Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #602

Happy Wednesday!  Wow, Wednesdays come fast when you've had a long weekend!  Our youngest started 10th grade yesterday which seems almost impossible to me!  The boys' high school has a staggered start so my oldest doesn't start until Thursday.  Oh how I wish time would slow down a bit.  I'm not ready for my oldest to start his last year of high school.  Didn't he just start Kindergarten last year?!

We've got a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  Our hostess this week is the incredibly talented Kim Singdahlsen!  Kim's cards are spectacular.  She comes up with the most beautiful things!  Head on over to her blog and check them out!    

I knew I wanted to do a Christmas card with this sketch.  I also knew I wanted to do a pink poinsettia!  I don't think I've ever created a pink poinsettia so it was about time!  I opted to keep the colour to just pink and white so the "greenery" is now "whitery"!  I added some silver accents and was done!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Cover Stock, Blushing Bride, Silver Foil

Ink: Blushing Bride

Other: Holiday Blooms (Spellbinders), Christmas Bird Poinsettia (Spellbinders), A Merry Little Christmas Sentiments (Spellbinders), Silver Foil (Spellbinders), Silver Sequins (SU), Dainty Diamonds Embossing Folder (SU), Glimmer Hot Foil Machine (Spellbinders)

Our most recent hike wasn't a big one but one that was on our list.  It was long - almost 19 km but only 600 m elevation gain!  We did the Plain of 6 Glaciers Teahouse at Lake Louise!  It's an iconic hike and one we hadn't done.  You'll see the teahouse in the photos below.  We didn't actually stop and have anything at the teahouse. We just wanted to get on our way!  It was so neat to see all the glaciers and hear them cracking.  Our hiking season is coming to an end.  At this time of year we have no idea how many more weeks we'll have.  Snow and unfavourable weather can hit at any time and end things!  

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and join our challenge this week!  There are some amazing Design Team cards there to provide you with some incredible inspiration!  

Have an amazing day!

Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #601

Happy Wednesday!
Here we are starting our next 100 sketches!  A huge thank you to everyone who participated in our 600th Freshly Made Sketches challenge last week!  We loved seeing all of your beautiful cards!  It's been a true honour to be on this design team and part of this challenge!  I love being inspired by each of you!

We've got a fantastic new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week from Linda Callahan!  Linda is so fun and makes the best cards!  You need to check out her card for today!  I love it!  Head over to her blog to see it and all her other masterpieces!  

I recently acquired these fun Autumn Wonder dies from Spellbinders.  I love them but I didn't initially buy the envelope die that corresponds with them.  I ended up going back and getting it though because a fall bouquet coming out of an envelope just seems so fun!  I really struggled with this one though.  I had trouble coming up with the background.  Finally I settled on some Early Espresso but really the More Mustard looked better!!!  We won't go there though!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, Crumb Cake, Garden Green, Wild Wasabi, Mossy Meadow, Basic White, Gold Foil (all SU)

Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, Garden Green, Wild Wasabi (all SU)

DSP: In Good Taste (SU Retired)

Other: Mini Everyday Sentiments (Spellbinders), Autumn Wonder (Spellbinders), Dazzling Diamonds (Spellbinders), Gold Foil (Spellbinders), Glimmer Hot Foil Machine (Spellbinders)

Okay, it's now time for the latest hiking photos!  We've had some smoky views from the wildfires in BC so we've had to change around some of our hikes.  No sense hiking up a massive mountain if you can't see anything at the top!  This was a "smaller" one but it was a beast.  Definitely not my favourite.  Definitely will not be doing this one again - ever!!!

Rimwall Summit!  It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the summit to ourselves! 

Yup, that's the summit - it sucked getting to that point!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I do hope you'll head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and join in our challenge!  There are some fabulous cards on the blog from the Design Team that I'm sure will inspire you!

Have an amazing day!

Jen

 

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 #598

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I'm a little confused at what day it is here.  We had a holiday on Monday and so I'm a day behind on everything!!!  We had a fantastic long weekend though and it was lovely to spend time with our sweet, little family!  Of course there was some hiking involved - you can catch those photos at the end of this post!  

Since it's Wednesday, that must mean that we've got a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and our hostess, Jennifer Timko has a fabulous one for us!  Jen's cards are always amazing and she is one of the most talented card makers I know!  Head over to her blog and you'll see what I'm talking about!  You'd think that I would cringe when I saw it but this time I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it!  

I looked at those circles and saw sunflowers!  I grabbed my Honey Bee Lovely Layers Sunflower and went to town!  I struggled a bit with the outside but went with the frame (and I can't remember where it's from).

Supplies:
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, Hammermill White, Copper Foil

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry (both SU)

Other: Lovely Layers Sunflower (Honey Bee Stamps), Posh Happy Birthday (Memory Box), Copper Hot Foil (Spellbinders), Glimmer Hot Foil Machine, Adventure Awaits Gem Stickers (Honey Bee Stamps), Pierced Rectangle Frames

We actually completed two hikes this weekend!  The first one was a beast. The mighty Mount Jimmy Simpson!  This peak stands at just over 9700 feet!  It was quite the climb but we did it!  This hike is in Banff National Park and you can see Bow Lake from the peak!  It's also surrounded by glaciers!  I think it was the most beautiful place I've ever seen!  The pictures really don't do it justice!

The second hike was at The Orphan! It was a shorter hike but still super tough!  The entire hike was on rocks!  It was a little tough on the feet and ankles but it was still a fun hike!  Started out super foggy but was nice and sunny at the top.  We are experiencing a little smoke right now so the views from the top were obscured but still amazing!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I apologize for all the hiking photos!!!  Brace yourself for more next week!!!!  

I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out our challenge this week!  We really hope you'll join us!  If you need any inspiration you'll find it on our blog as the Design Team has come up with some beautiful cards!  

Have an amazing day!  

Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #597

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to the week!  Can you believe it's August already?  How did that happen?  Our kids still have one more month of summer holidays which is so nice.  Trevor is feeling better now and off traveling again for work.  Hopefully he doesn't bring another plague home with him!  None of the rest of us got sick which is amazing!!!  We'll have to adjust our weekend hike to account for him being at sea level all week!  

We've got a brand new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is our favourite Californian, Jacquie Southas!  Jacquie makes such beautiful cards so please head over to her blog to check them out!  

Jacquie's sketch stumped me for a bit.  I didn't know what I wanted to do with it.  I had some ideas but I just couldn't make them work so I flipped through all my Lovely Layers dies and landed on the hydrangea.  We just had some hydrangea planted by a landscaper and they all died (we won't talk about that though) so I was feeling all the love for the hydrangea dies!  I had the background already sitting on my desk in the rose gold so I went for it.

Supplies:

Cardstock: Blushing Bride (SU), Wild Wasabi (SU), Hammermill White, Rose Gold Foil (SU)

Other: Mini Everyday Sentiments (Spellbinders), Lovely Layers: Hydrangea (Honey Bee Stamps), Dazzling Diamonds (Spellbinders), Iridescent Rhinestones (SU), Rose Gold Hot Foil (Spellbinders)

Some views for you from our most recent hike!  This is the Grizzly Ridge to Highwood Ridge Traverse.  It was not for the faint of heart despite us being told it was pretty easy.  It was a beautiful hike and in the end I thought it was fun. The views are always incredible!  I still stare at the mountains and think they don't look real.  

I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and join in our challenge this week! We'd love to see what you come up with! We always love seeing everyone's beautiful creations!

I hope you have a fantastic day!
Jen

  

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #596

 

Happy Wednesday!  

 I hope you're having a great start to your week! Trevor got back from Italy on Friday night so we went out for a little family adventure hike on Saturday but by Sunday he wasn't feeling too hot and by Monday he was sick.  I guess he brought us back something a little "fun" from Italy.  He's not allowed anywhere near the kitchen and has to stay away from the rest of us.  None of us want what he has!

We've got a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  Our hostess is the incredibly talented Judy Rozema!  Judy's cards are always beautiful!  She's super creative and this week's sketch is no exception!  Make sure you head over to Judy's blog to check out her cards!  I love Judy's sketch this week and I love that we are to keep the bottom half of our card naked!  I pretty much knew right away I wanted to do a Christmas card with the Holiday Blooms dies!  

I used the Dazzling Diamonds Hot Foil plate to create the background for my top portion!  I tried it in pink first but then opted for silver!  I will still do something with the pink one though!  It's so pretty!  I went for a white and silver look this week since last week we went white and gold!  I might actually get some Christmas cards made this year!!!  

Supplies:

Cardstock: Hammermill White, Silver Foil
Other: Dazzling Diamonds Hot Foil Plate, Joyful Christmas Sentiments, Holiday Blooms, Silver Foil(all Spellbinders)

My kids agree to go for one hike a year and I have to be very strategic on where we go hiking.  This hike is a trail that goes around the Upper Kananaskis Lake.  It's a beautiful trail that has minimal elevation gain so they were "happy".  We had a great adventure out together!  

Thanks so much for stopping in today!  I hope you'll join in our challenge this week so please head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and submit your card!  Just remember to check out Judy's instructions this week!

Have an amazing week!
Jen