Freshly Made Sketches Anniversary Celebration!

Freshly Made Sketches is celebrating EIGHT YEARS of fabulous sketches with an entire month of fun! This week's sketch is the very first #1 FMS sketch -- and was also #100! It's time for another celebration -- we are at #400 this month! For the month of August we will be throwing back a few sketches, as well as having a brand new #400 coming up -- AND there might even be some prizes to look forward to later!

So stay tuned for a month-long celebration, and play along with us each week to join in the fun!

My card today is made with some adorable designer paper and other elements from My Mind's Eye.

I wrapped a length of Crosshatch on Peony Satin from Really Reasonable Ribbon, and then tied a single bow and added a textured button (Basic Grey) with Burlap String Natural.

The back Powder Pink (SU!) cardstock panel and the Old Olive (SU!) frames (Spellbinders) are embossed with folders from Sizzix. On the inside I added a strip of designer paper (MME) that says Meow (the "O is a cat silhouette!) and a black and white flower sticker from the same line.

All of my layers are held together with Scor-Tape and Tombow 3D Tabs.

I hope you will join us! Our challenge is open until 3 PM EDT on Monday! Click on the links on the FMS blog by each photo to see what my teammates have created on their blogs!

Passion for Purple

When I saw that this month's challenge was purple, I immediately thought of Halloween! I always liked dressing up as a kid (I work in a Theater now!), and love the colors of the holiday.

I used a Sizzix tent card die, and created a little scene with my mummy and sparkly spiders (Petaloo), using two ribbons from Really Reasonable Ribbon: 3/8" Spider Webs on Black Satin Ribbon and 5/8" Gauze Print on Grape Satin Ribbon. 

I used each as a base for my die cut spider web (Stampin' Up!) and my mummy, as well as some loopy bows for my spiders' home. Can you see one hiding?

My background is a Cuttlebug embossing folder. A sentiment (I've had forever!) from Inkadinkadoo on the tent topper completes the card!

Come play along in The Rainbow Card Challenge! It's tons of fun and you have an entire month to create!

Come Join the March Rainbow Card Challenge!

Happy March, Cardmakers! Have you seen the new challenge at the Rainbow Card Challenge? This month is Yummy Yellows!

I stamped five bees in a row on Heavyweight White CS (Hobby Lobby), using the two-step stamping technique. I stamped the gold bodies first, then the overlay of black detail and wings. I used a stencil and lightly (and randomly) sponged over the bees in different directions with a brighter yellow ink. The fifth bee I cut out using the matching die (Dragonfly Dreams from Stampin' Up!) and layered it on my second bee above. You can see a little shadow underneath from being popped up using 3D Foam Tabs.

I adhered all my panels using Scor-Tape (I like the 1/4" and 3/8") and then stamped my sentiment. It is three separate words from a retired stamp set by The Alley Way Stamps. I love the play on words with "bee." I then wrapped my Metallic Gold Baker's Twine several times around the left side (this card opens like a book), added a heart charm (that matches the bees' gold), and tied a simple bow.

And it's ready to mail!

Be sure to join us and play along. It's so fun to see what everyone makes, and what wonderful ideas you all have!

No Ordinary Cats

As many of you know, I am a dog lover. I have an 11 year old rescue dog named Fiona. But — my daughter has a cat, and I am learning to love and appreciate them. We also have MANY neighborhood cats that take advantage of our sunny front porch and deck, and they are sweet too. And none of them are ordinary!

For my card today I chose No Ordinary Cats from Art Neko as my image for my main tag. I made a watercolor background with distress inks and then stamped my image in VersaFine Onyx Black, using a MISTI to re-stamp until I got the image as dark as I wanted. Watercolor paper has texture, and it sometimes takes several impressions to fill in that texture.

 

I layered my main tag with a die cut tag (Reverse Confetti) for interest, and added some fun ribbons and Baby Pink Gypsophila flowers from Really Reasonable Ribbon to the tops of the tags, along with some fibers from my stash. Here are the ribbons I used: 

3/8" Mixed Pink Confetti Dots Grosgrain 

3/8" Silver Satin with Silver Metallic Edge

3/8" Totally Pink Twill

I think my daughter will like this card!

Come play along with the Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge this month! 

For the Birds!

I had a lot of fun making this card for the Splitcoaststampers CAS Challenge today. It was "Feathered Friends." I had been to Hobby Lobby and had picked up both of these stamps in their 75% off sale, so it was the perfect time to ink them up!

I embossed my card base (Ivory Heavyweight CS - Hobby Lobby) with the Flowers Cuttlebug embossing folder (an oldie I haven't used in awhile), and then made my front panel. The tag is from Julie Nutting's Tag Pad (Prima). I used the Wrinkle Free Distress technique, with two colors from my Distress ink (TH) collection. When dry, I stamped my bird and sentiment in VersaFine Smoky Slate (I LOVE this color!) and then added some Bay Leaf seam binding (Really Reasonable Ribbon) at the top. The last thing I did was add a very faint shadow under the bird with a Copic C1 marker.

