Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #318


Hello!
Happy Wednesday and Merry Christmas!  This is our last challenge of 2017!  Can you believe it?  Another year has come and gone!  I hope you're all ready for Christmas and get to spend some nice relaxing time with your loved ones!

We have a great "last" sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the hilarious and creative Linda Callahan!  So, I need you all to help me convince Linda to write a book!  She is full of amazing and funny stories and I'd love to sit down and read them all in the pages of a book one day!!!  Linda also makes beautiful cards so you need to head over to her blog and check them out!


I needed some cards for the boys teachers and know this sketch would work perfectly but it would need to be turned on it's side.  I hope this doesn't make me too rebellious!  I love the Carols of Christmas stamp set from SU and knew it was just what I needed for this card!  I threw on a few of the felt embellishments and voila!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Red Foil
DSP: Quilted Christmas
Stamps: Carols of Christmas
Ink: Stazon Black
Other: Felt Embellishments, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the gorgeous cards the Design Team has created for your inspiration.
Remember you have three weeks to play along with this challenge!!!

Have a fabulous day and a Merry Christmas!

Jen

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #317


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're enjoying your week and your Christmas preparations are going well!  We had a slight Christmas decoration faux pas yesterday when my cat (Pepsi) decided that walking across our fire place mantle and stopping to play with the pine cones and garland would be a good idea.  Not so much.  Garland, poinsettias (fakes one of course), lights and pine cones all ended up on the floor.  Pepsi just sat up on the mantle looking at what she'd done like she was sweet and innocent!  The boys of course just laughed!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the incredibly talented Jen Mitchell!  Jen creates amazing cards that always blow my mind.  I think she's the queen of clean cards! I love what she can do with paper!


The sketch is very versatile this week!  I do love the Merry Little Christmas DSP from SU and had to use it again for this card!  The stitched felt embellishments were too cute, how could I not throw one on!!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Real Red, Red Glimmer
DSP: Merry Little Christmas
Stamps: Carols of Christmas
Ink: Stazon
Other: Stitched Felt Embellishments, Double Stitched Squares (Lil Inkers), Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to see what the Design Team has cooked up for your viewing pleasure!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen


Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #316


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  How is your Christmas shopping coming along?  I am almost finished...I think!  I am waiting on a few things that are supposed to be delivered soon but I think I'm in better shape than I was last year. I've started wrapping gifts - it's not my favourite job so I figured if I started early and got them done I wouldn't have to dread it anymore!!!  My trusty cat helper hasn't been so helpful and tends to just lay all over the paper!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is our favourite pilot Jen Timko!  Jen makes the most gorgeous cards!  She can colour with the best of them and comes up with the most creative concepts for cards!  Head over to her blog and check them out!

So I think this is the last Christmas card that I have to make.  I love the Merry Little Christmas DSP and thought it would look great with some black and silver paper!  Very non traditional colours but I still kinda like it!  I added some rhinestones to the centres of some of the snowflakes since I thought they needed a little boost of sparkle!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer
DSP: Merry Little Christmas
Stamps: Christmas Pines
Ink: Stazon Black
Other: Dimesionals, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the amazing cards the Design Team has created to inspire you!

Have a fabulous day!
Jen

Wednesday, November 29, 2017


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  It's been a whirlwind week here so far.  Somehow the days have blurred.  I hope all my American friends enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving weekend!  I've started to get some Christmas decorating done.  Our tree is up.  It's naked but it's up.  Let's just say that within 5 minutes of the tree being up it had a furry decoration.  Pepsi (our cat) has decided that the tree is the perfect perch.  We are waiting a few days to see if she is able to actually knock the tree down before we put any decorations on it!!!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our lovely hostess this week is the one and only Amy O'Neill!  Amy is the colour goddess on the team!  She can put any two colours together and make them look fabulous!  Oh, and she's the queen of "elements"!  I love what she adds to her cards!  Head over to her blog and check it out!
So of course I"m still working on Christmas cards.  I think I may get a few more done but I sure didn't get as many done as I would have liked.  Oh well.  I love the Merry Little Christmas DSP from SU and decided to use it for this card.  I threw in some real read and some red foil paper and voila!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whipser White, Real Red, Red Foil
DSP: Merry Little Christmas
Stamps: Carols of Christmas
Ink: Stazon Black
Other: Oval Dies, Star Dies, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the amazing cards the Design Team has created for your inspiration!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #314



Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope everyone has had a great start to their week!  I hope my American friends have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow!  Christmas isn't that far away!  Are you ready? I am definitely not ready. The kids are bugging me to put the tree up but we have to put our tree up in stages.  See, last year our kitten was just over 3 lbs.  The tree was her favourite hiding spot.  She could climb that sucker lightening fast.  This year she's about 7 lbs.  We're not sure our tree can handle the 7 lbs so we'll have to put it up without decorations to see what she does.  I'll have to get my squirt bottle ready just in case she decides to go for a climb.  Which she will...because she's a cat!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Narelle Farrugia!  Narelle is our fussy cutting, flower making queen!  Her cards are multi-layered masterpieces!  Head over to her blog to see what I mean!

Narelle also decided to throw some circles in there!  I'm wondering if my friends from the Southern Hemisphere got together and decided to torture me together!!!  Needless to say I decided to stick true to the sketch on this one.   I am still lacking in Christmas cards so I used some of the Quilted Christmas DSP from SU along with some red and black cardstock and threw this baby together!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Real Red, Basic Black and Red Foil
Paper: Quilted Christmas DSP
Other: Silly Stitched Dies (Lil Inkers),  Double Stitched Circle Dies (Lil Inkers), Christmas Greetings Thinlits (SU), Red Sequins, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the gorgeous cards the Design Team has created!  They truly are beautiful!

Have a fabulous day and a Happy Thanksgiving!

Jen

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #313



Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week.  Have you had any snow yet?  We had a bit of snow last Thursday.  Not enough to create chaos but enough to make me wish I lived somewhere warm that had palm trees.  Somewhere like Hawaii!!!  I am not a cold weather girl, which is funny because I was born and raised and have lived my whole life in Canada!  Oh well!  I guess I'll just have to accept that the snow is coming and try and enjoy it!!!

We have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches today!  Our hostess this week is our favourite New Zealand card maker and one of the most creative people I know...Karren Johnson!  Karren's cards always amaze me so head over to her blog and check them out!

Karren's sketch obviously threw me for a loop.  Do you see those circles.  There are 6!  6!  And here I thought Karren and I were friends!!!!  I took a few deep breaths and dug in.  I found some cut flower and leaves stamps and went to town.  This card came together surprisingly easy for me.  It's truly a shocker!  Trust me!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Cucumber Crush, Watermelon Wonder
Stamps:  You're so (Reverse Confetti), Love Blooms (Reverse Confetti)
Ink: Versamark
Other: You're So Confetti Cuts, Love Blooms Confetti Cuts, Sequins (SU), Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches Blog and check out the beautiful cards the Design Team has created!  You will be inspired!  We can't wait to see what you come up with !

Have a fabulous day!
Jen

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #312


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope everyone has had a great start to their week.  We have had some early mornings this week with the time change!  It was so lovely to get an extra hour of sleep but the boys are waking up super early these days.  I must say that I also am waking up around 4 am every day!  Hopefully after a few more days we'll be used to it!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches courtesy of our favourite French Design Team member, Cecile Ribon!   Cecile has the most amazing die cuts on her cards and they always inspire me!  Please head over to her blog and check her beautiful creations out!


Of course I'm still trying to tackle the Christmas card problem!  I will be tackling that one for a while at the rate I'm going!  I need to put some additional effort into it!  I decided to combine some Copper foil and some basic black for this card.  I just couldn't help myself!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Copper Foil
Stamps: Festive Flurry, Christmas Pines
Ink: Versamark
Other: Copper Embossing Powder, Softly Falling Embossing Folder, Sequins, Festive Flurry Dies, Dimsionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the amazing cards the Design Team has created for you!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen


Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #311


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope everyone is having a great week!  Did you get a lot of trick or treaters last night?  We didn't have as many as we usually do.  Not sure what happened there.  I saw lots of kids out there but we live in a weird spot and lots of kids miss our house.  I guess that means more candy for me to eat!!!  Oh dear!!!

We have a new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  I have the honour of being this week's hostess.  It's always such a stressful job because you're never sure if people are going to like your sketch or want to play along!  I went with something pretty straight forward so hopefully people will want to join in this week!

