Freshly Made Sketches #516

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! The oh-so-talented Narelle is our hostess today!

I am a sucker for pink Christmas cards. Pink, anything, really! I love all the stitching on these snowflake dies from Stampin' Up! And the matching designer paper makes it easy to whip up a pretty card! Now the issue is just getting my cards in the mail. But -- I think it's fun to get holiday cards all month long, even through the new year. So hopefully the recipient of this one will enjoy it no matter when it arrives.

I cut the Joy die (Peace & Joy - SU!) four times (three with white and one with silver) to add dimension and make it stand out among the busy background. I like how the white gives it a little bit of an outline when you see it from an angle. I added little clear gems on two of the snowflakes, and a third gem on the card base below the white snowflake (for that "rule of three" - ha!).

I hope you will join our sketch challenge, and add your creations to our gallery! This challenge is the last for 2021, will end at 3:00 EST time on Monday, January 3. Tons of play time! Be sure to take a peek at the gorgeous cards my teammates have made on the FMS blog to inspire you! 

Freshly Made Sketches #515

 Today is Wednesday and it's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Our friend on the other side of the world, Karren, is our lovely hostess today! 

I love this Whimsical Trees Bundle by Stampin' Up! There are so many more shapes and sizes than the two trees I have used here, but I can see I will be using this bundle a lot! 

I cut the trees out using four different colors of cardstock to coordinate with my alcohol ink background. Guess what? That's just some gorgeous paper from the Honey Bee Stamps' Team Tie-Dye pack! The sentiments are from the Stampin' Up! Peace & Joy Bundle. I stacked the "Bright" three times and backed it with vellum, and included a small vellum snowflake for the two smaller words, "MERRY AND." The snow is cut from silver cardstock (CCS) and a die from Whimsy Stamps.

I hope you will join our sketch challenge this week, and add your creations to our gallery! This challenge will end at 3:00 EST time on Monday, December 13th. Be sure to take a peek at the gorgeous cards my teammates have made on the FMS blog!  

Freshly Made Sketches #514

Today is Wednesday and it's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! The beautiful Cécile is our hostess today! She is a master at delicate die cuts, so be sure to check out her card today!

I have been down for about ten days with what is now bronchitis, but I really wanted to make something today since I missed last week (for that reason ^). I saw the sweet ornament from Power Poppy's Simple Joys set, and it just caught my eye. I really wanted to make it work for this sketch. There are many adorable sentiments in the set, and some that I tried off to the side, but I kept coming back to the one that filled the center of the ornament to keep the card very clean and simple. So I hope what I did instead works!

I stamped my ornament with VersaFine Clair Nocturne, and then embossed with WOW! Clear EP. I watercolored with my Altenew 36 Pan Set and then stamped the sentiment in the center. I added Celebration gems from PFS to complete the sketch. My little card measures 4.5" square.

I hope you will join our sketch challenge this week, and add your creations to our gallery! This challenge will end at 3:00 EST time on Monday, December 6th. Be sure to take a peek at the gorgeous cards my teammates have made on the FMS blog!  

Freshly Made Sketches #512

Today is Wednesday and it's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! The lovely Kim is our hostess today!

While you can use any shape for the tree in the sketch, I decided to stick with trees for a holiday card. I am using products from Stampin' Up!

I love all the stitching on these dies! I am not one that likes to create multiples, but I could see me making a few of these!

This week I took some time with my husband and traveled to see our son, his wife, and our three grandchildren. They live over a thousand miles away, and we haven't seen them in a year! We are enjoying our short time with them so much! (That, and amazing seafood!)

I hope you will join our sketch challenge this week, and add your creations to our gallery! This challenge will end at 3:00 EST time on Monday, November 22nd. Be sure to take a peek at the gorgeous cards my teammates have made on the FMS blog! 

It's Coffee Time!

Today is the first day of the Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop! 

I am playing along today with a fun background made with my Gel Press, and various coffee colors of acrylic paint. I used the SSS Cup of Love stamps and dies for my card.

I embossed my images with clear EP and colored with Copics. 

It has a lot of texture and will make a fun greeting for a coffee loving friend!

I made this short and sweet so you can keep hopping and enjoy the creativity of this crafting community!

Thanks for stopping by!

Freshly Made Sketches #511

Today is Wednesday and it's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! The lovely Linda is our hostess today!

This watercolored pine bough has been in my "this didn't turn out like I expected but maybe I will use it someday" box for several years. Years! And while it wasn't what I had planned back then, it was perfect for Linda's sketch with all of the open space. I even had room to offset the card to the right, make a wonky layer, and distress the edges.

The paper has some texture to it, and little flecks of colors here and there. The stamp is from the Christmas Pine set by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, using Always Artichoke (SU!) ink. The sentiment strip is from SSS. I added silver metallic thread from Kreinik, and red and white rhinestone gems from PFS.

I hope you will join our sketch challenge this week, and add your creations to our gallery! This challenge will end at 3:00 EST time on Monday, November 15th. Be sure to take a peek at the gorgeous cards my teammates have made on the FMS blog! 

Freshly Made Sketches #510

Happy November, everyone! 

I feel like 2020 lasted three years, and 2021 was only three months! Wow, has this year flown. And this last week was a total blur. I had a wonderful time in Arizona, but did not feel I was there long enough at all. Another trip will just have to be planned. My sister and I had a great time, and made some crafty things that I will be showing later this month.

But - today is Wednesday and it's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Jen M is our hostess today, and I love the sketch. I'm surprised I didn't go with a circle, because they make me happy, so I'm saving this sketch for another time WITH a circle!

I cut the tag from a watercolored square that was in my mixed media prints and paints. I love that little corner of Bundled Sage DOX in the lower right - a darker and cooler green that is peeking into the tag. The gold and burgundy leaves are Ash Leaves Dies from Picket Fence Studios. The sentiment is from the beautiful Phoenix Rising stamp set by Visible Image Stamps. My stamped leaf was watercolored and then fussy cut from the larger panel I used as the background.

I added my favorite gold metallic thread from Kreinik, and two types of twine at the top. The gorgeous Pale Yellow Glitter paper (HA) adds sparkle to the middle of the card.  

I hope you will join our sketch challenge this week, and add your creations to our gallery! This challenge will end at 3:00 EDT time on Monday, November 8th. Be sure to take a peek at the gorgeous cards my teammates have made on the FMS blog! 

Freshly Made Sketches #509

Happy Wednesday everyone! Today is a super special day for me, as at this very moment I am on a plane to see my sister in Arizona! I haven't been there in nine years, and I am SO excited to see her (I haven't seen her since March 2020) and my home state that I miss so much.

So, as you can imagine, I wrote this post a bit early :)

And --- it's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! My lovely teammate and Captain of the skies, Jen T, is the hostess today!

Jen has given us free rein on the size of our card: slimline, mini slim, or standard! I chose to make a standard card, with a CAS design.

I chose the beautiful Wheatfield Dreams Kit from Taylored Expressions for my card today. It is unfortunately sold out, and no wonder, as Lori's designs are simply stunning. I love this sentiment too, from one of our family's favorite authors.

I hope you will join our sketch challenge this week, and add your creations to our gallery! This challenge will end at 3:00 EDT time on Monday, November 1st (NOVEMBER?). Be sure to take a peek at the gorgeous cards my teammates have made on the FMS blog! 

Off to deplane and find some amazing Mexi food for brunch! Check out my IG at @joy_in_a_jar for trip updates! 

Supplies:

Stamps: Wheatfield Dreams Kit (TE)

Metallic Gold Rich Super Fine (WOW!)

Gold Metallic Thread (Kreinik) 

Stardream Metallic Antique Gold Cardstock (CutCardStock)

 

Freshly Made Sketches #508

It's Wednesday, and that means a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! My lovely teammate Jacquie is the hostess today!

