Freshly Made Sketches #674

It's my turn to be the sketch hostess at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  The sketch that I made was entirely inspired by a die that I came across while organizing my craft room.  It was a simple die with a gentle stitched curve and I thought it was pretty and would make a versatile design.  Ta da!

And can I just say how much I love layered stencils!  They make me look like a coloring pro when all I'm really doing is sponging on some color through a bunch of stencils.  It's so easy!!

These cosmos make me think of summer - something I wish would hurry up and get here since it's been freezing around here lately.  They are so light and airy and as I perused my stash of sentiments for the perfect complement to them I found this mother's day one and thought I'd get out ahead of that holiday!

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow Freshly Made Sketches design team members have made some gorgeous cards with this sketch I know you'll be inspired to play along with us!

Supplies
Stamps:  Keep it Simple Mother (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); The Everyday Collection (Avery Elle)
Ink:  Wisteria, Hydrangea, Ultraviolet, Andromeda (Altenew); Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Climbing Cosmos stencil (The Ton)

Freshly Made Sketches #667

I've been a very erratic stamper over the last year, but I managed to carve out some time to join my Freshly Made Sketches teammates for our first sketch of 2025!  Kicking off the new year is Cécile as our hostess, and as usual, I tried to channel my inner CAS Cécile as I designed my card.

I opted for a shaker for this card, mainly because I hadn't done one in so long....and, in this case, lends itself to a CAS card.  Fun!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you play along with us at Freshly Made Sketches, where my fellow design team members have made some fantastic cards to inspire you to play along with us!

Supplies
Stamps:  Bokeh Burst Round (The Ton); All About You (My Favorite Things)
Paper:  Whisper White (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  You die (Simon Says Stamp); Royal Garden sequins (Pretty Pink Posh); gold embossing powder

Freshly Made Sketches 632

Hey there!  I find myself to be the sketch designer at Freshly Made Sketches this week and I am excited to see how you all interpret this sketch.  For me, I used some of my patterned paper stash and added a floral display in shades of purple.

This is a big card - that floral display takes up a lot of room - but I love it!  The sentiment is hot foiled and tucks in to the florals perfectly.

Thanks for stopping by!  If you haven't already be sure to check out the cards my Freshly Made Sketches teammates have made.  They're awesome!

Supplies
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Lucky Limeade, Lucky Limeade DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Soft Lilac, Lavender Fields, Deep Iris (Altenew)
Accessories:  Climbing Cosmos stencil, Coming Up Cosmos die (The Ton); Super Scripty Thank You hot foil plate +n die (The Stamp Marktet)

Freshly Made Sketches 621

We've got a great new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  Our hostess is Jen Timko and her sketch put me in mind of some snowflakes.  I haven't seen many of those flying around this winter (fine by me) but I have no problem adding them to a card.

      

This card is pretty big - six-inches by six-inches but I needed it to accommodate the snowflakes.  The snowflakes are a mix of silver shimmer ink and glitter cardstock. So pretty in real life!  Thanks for stopping by. 

Supplies
Stamps:  Bizzard Hugs (The Ton)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); silver foil (Recollections)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine); Silvery Shimmer (Delicata)
Accessories:  Blizzard Hugs dies (The Ton)

Freshly Made Sketches 589

I had some logistical and technical difficulties this week but I finally got my card for the latest Freshly Made Sketches challenge posted!

Late work meetings this week prevented me from having my card ready on time and then...my phone died.  Ordinarily that wouldn't have any effect on my card-making (and posting), but lately I've been taking pics of my cards on my phone.  No worries, I say to myself, I'll just use my camera to take the picture of the card.  But it's been so long since I've used the camera the battery was dead!  So after some all-day charging of the camera battery I was able to take the picture, edit it, and post it!  

I'm on a full day without a phone, and I've got to say it's a little weird.  I don't have a landline so I am completely unavailable to anyone who needs to "call" me.  I told my sisters if they need to contact me they'll need to use Facebook Messenger or call me during the day while I'm at work.  How weird is that!  I grew up in the generation where if you needed to talk to someone you called them or rode your bike over to their house!  

But on to my card.  Linda is our hostess and her fun sketch got my thinking about long, thin stamps that might fit the verical layer on the sketch.  That lead to this floral image.  Perfect!  The rest of the card came together quickly and the colors were inspired by the challenge at The Color Throwdown.

