Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #400!!!

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  Can you believe that we're already at the beginning of August?!  How does that happen?  I know some of our American friends have kids heading back to school very soon and some within the next few weeks.  I"m very thankful that we are "free" until after labour day!

It is a VERY special day at Freshly Made Sketches!  Today is our 400th sketch!  400!!!  I can't believe it.  I couldn't remember when I joined in so I went back and figured it out!  June 2012!  My first sketch with the best team ever was #37!  I'm shocked they've kept me around this long!!!

In honour of our 400th sketch we are revisiting some of our first sketches!  This is sketch #1!!  How many of you participated in our very first challenge?!  For the rest of the month we'll be celebrating using our old sketches!  I can't wait!

Head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to get more of the juicy details!

Okay, as you can see I had a few problems sticking to the sketch!  Now don't get me wrong, I totally didn't do this on purpose.  I actually totally didn't notice that the sentiment should go at the bottom!!! I'm hoping you'll forgive me!!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Daffodil Delight
DSP: Botanical Butterfly, Brights DSP Stack
Stamps: Itty Bitty Birthdays
Ink: Memento Black
Other: Subtle Texture Embossing Folder, Daisies #2 Dies, Circle Punches, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches page to check out the incredible cards the Design Team has created!  I hope you'll be inspired and join us in this celebratory challenge!

Have an amazing day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #399

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having great start to your week! We've had a restful and relaxing week so far.  It's been really nice.  After a busy weekend and some hectic weeks, it's nice to have one that is a little more laid back.  There was some room cleaning and reading for the boys today!  They're starting to help me more in the kitchen which is nice.  Hopefully their culinary skills will improve over the next few weeks!

We have a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  I am this week's hostess!  It's always a treat to be the hostess and check out everyone's cards.  I am always amazed at how different all of the cards are!  I decided to go with a very square sketch this week!  If you don't like squares, you can always use another shape!

I decided to go for a mostly white card!  I used some silver butterflies that were already sitting on my desk!  One of my jobs this week is to clean my craft room up.  I'm hoping to get that done tomorrow. We shall see.  I keep putting it off!!

I tried making my three little squares just from plain white paper but they looked too plain so a little embossing was in order!  I used the Mosaic embossing folder since that was what was handiest!!  I embossed the sentiment in Silver (though I often fight with my silver embossing powder - it always makes a mess)!  Voila, a completed card!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Silver Foil
Stamps: LJD Birthday Greetings (MFT)
Ink: Versamark
Other: Mosaic Embossing Folder, Stitched Squares (Lil Inkers), Little Bits - Butterflies (Taylored Expressions), Silver 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 created for your inspiration!  They are truly incredible!

Have an amazing day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #398

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a fantastic week so far!  We are finally done camps and it's a week of relaxing and adventures at our house.  The boys are a little bored but that's okay. Being bored is good for them!  They'll figure out some stuff to do.  We have made a few trips to the library and Jacob has loaded up on space encyclopedias.  He's obsessed with space.  It's amazing how much information kids can cram into their brains!  I only wish I could still remember that much info!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches courtesy of our French designer Cecile Ribon!  Cecile's cards are so gorgeous, her die cut collection is to "die" for and she is super creative.

I had received this Modern Heart stamp set from Stampin' Up last week and decided that it would be perfect for this sketch!  I decided to use some ink that I haven't used before so grabbed the Gorgeous Grape and I was off to the races.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White
Stamps: Modern Heart
Ink: Versamark, Gorgeous Grape
Other: Gold Embossing Powder, Sequins, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the amazing cards the Designers have created to inspire you!

Have an amazing week!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #397

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  We had our church kids camp last week.  It was the most amazing week ever.  It was the most tiring week ever but wow, was it fun.  850  kids, 350 workers and a whole lot of smiles!  Can't wait for next year!

We have a brand new and fantastic sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the lovely Kim Singdahlsen.  Kim creates such gorgeous cards and I'm always taking note of what supplies she's using and building a wish list!  Maybe don't tell my husband that!!!

Kim's sketch was a little tricky until I realized I had these poppies (uncoloured) sitting on my desk from another card attempt!  I decided instead of colouring them red, I would colour them yellow instead!  For today, they're yellow poppies!

I must say the Stampin' Blends did great and I was able to combine 4 markers instead of just the normal 2!  I believe this was Daffodil Delight and Mango Medley but I could be very wrong!  It may be So Saffron and Mango Medley!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whipser White, Basic Grey
DSP: Brights 6X6 DSP Stack
Stamps: LJD Delicate Pretty Poppies (MFT)
Ink: Memento, Versamark
Other: LJD Pretty Poppies Dies (MFT), Stampin' Blends, Mosaic 3D Embossing Folder, Silver Embossing Powder, Stitched Flags

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!

Have an amazing day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #395

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week!  We finally have summer vacation starting here!  Yay!  It's about time!  Making lunches was never the thing that I hated - it was washing all those containers.  The boys make their own lunches so it's not a lot of work for me but washing the containers when they come home from school is my job.  One of my more loathed jobs (along with dusting, I hate dusting).  Anyhow, it was so nice not to have to wash all those containers tonight!!!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Jen Mitchell!  Jen is super creative.  She comes up with the most elegant clean designs.  I just love them.  Head over to her blog to check them out!

Soooo....do you see that giant circle?!  I must say I'm not a big fan.  At all.  Like not at all.  It's huge.  I had no idea what to do but remembered that I had the "So Very Special" set from Reverse Confetti and knew it would work perfectly in this giant circle!

I opted for pink and black because I think they really do look fun together!  I used the sequin embossing folder from SU for the background because the card needed a little something!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Whisper White, Black Foil, Silver Foil
DSP: It's the SU butterfly one...sorry I can't remember the name!
Ink: Basic Black
Other: Stitched Circle Dies (Lil Inkers), Sequin Embossing Folder (SU), Dimensionals

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

Have an amazing day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #394

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  School is almost done here - finally! I  can't wait!  I am excited for school and lunches to be done with!  Bring on summer holidays!  The kids are so done!  I am not sure why we even bother going this week.  I'm not sure they're even doing anything!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Jen Timko!  I love Jen's cards.  Her colouring is fantastic and she is so creative.  You need to head over to her blog and check them out.

I struggled a bit with this card. I am not completely satisfied with the outcome but that's okay.  I also realized that I totally should have taken the picture landscape.  I don't know what I was thinking when I took the photo!  I find sympathy cards are hard to make and this one was especially hard for me!  I had to haul out the Botanical Builders Dies.  Though retired, they are my favourite flowers ever and I will continue to use them!  I added a sentiment from Sentiment Essentials (Reverse Confetti).  I went with a neutral Kraft background this time!  Wow, it's hard for me to change like that - every ounce of me wanted to do white!!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Kraft, Whisper White
DSP: Gingham
Stamps: Sentiment Essentials
Ink: Basic Black
Other: Sentiment Essentials Dies, Botanical Builders Dies, Enamel Dots, Dimensionals

Thanks again for stoping by!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches page and check out the gorgeous cards the Design Team has created!  You will love them!

Have an amazing day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #393

Hello!
Happy Wednesday! I hope you're having a great week!  We finally have some relatively warm weather which is fantastic!  I still haven't worn shorts yet but that's because I'm always cold!!!  Actually, I don't really own shorts anymore!  I've progressed to skorts!  I guess I'm officially old!  Anyhow, we're almost done school here.  We like to drag it out as long as possible to torture kids and parents!  My boys checked out about a week ago so they're finding it hard to focus all day at school!  Oh the joys of June!

Anyhow, we have a fantastic sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches courtesy of the amazingly talented Lee Ann Barrett!  I just love Lee Ann's cards!  She creates the most beautiful scenes and her colouring is fantastic.  Head over to her blog to check them out!

I kinda knew what I wanted to do for this card.  Of course there was a first edition and a second edition and then I settled on this one!  This cake was sitting on my desk from a previous attempt at a card so I decided I couldn't get it go to waste!  You never let cake go to waste!

It wasn't until I uploaded my card to the Design Team site that I realized I had my sentiment in the wrong place.  Sorry ladies.  I didn't even realize.  Hopefully they'll forgive me!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Early Espresso, Kraft
Stamps: Inside Scoop (Taylored Expressions)
Ink: Early Espresso
Other: Build a Cake Dies (Taylored Expressions), Scalloped Edge Die, Wink of Stella, Sequins (Taylored Expressions)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the gorgeous cards the Design Team has created for you!  You will definitely be amazed!

Have an incredible week!

Jen