Freshly Made Sketches #668

Hello stamping friends!  We've got a great new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches and this week our design is brought to you by Karren.  The sketch looked like it had layers to me so I dug into my stash of patterned paper and made a valentine.

The color challenge at Color Hues helped to inspire my valentine.  Kraft + {insert color here} is always a favorite combination of mine.  The contrast is fun and so versatile.  In this case the vertical layers on the sketch lent themselves perfectly to a couple of different pieces of patterned paper which created the perfect background to my heart.  I added some gold Wink of Stella to the "love" die cut, but it looks very blah in this picture.  In real life it's quite zazzy!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you can join us at Freshly Made Sketches.  🩷

Supplies
Stamps:  Love Stamp (Hero Arts)
Paper:  Kraft (Papertrey Ink); Real Red (Stampin' Up!); Gingham-Linen Rainbow Petite Prints (Doodlebug Designs)
Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories:  Love die (Hero Arts); Scallop Border die (The Stamps of Life); Wink of Stella

Freshly Made Sketches 570

We've got a great new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess and sketch designer this week is Jen Timko.  I loved the sketch when I first saw it, but oddly it gave me trouble when I tried translating it to an actual card.  But I eventually prevailed!

I had many ideas floating around in my head when I contemplated the sketch, but none of them panned out!  I wanted to use some of my patterned paper stash, but nothing looked quite right to me.  Then I stumbled on this old Stampin' Up! set and decided to use the big sentiment in it and draw lines around it, which would take the place of that narrow layer at the top of the sketch.  

I colored the stamp with four different SU markers then "huffed" on the stamp to keep the ink wet.  Remember huffing?!?!?!  It worked and I was pleased to see the stamp inked in the colors I intended!

My fellow Freshly Made Sketches design team members have made some absolutely fabulous cards with this sketch, so you just have to check them out.  I hope we'll see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Love You Much (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Real Red, Garden Green, Regal Rose, Basic Black (Stampin' Up!)

Freshly Made Sketches 517

Well hello!  I've been MIA on my blog for a few weeks enjoying a holiday break, but I'm back today with a brand new card for our challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!  We are starting off the new year with a fun sketch from Amy and I surprised myself by making a Valentine.  Usually the new year has me nostalgic for more Christmas cards but this year I've apparently started a new trend!

Those squares on the sketch became an arrangement of hearts on my card and I added a slim sentiment across them.  To create some interest on the background I embossed it in a diamond pattern and added a bit of color at the top and bottom.  All in all a super easy card to create!

Thanks for stopping by!  Our amazing Freshly Made Sketches design team has some made great cards to inspire you to play along with us so be sure to check them out!

Supplies
Stamps:   I {Heart} Hearts (Stampin' Up!); Tons of  Type (The Stamp Market)
Paper:  Whisper White, Rose Red (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Real Red, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Rose Red (Stampin' Up!); Onyx Black (Verafine)
Accessories:  Guide Lines impression plate (Papertrey Ink)

Fusion - Valentine Gnome

I always associate gnomes with Christmas.  The hat and the full beard seem well suited to a cold climate, after all!  But our new challenge at Fusion places gnomes smack-dab in the middle of Valentine's Day!  I love the warm colors of the inspiration photo so I took my cues from those and combined it with the sketch. 

I used a bunch of things from my stash on this card:  a stencil, a punch, some very cool gingham paper, and some stamps, of course!  I spent some time happily rooting around in my stash to make this card.  I love it when I can show some of my older supplies some love!

Come join us at Fusion - where you can use the inspiration photo, the sketch, or both.  It's totally up to you!  And for some inspiration head on over to check out what our design team has put together.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Flower Doodles (The Alley Way Stamps)
Paper:  Desert Storm (Neenah); Basic Black, Naturals Ivory (Stampin' Up!); True Black Gingham (Papertrey Ink); X-Press It Blending Card
Ink:  Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up!); Nocturne (VersaFine Clair); Copics
Accessories:  Mosaic Heart Stencil (Simon Says Stamp)

Freshly Made Sketches 470

Hi all!  We've got a great new sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess is the lovely Jen Brum and she's given us a great sketch!

I've had enough of making Christmas cards for now so I thought it would be a good idea to make a Valentine.  The two circles on either ends of the sketch got me thinking about hearts so I went deep into my stash and found an oldie-but-goodie Valentine set and inked up a couple of hearts from it.  I put those on one corner and for the opposite end I opted for a small tag with a heart on it.  Cute!  The big "love" sentiment is the real star, though!