Thanks for stopping by!  

Supplies
Stamps:  Poppy Field (Rubbernecker Stamps); Scripty Greetings (The Ton)
Paper:  Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Smoky Slate (Stampin' Up!); Baby Pink (Altenew); Nocturne (Versafine Clair)
Accessories:  Circles die (Little B); enamel dots (My Mind's Eye)

Freshly Made Sketches 581

Hi all!  We've got a great new challenge for you at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess and sketch designer is Cécile and, as always, when she designs a sketch I try (and usually fail) to channel her amazing design aesthetic.  Here's my humble attempt:

So, since spring has sprung out all over in my neighborhood, I decided to combine the pastel color challenge at The Paper Players with our Freshly Made Sketches challenge.  I used a stencil to create the background and then topped it with this artsy butterfly.  I know I was supposed to add a sentiment, but this looked too darn cute without one, so I left it off!  I hope Cécile forgives me!

Thanks for stopping by!  As always our Freshly Made Sketches design team has some amazing cards to inspire you to play along with us!  I hope to see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Fresh Freesia, Basic Black, Vellum (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Certain Celery (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Pine stencil (The Ton); Papillon die (4enscrap)

Freshly Made Sketches 578

After a busy week and a missed challenge I'm back at Freshly Made Sketches for our newest challenge.  Our hostess this week is Jacquie and after contemplating her sketch I went with a layered stenciled design.

I think it's a fun design to layer images over one another - and pop one up on foam tape over the other. I chose to use vellum for the horizontal layer on the sketch so that the stamped images on the card base were still visible.

I was inspired by the spring challenge at The Paper Players too!

Thanks for stopping by!  My Freshly Made Sketches design team has made some beautiful cards with this sketch so be sure to check them out!

Supplies
Paper:  Whisper White, Vellum (Stampin' Up!
Ink:  Wisteria, Hydrangea, Ultraviolet, Forest Glades (Altenew)
Accessories:  Climbing Cosmos layering stencil (The Ton); Pierced Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things)

Freshly Made Sketches 567

Welcome back to a new year of challenges from Freshly Made Sketches!  This week our favorite Texan, Amy, is our hostess and she's cooked up a beauty for us!

This card was a topsy-turvy journey for me!  My first card idea involved layers and flowers.  But the colors were wrong, the flowers were wrong, the layers were wrong, so I scrapped it.  Then I remembered these bow images and thought I could stamp them and draw vertical lines to each one so that they seemed to be dangling.  To accommodate the rest of the sketch I drew in a rectangle design and tucked in a sentiment on the vertical side.

I do love a one-layer design and some go together for me easier than others.  Despite my early troubles, this one ended up being perfect to my eyes!

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to check out the amazing cards that our Freshly Made Sketches design team has made to inspire you to play along with us!

Supplies
Stamps: Holiday Bows (The Ton); Holiday Message (Mama Elephant)
Paper:  Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Rubellite, Teal Cave, Starlight (Altenew); Nocturne (Versafine Clair)

Stencil Thanks

So, I think I am in love with layering stencils.  I've only got a couple but I made a card today using the colors from CAS Colours & Sketches and a stencil from The Ton and I love how it came out!

Layering the stencils was so easy to do and the end result is so pretty!  💕

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Thank You Builder (Altenew)
Paper:  Whisper White, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Stormy Sea (Papertrey Ink); Early Espresso, Old Olive (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Climbing Cosmos Layering Stencil (The Ton); Blueprints 15 die (My Favorite Things)

Freshly Made Sketches 562

Hi all!  It's time for a new sketch from your friends at Freshly Made Sketches! This week our hostess is Kim and I love the building block style of her sketch.

I used a combination of stamps, washi tape, and cardstock to create those building blocks.  The sentiment is a fun one, and new to me, the horizontal washi has got some wonderful shimmer and the vertical cardstock layer is backed with some shiny silver washi.  Blue and silver is a great color combination for a Christmas card and this one was inspired by the color challenge at The Paper Players.

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow Freshly Made Sketches teammates have made some amazing and inventive cards with this sketch so be sure to check them out!  I'm sure you'll be inspired to join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Bold Fill in Holiday (The Ton)
Paper:  Enchanted Evening (Papertrey Ink); Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Enchanted Evening (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Bold Fill in Holiday die (The Ton); washi tape

Freshly Made Sketches 561

I'm really, really late posting my card for the newest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!  But better late than never.  Our hostess this week is Linda and her sketch inspired some snowflakes, of all things!

