Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #200!

It's here!  It's finally here!  Our 200th Sketch Challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!  Can you believe it?  This has been weeks in the making.  If there is one challenge that you want to take part in, this is it!  Why you ask?  Well, we have some amazing prizes to give away!  I mean totally amazing!  We have found some super generous sponsors who have donated some fabulous prizes!  Lots of these sponsors have joined in our challenge and have created some gorgeous cards that will definitely inspire you!

0ur sketch this week is super versatile and there are so many different things you can do with it!   Don't let it fool you though, it's not always as easy as it looks!!!  Trust me (and the rest of the design team!!!).

I would love to say that the card you see above was the first card I made and that I whipped it up in seconds BUT after last week's post I'm pretty sure you know as well as I do that it isn't!  This is in fact card #7!!!  Yup, #7!  Card 1 turned out not too bad.  I actually don't mind it.  Cards 2-5 did not even get finished and ended up in the garbage.  Card #6 looks like this one only it's more vanilla and brown.  I decided that one just wasn't doing it for me.  Finally I (with help of our fabulous design team) decided on this one!!!!  I'll get on to this creative process one of these days!

This week we will be picking TWO grand prize winners!  

Our two overall winners (two Queens or Kings of Clean) will win one of the following (1 of each prize to be given) from our premier sponsors:

Purple Onion Designs - $50 USD Stamp Prize Package

Stampin' Up! - Watercolor Wings Stamp and Framelit Bundle + 3 Classic Ink Pads of choice ($56 USD value)

Players will be randomly selected to win the following prizes from these fabulous sponsors:

Altenew - $30 Gift Certificate

Avery Elle - $25 Gift Certificate

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - $25 Gift Certificate + 20% Discount Code for ALL players (FRESH200 through Aug. 30th)

Clearly Besotted - £20 Gift Certificate

Lawn Fawn - Stamp Set of choice

Lil' Inker Designs - $35 Gift Certificate

My Creative Time - €25 Gift Certificate

Neat & Tangled - $25 Gift Certificate

Newton's Nook - $20 Gift Certificate

Paper Sweeties - $25 Gift Certificate

Paper Smooches - $25 Gift Certificate

Reverse Confetti - $25 Gift Certificate

Simon Says Stamp - $25 Gift Certificate

Sugar Pea Designs - $20 GIft Certificate

SRM Stickers - SRM Product

Stamplorations - $15 Gift Certificate OR 3 ARTplorations Stencils

Taylored Expressions - Petite Stamp and Die Combo plus Embossing Folder of Choice

Top Dog Dies - Borders #1 die and Happy Birthday Banner die ($20 value)

Two Paper Divas - $25 Gift Certificate

Uniko - Stamp set

Winnie & Walter - $25 Gift Certificate

As you can see, this is going to be one FABULOUS week!  You don't want to miss out!  You have until Monday, August 24th at noon to get your card entered!  Now, head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out what the Design Team and the Sponsors have created to inspire you!

Have a fabulous week!  Can't wait to see your creations!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #199

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I don't know where the time is going?!  We had such a great week visiting my mom and dad.  This week the kids are doing tennis lessons in the morning (which really only works out to 2 hours).  They are really enjoying them so far.  I'm enjoying a wee bit of time to get a few things done.  Not much though because you really can't get much done in an hour and a half!

We have a super fun sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  Our marvellous hostess this week is the one and only Karren Johnson!  Karren makes amazing cards.  I totally love her creativity! You need to head to her blog and see exactly want I'm talking about!

So, this sketch is very versatile.  It actually gave me a bit of a challenge.  Sometimes people think that cards just come together in 5 minutes.  For some people they do.  I'm not one of those people.  Trust me.  I wanted to attach some of the cards that I made first BEFORE making the card I posted on the FMS blog.  

This one (above) sure felt okay while I was making it until it was done and then I realized I didn't like the bike.  Then the green banner at the bottom looked naked so I added the pearls.  Still, not too fond of it.  But it's a card and it's done.

This one (above) was the second card I made.  I think it's okay but it just didn't wow me.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I don't think the card I posted is of wow'ing calibre but I had to choose one!  So, as you can see, this process isn't easy for me and often offers much frustration!

Supplies: (For the sunflower card)
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Gumball Green, Crumb Cake, Crushed Curry
Stamps: Sentiment Flag Additions (Lil' Inkers)
Ink: Early Espresso
Other: Daisy #2 Die,  Flower Patch Framelits, Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), Stitched Flag (Lil' Inkers), Lattice Textured Embossing Folder, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches Blog to check out the beautiful cards the Design Team has come up with!  You will be glad you did!

Also, don't forget that next week is our BIG 200th Sketch Challenge.  You will NOT want to miss this!  We have some fabulous sponsors (some of whom will be creating some beautiful cards to spur you on).  If there is one challenge you want to participate in, this is it!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #198

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week!  We are having a great week visiting with my mom and dad!  The boys are in Grannie and Papa Heaven and enjoying their soccer games, the train sets and the monopoly challenges!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our fabulous hostess this week is Cindy Lovell!  I adore Cindy's cards.  She creates the most magnificent cards.  I am totally jealous of her creativity!

I was inspired by a few gallery cards a few weeks ago that were created using the Flower Patch stamp set and coordinating Flower Fair Framelits dies!  I must say I've developed a fond affection for the Bermuda Bay/Basic Black combination.  It just reminds me of summer and really, who doesn't love summer?!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White
Stamps: Flower Patch, Sentiment (now I can't remember what I used!!!)
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Pool Party, Stazon Black
Other: Flower Fair Framelits,  Bermuda Bay Sequins, Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I do hope that you'll head on over for the Freshly Made Sketches Blog to see the amazing cards the design team has created!  You won't be disappointed!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #197

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I must say we've been having a good week so far!  We've had some beautiful but super hot weather.  Okay, not Texas hot but Canada hot!  We have been enjoying the pool a lot this week but even the pool is really warm and we're having trouble getting it to cool off!  First world problems!  I must apologize for the lack of post last week.  My laptop died on me.  Just up and died.  By the time Apple was finally able to revive it, it was too late to post.  Thankfully it seems to be working fine now!

We have a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  I happen to be fortunate enough to be the hostess.  I get very nervous when I'm the hostess!  I'm also afraid people won't like my sketch!  I do love simple sketches and ones with lots of open background!  I kept this one extra simple!

Of course I love butterflies and a good black and white card is right up my alley so once combined I'm really happy!  I'm not overly excited with the sentiment I chose but that particular stamp was sitting on my desk and I grabbed it!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White
Stamps: Sentiment Flags (Lil' Inkers)
Ink: Black Stazon
Other: Butterfly Thinlits, Basic Rhinestones, Double Stitched Squares (Lil' Inkers), Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you will head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches Blog to see the beautiful cards the Design Team has created for you.  They are a talented bunch of gals I tell you!

As a reminder, we are a few weeks away from our 200th Sketch Challenge and you won't want to miss out on that one!  We have several sponsors on board to help us celebrate!  We hope you will join us too!

Have a fabulous day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #195

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week!  We are almost midway through our Harvest Kids Camp week.  We have a total of 806 (807 if you could my friend's 1 week old baby who showed up to help today)!  My friend Julie and I are running a card making elective with 31 Grades 3-5 kids in the morning and 35 Grades 1 and 2 kids in the afternoon.  We are having a great time.  I'll be honest though, I'm exhausted!

We have a brand new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess is the fabulously talented Kim Singdahlsen.   I am always so amazed at the creativity of Kim's cards.  She is one talented card maker!

Now, if you know me at all, you know that when I saw that sketch I almost cried.  Not one circles but THREE!  I asked Kim if she was trying to do me in!  Now, I could have used an alternative shape but the best way to conquer your fears is to face them right?!  My mom bought me the stitched circle dies for Mother's Day (I LOVE MY MOM!) and I knew they would work perfectly on this card!

I had that silver "Happy" sitting on my craft table, threw on some bling, embossed the birthday and called it a day!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight
Stamps: Endless Birthday Wishes
Ink: Versamark
Other: Silver Embossing Powder, Hello You Thinlit Dies, Double Stitched Circle Dies (Lil' Inkers), Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Thanks again for stopping by!  Please head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the amazing creations the team has come up with!

I hope you have a great end to your week!

Jen!

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #194

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  We are into our second week of summer vacation and slowly getting into a routine and figuring things out!  The boys are looking forward to a week of camp next week and a week of spending a little bit of time apart!  I think that may be a good thing!!!  I will also be at camp leading a card making elective.  There are 75 kids that will be joining me during the day!  I have been doing a lot of paper cutting over the last few weeks and am now looking forward to being finished and meeting our group!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches courtesy of the amazing Linda Callahan!  I love Linda's wonderfully creative cards and her sense of humour!

For some reason the squares on Linda's sketch didn't scare me as much as I thought they would!  My mom had bought the Lil' Inkers square stitched dies for me for Mother's Day and I couldn't wait to get them out!  I figured they would work perfectly!  I love my Fabulous Flamingo stamp set (Reverse Confetti) and knew it would work for this card!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Melon Mambo
Stamps: Fabulous Flamingo
Ink: Stazon Black, Melon Mambo
Other: Square Stitched Dies (Lil' Inkers), Fabulous Flamingo Confetti Cuts (Reverse Confetti), Silver Taffeta Ribbon, Silver Sequins, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping in today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches Blog and check out the fabulous cards the design team has created to inspire you!  We can't wait to see what you come up with!

Have a wonderful day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #193

Hello!
Happy Wednesday and Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians!  I love Canada Day!  We had thought about taking the boys to the fireworks this year but we have one very tired 6 year old on our hands and a field trip planned for Thursday so the fireworks may have to wait!!!

We have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  Our hostess this week is the fabulous Rita Wright!  Rita makes such fun cards and has become an amazing colourer!  I know that's not a word but really, what would you call it??!!!

I was a little worried when I saw Rita's sketch!  Having the boys at home full time means a lot less time to do anything.  We have had some very fun days planned but those days didn't really include any time for me to make cards!  During a few minutes of movie time the other afternoon I dashed downstairs to clean a bathroom and make this card!  My "Sun 'n Clouds" Confetti cuts were sitting out and I decided I needed a card with sunshine on it.  We haven't had much of that lately so I needed something to cheer me up!  The word "Shine" is embossed with silver embossing powder.  Hard to see in the picture though!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Grey
DSP: Brights Polka Dot (retired)
Stamps: Shine Bright (Reverse Confetti)
Ink: Stazon, Versamark, Blendabilities
Other: Sun 'n Clouds Confetti Cuts, Daffodil Delight Taffeta Ribbon, Daffodil Delight Button,  Silver Embossing Powder, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Please head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches Blog to check out all the amazing cards the Clean Team has created for you!  You won't be disappointed!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen