Celebrating 600!!! Freshly Made Sketches 600th Sketch!

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a wonderful start to your week?  Maybe your kids have headed back to school this week or maybe you're on vacation!  We were on vacation last week and it was wonderful.  We did a lot of hiking so be prepared to be bombarded with hiking photos at the end of this post!

Did you see that it's our 600th sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  That's about 12 years!  Can you believe that?  It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating 400!  I just scrolled back and my first sketch with the Design Team was #38!  I didn't realize I had been with this lovely group of ladies for so long!  No wonder we feel like family!  You're going to see some extra cards on the blog this week!  We took a look at the who had won our challenge the most over the years and picked a bunch of those people to make cards for your inspiration!  

 

This week, when each Design Team member picks their "Perfect Prince/Princess" that person will be offered the future opportunity to be a guest designer for one of our challenges!  We really wanted to celebrate all of you and how much we love how you join in our challenge each week!  Some of you have been around since Sketch #1!  

So I grabbed this new poinsettia die set by Spellbinders this week.  I love the poinsettia and I also love that sweet little bird!  Spellbinders really does make some amazing dies!  I had this already embossed piece of black cardstock sitting in my collection of black so I opted to use it!  

Supplies:
Cardstock: Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Basic Black, Gold Foil

Ink: Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green

Other: Christmas Bird, Poinsettia Dies (Spellbinders),  A Merry Little Christmas Sentiments (Spellbinders),  Nested Circles (PinkFresh Studios), Woodgrain Embossing Folder (SU), Gold Foil, Glimmer Hot Foil Machine

Okay so vacation at our house means hiking!!!  We got 4 hikes in and beat last year's hike total!   I was pretty pumped!  

So hike #1 was Healy Pass!  It's a beautiful spot that you get to from Sunshine Ski Hill in Banff.  The weather was iffy and we weren't sure what we were in for but by the time we got there, the skies had cleared and it was beautiful!  

Hike #2 was my most favourite hike so far (ever)!  Snow Peak in Kananaskis Country!  The skies were crystal clear and it was absolutely beautiful!  The hike was a tough one but we plugged away and got it done!  I will remember this one forever!  

Hike #3 was the beautiful Lake O'Hara in British Columbia!  This is a protected area and you can't get in without a ticket and we were fortunate to score two  tickets.  There is an alpine circuit that we did and it was so beautiful but it was the hottest day we've ever hiked.  The views were incredible and we were so thankful for the kind man who offered to take our picture so we weren't doing the usual selfie!

Hike #4 - Pigeon Mountain.  This was a bike and hike!  Thankfully we could bike the first 5 km of this hike which cut down on the distance and time!  It was super smoky but we took advantage of the day and enjoyed it anyhow!  Rolling green hills and a beautiful surroundings always make the day better!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Thanks also for putting up with all the hiking pics!  We had such a good time!  Hiking season will be over soon enough and we'll try and squeeze in as many as we can!  

Please make sure you head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog!  You'll see the Design Team's cards as well as our special guests'!  You will definitely be inspired and you'll want to join in our challenge!  Remember, if you get chosen as one of this week's favourites you'll have an opportunity to join us in one of our challenges!  

Have an amazing day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #586

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  The week started well here but yesterday the winds shifted and brought a huge amount of smoke in with it.  The smoke was so thick and the wind was so strong.  It was crazy.  My youngest was supposed to have a track and field meet but they had to cancel it due to the terrible air quality.  The wildfires here in Alberta have been so bad and we need rain so desperately.  The smoke is supposed to clear out through the day today so we're hoping it does.  I ran a few errands yesterday and when I came home my hair stunk like a very strong camp fire!  I stuck at video at the end of this post of the smoke.  Hopefully that worked - I'm not too tech savvy! 

Since it's Wednesday, that means we've got a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is our favourite Californian, Jacquie Southas!  Jacquie creates the most beautiful card so please head over to her blog and check them out! 

So, my mom bought me this sweet paper pack for Mother's Day (we were able to see my parents briefly last weekend and it was wonderful!).  The paper is so pretty and as much as I hate to use it because I love it so much, I'm turning over a new leaf and actually using my paper!!!  