I do love cards with sparkly snowflakes!  And I added some clear droplets around the white space because it looked quite plain to me otherwise.

Be sure to check out all the inspiration at Freshly Made Sketches and join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Blizzard Hugs (The Ton)
Paper:  Just Jade (Stampin' Up!); Solar White (Neenah); glimmer paper (Recollecltions)
Ink:  Lagoon (Altenew)
Accessories:  Alexis Snowflake die (Simon Says Stamp); Let it Snowflake Too die (My Favorite Things); Clear Droplets (Pretty Pink Posh)

Freshly Made Sketches 560

I'm the hostess at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  And no surprise my sketch is a square one!  But don't worry.  If squares aren't your thing then feel free to substitute a different shape.

Autumn colors are faves of mine and I love sunflowers too!  I put a big ol' one on this card and added a simple birthday sentiment.  Easy peasy!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you check out our Freshly Made Sketches challenge!

Supplies
Stamps: Splendid Sunflower (My Favorite Things); Easy Expressions Birthday (The Ton)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Chocolate Chip, Afternoon (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Espresso, Mocha, Forest Glades, Honey Drizzle (Stampin' Up!); Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Easy Expressions Birthday die (The Ton)

Freshly Made Sketches 536

Pardon my late entry (again) for our newest Freshly Made Sketches challenge.  I've got to say that the circles on the sketch initially put me in a bit of a panic, but after poking around in my stash I came up with a card that makes me so happy!  Karren is our hostess and her sketch got me thinking out of the box!

So, when I first saw the sketch I was thinking about something along the lines of three flowers, or maybe three geometric shapes, or maybe three butterflies.  But as I was looking through my stash I stumbled on this JUMBO stamp set from The Ton which had three poinsettias in roughly the same placement as the circles.  Perfect!

I embossed the background with some subtle burlap texture because I didn't like the flowers against a plain white background.  The poinsettias and leaves have amazing dimension - perfect with the textured background - and the black die-cut sentiment just makes the whole thing pop!  I love this card!

Thanks for stopping by!  The amazing Freshly Made Sketches design team has some fabulous cards to inspire you to play along with us, so I hope you do!

Supplies
Stamps:  Boundless Poinsettia (The Ton)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Whisper White, Basic Black (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Frosty Pink, Coral Berry, Ruby Red, Frayed Leaf, Forest Glades (Altenew)
Accessories:  Rustic Burlap impression plate (Papertrey Ink); Merry Christmas die (Impression Obsession)

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)

Freshly Made Sketches 492

 🎵🎶🎵  We're having a heat wave...a tropical heat wave  🎵🎶🎵 It's our second one of the year and it's only technically been summer for about 9 days!  So to celebrate my 100-degree weather I decided to take Cécile's new design for Freshly Made Sketches and make a Christmas card.  Dreaming about Christmas won't help the weather outside but it makes me smile all the same!

Cécile always designs the most artful cards - and sketches - and I was excited to create a clean and simple card for this sketch.  I added a bit of texture with the embossed square in the center and decided to mount it to a layer of gold glimmer paper.  The red poinsettia gives this a beautiful pop of color.  The gold cord completes the look and allows me to enter this into the Christmas Card Throwdown challenge following the far right column.

Thanks for stopping by!  As always my Freshly Made Sketches teammates have dreamed up some beautiful cards with this sketch so be sure to check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Christmas Mini Cluster (The Ton)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Cherry (Avery Elle); gold glimmer (Recollections)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Poinsettia die (Paper Smooches); Decorative Dots embossing folder, gold cord (Stampin' Up!)

Freshly Made Sketches 490

It's time for a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our hostess this week is Jen Brum and her sketch inspired me to make something a little whimsical.

Using colors from the latest Sunday Stamps Challenge I stamped a grungy image as my vertical layer then stamped these fun flowers and popped them up on foam.  The sentiment is a little on the fun and whimsical side too.

