Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #732

Hello! 

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week!  Is it spring where you live?  Or maybe you're heading into fall?  We are supposed to be in spring.  The key words are "supposed to be".  We are expecting 15 cm of snow between tonight and tomorrow.  It's supposed to drop below freezing so it will be a disaster.  I guess winter isn't quite done with us yet.

We have a brand new sketch this week over at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the lovely Michelle Langley!  Michelle is one of our newest team members so make sure you head over to her page and say hello! 

I had some butterflies and flowers sitting on my desk so I thought they would work perfectly for this card!  They were already cut, they just needed a little inking and they worked perfectly.  I found a strip of gingham paper that I thought also worked well.  It's old and I have no idea where it came from but sometimes those are the best finds!!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Calypso Coral, Mango Melody, Sky Blue, Gold (All SU)

Ink: Calypso Coral, Mango Melody, Pool Party (All SU)

Dies: Butterfly Blossom Die (Waffle Flower)

Other: Classic Sentiments (Alex Syberia Designs), Embossing Folder, Glimmer Hot Foil Machine

Thank you for stopping by today!  I hope you'll join in our challenge this week!  For all of the details and some inspiration, please head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog!  

You have until Monday at 3 PM EST to get your card entered in this week's challenge.  We always love to see what everyone creates!

Have an amazing day!
Jen

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week!  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend - if you were celebrating in Canada!  We went from fall to winter overnight!  We even had snow!  The mountains actually have a fair bit of snow!  I feel like the snow just melted and here we are back at the cold weather!  Let's just say that it's below freezing out side and the winter gear has been dusted off!

We have a fantastic new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches courtesy of the wonderful Jennifer Timko!  Make sure you head over to Jen's blog and check out her amazing cards!  

I figured since Thanksgiving was over and the postal strike might soon be fully over, I might as well get started on my Christmas cards!  I'm so far behind now that I might never get caught up!  I do love the poinsettia die that's in the Christmas Bird Poinsettia set from Spellbinders.  I had some left over Christmas sentiments on my desk from last year so I threw one on!  I kept it simple just in case I decide to make a pile of these!!!  

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Real Red, Garden Green, Gold Foil, Brushed Gold Foil
Ink: Real Red, Garden Green
Dies: Christmas Bird Poinsettia (Spellbinders)
Other: Distressed Tile Textured Embossing Folder (SU), Joyful Christmas Sentiments (Spellbinders), Red and Champagne Foil (Spellbinders), Glimmer Hot Foil Machine (Spellbinders)

I made another one with a red poinsettia - though I'm not sure which one I like better!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and join in our challenge this week!  You'll find a great group of cards on the blog from the Design Team to get your creative juices flowing!

You have until Monday at 3 PM EST to get your card entered into this week's challenge!  

Have an amazing day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #707

 

Hello and Happy Wednesday!
I hope everyone has had a great start to their week so far!  We went from summer to pre-winter in about 2 days!  The mountains got some snow and they've been looking quite stately!  The golden hues have been so pretty but we seem to be quickly headed towards winter and I'm not quite ready for it yet!!!  I am escaping to my parents house in Ontario next week so I will be able to enjoy some slightly warmer weather there!!!  

We've got a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week! Our hostess this week is the amazing Judy Rozema!  Head over to her blog to check out her amazing cards!  

I had this gorgeous patterned paper sitting on my desk and I couldn't wait to use it!  I combined it with the Lovely Layers Strawberries dies from Honey Bee Stamps and called it a day!  The sentiment was sitting on my desk so I decided I would make my life easy and just use it!!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Early Espresso, Garden Green, Real Red

Patterned Paper: Wildwood Secrets (Mintay Papers)

Dies: Lovely Layers Strawberries (Honey Bee Stamps), Circle Dies (Spellbinders)

Other: Curved Everyday Sentiments (Spellbinders), Silver Foil, Glimmer Hot Foil Machine

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll join in our challenge this week!  Please head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the the cards the Design Team has posted!  You will definitely be inspired!