I threw on some bees and of course a Be Bold Bloom and called it a day!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Basic Black, Basic White, Marina Mist (I think), Daffodil Delight, Garden Green, Vellum

Paper: Bee Happy (Echo Park)

Ink: Crushed Curry, Garden Green

Other: Be Bold Blooms (Spellbinders), Modest Greetings 1 (Poppy Stamps), Beehive Dies (Sizzix), Hardwood Embossing Folder (SU), Silver Foil

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and join in our challenge!  The Design Team has created some amazing cards that will surely inspire you so we hope you'll play along with us!

Have an amazing day!

Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #166

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I trust you're each having a great week and not too busy getting ready for Christmas!  I got a bit more wrapping done yesterday so I'm one step closer to being ready!  Today I need to tackle some baking for a cookie exchange I'm in.  Mom...no comments!!!  We have an "elf on the shelf" at our house who is very, very naughty.  The boys sure get a kick out of him and his antics but this mom is running out of creative ideas!

Being Wednesday, we have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the lovely Karren Johnson.  Karren is so creative and makes such fabulous cards!  I am always envious of the beautiful things she comes up with!  She has a great sketch for you this week that I'm sure you will have a fun time working with.

Surprisingly, this is the first version of this card.  I know, you can all get over being shocked!  I knew what I wanted and it kind of came together - and in less time than it usually does for which I am very thankful!  The Lovely as a Tree stamp set is one of my favourites and I couldn't wait to use it.  Unfortunately I had to cut off one of the trees and I forgot to add in the bow...that being said, it would have cut off one of the trees!

I wanted to keep neutral colours for this card but then realized it needed a slight pop of colour so I added some old Red Riding Hood Ruffled Ribbon that I had.  I think it adds the right amount of colours.  I left a sentiment off this card because the lady I'm making it for requested a few cards that were blank.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Smokey Slate, Silver
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Hardwood
Ink: Smokey Slate, Versamark
Other: Silver Embossing Powder, Red Riding Hood Ribbon, Dimensionals.

Thanks again for stopping by!  I hope you have the time to head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the beautiful cards the design team has created for your viewing pleasure.

Have a wonderful day!

Jen!

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #134

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  I had a nice day today.  It poured rain all day!  The creek at the golf course by our house is overflowing and making it's way towards hole 10!!!  The golfers will have a wet day tomorrow!

I'm super excited for Thursday!  We demonstrators get a sneak peek at the new Stampin' Up Catalogue!  I'm even going to change my morning workout routine so I can peruse the catalogue before the boys get up!!!

We have a fabulous new sketch today at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week's sketch is super fun!  Our hostess this week is the incredibly talented Karren Johnson!  She sure has created a sketch you won't want to miss out on.

I am still on my Mother's Day kick!  I need to get a few more done!!!  I wanted to use basic grey and used the Hardwood background stamp (one of my favs!) along with some doilies and pleated seam binding.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Grey, Rose Red, Whisper White
Stamps: Hardwood background, Secret Garden, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Basic Black
Other: Secret Garden Framelits, Doilies, Rose Red Seam Binding, Bitty Banners Framelits, Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by!  Please head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the super amazing cards the Design Team has created for you!  We hope you join along in our challenge this week!!!

Have a fabulous week!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #128

Hello (again!)
Happy Wednesday!  I can't believe how quickly Wednesday came around!  I must say I am a big fan of Wednesdays!  It's bathroom cleaning and bootcamp day!  Some of you might think I'm crazy but I do love clean bathrooms and who doesn't love a night at bootcamp with some great girls?!

Today brings us a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week's hostess is Rita Wright!  She has been totally rocking this online course most of our Design Team has been taking together!  Check out her blog to see the fabulous cards she's been churning out the last few days!

I was a little stumped with the sketch at first!  I had something else in mind for this card when I started out but changed my mind since I really wanted to use the Hardwood background stamp!  I decided to spare you using Basic Grey and yellow again and chose Raspberry Ripple instead!!!  I also realized I hadn't used the Hexagon die yet and wanted to give that a whirl!

I saved some of the punched out hexagons and attached them with dimensionals to give the card a bit of lift!  I threw on some rhinestones as well because I simply can't imagine a card without bling!!!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Grey, Raspberry Ripple, Whisper White
Stamps: Hardwood, Perfect Pennants
Ink: Basic Grey
Other: Basic Rhinestones, Hexagon Die, Banners Framelits, Raspberry Ripple Ribbon, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you hop on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog!  The design team has created some fantastic cards!  We can't wait to see what you come up with!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen