that I added this particular sentiment.  To me the beach is a place to just be.

This is a one-layer card, another favorite of mine, so I'm going to join in with the Less is More challenge too.  They are looking for a favorite technique.  I'm not sure a one-layer card is a "technique" but it is in my book!

Thanks for stopping by!  And thanks again to Kylie and everyone at Addicted to CAS for inviting me to be a guest for this challenge.  I loved thinking a bit outside the box with this one!

Supplies
Stamps:  Celebrate Artsy (Stamplorations); Words of Wisdom (Verve)
Paper:  Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Frayed Leaf, Forest Glades, Sand Dunes, Rocky Shores, Sea Glass, Ocean Waves, Dusk (Altenew); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Freshly Made Sketches 486

Hi there!  Today we've got a great clean and simple sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our hostess is Jacquie and she put a big ol' white space on the sketch which will surely spark your imagination!

As I was pondering what I was going to do with that curved element I came across a stencil that was tailor made for this sketch.  How awesome is that!  I masked off the bigger portion of the card base with a curved piece of scrap paper and applied white embossing paste through the stencil to create a raised design.  It came out perfectly!  Then I stamped a little splatter and topped it with this beautiful die cut butterfly.  I also stamped some script onto the orange layer of the butterfly because it just made it a tiny bit more interesting.

I was also inspired by the "bug" challenge at Addicted to CAS and the colors at Sunday Stamps.  I suppose a butterfly is technically a bug, but they are too delicate and beautiful to be a bad bug!

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

Supplies
Stamps:  French Script (Stamin' Up!); Always There (Altenew); Mini 72 (PaperArtsy)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Calypso Coral (Stampin' Up!); Raspberry Fizz, Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Calypso Coral (Stampin' Up!); Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories:  Modern Radio Waves stencil, Vivienne Butterfly die, Darla Butterfly die (Memory Box); white embossing paste (Dreamweaver)

Addicted to CAS Guest Designer

I am pleased as punch to be invited as a guest designer this week at Addicted to CAS!  I do love my clean cards!  The cue word is animal so, of course, I had to use a kitty on my card!

Now, I've got three cats but one of them in particular inspired this card because he is forever peeking at me from behind something.  Just look!

LOL!  He's my handsome boy!

Thanks for stopping by!  And huge thanks to the ladies at Addicted to CAS for inviting me along for this challenge.  It's a privilege to be designing alongside you!

Supplies
Stamps:  Kit 'N Caboodle (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah)
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Freshly Made Sketches 469

Hey all!  It's time for a brand new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!  We've got a great sketch for you from our hostess Kim.

There's a whole lot of snow falling in blogland so I thought I'd hop on the bandwagon.  Ironic since I hate snow in real life.  I always say, the only good snowflake is a pretty one on the front of a card!  But real snow aside, for this sketch I stamped a few grungy background lines in silver and followed it up with a couple of snowflakes layered together.  I think I even used a Christmas sentiment on the inside which puts me one more in the Christmas-card-stash plus side.  I don't think I've made so many Christmas cards so early in the year in my life!

There's snow at Addicted to CAS and snowflakes at Challenge Up Your Life.

Thanks for stopping by!  Our always-amazing Freshly Made Sketches design team has made some fabulous cards to inspire you to play along with us.  We hope you'll join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Mixed Media Elements (Stamplorations); December Typed Words (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Whisper White, Vellum (Stampin' Up!); silver glimmer (Recollections)
Ink:  Silvery Shimmer (Delicata); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Snowflake Trio die (a.must studio); Let It Snowflake Too die (My Favorite Things); silver cord (Stampin' Up!); clear embossing powder

Freshly Made Sketches 432

I'm more than a bit late with my Freshly Made Sketches post this week.  Work is crazy and I just had no time to post this in time for the sketch reveal.  But I believe in the "better late than never" mantra so I humbly present my card. This week our sketch hostess is Jen Timko.

I had no specific idea for this sketch when I sat down to make this card.  That open circle actually threw me for a bit of a loop.  Then out of the blue I got an idea to do a hanging monkey.  I have no idea where the idea came from but I thought it was a good one so I ran with it.

I bought a monkey SVG cutting file from Etsy and after cutting it out twined the monkey's tail around a dotted circle that I cut from some long under-used dies.  For the horizontal line in the sketch I improvised and used a wavy-dotted border die.  It's subtle, but I like it!

The cue word at Addicted to CAS is "animal" and when I first saw the challenge I thought there was no way I was going to be able to play along since I rarely put animals on my cards.  But then this little monkey mysteriously worked its way into my life and ta-da here I am!

Thanks for stopping by.  And special thanks to my fellow design team members at Freshly Made Sketches who have graciously put up with my tardiness in posting.  You guys are the best! 💖

Supplies
Stamps:  Tiny Words (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Basic Black (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Dotted Borders die (Avery Elle); Circles die (Little B); Monkey SVG (Whimsical Accents)