Freshly Made Sketches 599

Hi everyone!  It's my turn to be the sketch hostess at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  I tried my hand at a design with a few layers - I can't be clean-and-simple all the time!  Sometimes I just get a hankering to make a card with some weight to it!

I love this color combo of kraft, black, white, and yellow and for no particular reason picked it to use on my card.  The yellow then inspired sunflowers so I die-cut a couple of those from a daisy die (ssshhh don't tell) and layered them over this fun gingham paper.  I wanted a bold sentiment and chose this one from the now-closed Reverse Confetti.  

Thanks for stopping by!  Of course, my fellow Freshly Made Sketches design teammates have made some amazing cards with my sketch!  I hope you'll check them out.

And next week we'll be celebrating 600 sketches at Freshly Made Sketches.  We've got some fun surprises so I hope you will join us!

Supplies
Stamps:  Posted Notes Sentiments (Reverse Confetti)
Paper:  Desert Storm (Neenah); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Crushed Curry, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); True Black Gingham (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair)
Accessories:  Upsy Daisy die, Vertical Greetings II die (My Favorite Things); enamel dots (My Mind's Eye)

Freshly Made Sketches 593

I've got Christmas on my mind again for my Freshly Made Sketches card.  Karren has given us a great sketch inspired by a "bridge" card and I'm not ashamed to say I had no idea what a bridge card was!  Luckily the sketch can be interpreted in other ways, but I was intrigued by the concept so I watched the video link on Freshly Made Sketches and loved the idea!  I can't wait to try my own variation of a bridge card!  Here's how I interpreted the sketch.

This funky Christmas paper formed the background of my card and inspired the gold snowflake swoosh.  I stamped the slim sentiment in gold and added some golden gems for a little added bling.

Thanks for stopping by!  Our Freshly Made Sketches design team have some marvelous interpretations of this sketch so definitely check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Triangle Trees (Reverse Confetti)
Paper:  Whisper White, Sahara Sand, Holiday Lounge DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Gold (Encore)
Accessories:  Snowflake Cluster Fancy Die (Hero Arts); metallic gold jewels (Pretty Pink Posh)

Freshly Made Sketches 553

Hi all!  We've got a great new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week our hostess is our clean and simple queen Cecile.  She's given us a great sketch, so let's check it out!

I chose to use some of the colors at The Paper Players for my card (with the addition of a pale grey which I hope is an allowed neutral).  I pretty much followed the sketch and added a little thread behind the flowers for some texture. 

Thanks for stopping by!  As usual my Freshly Made Sketches teammates have made some fabulous cards using this sketch so be sure to check them out!  I hope we'll see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Simple Sentiments (Avery Elle)
Paper:  White Linen (Essentials by Ellen); Powder Pink, Blackberry Bliss (Stampin' Up!); Soft Stone, Mint Julep (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Leafy die (Reverse Confetti); Pierced Square STAX (My Favorite Things)

Freshly Made Sketches 544

Happy Wednesday!  Today we've got a fabulous new sketch for you from Freshly Made Sketches.  Our hostess this week is Karren.  I love me some tilty panels!

I decided to make my card using the colors from the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown challenge.  Red, white, and aqua are one of my favorite color combos for Christmas cards and my little gnome fits those colors perfectly.  Gnomes aren't necessarily Christmas-themed, but when you use them and add a Christmas sentiment they practically become Santa's elves!  

Thanks for stopping by!  It's no surprise that my fellow Freshly Made Sketches design teamies have made some fantastic cards to inspire you to play along with us.  We hope you do!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Holiday Gnomes (Reverse Confetti); Christmas Quotes (Kaisercraft)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); X-Pressit Blending Card; Real Red, Shimmery White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  embellishments (Studio Katia)

Freshly Made Sketches 520

Hi stamping friends!  It's time for a new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches and yours truly is the hostess this week.  I chose - surprise, surprise - a square card for my sketch.  But, as I always say, you can use another shape if squares aren't your thing.  Here's what I did with the sketch.

I happened to spy this colorful and cheerful patterned paper in my stash the other day and thought it would look super cute for this sketch.  I was right!  The gingham looks so cute with the florals!  I actually attached an entirely different sentiment to this card at first but after looking at it for a bit I thought it was too dark and too big.  So I made this rounded square and stamped a prettier sentiment on it and layered it over the old sentiment.  I hope whoever gets this card doesn't start investigating my crafting techniques and discover the sentiment underneath!

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow Freshly Made Sketches teammates have, once again, knocked it out of the park with this sketch so be sure to check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Posted Note Sentiments (Reverse Confetti)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Pixie (Avery Elle); Vellum (Stampin' Up!); patterned paper (American Crafts)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Classic Scallop dies, Standard Circles dies (Spellbinders)

Fusion - Triangle Balls

It's a holiday here in the United States - Veteran's Day - where we honor those who have served in the armed services.  🇺🇸  My Dad was a very proud Marine and served in Korea during the conflict there.  Many years later he chose the same day to marry my Mom.  💕  I have great respect to those who make the courageous decision to serve their country. 

And today we also have a new challenge for you at Fusion.  The challenge prompt is about Christmas and I chose to use the colors from the photo and I took a little poetic license with the sketch.

I flipped the sketch and using the triangle theme from the inspiration photo used triangle Christmas trees on my card instead of circles.  And I also crowded them into one corner of the card rather than spreading them out per the sketch.  The "merry" dotted die cut is meant to mimic the thin layer on the sketch.  I wasn't kidding when I said I took some poetic license with the sketch too!

I'm also playing along with the challenge at Just Us Girls, where the challenge is the word prompt "Merry!"  Fun!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you can join us at Fusion - use the sketch or the inspiration or both!  Our design team will give you lots of inspiration so check us out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Triangle Trees (Reverse Confetti)
Paper:  Whisper White, Blue Bayou (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Nimbus (Altenew); Versamark
Accessories:  Merry Dots die (Poppystamps); Cherry Cobbler embossing powder (Stampin' Up!); Clear Sparkle embossing powder (WOW!); clear embossing powder

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)

Freshly Made Sketches 466

I finally finished my card for our last Freshly Made Sketches challenge of 2020.  The last couple of weeks have been really busy and I had a bunch of setbacks every time I ventured into my stamp room to make a card for this challenge.  But I was determined to finish out the year with my design team friends so here is my card.

A dear friend and co-worker is undergoing treatment for breast cancer for the second time and I very much wanted to send her a few words of encouragement.  So I took the opportunity to use the sketch to make a card for her.  She's a tough cookie so I'm sure she'll make it through this OK.

Thanks for stopping by!  Our sketch at Freshly Made Sketches is our last one for the year but the linky  tool is open until January 4th so you've got lots of time to play along!

Supplies
Stamps:  Fight Like a Girl (a.muse studio); Fancy Word Coordinates (Reverse Confetti)
Paper: Solar White (Neenah); Regal Rose, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); silver glimmer (Recollections)
Ink:  Pretty in Pink (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Support Ribbon Framelits (Stampin' Up!); Pierced Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things)

CAS(E) This Sketch 401

One last Christmas card - I hope!  This one is for our latest CAS(E) This Sketch challenge which I combined with pine trees challenge at Challenge Up Your Life.

My pine trees are a little modern, but they are pine trees in spirit!  Two of them are embossed in silver and one is embossed in a sparkly blue.  By coincidence I had some sparkly blue cardstock that was a close match so I used that at the top of my card as a banner.  I then added some other layers on top of it, including a sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow CAS(E) This Sketch design team members have made some great cards with this sketch so be sure to check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Triangle Trees (Reverse Confetti); Fa La La (Simon Says Stamp)
Ink:  Versamark; Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Vertical Greetings II die; First Place Ribbon die (My Favorite Things); silver embossing powder, tinsel embossing powder (Recollections)

Freshly Made Sketches 444

Hello!  Today at Freshly Made Sketches we are debuting a brand new sketch designed by Jen Timko.  Check out this sweet square number!

This card turned out so much better than I thought it would when I designed it in my head!  That big square space actually had me a little stumped!  So when that happens I usually start looking through my stash of stamps for tried-and-true ones that make me smile.  I found this Funky Florals set and stamped them in the colors of the Paper Players challenge.  I added a small grungy stamp behind the flowers to provide some contrast to the white-on-white layers and found a slim vertical sentiment that tucked in around the flowers perfectly.

Thanks for stopping by!  My Freshly Made Sketches teammates have made some gorgeous cards to inspire you to play along with us.  I hope we'll see you in the gallery!

Supplies

Stamps:  Funky Florals (Papertrey Ink); Posted Note Sentiments (Reverse Confetti); Gorgeous Grunge (Stampin' Up!)

Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Smoky Slate, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)

Ink:  So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Smoky Slate (Stampin' Up!)

Accessories:  Pierced Square STAX (My Favorite Things)

Tag You're It 100

Hello all!  Today I am a little combination of happy and sad.  I'm happy because it's time for a new challenge at Tag You're it.  And I'm sad because it is also our last challenge at Tag You're It.

And...I'm happy again because I'm also joining Tracey at In My Creative Opinion with her 25 Days of Christmas Tags.  It's Day 5 and the sponsor is Reverse Confetti so I am pleased as punch to add my tag with my favorite Triangle Trees.

I have an obsession with triangle Christmas trees dating back several years so when Reverse Confetti came out with this set last year I scooped it up right away.  I love that the triangle trees come in different designs - from stripes to dots to squiggly lines plus the set has some great linear sentiments.  All those design elements were perfect for my tag today.  I even re-purposed some RC valentine paper into doing double-duty as Christmas paper!

Thanks for stopping by!  And special thanks to Tracey for inviting me along with her Tag You're It challenge and her annual 25 Days of Christmas Tags.  😁

Supplies
Stamps: Triangle Trees (Reverse Confetti)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah)
Ink:  Forest Glades (Altenew); Onyx Black (Versamark)
Accessories: Falling Snow stencil (Simon Says Stamp); white embossing paste (Dreamweavers); seam binding ribbon; twine

CAS(E) This Sketch 343

We are going back into the CAS(E) This Sketch archives this week and reprising sketch #175!  Back when this sketch debuted I made a very different card than the one I've got here.  But it's  October now and I've got Christmas on my mind - as in I hope I've got enough Christmas cards in my stash!

For this card I used a background of triangular trees and then added a nice holiday sentiment over them.  Easy peasy!  I think I had a more difficult time deciding on colors than I did on the execution of this card!  There's a Christmas theme going on at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge so I'm going to add this there too.

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow teammies at CAS(E) This Sketch have made some fabbo cards with this sketch so be sure to check them out! 

Supplies
Stamps:  Triangle Trees (Reverse Confetti)
Paper:  Fresh Snow Linen, Hawaiian Shores (Papertrey Ink); White (Catherine Pooler)
Ink:  Hawaiian Shores (Papertrey Ink); Silvery Shimmer (Delicata)

CAS(E) This Sketch 299

It's the "all Christmas" channel around here!  Yes, instead of preparing for Christmas throughout the year I have waited until almost the last minute to finish up the cards I need.  I'm happy that the latest challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch helped me along the way.

I used some old Stampin' Up! designer to create my colorful background.  The paper was geometric in its design and has a fun mod vibe.  At first glance it's not obvious it's a Christmas design but that sentiment leaves no room for anything but!

Thanks for stopping by!  Our CAS(E) This Sketch design team has created some amazing cards to inspire you for this challenge. I hope you join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Triangle Trees (Reverse Confetti)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Holiday Lounge DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair)
Accessories:  Skinny Mini Banners die (Papertrey Ink)

Freshly Made Sketches 364

My Christmas card countdown continues.  This time I am inspired by the latest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches designed by Kim.

I decided to make my card square to be in sync with the square layer in the corner.  It's hard to make out in the photo but the pink square is actually some very pretty glitter paper and the trees are embossed in silver.  This is so pretty in real life!  The Less is More challenge is looking for metallics so since I embossed this and it looked pretty clean to me so I'm adding this over there. 

Thanks for stopping by! And don't forget to check out our Freshly Made Sketches challenge.  Our design team has made some fabulous cards to inspire you!

Stamps:  Triangle Trees (Reverse Confetti); Tiny Word Christmas (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Purely Pomegranate (Stampin' Up!); glitter paper (Recollections)
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair)

CAS(E) This Sketch 292

I'm pretty sure that I'm woefully behind on Christmas cards this year so I took the opportunity to take our latest CAS(E) This Sketch designed by Brian and transform it into a Christmas card.

As you can see I flipped the sketch on its side and transformed the points of the banner into the points of two trendy Christmas trees.  I added some silver sparkle splatters behind them because the space was too white without them and made a wide border of silver glimmer paper around the edge just because glimmer paper makes me smile!  As luck would have it there's a Let's Get Ready for Christmas challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge so this fits perfectly there!

Thanks for stopping by!  Our CAS(E) This Sketch design team has made some pretty amazing cards with this sketch so be sure to check them out.  I hope you'll join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Triangle Trees (Reverse Confetti); Mini 71 (PaperArtsy)
Paper:  Baja Breeze, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Silver Glimmer (Recollections)
Ink:  Baja Breeze (Stampin' Up!); Silvery Shimmer (Delicata)
Accessories:  silver embossing powder

CAS(E) This Sketch 280

We've got a new challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch.  I don't mind saying this sketch threw me for a loop!  All those arrows had me searching for ages through my stash for something appropriate.  It turns out I've actually got a few arrows in my stamping stash, but none were inspiring me.  I think at one time I had about 10 stamp sets on my desk trying to figure out which one to use!  In the end I went in an entirely different direction...

