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 607

I'm pretty sure that I took some liberties with our Freshly Made Sketches challenge this week!  My bats have been substituted for the circles, but at least I managed to make the focal point a square....with my favorite skull.

We're only a few weeks away from Halloween so I thought I'd better get cracking on those cards!  I don't send out a lot of Halloween cards, but I do enjoy making them.  This skull is one of my favorite images and I love to pair the images with unexpected colors.  Pink and gray?  Yes, please!

Thanks for stopping by.  My Freshly Made Sketches teammates have made some fabulous cards to inspire you to play along with us, so I hope you do!

Supplies:
Stamps:  From the Crypt (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Basic Black, Basic Gray, Pretty in Pink, Sweet Pea DSP (Stampin' Up!); Pure Luxury White (Gina K)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  black embossing powder

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 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 509

We've got a great new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  Our hostess this week is the incomparable Jen Timko!  Her sketch inspired me to make a slimline card.

Halloween is around the corner so that was a big inspiration plus I added in a couple of other challenges.  I took my color cues from the challenge at Just Us Girls and had some fun with the Halloween Fun challenge at Cupcake Inspiration.  

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you can join us at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our design team has some great cards to inspire you to play along!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Ghouls & Goblins (Inkadinkado Stamps); Bite Me, Autumn Apparations (Stampin' Up!)

Paper:  Smoky Slate, Peach Parfait, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Nocturne (Versamark Clair); Smoky Slate (Stampin' Up!); Copics

Accessories:  Pierced Nested die (The Ton)

Freshly Made Sketches 506

I decided to dig into my Halloween stash for my Freshly Made Sketches card this week.  Our hostess this week is Amy and her sketch put many ideas into my head!

The challenge at The Paper Players was a moody-spooky Halloween board which put me in mind of this skull stamp that's been in my stash for ages.  I embossed the image with silver embossing powder and added a few touches of silver cardstock on the card to break up the more somber blacks and blues that I also used.  I was going to add a Halloween sentiment on the bottom black layer but changed my mind at the last minute because I was going to have to heat-emboss it so that it showed up but since I had already assembled and glued the diagonal layers I was afraid I'd get stray embossing powder everywhere.  I should have embossed first and then assembled the layers!  And they've also got a Halloween challenge at Just Us Girls so I'm playing along there as well.

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

Supplies
Stamps:  From the Crypt (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!); foil paper (Recollections); Watercolor Wash Brights (My Favorite Things)
Ink:  Versamark
Accessories:  Petite Scallop Circles Small die, Standard Circles Small die, Standard Circles Large die (Spellbinders); Dotted Borders die (Avery Elle); silver embossing powder

CAS(E) This Sketch 394

I seem to be in a bit of a Halloween mood lately since I keep making cards with bats on them!  And I've got another one on my card for our latest challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch!  This one is on the cutesy side, though!

The dangling spiders were perfect for this sketch and I added the little bat for no other reason than it's adorable!  The spooky halloween sentiment is a favorite of mine too.

Thanks for stopping by!  Our CAS(E) This Sketch design team has made some fabulous cards with this  sketch so be sure to check them out!

Supplies

Stamps:  Best Fiends,  Autumn Apparitions (Stampin' Up!)

Paper:   Solar White  (Neenah); Watercolor Wash Brights (My Favorite Things)

Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair)

Fusion Purple Night

We've got a great new challenge for you at Fusion.  The purple night theme put me in mind of a Halloween card so that is what I made.

Don't adjust your set, folks, I really did use purple on my card.  But well-documented here, photography is not in my skillset, so no matter what I tried my picture came out looking blue.  

I don't often have the time to get adventurous with my cards but wanted to try my hand at some alcohol inks for this moody theme.  It had been so long since I used mine I had to refresh my memory on how to use them by watching a few videos on YouTube!  Apparently I need to add 90% alcohol to my stash to get those color to swish around, but since the pandemic that is in short supply so I had to rely on Ranger blending solution.  I added some silver mixative to make things interesting and used a straw to blow all the colors around my paper.

Thanks for  stopping by!  I hope you can join us at Fusion.  Our design team has created some amazing cards to inspire you!

Supplies
Stamps:  Bite Me (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:   Solar White (Neenah); Yupo (Ranger); black glimmer (Recollections)
Ink:  Amethyst (Ranger Alcohol Ink); Silver Mixative (Ranger); Nocturne (Versafine Clair)

CAS(E) This Sketch 393

We've got a great new sketch for you at CAS(E) This Sketch and it's a retro one.  The sketch first debuted over five years ago - find it HERE - and I will admit I was a little intimidated by it.  I think I was the first time too!