In order to get my Christmas cards ready, I think I'll have to make one a week for the next year!!!  I also tend to pick one set and stick with it through the whole season so if you're sick of seeing this set, I'm really sorry but I do really love it and think it's so perfect for Christmas!

I love black and gold together especially at Christmas.  They're my go-to elegant colour combination!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Gold
Stamps: Night in Bethlehem
Ink: Black Stazon, Versamark
Other: Bethlehem Edgelits, Gold Embossing Powder, Circle Punch, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the amazing cards the Design Team has created for you!  I can't wait to see what you create this week!

Have a fabulous day!
Jen

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #310


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're all having a great week so far.  I had a crazy busy last week.  My husband was so sweet and got me a new computer for my birthday so I am up and running again.  Don't get me wrong,  I like my iPad but some things don't work well on the iPad.  The boys both had presentations that required the computer so we are thankful to be back in business!  Oh how we've become so dependent on technology.  That part I don't like so much.

We have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches today courtesy of the amazingly creative Kim Singdahlsen.  I know that I'd definitely love to go to Colorado and visit Kim and play with all of her fun stamps and dies!  I'd love to see those gorgeous mountains too!!!

This sketch kinda stumped me.  Mainly because I was super tired when I was trying to make the card, I had a ton of thank you cards to make and wasn't feel the most creative.  I want to try and get as many Christmas cards done now as I can.  I'm falling behind though.  I need to get my act together!!! I do love the wise men from the Wise Men From Afar set.  I also really love when they're embossed in gold.  I decided to do a completely black and gold themed card.  You will notice that a sentiment is missing.  I just couldn't figure out where it would work best so I went without.  I may go back this week sometime and add one in somewhere.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Gold
Stamps: Wise Men From Afar
Ink: Versamark
Other: Gold Embossing Powder, Softly Falling Textured Embossed Folder,  Gold Sequins, Dimensionals.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the amazing cards the Design Team has created!  You won't be disappointed!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #309



Hello!
Happy Wednesday! I can’t believe it’s Wednesday already!  I hope you’ve had a great start to your week. I’m still without a laptop and working off my iPad which is a little frustrating my old laptop is not fixable and we had to bite the bullet and get a new one. Technology.  Can’t live with it, can’t live without it!!

We have a great new sketch this week courtesy of Linda Callahan! Linda makes such beautiful cards and she has such a fabulous sense of humour.  I seriously think she should write a book!

I needed to make an anniversary card for my husband as we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary last week.  I try and keep the cards themed like our wedding was, hence the leaves, the cherry cobbler and the gold!   I was pretty liberal with the sketch. I opted to pretend I didn’t see those evil circles and saw leaves instead! 

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Crushed Curry, Gold
DSP: Painted Leaves
Stamps: I can’t remember....
Ink: Early Espresso
Other: Pinewood Planks Embossing Folder, Large Number Framelits, 

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you’ll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the gorgeous cards that the Design Tean has created for your inspiration!  

Have a fabulous day!



Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #308


Hello!  
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you’re having a great week!  I hope my fellow Canadian friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We had a lovely weekend and our turkey was so yummy!  Unfortunately my laptop died or has developed some health issues and won’t turn on!  Needless to say, doing this post from my iPad is proving to be a little more frustrating than I had anticipated!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Rita Wright!  Rita is a colouring queen!  Her marker manipulating abilities far exceed anything I’ll ever be capable of!!!

I love sunflowers and wanted to this amazing DSP on a card!  I find that sunflowers always make me smile.  I added some burlap ribbon and a tiny little sunflower. There are some gold sequins on there too!  

Supplies:
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Garden Green, Whisper White, Crushed Curry
DSP:Painted Leaves
Stamps: So Very Special
Ink: Early Espresso
Other: Gold Sequins, burlap ribbon, bitty flower punch, Dimensionals.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you’ll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the gorgeous cards the Design Team has created for your inspiration!  You won’t be disappointed!  

Have a fabulous day!
Jen


Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #307 - Take Two!



Happy Wednesday!
I hope you're having a great start to your week!  The weeks seem to be flying by!  I can't believe that it's October already and this weekend we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving here in Canada!  Turkey and gravy!!!  Yummy.  Oh, I guess that means I have to make that.  Hmmm...I wonder how everyone would feel about hamburgers instead!!!!

So you may have noticed that this is the same Freshly Made Sketches card that I made last week.  We had a little, itty, bitty issue with our linky tool and all of the submissions we had received vanished into cyberspace somewhere.  We decided that we would extend our challenge one additional week with hopes that everyone who had entered would re-enter their gorgeous cards!!!

Our sketch was courtesy of my dear friend Jen Timko!  Jen is such an amazing card maker and comes up with the most creative cards!  Did you see her x-ray card?  You need to go and check out her blog!



I wasn't quite sure what to with this sketch when I first saw it but then I realized I needed a wedding card for my friend Laura who is getting married this coming Saturday!  (Well, Laura and Brad had a beautiful day and Laura was a gorgeous bride!)  I love the heart die from Lil Inkers and knew it would be the perfect substitute for an evil circle!!!  I threw on some flowers and voila!  I used the colours that Laura had told me she's using for her wedding!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Night of Navy, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Smokey Slate
Stamps: Sweet Celebrations (Lil Inkers)
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Smokey Slate
Other: Sweet Celebrations Dies, Celebrate Word Die, Sequins, Pinewood Planks Embossing Folder, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches Blog and check out the amazing cards the Design Team has created for your inspiration!

Have a fabulous day!!!

Jen

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #307


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week!  We have been having one crazy heat spell here.  I don't think we had weather this hot all summer.  It's been pretty intense.  Thankfully the kid's school has air conditioning so they aren't too wiped when they come home.  Today is supposed to be the last day though and then back to seasonal temperatures.  I'm all for cool nights where you can sleep with the windows open but I dread the cold weather coming!

We have a great new sketch today at Freshly Made Sketches courtesy of my dear friend Jen Timko!  Jen is such an amazing card maker and comes up with the most creative cards!  Did you see her x-ray card?  You need to go and check out her blog!



I wasn't quite sure what to with this sketch when I first saw it but then I realized I needed a wedding card for my friend Laura who is getting married this coming Saturday!  I love the heart die from Lil Inkers and knew it would be the perfect substitute for an evil circle!!!  I threw on some flowers and voila!  I used the colours that Laura had told me she's using for her wedding!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Night of Navy, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Smokey Slate
Stamps: Sweet Celebrations (Lil Inkers)
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Smokey Slate
Other: Sweet Celebrations Dies, Celebrate Word Die, Sequins, Pinewood Planks Embossing Folder, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches Blog and check out the amazing cards the Design Team has created for your inspiration!

Have a fabulous day!!!

Jen



Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #306


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope everyone is having a great week so far!  We've been having the most gorgeous weather here.  It's been warm and sunny almost every day.  It's been so summer like!!!  I honestly don't want it to end!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches courtesy of the amazing Jen Mitchell!  Jen's cards are so gorgeous and she makes clean and simple look absolutely elegant!  Head over to her blog and check out her beauties!


So of course this isn't card #1!!!  I struggled with this one.  I was really lacking creativity when I was trying to make this card.  I wanted to create a fall birthday card!  Mainly because I just love fall and fall colours!  I love the Painted Autumn DSP and wanted to use it on this card!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Crushed Curry, Copper Foil
DSP: Painted Autumn DSP
Stamps: LJD Birthday Greetings (MFT)
Ink: Early Espresso
Other: Daisy Die (Retired), Copper Sequins, Layering Leaves Dies (Concord & 9th)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches and check out the amazing cards the Design Team has created for you!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #305


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week!  We're having a warm week here which is nice.  Yesterday was such a beautiful day.  The kids just loving being outside in this weather!  I don't blame them!  Makes summer last just a little bit longer!

We have a great new sketch today at Freshly Made Sketches courtesy of the amazing Amy O'Neill!  Amy is one of our resident Texans and such a creative card maker.  She puts together things that I would never dream of and they ALWAYS look fabulous!  Head over to her blog and check out her creations!


I knew as soon as I saw this sketch that I wanted to use this sunflower paper!  Sunflowers are probably one of my favourite flowers.  They just look happy.  They make me happy.  They also remind me of fall and I do love fall!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Early Espresso, Garden Green,  Crushed Curry
DSP: Painted Autumn
Stamps: Sweet Celebrations (Lil Inkers)
Ink: Early Espresso
Other: Sweet Celebrations Dies (Lil Inkers), Celebrate Word Die (Lil Inkers), Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the amazing cards the Design Team has created for you!  You will not be disappointed!  We can't wait to see what you come up with this week!