Thanks for stopping by!  As usual my teammates at Freshly Made Sketches have made some amazing cards with this sketch so be sure to check them out!

Supplies

Stamps:  Love (Hero Arts); I {Heart} Heart (Stampin' Up!)

Paper:  Whisper White, Real Red (Stampin' Up!)

Ink:  Real Red (Stampin' Up!); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Love die (Hero Arts)

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I've been bitten with the Valentine bug lately so my card this week for Freshly Made Sketches features a little heart.  Linda is our hostess this week and I got a little creative with one of the layers on her sketch.

The larger vertical background layer had me reaching for some striped patterned paper from a valentine set that I won many years ago.  I wrapped some crochet thread around it three times but opted not to tie a bow (per the sketch) because my bows are often horrible! 

When I made the smaller vertical layer I opted to connect a series of squares instead of making one long rectangle.  I think the little heart in the center says sit all:  Hey there Valentine!  The colors of my card were inspired by the latest challenge at The Paper Players and those stripes are for the Just Us Girls challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!  My fellow Freshly Made Sketches teammates have all whipped up some fabulous cards for this sketch to inspire you to play along with us.  I hope we'll see you in the gallery!

Supplies
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Strawberry Slush, Real Red (Stampin' Up!); You & Me (Elle's Studio)
Accessories:  crochet thread; stitched heart die

Tag You're It 80

A little over a year ago at Tag You're It Challenge we said goodbye....but not for good!  I'm so happy to say that with challenge #80 WE ARE BACK!

Tags are such fun projects to make.  You can use them as tags on gifts or you can add them to a card front to make a great card.  For our comeback challenge we've got a valentine - love is in the air - theme!

For sure I wanted to incorporate some hearts onto my tag.  I found an old stamp set that had a few heart images with various patterns so I stamped a couple of them in red and pink.  To my tag I added a die cut "love" sentiment and a couple of those stamped hearts along with a sentiment on an angle.  At Time Out Challenges their inspiration photo had a lot of hearts so I wanted to play along with them as well!

It's so great to be back at Tag You're It Challenge!  Our design team has got some great tags to inspire you to play along with us!

Supplies
Stamps:  I {Heart} Hearts ( Stampin' Up!); Love (Hero Arts)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Real Red (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Real Red, Pretty in Pink (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Love die (Hero Arts)

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It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our sketch this week is designed by Kim and I thought it would make a nice valentine.

Inspired by the colors at Sunday Stamps I created an ombre design with the angled stripes and then dug out a very ancient Stampin' Up! set and stamped the big heart.  And an obvious choice was this valentine sentiment that followed the diagonal perfectly.

The battery died on my camera just as I was about to take the pic of this card.  Not wanting to delay I took the pic on my mobile phone instead.  It is so dark!  I'm embarrassed to show it but didn't have enough time to wait for the battery to charge and take a better one.  So there you have it!

The Freshly Made Sketches design team has created some great cards for this challenge so be sure to check them out for inspiration.  I hope you'll join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps:  Love You Much (Stampin' Up); Love (Hero Arts)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Rose Red (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Rose Red, Regal Rose (Stampin' Up!)

CAS(E) This Sketch Meets Fusion

It's that day when I get to combine the sketch challenge from CAS(E) This Sketch with the inspiration at Fusion.  This week love is in the air!

I love penguins (especially the Macaroni ones) but I didn't have one single penguin in my stamping stash.  So Etsy to the rescue!  I found this adorable digital stamp and since that little guy (girl?) was surrounded by hearts I knew it was the perfect image for the Fusion inspiration.  I added some cute patterned paper in layers a-la the sketch and my little valentine was born!  Lucky for me valentines abound because the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is Have a Heart so this fits well over there too!

Thanks for stopping by!  We've got a great sketch for you at CAS(E) This Sketch and at Fusion you can follow the sketch or the inspiration or both!  I hope you'll join us!

Supplies
Stamps:  Penguin Bundle of Love (Conie Fong); Love (Hero Arts)
Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); X-Press It Blending Card; Cherry (Avery Elle)
Ink:  Nocturne (Versafine Clair); Copics
Accessories:  Love die (Hero Arts)

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Happy Wednesday!  It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.  This week our sketch is brought to you by Cécile and it is simplicity at it's finest!  Let your imagination be your guide!

I made another Valentine!  I think it's because the color challenge at Cupcake Inspiration inspired my theme.  I liked the idea of a bit of black accenting the cream and pink and I thought it would make an interesting Valentine.  My card actually ended up being a postcard.  I made this card over the course of two days.  My only task on Day 2 was to stamp the sentiment.  Well, I wasn't paying very good attention because this top-fold card was bottoms up when I stamped the sentiment so it would have opened bottom side up.  Oops!  No problem, though.  I cut the card along the fold and I'll attach it to another card base - there are no mistakes in staming, right!!??!!

Thanks for stopping by!  And don't forget to check out the inspiration from our always-amazing design team at Freshly Made Sketches.  I hope to see you in our gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Love (Hero Arts)
Paper:  Classic Ivory (Flourishes); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Regal Rose (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Love die (Hero Arts); Pierced Rectangle STAX, Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things); Pink & Pepper Couture sequin mix (The Ton); Wink of Stella

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And the Valentines continue....We've got a new challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch and as I contemplated all those layers I realized that a heart would look pretty cute embedded in the last one.  Here's what I mean:

From there it was a simple decision to add my little hashtag sentiment.  Voila - a Valentine was born!  I played along with the Paper Players love notes challenge and the CAS on Friday Valentine challenge earlier this week but I can't resist adding these cards there too.

Thanks for stopping by!  My CAS(E) This Sketch teamies have got some great cards to inspire you so be sure to check out their cards for our latest sketch and join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Hashtags (Tim Holtz)
Paper:  Pixie, Cherry (Avery Elle)
Ink:  Cherry (Avery Elle)
Accessories:  Stitched Heart die (White Lotus)

Freshly Made Sketches 320

It's a month until Valentine's Day and our latest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches is just the thing to put you in the love-mood!  Our hostess this week is Kim and I think you are going to love her sketch!  We've also got some exciting news.  Teresa Kline will be joining us at a guest designer for the next two months.  We are thrilled to have her as a part of our team!

Have I mentioned that I love to make shaker cards?  I made one that I posted yesterday and here I am again with another one.  They're just so darn FUN!  This one is jam-packed with Valentine colored sequins (and even a few hearts).  I got this little sequin pack from my Tag You're It teammate Susan for my birthday and they were just what I needed to make this Valentine perfect!  There's a Valentine challenge at CAS on Friday so I think I'll add this over there too!

Thanks for stopping by.  We'd love to see you in our gallery at Freshly Made Sketches so please join us.  There's loads of inspiration there for you to see from our always-amazing design team!

Supplies
Stamps:  Love (Hero Arts)
Paper:  Cloud White (Reverse  Confetti); Cherry (Avery Elle); Pretty in Pink (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Cherry (Avery Elle)
Accessories:  Love die (Hero Arts); stitched heart die (White Lotus)

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

CAS(E) This Sketch 205!

Happy Thursday!  It's time for a new sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch!  It's a fun one designed by Chrissy.  (Just ignore the fact that I put the sentiment in the wrong place).....

My card is bigger than what I normally make because I wanted to use this heart stencil and I needed a piece of cardstock that was at least 4 1/4-inches wide.  So I started with the white layer and added the rest of the layers around it.

I used sparkle medium on the stencil, some glimmer paper for the sentiment and one of the layers and I can tell you that this has got some really fun sparkle and shimmer in real life!

The cue word this week at CASology is "cut" which, of course, made me think of a die cut which fit perfectly with my sparkly sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by!  And check out the amazing inspiration from the design team at CAS(E) This Sketch.  We'd love to see your design in the gallery!

Supplies
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Black (Simon Says Stamp); Real Red, Red Glimmer (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  Family is Everything die (My Creative Time); Mosaic Heart stencil (Simon Says Stammp); Silver Sparkle Medium (Imagination Crafts)

CAS(E) This Sketch 204!

Excuse my tardiness!  I have no idea where my brain has got to, but it suddenly occurred to me today that I never posted the card I made for the latest CAS(E) This Sketch challenge!  Oops!  So here it is!

I wanted to make a valentine without using reds or pinks so I took my cues from a couple of current color challenges.  There's one at Cupcake Inspirations that is looking for black, white, and silver and CAS on Sunday is looking for black, white, plus one other color.  The silver paper that I used to cut one of the sketchy hearts is very shiny in real life but it looks a little gray here.  And you'll have to trust me when I say that this looks better in person!

So I guess I'm better late than never with my CAS(E) This Sketch card (she said rather sheepishly).  I hope you have a chance to join us in the gallery!

Supplies
Stamps:  Label Love (Altenew)
Paper:  White (Spectrum Noir); Basic Black (Stampin' Up!); Silver Kraft Core (Tim Holtz)
Ink:  Jet Black (Altnew)
Accessories:  Scribble Heart die (Simon Says Stamp); Midnight Blend sequins (Avery Elle)