Super cute little feathered friend! Happy Monday!

Challenges for this card: 
2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes with a Critter 
A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes 
Crafty Animals - Always Anything Goes
Sweet Stampers - Things with Wings 
Crafter's Castle - Anything Goes+ optional: Share Your Favorite Distress Ink Technique 
Send a Smile for Kids - Anything Goes or Easter/Spring Cards

Tutorial - Ribbon Embossing

Recently, I hosted the Splitcoaststampers Technique Challenge, using one of the SCS Tutorials my sweet friend Dina whipped up -- Embossed Ribbon. It's such a fun idea! You can find the detailed instructions and a video HERE. 

Basically, it involves misting your ribbon with water, running it through your Big Shot (or whatever machine you have) with an embossing folder, and allowing it to dry. Depending on the texture of your ribbon, and the embossed pattern, you can end up with a subtle or bold pattern. For my card, I chose a subtle pattern.

If you look closely, you can see the cross hatch pattern of my embossing folder (Sizzix). I chose the beautiful Double-faced Ivory Satin from Really Reasonable Ribbon. It adds such an elegant feel to any project! This is the 7/8" ribbon. My card measures approximately 5x5.5 inches. The stamps are from Remarkable You by Stampin' Up - a set I have been wanting forever and just recently acquired. I stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black, and then colored with my Copic markers. I fussy cut the flowers and leaves. The sentiment is stamped with VersaFine Onyx Black - I prefer that for crisp, sentiments, and since I am not adding color, don't have to worry about it running (just smearing before it's dry! Been there!). I added a wood heart to bring everything together.

There is a new challenge at Really Reasonable Ribbon and it's Anything Goes! This is my DT sample for that challenge! Come play along with us! My teamies have made some gorgeous projects to inspire you! I hope you will try this technique on your project!

August Hop With Really Reasonable Ribbon

Welcome to the August Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog Hop! If you arrived here from Ginny's blog, you are in the right place! If you just happened along, be sure to start at the beginning at the RRR Blog (I am the third stop this month, so you don't have far back to go!) so you don't miss out on the awesome projects, fun news, and a prize from Really Reasonable Ribbon! Our hop goes live at 6:30 AM Central.

Each 13th of the month it's the Really Reasonable Ribbon blog hop where we highlight the Ribbon Club! Take a look at this month's gorgeous Autumn Harvest ribbon club package:

If you really love ribbon and would like to have a wonderful assortment of ribbons sent to you automatically each month, just join the Really Reasonable Ribbon Club! Monthly ribbon club assortments are selected and pre-packed to reflect a specific theme, color, or holiday season. 

My card today is made with all of the ribbons and trims in this month's club, plus a couple of other fall themed ribbons from RRR.

I cut different lengths of ribbons at an angle and adhered them to my solid designer paper piece. After cutting my double word die (My Favorite Things Stamps), I added a length of the crochet lace in this month's package, and added two brown Mulberry Leaves and a White Cosmos Daisy for embellishment. All of my layers are held together with Scor-Tape and Tombow 3D Tabs. 

Thank you for stopping by and for your sweet comments! Now off to Cheryl's blog, to see her pretty creation and beautiful bows!

Relax! It's Time For A New Challenge!

There is a new challenge at Really Reasonable Ribbon today -- and it's Anything Goes! Come play along with us! The heat has been so HOT and it puts everyone on edge around here - so I decided to make a card that would remind me to chill out! :)

I used 3/8" Hot Pink Diamond Satin Ribbon for my wrap around bow, and finished off my textured button (doesn't it look like that background paper?) with a little strand of Teal Baker's Twine. All of my layers are held together with Scor-Tape. The flamingo, flower, and sentiment are all from my chipboard stash. A quick card to put together!

Challenges:

• Crafting With An Attitude - Always Anything Goes
• Southern Girls - #164 Tic Tac Toe (Ribbon, Image, Flower)
• Cute Card Thursday - #487 Summer Colours
• Through the Purple Haze - #129 Anything With Wings
• If You Gave A Crafter A Cookie... - #73 Photo Inspiration*
  

Hopping in July with Really Reasonable Ribbon

Welcome to the July Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog Hop! If you arrived here from Ginny's blog, you are in the right place! If you just happened along, be sure to start at the beginning at the RRR Blog (I am the third stop this month, so you don't have far back to go!) so you don't miss out on the awesome projects, fun news, and a prize from Really Reasonable Ribbon! Our hop goes live at 6:30 AM Central.

Each 13th of the month it's the Really Reasonable Ribbon blog hop where we highlight the Ribbon Club! Take a look at this month's ribbon club package.