I usually make a lot of Halloween cards, but this year this card is the first, I think! And it's next week! I had gotten some new goodies from Reverse Confetti, and really wanted to use the Layered BOO Confetti Cuts die, and that is where I began creating. I also got the Large Detailed Circle Frame Confetti Cuts at the same time, and put the two together for a Halloween shaker card. While the circle gives the illusion of a different sketch, I do have some gorgeous purple glitter cardstock (DCWV) behind the main panel, which follows the sketch!

 

I used some fun sequin mixes from Picket Fence Studios, and added some purple seed beads (because I have sooo many!) for fun. The crazy eyed bats are from a border from K & Co. that I have had forever in my Halloween craft stash. I cut them apart and popped them up with foam tape. The sweet sentiment is from Halloween Sentiments (also RC).

I hope you will join our sketch challenge this week, and add your creations to our gallery! This challenge will end at 3:00 EDT time on Monday, October 25th. Be sure to take a peek at the gorgeous cards my teammates have made on the FMS blog!  

 

Freshly Made Sketches #507

It's Wednesday, and that means a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! I have the honor of hosting this week.

I just got this adorable bear from Sugar Pea Designs (Hey Honey), and just had to use him this week. He and his honey pot worked perfectly for the sketch!

Both the sentiment, honey pot and bear are stamped with VersaFine Clair Nocturne, embossed with Clear WOW! Embossing Powder, and then the pot and bear are colored with Copic markers. I used a Stampin' Up embossing folder for the background, and added a Sugar Cut from Botanical Branches to tie in the card base color that matches his cute nose. I added three crystal gems for bling. The little bee is stamped right on the card (the last thing I added).

 

I hope you will join our sketch challenge this week, and add your creations to our gallery! This challenge will end at 3:00 EDT time on Monday, October 18th. Be sure to take a peek at the gorgeous cards my teammates have made on the FMS blog!  

Freshly Made Sketches #506

Come join our sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches! The very sweet and talented Amy is our hostess today! Be sure to check out her fabulous card!

Today was a "Use Your Stash" creation -- For this week's card I pulled elements out of a box where I throw everything that I cut or make and then don't use for one reason or another. The card base with the diagonals came from a Distress Background class I took from a friend several months ago. Using masking, we created beautiful diagonal backgrounds with different shades of DOX. It was a perfect "flipped sketch" background, and actually makes my shimmery deer happy. :-)

The snowflake die is from Picket Fence Studios (Snowflake Lydia), the deer, cut from gold shimmery cardstock (CCS) is Papertrey Ink, and the sentiment (cut from glitter paper) is from Stampin' Up. The only things NOT pulled from my unfinished projects box was the card base (MFT) and the three little gems (PFS).

I think it turned out pretty great! What do you think?

I hope you will join our sketch challenge this week, and add your creations to our gallery! This challenge will end at 3:00 EDT time on Monday, October 11th. Be sure to take a peek at the gorgeous cards my teammates have made on the FMS blog!

 

Freshly Made Sketches #505

Come join our sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches! The very talented Narelle is our hostess today!

I had a lot of ideas for this sketch - fall, Halloween, birthday - but in the end I went with bees! There are so many bees in my marigolds this year (which went wild from seeds last year!), and although they aren't the big fat bumbles like these, I am happy to see them buzzing around pollinating everything still. 

Most of these stamps and dies are from the Hero Arts January 2021 MMH Kit. I had not even used them yet! So today they got to see some ink - and embossing! This kit is not available anymore, but there are other fabulous options to recreate this card.

I first cut a circle using a wonky stitched circle die (MFT Stamps) out of the Pale Yellow Glitter paper that came with the kit. I added the Honeycomb window die, also cut with the same circle. I stamped the flowers from the kit and cut them out as well. And guess what? They were huge for my A2. I could have made a square card, but decided to stick with the usual A2, and just cut each side off the circle. I ended up really liking it. The flowers layer is popped up with foam tape.