After deliberating and pondering for much too long I chose to use a stamp set that makes notebook paper!  Super simple.  And I had a sentiment stamp in my stash that fit perfectly between the lines.  Done!

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow CAS(E) This Sketch design team members have made some fantastic cards with this sketch.  They clearly didn't have as much trouble with this sketch as I did because their cards are amazing!  I hope you'll join us in the gallery this week.

Supplies
Stamps:  Notebook Paper (Paper Smooches); Fancy Word Coordinates (Reverse Confetti)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); White (Catherine Pooler)
Ink:  Arctic (Altenew); Pretty in Pink (Stampin' Up!); Nocturne (Versafine Clair)

Love the Life You Live

It's been a long time since I've played along with the Color Throwdown and Match the Sketch challenges.  But as soon as I saw their new ones this week light bulbs went off in my head and I carved out some time to play along with them.

I do love a color combo that is black, white, and something.  In this case the something is pink and pink makes a delightful dragonfly as it turns out!  I love all that white space.  I was tempted, for a moment, to add a few dew drops but resisted - wisely, I might add - because I think the crisp, plain background is perfect the way it is.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies 
Stamps:  Posted Note Sentiments (Reverse Confetti)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Blushing Bride, Vellum (Stampin' Up!); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Fishtail Flags Layer STAX (My Favorite Things); Libellules die (4enscrap)

Freshly Made Sketches 321

I don't usually make Valentine cards but for some reason I seem to be making a lot of them lately.  I blame all the cool challenges out there:  be it sketch or color or theme.  Today's Valentine is courtesy of our newest sketch at Freshly Made Sketches plus a couple of other challenges.  Jen Brum is our hostess this week and her sketch is awesome!

My card is quite CAS.  I loved the idea of a few floating hearts on a clean white background paired with a simple sentiment.  They are looking for CAS Love Notes at the Paper Players so this seems to fit the bill and over at CAS on Friday it's all about love and Valentines. 

Thanks for stopping by!  And check out the inspiration from our Freshly Made Sketches design team.  We'd love to see you in our gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Fancy Word Coordinates (Reverse Confetti)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Cherry (Avery Elle); Regal Rose (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Cherry (Avery Elle)
Accessories:  Slanted Sentiments Strips die (My Favorite Things)

CAS(E) This Sketch 208!

Since Valentine's Day is only five days away, I took the opportunity to use the latest sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch to make a valentine.

There are a few valentine challenges this week so I'm joining in the fun at AAA Cards, Creative With Stamps, and The Paper Players.  I've made a couple of valentines this year and one thing occurred to me each time:  I have lousy valentine stamps.  The sentiment I used on this card is about the only thing I have that even remotely fits the theme.  I must rectify this, I think!

N@ Ali has brought us this great sketch so be sure to check out the creations from the CAS(E) This Sketch design team this week.  We'd love to see you in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Fancy Word Coordinates (Reverse Confetti)
Paper:  Soft Stone, Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink); Gingham-Linen Rainbow Petite Prints (Doodlebug Design)
Ink:  Jet Black (Altenew)
Accessories:  Blueprints 21 die, Stitched Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things); Scribble Heart die (Simon Says Stamp)

Hugs & Kisses

I consider it very fortunate that my at-home schedule has recently given me some extra time to venture into my crafty space and make some cards just for fun.  I'm sure no one will blame me if that "extra time" comes at the expense of not doing a little dusting!  So let's get to my card for today.

The sketch at As You See It, along with the "heart" challenge at CAS on Sunday, and the "plaid" challenge at Cupcake Inspirations collide with my card.

And can I just say how much I love the inspiration photo for the Cupcake Inspirations challenge.  When I was a teenager I had a skirt and jacket outfit that was the exact plaid of the cupcake wrapper in that photo and it was one of my favorite things to wear!  And it just so happens that I recently got a pack of patterned paper that has a couple of plaid patterns in it so I just knew that it was a sign that I had to play along in that challenge!  The plaids may be different but the "sentiment" is the same!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  I {Heart} Hearts (Stampin' Up!); Fancy Word Coordinates (Reverse Confetti)
Paper:  Cloud White, True Love (Reverse Confetti)
Ink:  Sweet Blush, Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories:  Heart to Heart Extra Large punch (Stampin' Up!); crochet thread