If you really love ribbon and would like to have a wonderful assortment of ribbons sent to you automatically each month, just join the Really Reasonable Ribbon Club! Monthly ribbon club assortments are selected and pre-packed to reflect a specific theme, color, or holiday season. 

My card today is made with some adorable designer paper from The Paper Studio and one of the beautiful ribbons from this month's club.

I wrapped a length of Double Faced Satin Apple Green and Hyacinth Checkerboard Satin in this month's club assortment, and then tied a double bow and added a button (Basic Grey) with Lemon Baker's Twine.

 
The inside finishes the card with a cute sentiment from The {Stamps} of Life. All of my layers are held together with Scor-Tape and Tombow 3D Tabs.

Thank you for buzzing by and for your sweet comments! Now off to Cheryl's blog, to see her pretty creation and beautiful bows!

A Mini Junk Journal

Today I want to share several pages of my Junk Journal that I recently completed. This is a ring bound journal that is reinforced by double cardstock/cardboard on each page, so it is quite sturdy.  Different from the pages you might find in a regular junk journal, which are usually copy paper weight before adding any embellishments and sewn in as "signatures." While I won't be showing all of the page spreads, I will be sharing some of my favorites - and some without ribbon or trim.

Most all of my pages are from a digital kit by Tsunami Rose Designs called Life Abloom. The cover is wrapped with ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon: Silky Crush Rose Ribbon, and two large Silky Crush Champagne bows are tied on the outer rings (this journal's "binding"). This is one of my favorite ribbons to work with. It's very slightly stiff, and holds up beautifully to "reworking" when you want to get it just right.

The Prima flower is very sparkly, as it is full of beautiful glitter.

You can see on the next two pages the inside cover, where I also wrapped the Silky Crush Rose Ribbon to match the cover. Keep in mind that these are two separate pages, both printed on copy paper, then attached to their own Kraft Cardstock, and then adhered to each other back to back. So double the weight of a card with embellishments. The rose color in the ribbon matched the color of the digital kit exactly. On the first page of the journal, I added some White Flat Back Pearls with glue dots.

I liked the designs on these pages so much that I didn't cover them up with a lot of "stuff," like I might in another junk journal. On the righthand side of this spread, I attached a length of Rosemary Natural Crochet Lace down the entire page. I thought it fit so well with the design of the doily.

I added the Rosemary Lace on my glassine bag that holds a postcard in this spread. All of the edges of my pages are sponged with Memento Rich Cocoa ink.

The little "woodgrain" envelope on the left of these pages isn't attached, and can move back and forth as an add-in to hold ticket stubs or a little note. The Rosemary Lace on the right is holding the two removable cards for notes or just for decoration.

On these two music themed pages, I changed up the trims, with Soapstone Seam Binding on the left and Chloe Crochet Lace on the right. The seam binding looks a little green in this photo, but Soapstone is kind of a magic color. Since it's close to the green leaves from the roses, it picks up some of those hues as well. My flower is made from an old hymnal I have for papercrafting purposes.

Here is a close up of the Chloe Lace down the side of this page.

These are two of my favorite pages. I had the wooden letters left over from a project from years ago, and finally was able to use them! The Soapstone Seam Binding and Chloe Lace were combined here to hold the mini Memories journaling cards. I added the Kraft die cut on the right side with a fine tip glue pen.

The "summer" letters are about the size of Scrabble tiles.

The add-in on the right is actually a legal sized envelope that just fit perfectly with the theme of the journal. I cut off one end and then punched out the half circle at the top for cards and keepsakes to go inside.

You can see the backside of the envelope peeking out in this picture on the left. I love pink, and this doily has a sparkle to it (not evident here) that added some spunk to the sweet rose journaling paper. 

The last two pages I want to show are more like a signature piece. The typewriter page is actually cardstock from a Prima paper pack. I collect old typewriters, and always have to get a typewriter in my journals somewhere! So while the color doesn't match exactly, I love having this page in there. It is embellished with the beautiful Rosemary Natural Crocheted Lace. You can see another glassine bag that holds the post card laying on top, and the inside back cover behind it. All of my pages and layers, lace and ribbons are adhered with Scor-Tape. I find it to be the best holding, and fastest to apply.

I hope you have enjoyed this walk through some of my journal pages in this Mini Junk Journal!

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Just For You - A Shaving Cream Background!

It's so much fun to make backgrounds with shaving cream! It's making a comeback! You can find all sorts of tutorials using this technique on YouTube. I didn't want to cover up too much of the pretty background, so I used vellum to hold my embossed sentiment and embellishments. 

I used Cindy White Crocheted Lace and a few 8mm White Flat Backed Pearls to hold down the vellum. The pink Tea Rose finishes it off and pulls out the pinks (my favorite color) in the background. Everything is adhered with Scor-Tape.

If you haven't tried this background, I hope you will. It's a ton of fun, and always a surprise!