The bees are stamped in VersaFine Onyx Black and embossed with clear embossing powder. I colored them with Copic markers, cut them out, and popped them up on the flower layer. I added some sequins from Honeybee Stamps. I layered all of this on a black mat, cut out with a wonky stitched rectangle die (MFT). To finish the card, I added some metallic gold Kreinik thread around the middle, and the word "buzz" using the Tall Skinny Alphabet from scrapbook dot com.

I hope you will join our sketch challenge this week, and add your creations to our gallery! This challenge will end at 3:00 EDT time on Monday, October 4th. Be sure to take a peek at the gorgeous cards my teammates have made on the FMS blog! 

Here is a little bee friend from my New England vacation this summer. This was taken near Franconia, NH. You would think I would stay away from them, since I am very allergic to their stings, but I love their jobs and watching them work.

 

Freshly Made Sketches #504

Come join our sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches! The very creative Karren is our hostess today!

When I saw the sketch, for some reason puffy clouds came to mind for the bottom layers. While it's not straight lines, it still follows the sketch! I am not a slimline fan, so I created a mini slim today (which I do like)!

I cut three layers of puffy clouds using MFT's Stitched Clouds Edges Dies. I popped up the middle layer for fun. Next, I cut the Airplane w/ Banner (CottageCutz) three times using Basic Black, Hammermill White, and Wild Cherry. I stamped my sentiment (Lily of the Valley/Reverse Confetti) and then adhered all of the airplane pieces together, also popped up. My card base is Seaside Spray (SU!) matted with Wild Cherry (Poptone). A lot of different companies' products today! I love combining what I have to make something fun!

I hope you will join our sketch challenge this week, and add your creations to our gallery! This challenge will end at 3:00 EDT time on Monday, September 27. Be sure to take a peek at the gorgeous cards my teammates have made on the FMS blog! 

Freshly Made Sketches #503

Looking for your mojo? Come join our sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches! The amazing Cécile is our hostess today! Be sure to take a peek at her stunning card for this week!

I love white space and how fresh that looks. But since it's almost fall, I chose a darker suede color (The Paper Studio) for my main panel. I moved the leaf slightly from the sketch to show off the gorgeous faux patina paper from Craft Consortium. Isn't that beautiful? 

I chose the paper to play in the SCS Color Challenge 861 this week as well. If you look closely at the leaf, you can see a mossy green! I cut my squares using the stitched square die (SU!), and then backed it with the designer paper. My card base is Pool Party (SU!).

I hope you will join our sketch challenge this week, and add your creations to our gallery! This challenge will end at 3:00 EDT time on Monday, September 20. Be sure to take a peek at the gorgeous cards my teammates have made on the FMS blog! 

Freshly Made Sketches #502

Congratulations to the winners of my Sketch #500 drawing for Freshly Made Sketches!

Prize Package #1 - Carol L of Our Little Inspirations
Prize Package #2 - Joanne James of The Crafty Owl

Please email me your addresses so I can send out your prizes!

And now it's time for this week's sketch! The sweet and talented Jen B is our hostess today! Be sure to take a peek at her stunning card for this week!

I decided to create a rustic fall card with the Harvest dies from Stampin' Up! I just got them a couple of weeks ago, and was inspired by our (finally) cooler temps. I am also guest designing this month for the Splitcoaststampers Color Challenge, and used this week's colors (CC860) for my card. The pretty sentiment is from Honeybee Stamps' Bizzy Buzzwords Honey Cuts. My wood grain and printed vellum papers are from Stampin' Up! A few sequins for sparkle and bling (Doodlebug) and it's all done!

I hope you will join our sketch challenge this week, and add your creations to our gallery! This challenge will end at 3:00 EDT time on Monday, September 13. Be sure to take a peek at the gorgeous cards my teammates have made on the FMS blog!