Freshly Made Sketches #450

Hello everyone! One of the highlights of my crafting week is on Wednesday, when I get to share the new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! This week's sketch was designed by the very talented Karren, and I know you will have fun creating with it.

I had several stamp sets out, trying to decide which I would use for the trio of circles. I finally decided on the yet-uninked Zippy Zebras from My Favorite Things. I have been wanting to use these cute guys for a long time, and they finally got their chance to shine today!

I used a little of this and that from various companies to make this little layered scene, but I think it turned out so cute. What do you think? 

I stamped my zebras with VersaFine Clair Nocturne, and then did a little highlighting with Copics. The sky background was a watercolor distress ink background I had. It has some nice texture in it that doesn't distract from the foreground. The clouds are from MFT, the grass die is Sweet N Sassy Stamps, and the sun rays are Brighter Days from Concord and 9th. That fun background paper is from Stampin' Up! 

 

I hope you will join our sketch challenge this week, and add your creations to our gallery! You have until Monday, August 31, at 3 PM Eastern time to join us! Be sure to stop at the Freshly Made Sketches blog, and click on the names of my teammates to see what beauty they have created this week!

 

Festive Friday #FF0066

Happy Friday!

September 12 is National Day of Encouragement. Isn't this the perfect time to send some? The Festive Friday Challenge this week is inspired by encouraging others.

At Festive Friday, you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion.  Your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. For my card today, I chose bright colors, flowers, uplifting sentiment, and sparkle.

I started by lightly layering Distress Oxide Inks on watercolor paper, and then using a water brush to swirl the colors around to resemble ranunculus flowers - one of my favorites. I added subtle leaves with the side of my blender brushes. The sentiment is a die cut from Erin Lee. I added some pretty pink pearls (Kaiser) and gold metallic thread (Krenik) for embellishments and sparkle.

 

I hope you will join us for this challenge! Remember, you can choose any three from the list, for any occasion or theme! The challenge is open until August 31st! Be sure to visit the rest of the DT to see what inspired them in their projects:

Ann Schach  

Beth McCullough 

Sharon Hashimoto Burkert  

Melanie Hungerford 

Helen Jennings  

Stephanie Lanzalotto 

Melva Peters

 

 

Stenciling in Blues

Today is the day my new grandson makes his debut! I can hardly wait to see him, let alone HOLD him. He will bring so much joy to his big sister and brother!

I am sure it will be a busy day, waiting for news, and all that comes with a new baby announcement. So I am sharing cards that can be made quickly, but also are as elegant as if you spent much longer creating them. 

I am using a stencil and sentiment from Picket Fence Studios. I must love stenciling in blues lately, because I made another similar card a couple of months back, which you can see HERE.

Today I am using the BROCADE stencil, with a sentiment from FANCY SENTIMENTS.

For this card I used Speckled Egg and Broken China Distress Oxide inks. I embossed the sentiment on vellum and added some blue metallic thread (Krenik) for sparkle. A trio of Bliss Blue pearls (Kaiser) in the corner finish the card. I did have a little extra from my front panel, and used it on the inside of the card as well.

Hope you have a great day, and I hope to post some photos of my little grandbaby soon!

Freshly Made Sketches #449

It's Wednesday, and that means a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Cécile is our hostess for this week. I know you will have fun with this sketch and the different ways you can interpret it. I did a rather loose interpretation, as you can see!

I am thrilled for Lori Craig, who recently collaborated with Taylored Expressions on a new kit: Field Notes. It was so popular, that I believe the kit is already sold out! I was fortunate enough to grab one, and I am so glad! It's a fabulous kit, with so many elements, but mostly, of course, all the stamps from Lori's sketchbook, which are beautiful! 

I stamped the coneflower from the Sketchbook Florals set using Brutus Monroe Raven ink on the TE 110# watercolor paper especially for Karin markers. I then watercolored using a water brush and a few of my Karins. While I have never seen a coneflower with these colors, I love how it turned out. I cut it out with the matching die. I made a couple of little watercolor blobs for the big triangles in the sketch, and used one of the stamps from the Field Notes set for the smaller triangle. I added my sentiment from the Florals stamp set on the flipside. Finally, I gave the entire floral image a light coat of Wink of Stella for a sweet sparkly finish.

I hope you will join us with your take on the sketch this week! Our challenge is open until 3 PM EDT on Monday, August 24. Click on the links on the FMS blog by each photo to see some fun interpretations from my teammates!