Have a fabulous day!
Jen

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #304


Hello Everyone!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're all having a great start to your week and you had a fabulous Labour Day!  We had a great week of vacation last week doing a road trip around Pennsylvania!  It sure was a fun time! The kids are back in school and both boys are happy with their teachers.  They each have repeat teachers so we know pretty much what to expect this year!  Yay!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Narelle Farrugia is our amazing hostess this week.  Narelle's cards always wow me.  Her fussy cutting and those beautiful layers and flowers.  They're so pretty!  Head over to her blog and check them out!
Unfortunately when I looked at this sketch I TOTALLY missed the giant "sentiment" on there.  I had every intention of putting my sentiment beside my little wise men but it didn't fit so I just figured throwing it underneath would be okay.  So not okay.  I'm hoping those girls don't kick me off the team!

I do love the wise men and thought they needed to be embossed in gold.  Then the tree needed to be embossed and the sentiment and the star!  Needless to say, there was a lot of embossing going on!  Let's also say that this card will not be mass produced!!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Gold
Stamps: Wise Men From Afar
Ink: Versamark
Other: Circle Dies (Spellbinders), Gold Embossing Powder, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the gorgeous cards the Design Team has come up with!  You will definitely be inspired!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #302


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to the week!  We were able to spend last week at my parent's house.  It was so lovely.  Always relaxing and the boys had a blast.  Nothing like hockey, baseball and basketball with Papa every day!!!  Today we're heading downtown Toronto with some friends from Texas to see the CN Tower and the Aquarium.  Should be good times!

We have a great new sketch today at Freshly Made Sketches courtesy of our amazing French designer Cecile Ribon!  Cecile has an amazing creative eye and her cards are always fantastic.  Head over to her blog and check it out!
So, I was a little stumped by this sketch.  There are a lot of elements there that I didn't know what to do with.  I had the new Night in Bethlehem stamp set sitting on my desk and decided I would use that with the new Bethlehem edgelits and voila.  I kept the colours very neutral.  I love the silhouette look.  I threw in a silver star because it needed a little glimmer!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Silver Glimmer
Stamps: Night In Bethlehem
Ink: Black Stazon
Other: Bethlehem Edgelits, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the amazing cards the Design Team has created for your inspiration!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #301


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope everyone is having a great start to their week!  We are currently enjoying some R&R with Grannie and Papa!  It's been nice being able to relax and enjoy some time away from home!  We will totally enjoy these last few weeks of summer since the start of school is coming faster than I care to admit!

We have a new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  I'm fortunate to be this week's hostess!  I had a card in mind when I came up with this sketch and I'm thankful that when I made it, it actually looked kinda like what I had envisioned!  Coming up with a sketch can be very nerve wracking!  You just never know how people are going to feel about it!


I had some Pop of Pink DSP sitting on my desk and I just had to use it.  I love that paper with those fabulous gold accents!  I wish I had purchased more than one pack!!!  I must say the embossing didn't go as well as I had hoped.  I may have embossed the other side as well and it looked ever worse.  I don't know what the issue is and yes, I used an embossing buddy!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Gold
DSP: Pop of Pink
Stamps: Sweet Celebrations (Lil Inkers)
Ink: Versamark
Other: Gold Embossing Powder, Botanical Blossoms, Celebrate Word Die (Lil Inkers), Dimensionals

Thanks again for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the amazing cards that the Design Team has created for your inspiration!  You won't be disappointed!  We look forward to seeing what you create this week!

Have a fabulous day!
Jen
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Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #300


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week!  We are so enjoying our summer.  We've had some great bike rides this week and yesterday we made a trip to the Royal Botanical Gardens!  I think later in the week we'll be heading to the Hockey Hall of Fame!  It's been such a nice summer so far and I'm hoping the the last few weeks are just as wonderful!

Welcome to our celebration of Sketch #300 at Freshly Made Sketches!  Six years ago, Lesley Croghan created an idea to make cards that were clean but not necessarily simple.  Using sketches as a foundation, many stampers found their niche and this challenge has been a place of inspiration and encouragement.  This week, we are excited to share our 300th sketch.  Wow!! 

The team will decide the Queen or King and then we will all choose our favorites to highlight, as usual.  BUT....we will also choose one random winner from the gallery to receive all of the cards created by the design team with this sketch!  We are so grateful for your support over these six years and want to send out a special thank you!



Our sketch is super fun this week and believe it or not, this card was my first attempt!!!

I used some of the retired Party Animal DSP and some of the new glimmer Dots!  Who doesn't love a bit of sparkle!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Pacific Point, Crushed Curry
Stamps: Frozen Treat
Ink: Pacific Point
Other: Oval Dies (Spellbinders), Glimmer Dots, Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the amazing the cards the Design Team has created for your inspiration!   You may even be fortunate enough to win all of the Design Team's cards!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #299


Hello!
Happy Wednesday! I hope you're having a great start to your week!  We've had a great week so far.  Trevor was off yesterday and the boys and I went for a long bike ride to downtown Toronto. Nothing like being able to by right down by the CN Tower.  The waterfront trail is amazing and the breeze coming off the lake was fabulous!  Such a great morning!

We have a great sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the lovely Kim Singdahlsen.  Kim's cards are so fantastic.  I would love to go and hang out in her crafting space for a day!  I think she has the best stamps!

Kim's sketch is very versatile.  I of course didn't have a clue what to do.  This also is not my first card!!  Ha!  If you struggle making cards and following sketches, know you're not alone out there!  I love the new pinewood planks embossing folder and will probably use it as much as I use Wink of Stella (which I did not use on this card!).  I wanted to use some sequins and kinda picked the colours around the sequins.  The hearts started out as silver ones but they didn't show up enough so they were quickly swapped out for black!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Watermelon Wonder, Black Glimmer (non-SU)
Other: Pinewood Planks Embossing Folder, Heart Trio Punch (SU - retired), MFT Blueprints Dies, Sequins (SU), Smile Word Die (Lil Inkers), Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches Blog and check out the amazing cards the Design Team has created!  You won't be disappointed!

Have a fantastic day!

Jen

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #298


Hello!
Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is having a great week.  It's a very quiet week at our house.  The boys are with my parents for the week and they are having a blast.  They love going to visit Grannie and Papa and when I suggested I go with them, I got a resounding "NO"!  I guess I've been told!  My husband and I went on a huge mountain bike ride last night.  His instructions were to ensure that I made it out alive.  I did.  Just barely.  Only one fall and nothing broken or bleeding so I guess that's good.  I think he has forgotten I haven't really been biking like that in a LONG time and my bones aren't as young as they used to be!

Anyone, we have a great new sketch today at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the fabulous Linda Callahan!  Linda is very creative and makes beautiful cards.  I also think she's one of the funniest people I've ever "met".  We haven't met but I feel like we have!  Anyhow, go and check out her blog!  You'll be inspired!


I went with a very simple card.  I had some of this So Saffron DSP laying around after camp just screaming to be used up.  I combined with with some black and away I went!  I threw on some Glitter Enamel Dots and voila!  It looks like it took me 5 minutes.  It did not.  This is not the first version and not at all what I had envisioned when I started.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, So Saffron
DSP: So Saffron (Subtles DSP Stack)
Stamps: Sweet Celebrations (Reverse Confetti)
Ink: Stazon Black
Other: Celebrate Word Die, Sweet Celebrations Dies, Glitter Enamel Dots, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the beautiful cards the Design Team has created for your inspiration!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #297


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I trust everyone is having a great start to their week!  We are in total vacation mode here and with the exception of a few appointments, we've been relaxing, swimming, reading and biking.  It's been fabulous.  This year our family decided to cut out all evening activities and to do lots of mountain biking together.  It's been the best decision!  We have totally enjoyed our evening (and some afternoon) rides together.  It's been amazing to watch the boys gain skill, confidence and endurance.  They can hop rocks and logs like pros now!

We have a great new sketch today at Freshly Made Sketches courtesy of the amazingly talented Jen Mitchell!  Jen makes beautifully creative cards and often dominates when it comes to "clean".   Head over to her blog and you'll see what I mean!