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow Freshly Made Sketches teammates totally rocked this sketch to be sure to check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Rugged Edge (IndigoBlu); Funky Florals (Papertrey Ink); Easy Expressions Birthday (The Ton)
Paper:  Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Teal Cave, Rouge, Crimson, Jet Black (Altenew)

Fusion - Thank You

One thing I love about the Fusion challenge is the option to choose either the sketch or the inspiration.  And if you're feeling especially adventurous you can combine the two and create...wait for it...FUSION!  But sometimes my brain is not firing on all cylinders and all I can come up with is just one of them.  This week it's the sketch!

I love this gingham paper and don't use it nearly enough as I should.  So the color challenge at The Paper Players gave me the perfect opportunity to use it layered with a red slim layer a-la the sketch.  The flower was cut out of some ancient DSP in my stash and I used an equally ancient corduroy button for the center of the flower.  (It gives me great joy to use up old supplies that are languishing in my craft room)!  I took a risk stamping the sentiment on that gingham layer.  I stamped on my stamp-a-ma-jig first and it looked like it would show up ok against the pattern but in reality it looks a little lost.  But it's still pretty!

Thanks for stopping by!  We've got a lot of great inspiration for you at Fusion so be sure to check it out!

Supplies
Stamps:  Easy Expressions Thanks (The Ton)
Paper:  Smoky Slate, Real Red, Prints Pack DSP (Stampin' Up!); True Black Gingham (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Plentiful Petals die (My Favorite Things): corduroy button (Stampin' Up!)

Freshly Made Sketches #479

It's time for a new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week our hostess is Kim and her terrific sketch inspired me to take a trip around my craft room and rummage for supplies!

I went seriously old-school on my card this week.  The stamp set is an old favorite and the patterned paper is a tiny remnant that fit the card front perfectly.  I even used some grosgrain ribbon - part of a monster stash that has been sadly neglected over the years!  I did add a bit of the new though - the sentiment is thoroughly modern and from a set that I bought recently!

Thanks for stopping by!  My Freshly Made Sketches teammates have some gorgeous cards to wow you with this week!  I hope they inspire you to play along with us!

Supplies
Stamps:  Best Blossoms (Stampin' Up!); Easy Expressions Thanks (The Ton)
Paper:  Whisper White, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Cottage Wall DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Rich Razzleberry (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Pierced Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things); Little Leaves Sizzlet, Old Olive grosgrain ribbon (Stampin' Up!)

Freshly Made Sketches 473

Hi everyone!  It's Wednesday so that means it's time for a new sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week our hostess is Amy and her sketch is fantastic!

My little watercolored background panel is one that I have been pushing around my craft desk for - I don't know - years!  I can't remember what project I originally made it for but whatever it was I had this smallish bit left over that I never threw out.  All this time I've been moving this piece from one side of my desk to another thinking it was too pretty to get rid of and finally I was proved right!  (On a side note, I think I need some kind of container for scraps)!  I added a horizontal strip of vellum then cut the sentiment from black glitter paper on my Scan N Cut.  

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow teammates at Freshly Made Sketches have got some great cards to inspire you to play along with us!

Supplies

Paper:  Whisper White, Pool Party, vellum (Stampin' Up!); Distress Watercolor (Tim Holtz); Black Foil Paper (Recollections)

Accessories:  Bold  Alpha Lower svg (The Ton)

Freshly Made Sketches 472

We've got a great new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches.  It's an uber clean and simple design brought to you by Narelle.  As much as I'm a clean and simple girl, sometimes all that white space confounds me!  Go figure!

I ended up doing a combination of a sketchy stamp and some washi tape for the two horizontal lines and then added a delicate butterfly and a sentiment.  I'm sure you can't see it in the picture, but the cardstock that I cut the butterfly from has got a lovely shimmer to it.  It's from an old specialty set from Stampin' Up! that I use sparingly because it's so pretty.  Yes, I'm a hoarder!

I chose to do this card in all brown because of the Chocolate challenge at Less is More.  I'm a little unclear about whether I need to use an image of chocolate (as in the edible kind) or whether I can use chocolate colors so I'll let the LIM design team decide whether or not to chuck me from the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!  Our Freshly Made Sketches design team has interpreted this sketch is fabulous ways!  I'm sure you'll be inspired to play along with us!

Supplies
Stamps:  Easy Expressions Thanks (The Ton); Slash Border (Impression Obsession)
Paper:  Whisper White, Taste of Textiles (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Truffle (Avery Elle); Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories:  Delaney Butterfly die (Poppystamps)