Creating with 4x4 Repeating Background Stamps from Picket Fence Studios

Hello Everyone! Happy Monday!
Today I am sharing creations made with 4x4 repeating background stamps from Picket Fence Studios. These stamps are fabulous, not only for their images, but because you can make them as large or as small as you would like. They repeat on all four sides, making them easy to line up to create larger backgrounds.

First up is Moths from the August release. With this card, I stamped twice (one on top of each other) using Versamark ink. The MISTI makes lining things up so easy! 

I embossed with Clear Embossing Powder to make those little moths shine. I found some patterned paper that coordinated with my cardstock, and added twine down the side. Can you find the hidden sequins on some of the dots? They are from the Screwdriver Sequin Mix. The sentiment is from the previously released A Dose of Vitamin Sea.

Next up is the previously released Reindeer Games. These tiny little guys will steal your Christmas cardmaking heart! They are so cute. With this card, I stamped and lined up four times: once on top, and twice on the sides for a wider image panel. It has a similar layout with twine, patterned paper and a single sentiment, which is from Inside Quotes: Christmas. My background was made using a smooshed ink technique with Distress Oxide inks.

Next is On A Seahorse's Dreams, where I used just the 4x4 image, without adding any additional image stamping. I embossed with Gold EP, and added some metallic thread. The sentiment is the I Miss You Word Die. While it is currently sold out (you can see why - it's awesome!), there are many others that you could use in its place.The background on this card is a watercolor wash. The base panel is printed vellum on black cardstock.

Next up is Loads of Mail. With this card, I stamped and lined up twice - on top of each other, but used less of the width, to have room for the sentiment. So it's less than 4 inches wide. But what a graphic statement it made for this card! I used a sentiment from Spotlight on You down the side, and the awesome Paul James Guy (and die!) for a masculine birthday card.

Finally, while it's fun to line up and repeat, it's also fun to use partial images, as I did above, but even more so with the newly released Hope Ribbons. I used a circle die to cut out different sizes and make an uplifting card, using orange, which is the ribbon support color for Leukemia. The sentiment is from A Dose of Vitamin Sea. Those little rhinestones added a touch of sparkling hope! I hope you have enjoyed this look at some of the 4x4 repeating background stamps, and will give them a try! I definitely recommend the MISTI to help you succeed in lining up the images!

 

New Summer Stamps from Visible Image

Summer is almost over?? Say it isn't so! I know many of us still feel stuck in March. I know I do frequently. But, I am also ready for cooler weather. How about you?

So before summer disappears completely, I want to share some of my summer creations using stamps and stencils from Visible Image Stamps. 

First up is my favorite new stencil: MESH IT UP. I love the irregular, non-symmetrical design. It gives such great texture to any background! For this card, I started with heavy, toothed watercolor paper, inked up with Distress Oxide Inks, and swirled with a water brush to soften the colors. I chose two pinks, a yellow, and a touch of green. 

Then I stamped the daffodils from FLOWER ART using VersaFine Clair Nocturne. Because of the texture of the watercolor paper, the image lines also show texture. Next came the sentiment from SUMMER WINGS. I thought "reflect" worked well with the watercolor circles of yellow. Finally, I added the MESH IT UP stencil on top, using my MAKE IT ART STAY-tion to hold the stencil in place. I added tiny rhinestones for sparkle.

 

I love this stencil and these stamps so much, that I made another card using the same products, but with different background techniques and colors - and had totally forgotten that it was so similar. That's 2020 for you!

For this one I used a smooshed background with Distress Oxides and a sentiment from EQUALITY HOPE & LOVE.

Which do you like better?

Challenges:

• Creative Artiste Challenge - No. 63 -  ANYTHING MIXED MEDIA GOES
  

  Creative Moments - Anything Goes/Optional Citrus Colors
  

It's Release Day for Picket Fence Studios!

It's always an exciting day for Picket Fence Studios when it's Release Day! The August release has some COOL products - yep! Halloween and Fall goodies so you have plenty of time to work on those cards coming up soon, as well as some cute stamps for all occasions! 

We're halfway through August! How did that happen? Well, it's true I have been gone since July 31 on vacation, and just got back on Tuesday night, so that's probably part of it. BUT --

Today I am excited to show a brand new stencil: Evergreens. I love the shape and height of the trees - perfect for a snowy winter scene, I think! I used my Blender Brushes and my MAKE ART STAY-tion (Wendy Vecchi) to blend my colors around the trees. I chose four colors of Distress Oxides for my background: Spun Sugar, Dusty Concord and Salty Ocean. I then spritzed with a fine mist sprayer for some snow effect in the background.

I pounced Versamark ink along the bottom with a sponge, and embossed with Vanilla Ice Embossing Powder (Sparkle N Sprinkle - retired) to give the effect of snow. The sentiment (VersaFine Clair Nocturne) is from last month's Baby It's Cold Outside stamp set. I added a few sequins from the Gin and Tonic Collection for additional sparkle.

It's a simply fabulous release, so head over to Picket Fence Studios to see it all! There is so MUCH MORE to check out! Shop {HERE} or click one of the links below! 

I hope to see you again soon for more cardmaking ideas!

Freshly Made Sketches #448

It's Wednesday, and that means a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Sweet Jen B is our hostess for this week. I know you will have fun with this sketch. I sure did!

I had this striped paper on top of my "unfinished projects" box, and that was the beginning of this card. I decided to make everything from items in that little box. I used the Scribble Flowers from Sweet N Sassy Stamps for my images (already stamped and cut), and a Sizzix embossing folder to add texture. The sentiment is from Taylored Expressions Sentiment Strips. Once you cut one, you have a lot left over for other projects!

I popped everything up from the striped base, and added three enamel dots in yellow for a little pop of color and to go with the cute bee!

I hope you will join us with your take on the sketch this week! Our challenge is open until 3 PM EDT on Monday, August 17. Click on the links on the FMS blog by each photo to see what lovely things my teammates have created on their blogs!

Festive Friday #FF0065

Happy Friday!

I am thrilled to be joining the Festive Friday Challenge Blog Design Team. I love creating cards from a list of items, and the Inspo List at Festive Friday is just up my alley!

August 26 is National Dog Day, and if you have followed me for awhile, you know I am a dog lover! Check out my sidebar to see my sweet Sophie. She is a Treeing Walker Coonhound that we rescued in April 2019. She has become part of our family - and is at this very moment, traveling with us on our mini vacation to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks! Our FF Challenge this week is inspired by dogs!

At Festive Friday, you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion.  Your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. For my card today, I chose DOG, PAW PRINT, and LOYALTY/LOVE SENTIMENT.

I used my MFT Square Extraordinaire Stencil and blended three DOX inks together: Twisted Citron, Salty Ocean, and Blueprint Sketch. My dog is from Newton's Nook Furr-ever Friends. I stamped him on Hammermill White Cardstock with VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink, and then embossed with WOW! Clear Embossing Powder. The matching dies make it easy to cut out! Next, I stamped the paw prints from AAL & Create's Paw Prints stamp set, and also embossed those in clear EP. I had a little bit of sun left over from another project using Concord and 9th's Brighter Days dies, and a little pile of clouds (I don't remember whose these are!). I stamped my sentiment on the biggest puffy cloud, and then popped most of it up using foam tape. Black and green cardstock from my stash made the card base. I love how it turned out!

I hope you will join us for this challenge! Remember, you can choose any three from the list, for any occasion or theme! The challenge is open until August 17th! Be sure to visit the rest of the DT to see what inspired them in their projects:

Ann Schach  

 

Beth McCullough

 

Sharon Hashimoto Burkert

 

Melanie Hungerford

 

Helen Jennings

 

Stephanie Lanzalotto

Melva Peters

 

Freshly Made Sketches #447

It's Wednesday, and that means a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! The ever talented Kim is our hostess for this week. I know you will have fun with this sketch. I sure did!

I am enjoying a family vacation right now in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, and will share some of those photos when I get back. But for now, here is my sketch card for this week!

I used the Ripped Fishnet Stencil from Visible Images for my background. I had intended to keep it blue, but some pink crept in from a previous project, and I ended up loving the two toned look.

My turtle is from Swim in the Sea (Picket Fence Studios) and the sentiment is from I Am A Mermaid (also PFS). I colored my turtle with Copic markers and popped him up with foam tape. I added a few water bubbles for embellishments.

I hope you will join us with your take on the sketch this week! Our challenge is open until 3 PM EDT on Monday. Click on the links on the FMS blog by each photo to see what lovely things my teammates have created on their blogs!