I love Jen's sketch. At first I was going with a completely different look but then changed my mind.  I used the Ice Cream Parlor DSP and the Frozen Treats stamps and dies at camp almost every day.  The kids loved ice cream cards and I must say, I do too!   Of course if you look closely you'll see some Wink of Stella on that chocolate sauce!!!  I just couldn't resist!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Watermelon Wonder
DSP: Ice Cream Parlor
Stamps: Frozen Treat
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Other: Frozen Treats Framelits, Banners Framelites, Pinewood Planks Dynamic Embossing Folder, Wink of Stella, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the fabulous cards the Design Team has created for you.  You won't be disappointed.

Have a fabulous day.

Jen


Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #296


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I am sorry I missed out on last week's challenge!  It was our church camp week! We had such a busy but fun week!  Our camp had just over 1000 kids for the week and we had just over 40 kids making cards all day!  It was fun to see their pride in their creations and the amazement when they saw embossing powder melt for the first time!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the fabulous Jen Timko!  Jen's cards are so fun and her colouring and creativity amazes me!  I'm so fortunate to have met Jen (twice!) and think another get together is definitely in order!!!



Jen has picked a great sketch and I love the square card!  At first I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it but then realized I needed some teacher thank you cards!  Yes, our kids are finally done school!  I made these cards a while ago!!!  Please don't think I'm really slow given our teachers their cards!

I used the Carried Away DSP (again!) and the Class Act stamp set and Confetti cuts from Reverse Confetti.  I added a bright red flag to contrast!  I love red.  It is totally my favourite colour!  Of course I added a bit of Wink of Stella to the apple leaf.  I couldn't help myself.  The camp kids LOVED using Wink of Stella too!  See, I'm not the only one who loves it!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Smokey Slate, Basic Black, Real Red, Gumball Green, Red Shimmer
DSP: Carried Away
Stamps: Class Act (Reverse Confetti)
Ink: Stazon
Other: Class Act Confetti Cuts, Wink of Stella, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the amazing cards the Design Team has created for your inspiration!

Have a fabulous day!
Jen


Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #294


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're all having a great week!  We are still waiting for school to be finished.  Nothing like dragging it out until the bitter end.  The kids have checked out mentally and I'm pretty much done with making lunches and washing containers!!!  Only 3 more days!!!!  Yay!!!  Next week is the camp at our church and we are expecting about 1000 kids!  Should be a wild time!  I will have a great group of kids who will be introduced to the world of card making!  Can't wait!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches courtesy of one of our Texan designers Amy O'Neill!  Amy amazes me with her ability to match colours and patterns and always has the perfect accents.  She can also wind thread into the most perfect looking loops!



Amy's sketch stumped me at first but then I realized I wanted to turn it into a Father's Day card.  Yes, I made this card weeks' ago.  I didn't miss Father's Day - don't worry!  My dad got this card before the actual day!!!  I really love this stamp set from Reverse Confetti.  It worked perfectly to say exactly what I wanted.  I don't really have any Father's Day stamps and sometimes I find them pretty cheesy and this was what I wanted!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Silver
DSP: A Little Foxy (retired SU)
Stamps: So Very Special (Reverse Confetti)
Ink: Smoky Slate, Night of Navy
Other: Bitty Banners Dies, Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the amazing cards the Design Team has created!

We can't wait to see what you create this week!

Have a great day!
Jen

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #293


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're all having a great start to your week!  I guess we're right in the middle now aren't we?!  My kids still have a week and a half of school. Nothing like dragging it out until the end of June!  They're both mentally done too which isn't helping!  My oldest even has a test today!  I'm looking forward to the start of summer vacation and a little less rushing and scheduling!

We have a great new sketch today at Freshly Made Sketches courtesy of our resident New Zealander, Karren Johnson!  Karren's cards are just diving and I totally think we need to take a Design Team trip down under to visit her and play with all her fun crafting supplies!!!



Karren's sketch is super versatile and even though it's a chunk of a great big circle, it didn't freak me out!  I saw it and knew I wanted to use my pop of pink DSP that I had sitting on my desk!  After it was done though I knew I needed to add something so some pink sequins were applied.  I just couldn't find a way to tie Wink of Stella into this one folks, sorry about that!  Now, this giant circle was a bit investing to cut.  Thankfully I still have my very old Creative Memories circle cutters and they came in VERY handy for this one!!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black
DSP: Pop of Pink
Stamps: LJD Birthday Greetings (MFT)
Ink: Stazon Black
Other: Sequins, Creative Memories Circle cutters, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Please take a minute to head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the amazing cards the Design Team has created!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen