Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #710

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a wonderful week so far!  I've in the thick of Christmas planning at work which actually has me thinking that Christmas will be here before we know it!  That thought alarms me because I haven't even thought about Christmas in my real life!!!  And since I'm not thinking about Christmas at home yet, I'm also not making any Christmas cards yet!!!  With the postal service still very iffy, I don't even know if we'll be able to really end them!

We have a brand new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the incredible and original Linda Callahan!  Linda is one of our original FMS designers.  She is such a valuable member of our team but she is taking a step back and retiring from our sweet team.  We will miss her like crazy and wish her the best!!  Please head over to her blog and thank her for all her amazing cards and funny jokes and stories!!!  

Now, when I saw Linda's sketch, I immediately saw mountains.  Then I figured the circles could be hikers but I have nothing that looks like hikers so those circles had to become clouds behind the mountains!  That's about all I could do!!!  

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Soft Sky, Garden Green, Wild Wasabi, Smoky Slate, Shaded Spruce (SU)

Stamps: Typewriter Adventure Sentiments

Ink: Detail Black (PinkFresh Studios), Garden Green (SU), Smoky Slate (SU)

Dies: A2 Mountain Scene Builder Add-on Honey Cuts (Honey Bee Stamps), Scenic Adventure Dies (SU), Evergreen Dies (Taylored Expressions)

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 come up with.

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

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 #705

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week!  The smoke has finally cleared out here and the skies have been so blue!  It's so wonderful!  We've had some incredible sunrises and sunsets this week!  It's been pretty amazing!

We have a brand new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Narelle Farrugia!  Please make sure you head over to her blog to give her some love and check out her incredible creations!  

I thought for sure that the first idea I had for a card would be perfect!  Turns out I was wrong.  The second one wasn't perfect either but apparently third time is a charm.  I stuck with a simple white background.  Added some embossing and then kept the strips simple.  I opted for mushrooms for this card instead of leaves because I love mushrooms almost as much as I love fall!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Real Red, Smoky Slate, Basic Black

Stamps: Fall Foliage (Reverse Confetti)

Ink: Detail Black (Pink Fresh Studio), Real Red

Dies: Autumn Wonder (Spellbinders)

Other: Exposed Brick Textured Embossing Folder

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll enter into our challenge this week!  Please head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to enter your card in this week's challenge.  You'll also find the inspiration you need to kick start your creativity!

This week's challenge ends on Monday at 1 PM EST!  

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 #703

Happy Wednesday! 

I hope your week has started well!  We're really starting to see signs of fall on our hikes.  Some of the plants are turning colours and I realized that the trees are also starting to turn!  I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet.  Unfortunately here, snow follows very closely behind fall!!!  

We have a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches today!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Karren Johnson!  Please make sure you head over to her blog and check out her gorgeous creations!  

So, I saw that "window" shape and had absolutely no idea what to do with that.  I had absolutely nothing that would work for that.  After a few quick texts to some local craft friends, I had scored the goods!  Thank you Heather and Sheryl!  I still had some leaves on my desk and since I have fall on the brain, I had to make another fall card!  

Supplies:

Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Cajun Craze (SU), Crumb Cake (SU)
Ink: Cajun Craze (SU)
Dies: Autumn Wonder (Spellbinders), Happy Fall Sentiments (Spellbinders), Garden Meadow Dies (SU)
Other: Distressed Tile Embossing Folder (SU), Grain and Grunge Gem Stickers (Honey Bee Stamps)

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 cards that the Design Team have posted! 

You have until Monday at 1 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 #701

 

Hello!

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  Summer has finally decided to show up here and the weather has been amazing!  We are currently enjoying our vacation.  We decided very last minute to take a trip to Revelstoke, British Columbia.  We've got a lot of hikes we want to tackle.  One hike is supposed to be the most beautiful hike in Canada!  We shall see.  I will keep you posted!

We had so much fun celebrating our 700th sketch at Freshly Made Sketches last week.  I hope you were able to play along with our challenge.  We're now rolling into our next 700 sketches!  I have the privilege of being this week's hostess!  I love to see all the different variations of the sketch!  My sketch has the sentiment being vertical on that last panel but I couldn't find one that fit the bill so I had to leave it horizontal! 