You have until Monday at 3 PM EST to get your card entered into this week's challenge!

Have an amazing day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #704

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're enjoying your week so far!  We are still trying to get into the swing of things here.  Getting used to new schedules and the different times that people have to be here there and everywhere.  I'm finding it more difficult to get it all figured out this year.  I think my brain is still in summer mode and rebelling against all the craziness!

We have a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  Our hostess this week is the fabulous Michele Ferguson!  We have a very special guest with us this week!  Please welcome Donna Mikasa the winner of our Challenge #700!!  Head over to Donna's blog and check out her beautiful cards!   

There sure are a lot of circles on this sketch!  You all know how I feel about circles!!  Needless to say when I saw those circles I automatically converted them to leaves!  It's fall after all!!!  The Fall Florals set from Spellbinders seemed perfect for this card!  

Supplies:

Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry (SU)
Stamps: Typewriter Adventure Sentiments (Spellbinders)
Ink: Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Crazy, Crumb Cake, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie (All SU)
Dies: Itty Bitty Strips (MFT), Fall Florals (Spellbinders), Autumn Wonder (Spellbinders)
Other: Hardwood Embossing Folder (SU), Grain and Grunge Gem Stickers (Honey Bee Stamps)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and join in our challenge this week!  You have until Monday at 3 PM EST to get your card entered into this week's challenge.  

Have an amazing day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #702

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  It's September!  How did that happen?  I swear it was June a minute ago!  My oldest started back in his second year at university this week and my youngest started Grade 12 today!  I swear I blinked and they went from babies to adults!  It's insane!  If you're a mom or a grandma I am sure you know exactly what I mean!  We are just coming off of a week vacation as well so I'm really not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow.  It's been a lovely summer working reduced hours.  

We have a brand new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Cecile Ribon!  Make sure you head over to her blog and check out all of her fantastic cards!  

I had this new Spellbinders die set sitting there just waiting to be used and what could be more perfect for a circle than a wreath?  I love fall and love making fall cards so I was pretty excited to use this set.  My wreath is a little oblong but I couldn't get it to look round and finally just gave up!!!  I added in some fall leaves and of course a pumpkin for that other little circle and called it a day!  

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie, Garden Green, Early Espresso, Soft Suede.

Ink: Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie, Crumb Cake (SU)

Dies: Autumn Greetings Wreath (Spellbinders), Autumn Wonder (Spellbinders), Happy Fall Sentiments (Spellbinders)

Other: Exposed Brick Embossing Folder (SU)

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and join in our challenge this week!  The design team has come up with some beautiful cards so make sure you check them out and give them some love!  

You have until Monday at 3 PM EST to get your card entered into this week's challenge!

Have an amazing day!
Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #692

Hello!

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a good week!  We have had the craziest weather here.  We finally got some rain.  A lot of rain.  It rained for about 36 hours straight.  That is unheard of here (at least for the past few years).  We ended up with a lot of water!  The mountains however got a lot of snow.  My friend Annie and I got to hike in that snow on Sunday.  You can check out those photos below.  Let's just say that hiking for hours and hours through knee deep snow towards the end of June seemed absolutely crazy.  You can check out some of the photos below!

We have a brand new sketch this week over at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Narelle Farrugia!  Narelle's cards are gorgeous so head over to her blog to check them out!!  Narelle would have liked the hike I just did.  Climbing, snow oh and some bears too!!!!

I had made a recent trip to The Paper and Ink Boutique!  I had some gift cards from Mother's Day that were begging to be used!!  I saw these pretty butterfly dies and I couldn't resist!  Who can resist a good butterfly?!  I knew they would be perfect for this sketch!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay, Black Foil Cardstock.

Stamps: Hello Sunshine (Waffle Flower)

Ink: Detail Black (Pink Fresh Studio), Scattered Straw (Distress Oxide)

Dies: Butterfly Blossom Die (Waffle Flower), Hello Sunshine Piercing Dies

Other: Cobblestone Stencil (Hero Arts)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you'll join in our challenge this week!  Head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and you'll be inspired to create!!  We always love to see how unique each card is!  You have until Monday at 1 PM EST to get your card entered into this week's challenge.

Hope you enjoy some photos from our hike on Sunday!  This was a 4 peak day - Little Ware, Mount Ware, Surveyor's Ridge and Prospectors Ridge!

The view from the top of Mount Ware

Another view from the top of Mount Ware

Hiking to our next destination - this was a 4 peak day!

That mountain behind us is what we have to hike up!

We made it up peak 3!!!  

The first bear we came across on our way in

The third bear we saw!

The second bear we saw - all three are black bears.  This one is a cinnamon bear!

I hope you have a wonderful day!
Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #690

Hello!
Happy Wednesday! Hope you're having a great start to your week!  We are in desperate need of rain around here.  The smoke moved in on Saturday from the various wildfires taking place across our country right now.  Lots of northern cities are dealing with wildfires right now.  It's such a hard time of the year.  

We have a fabulous new sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the fabulous Karren Johnson!  Karren's cards are gorgeous!  Please head over to her blog and give her some love!  

That circle struck me as a sunflower so I pulled out the Lovely Layers Sunflower Honey Cuts by Honey Bee Stamps.  I grabbed my Distress Oxides and coloured away.  My woodgrain embossing folder was sitting out after last week's card so I decided to put it to good use again!  

Supplies:
Cardstock:  Hammermill White Coverstock, Early Espresso

Ink: Scattered Straw, 

Dies: Lovely Layers Sunflowers, Fossilized Amber, Gathered Twigs, Espresso (Distress Oxides)

Other: Hardwood Embossing Folder (SU), Curved Everyday Sentiments (Spellbinders), Copper Foil (Spellbinders)

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you'll join in our challenge this week!  Head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to get inspired to create a masterpiece!  You have until Monday at 1 PM EST to get your card entered in this week's challenge!

Thought I'd share a few pictures from last weekend's hike.  The view from the top was incredible but the hike up and down left a little to be desired.  We had great weather though the smoke has started to roll in.  Fire season is starting early!

Have a wonderful day!

Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #689

Hello!

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week!  We had a great hike on the weekend and I think it was the first one that didn't involve me walking through deep snow in a long time!!!  We did see some snow but I didn't have to walk through it!  We also didn't come across any ticks!  We've seen a huge number of them this year and we even managed to bring one home to our cat Sprite.  She seems okay so far and we'll be keeping an eye on her!

We have a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Cecile Ribon!  Cecile creates the most beautiful cards so you'll want to be heading over to her blog to check them out! 

I wasn't too sure what flower I wanted to use with this sketch but the Honey Bee Stamps Lovely Layer Coneflower jumped out at me and I figured that would work.  I opted for a pink one today - especially since we've just been through blossom season and I miss seeing all those beautiful pink blooms all over!  

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Cover Stock, Pink Foil

Dies: Bitty Buzzword Honeycuts, Lovely Layers Coneflower (both Honey Bee Stamps)

Ink: Lovely Lipstick (SU), Worn Lipstick, Tattered Rose, Picked Raspberry, Bundled Sage, Mowed Lawn (Distress Oxides)

Other: Woodgrain Embossing Folder (SU)

 Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and join in our challenge this week!  We always love to see what you create!  If you need some inspiration, head to the blog and you'll find some beautiful cards posted by the Design Team!  

You have until 1 PM EST on Monday to get your card entered into our challenge this week!

Thought I'd share a few photos of our hike from the weekend!  Can't wait to get out again!

Have an amazing week!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches #680

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  We are having our 4th winter right now.  I'm very thankful the mountains have been getting snow so we'll have some nice melt and run off when spring finally decides to come and stay!  We did get out hiking last weekend.  We weren't expecting the amount of snow on the ground but we trudged along and had a great time!  No real elevation gain though.  We're still under severe avalanche risk and we'll be staying at low elevations until that clears!!!  

We have a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week courtesy of the amazing Narelle Farrugia!  Narelle's cards are absolutely amazing.  She is the queen of layers and fussy cutting!  Head on over to her blog and give her some love!  One day Narelle and I are going to go on the best hike together!  She's going to love it!!!  

Narelle has such a great sketch for us.  I did miss the bigger mat but I think I got the rest!  I decided to play with some paste and a new die set I picked up last week!  

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill Cover Stock

Stamps: Bitty Birthday Wishes (MFT)

Ink:  Detail Black (Pink Fresh Studios),  Candied Apple, Festive Berries, Lumberjack Plaid, Scattered Straw, Fossilized Amber, Rustic Wilderness, Bundled Sage (Distress Oxides)
Dies: Woodland Tales Floral (Spellbinders), Delightful Wishes Dies (SU)

Other: Texture Paste (Ranger), Pattern Party Decorative Masks (SU Retired)

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and join in our challenge!  We love to see what everyone comes up with!  You'll also notice that we have a new design team member!  Verena Shapiro has joined our little team!  We are so excited to have her on board!  Make sure you head over to her IG and welcome her!!!

You have until 1 PM EST on Monday to get your card entered in this week's challenge! 

Have an amazing day!
Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #675

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you've all had a wonderful week so far!  The warm weather has arrived here.  It has been so lovely!  It's almost felt like spring!  I know that winter is far from over and we usually get most of our snow in March/April!  We will bask in the sunshine and warmth while it's here!

We have a brand new sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Linda Callahan!  Linda makes such fabulous cards so please head over to her blog and show her some love!  

I had this fantastic DSP sitting on my desk and knew I wanted to use it for my next card.  I just find the yellow so happy!  I added some flowers from the Delightful Wishes.  I blended some Distress Oxides and called it a day!  In hindsight, I think the flowers should have been white but it's a little too late now!

Supplies:
Cardstock:  Hammermill White Coverstock, Daffodil Delight (SU)

DSP:  Floral Delight (SU)

Stamps: Bitty Birthday Wishes (MFT)

Ink: Scattered Straw and Fossilized Amber Distress Oxides, Detail Black (Pinkfresh Studio)

Dies: Delightful Wishes (SU)

Other: Champagne Rhinestones (SU)

Thanks so much for stopping today!  I hope you'll enter into our Freshly Made Sketches challenge this week!  You have until Monday at 1 PM EST to get your card entered into this week's challenge.  If you need some inspiration head on over to our blog and check out the cards that the Design Team has posted!

I hope you have an amazing day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #673

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week! The polar vortex is still visiting so we are enjoying another week of frosty weather.  It is supposed to blow out just after the weekend but we shall see.  I'm not holding my breath!  

We have a great new sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the lovely Jennifer Timko!  Jen makes such amazing cards so head over to her blog to be inspired!  

I wanted to use some of my new flower dies on this card and then after it was done realized I'm still short a Valentine's Day card but what's done is done!!!  I wanted a card that reminded me a bit of spring since we are in the depths of winter!  

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Early Espresso, 

Stamps: Delightful Wishes (SU)

Ink: Early Espresso (SU), Tattered Rose Distress Oxide, Saltwater Taffy Distress Ink

Dies: Delightful Wishes (SU), Double Stitched Circle Dies (Lil Inkers)

Other: Iridescent Rhinestones Basic Jewels (SU), Softly Sophisticated Embossing Folder (SU) 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll join in our challenge this week!  If you need some inspiration, please head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the cards the Design Team has posted!  You have until 1 PM EST on Monday to get your card entered into this week's challenge.

Have an amazing day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #671

  

Hello!  Happy Wednesday! I hope you're having a great start to your week!  We are once again having a chinook!  For those of you who aren't using to living on the eastern side of the rockies, a chinook is when we end up with some really warm air that comes flowing over the mountains.  Our temperatures can swing 20 degrees from one day to the next!  This week it's supposed to hit 10 degrees C!  We will enjoy it while it lasts because by Monday it's supposed to be -20!  

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the lovely Judy Rozema!  Judy's cards are always so beautiful so head over to her blog to check them out!  

I recently received a Stampin' Up order and decided to put a few of those new items to work on this card!  It was really fun to play with some new toys!!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill Coverstock White, Daffodil Delight

Stamps: Delightful Wishes (SU)

Ink: Black Detail (Pink Fresh Studios), Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide, Scattered Straw Distress Oxide, Gathered Twigs Distress Oxide

Dies: Delightful Wishes (SU)

Other: Linked Together Decorative Masks (SU), Tiny Bees (SU)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  

We hope you'll join in our challenge this week!  You have until Monday at 1 PM EST to get your card entered into this week's challenge!

If you need some inspiration, you'll find some amazing cards from the Design Team on the Freshly Made Sketches blog!  

Have an amazing day!

Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #670

Hello and Happy Wednesday!
I hope your week has started well!  We had cold weather which has since blown out with another chinook and it's warmer again.  It is crazy windy though!  One could blow away!  It was cold on the weekend so we opted against hiking (I was also exhausted) but hopefully we'll get out this weekend to do something fun!

We have a brand new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our favourite Texan, Amy O'Neill is our hostess this week!  Amy makes such beautiful cards so please head over to her blog and check them out!  

I had just purchased some Waffle Flower stamps and stencils and I was pretty excited to try them out knowing they would work perfectly for this card!  I'm still new to the stenciling game so I need to perfect the technique a bit and figure out what ink works best but we'll get there.  One thing at a time!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill Coverstock White, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, Vellum

Stamps: Sketched Marigold (Waffle Flower), Sketched Aster - sentiment (Waffle Flower)

Ink: StazOn Black, Scattered Straw Distress Oxide, Mustard Seed Distress Oxide, Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide, Bundled Sage Distress Oxide, Mowed Lawn Distress Oxide

Dies: Sketched Marigold (Waffle Flower), Nested Essential Dies

Other: Iridescent Basic Rhinestones, Softly Sophisticated Embossing Folder, Sketched Marigold Stencil (Waffle Flower)

Thank you so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll join in our challenge this week!  We always love to see what you create!  If you need some inspiration, please head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the cards already posted!  

You have until Monday at 1 PM EST to enter this week's challenge!

Have an amazing day!
Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #669

Hello!

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week!  We are almost halfway through January!  I actually feel like it's flying by.  Normally I'd say January has 693 days but this year I feel like I'm blinking and it's gone.  I'm sure it doesn't feel that way to everyone and I know a lot of people struggle with January.  I think our weather has been so uncharacteristically mild that it doesn't quite seem like January.  At least that's what I'll tell myself!

We have a brand new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is our favourite Australian and the lady I'm most excited to take to the top of a mountain, Narelle Farrugia!  Narelle makes beautiful cards.  She's our layering queen so head over to her blog to check them out! 

I wanted to make another Valentine's Day card but I really struggled.  I probably should have just scrapped it and moved on to something else instead but I didn't.  I'm not overly thrilled with the final product but I got it done!  

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill Coverstock White, Silver Foil, Real Red (SU)
Dies: Many Hearts Dies (SU)
Other: Curved Everyday Sentiments (Spellbinders), Silver Foil (Spellbinders), Subtle Texture Embossing Folder.

We headed out on a much warmer hike at Rummel Ridge on Saturday.  We thought we were in for a treat of a hike but turns out we hit a snowstorm on our ascent and our views were pretty non-existent!  Thankfully the skies cleared on our way down and we were able to catch a few beautiful views!  

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll join in our challenge this week!  You have until Monday at 1 PM EST to get your card entered into this week's challenge!  If you need any inspiration at all, please head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the cards the Design Team have posted!

Have an amazing day!
Jen