It's that time of year when I start thinking about Halloween cards.  I think they are the most fun cards that I make all year!  This card uses the colors from TGIF Challenges and I just layered circles to mimic the layout of the sketch.  I took a little liberty with the placement of the sentiment and just for fun added a die-cut bat that I cut from black glimmer paper.

Thank for stopping by!  My fellow CAS(E) This Sketch design teammates have made some amazing  cards with this sketch so be sure to check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Bite Me  (Stampin' Up!);  Circles Circles Circles   (Whimsy Stamps)
Paper:  Solar White  (Neenah);  Basic Black,  Rich Razzleberry, Sweet Pea DSP (Stampin' Up!);  black glimmer (Recollections)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:   Circles die  (Little B)

CAS(E) This Sketch 344 Meets Fusion

I am in full Halloween mode with the card I'm sharing today!  It's that time when I combine the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch with the inspiration at Fusion and that inspiration put me in mind of Halloween.

I know it's a hollowed out pumpkin with a relaxing camp fire scene inside but I saw Halloween!  So armed with the colors at The Paper Players I set about adapting that inspiration.  I chose a circular spider web to mimic the circle on the sketch then added the fun "spooky" die along with a few enamel dots.  I love how fun this card looks! Who says that spooky cards need to be scary?!

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow design team members at CAS(E) This Sketch and Fusion have made some great cards to inspire you so be sure to check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Bite Me (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Basic Black, Smoky Slate, Elegant Eggplant (Stampin Up!)
Ink:  White (WPlus9)
Accessories:  Spooky die (Lil' Inker Designs); enamel dots (My Minds Eye); white embossing powder

Freshly Made Sketches 405

Hello friends!  It's Wednesday so that means we've got a new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week Judy is our hostess and at first glance I was afraid of those three squares!  But then I got the bright idea to make a Halloween card using a digital cutting file I recently bought.

I sponged some colors to create a night sky with a giant moon then added a witch and some bats in place of those squares.  My first Halloween card in the books for this season!  Yay!  I have a fascination with making Halloween cards.  In real life I don't like scary things - I'm not a horror movie fan at all -  but when it comes to my cards I love fun, spooky themes - just not too spooky!  LOL!  I think these images are fun!

My fellow Freshly Made Sketches teammates have made some amazing cards with this sketch.  What an array of themes and designs you'll find there so be sure to check them out.  I hope you'll join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Bite Me (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Bristol Smooth; Black Licorice (My Favorite Things)
Ink:  Fossilized Amber, Wild Honey, Broken China, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire, Black Soot (Distress Oxide); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Witches svg (AMstudiosvg); Bat Silhouettes svg (sequint design)

Freshly Made Sketches 361

This week at Freshly Made Sketches yours truly is the sketch designer. I humbly submit this sketch, which on a second (or third) look has an awful lot of rectangles on it.  Good thing at Freshly Made Sketches we aren't too concerned about shapes and you can use whatever shapes take your fancy!  Case in point, I used a circle and some twine to take the place of some of those pesky rectangles.

Happy Halloween!  Since today's the day I thought it would be fun to make a card to celebrate the occasion,  along with challenges  at Creative With Stamps and Stamp Ink Paper.

I hope you have a chance to join us at Freshly Made Sketches this week. The design team has made some terrific cards to inspire you so check them out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Best Fiends, Bite Me (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Solar White (Neenah); Pumpkin Pie (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey (Distress Oxide); Nocturne (Versafine Claire)
Accessories:  Starburst Framelit (Stampin' Up!); Circle STAX (My Favorite Things); Harvest Corn twine (Maya Road)

CAS(E) This Sketch 293 Meets Fusion

Halloween is fast approaching and I love to make Halloween cards so this week's challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch and the inspiration at Fusion were fun to mix together.  Donna is our sketch designer and she has given us this fun sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch and at Fusion we are given a pastel color Halloween theme.

I've done a pink Halloween card before before because it's a little unexpected and a whole lot of fun!  This card has pink bits that are a little hard to see because the pink I chose is very light in color.  But trust me all those layers are there!  My scary skull became one of the circles on the CAS(E) This Sketch and the bat became the other circle.  There's a things that go bump in the night challenge at Cupcake Inspiration Challenge and I think a skull definitely fits that bill!

                                                                                     

           
Well that's it for me.  We've got some great challenges for you at CAS(E) This Sketch and Fusion so I hope you can play along with one (or both) of them!  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge, From the Crypt, Autumn Apparitions (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Pixie (Avery Elle)
Ink:  Pixie (Avery Elle); Nocturne (Versafine Clair)

Freshly Made Sketches 310

Halloween ghosts and goblins abound this week!  Everywhere I look there's a Halloween challenge going on.  Between colors and themes all your Halloween card needs are covered! 😀  Of course, I took the opportunity to combine our latest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches, designed by Kim, with a few of these.

I almost scrapped this card when it was done.  It looked a little plain Jane because the purple layer was just plain purple.  It was quite boring.  I had some patterned paper in the same shade that I could have used to layer it but, in true hoarding fashion, I decided the piece I have is just too small to use.  If I stick it on a card it will be gone FOREVER!  So I improvised.  I grabbed a stencil and added some texture with translucent embossing paste.  All of a sudden I liked this card a lot more!

There's a black, green, and purple challenge going on at Just Us Girls and I tried really hard to stick to those colors.  Hopefully they think that the shades of gray, represented by the witch's robes, are a light shade of black!  And the challenge this week at Cupcake Inspirations is Ghouls and Ghosts.  This lady is definitely not a ghost, but she might be considered a ghoul!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a chance to check out our latest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our amazing design team has created a bevy of cards that will amaze and wow you!  I hope we'll see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Best Fiend, Bite Me (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Perfect Plum, Old Olive (Stampin' Up!); X-Press It Blending Card
Ink:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Jet Black (Altenew); Copics
Accessories:  Stone Layering stencil (Tim Holtz); translucent embossing paste (Dreamweaver); enamel dots (My Mind's Eye)

Freshly Made Sketches 309

Halfway through October and it's no surprise that Halloween themes are in full swing (judging by some of the challenges I've been checking out, that is).  This week I've combined the fantastic sketch from Freshly Made Sketches (courtesy of Linda) with a few other Halloween-themed challenges.

No one was more shocked than me that I was able to capably sponge a decent looking Halloween-ish moon!  I've been experimenting with my Distress Oxide inks and some different papers and I think I've found a combination that works for me.  Finally, I feel like I can sponge colors without getting weird, unwanted streaks from the actual sponge!

Originally I intended this card to be a shaker but once I started putting it together I realized that the bits from the shaker would take away from the cool bat so I nixed that idea.  The bat and the sentiment are from an old Stampin' Up! set that I'm pretty sure I bought strictly because I loved both of them!  It's one of those stamp sets that I'll never get rid of!  The Paper Players are looking for CAS Spooky this week and CAS on Friday wants Halloween so I'm adding this card to both.

Thanks for stopping by!  And don't forget our latest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our design team has got some fantastic cards for your inspiration.  I hope you'll join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Autumn Apparitions (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Strathmore Marker Paper
Ink:  Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade (Distress Oxide)
Accessoies:  black embossing powder, white embossing powder

CAS(E) This Sketch 242

A quick look at the calendar tells me that Halloween is not that far away so I thought it was time for me to break out my all-time favorite stamp set for the occasion.  Lucky for me the latest CAS(E) This Sketch designed by Leigh was very accomodating for my Herman Munster-style image.

The Halloween colors at House of Cards put me in the mood and good ol' Herman and his love of bats set the stage for this one.  I just love this guy!

By the way, I fussy cut this guy out.  This stamp set is so old the only dies that co-existed with him were simple shapes we called Nestabilities!  Oh how times have changed!

My CAS(E) This Sketch teamies have created some fabulous cards for you to see with this sketch so be sure to check them out.  I hope you can join us in the gallery!  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Best Fiends, Bite Me (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Classic Ivory (Flourishes); More Mustard (Stampin' Up!); Black (Simon Says Stamp)
Ink:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Jet Black (Altenew); Copics
Accessories:  Frightful enamel dots (My Mind's Eye); Bricked embossing folder (Tim Holtz)

Freshly Made Sketches 304

To Halloween or not to Halloween.  That is the question today.  The answer is the newest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches where I took the sketch, added some shoes and some fun colors, and came up with this.

I'm not entirely sure this is a Halloween card.  In fact, I'm pretty sure it is not.  But it started out that way, what with the colors (courtesy of Cupcake Inspiration) and the funky Witchy-Poo shoes (courtesy of Just Us Girls) but in the end I opted for this fun sentiment which sent this card in another direction altogether!

Narelle is our sketch designer at Freshly Made Sketches this week and what a great, classic sketch it is.  Check out the inspiration from the design team and then join us in the gallery.  We'd love to see you there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Funky Feet (The Alley Way Stamps); Don't Hold Back (Dylusions)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Orange Zest (Papertrey Ink); Black (Simon Says Stamp); Vellum (Stampin' Up!); X-Press It Blending Card
Ink:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Jet Black (Altenew); Copics
Accessories:  Blueprints 13 die (My Favorite Things); 2-inch circle punch (EK Tools)