Supplies:

Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Brushed Gold (SU)

Dies: Christmas Foliage (Spellbinders), Handwritten Holiday Sentiments (Spellbinders)

Other: Distressed Tile Embossing Folder (SU)

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  

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

Have an amazing day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #700

Happy Wednesday!
I hope you're having a great week so far!  The summer weather has finally arrived - let's just hope the snow stays away for another couple of months so we can actually enjoy it.  

We are so excited to be celebrating our 700th sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Can you believe that?  We've been creating sketches for you for 14 years!  I started playing along with Freshly Made Sketches at sketch #16!  You can see that card below!  Crazy to think that it was almost right near the beginning that I started to play.  I joined the design team at sketch #38.  I'm so thankful they've kept me around all this time!  

For this special sketch, we've invited back some of the designers that joined us along the way.  I'm so excited to see the cards that they create!  We sure hope you'll join us this week as well!  Our winner this week will get to be a guest designer for a week with us!!!

Since this is our 14th year, we've picked our 14th sketch as the sketch we're using for our challenge this week!  

I needed a more masculine birthday card and I wanted to use the new paper I had sitting on my desk so I went to town.  The mushrooms are actually cut out from paper in the Mintay paper pack.  I just love mushrooms.  We saw so many on our last hike.  They were gorgeous!  This card came together a lot faster than they normally do!! 

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Soft Suede, Cajun Craze

Patterned Paper: Lakeside Memories Basics (Paper Rose), Wildwood Secrets (Mintay Papers)

Dies: Happy Fall Sentiments

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and join in our challenge this week!  We can't wait to see what you create!  Feel free to post the first card you ever submitted!  We'd love to see that too!

Have an amazing day!
Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #699

Happy Wednesday!  

I hope you're having a fantastic start to your week!  The summer is flying by!  I am wondering how we're almost at the middle of August already!  We still haven't had a lot of summery weather yet but we're trying to make the best of what we have had.  

We've got a brand new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Verena Shapiro!  Verena's cards are spectacular so make sure you head over to her Instagram to check them all out!  

I needed a couple of sympathy cards this week and I thought this sketch worked perfectly for them!  So I'm not so great at background blending but I gave it my best.  I added some trees and some blooms and called it a day. I kept the cards simple.  Sometimes I start off simple and then it spirals into complicated!!!  

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill Coverstock, Basic Black

Stamps: Essential Sentiments (MFT), With Sympathy Duo (Waffle Flower)

Ink: Detail Black (Pink Fresh Studio), Twisted Citron, Salvaged Patina, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Uncharted Mariner, Scattered Straw, Fossilized Amber, Carved Pumpkin (Distress Oxides)

Dies: With Sympathy Duo (Waffle Flower), Harvest Dies (SU), Scenic Adventure Dies (SU), Circle Dies

Other:  Black Rhinestone Jewels (SU), Neutral Matte Dots (SU)

Thought I'd include a few photos from our adventure on the weekend.  

Our adventure started by seeing 5 Grizzlies!  A big male bear ran across the road in front of us and then we came across these three little ones and their mom.  Mom was grumpy (I would be too if I had triplets).  

A gorgeous paddle on Upper Kananaskis Lake.  It was so calm and the weather was perfect!  It was 8 degrees C when we started!!!  But it warmed up fast!

Our first paddle this year which is quite shameful!

This picture just doesn't do the water colour justice!

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 1 PM EST to get your card entered into this week's challenge!

Next week we're celebrating our 700th sketch!  I can't believe we're at 700!!!  I joined the Design Team at Sketch #31!!  That was a really long time ago!  I can't believe they've kept me all this time!!  You won't want to miss out on our challenge next week so be sure to mark it on your calendars!!!

Have an amazing day!
Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #696

Happy Wednesday!
I hope you're having a great week!  We are experiencing some super wet weather.  While rain is normal in a lot of areas of Canada through the summer, rain is not normal here.  We are usually in drought conditions and dealing with forest fires all summer but we've had so much rain in the last week we're getting ready to build our ark!  I actually had to turn our heat on today because it's dark and cold and the temperature is supposed to dip close to freezing tonight.  It's crazy!!!  

We have a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches today.  Our hostess this week is the extremely talented Jen Mitchell!  Her cards are fabulous so please head over to her blog and give her some love!  

I had these butterflies sitting on my desk and thought they would work nicely for this card.  Who doesn't love a pretty butterfly?  My craft room is a disaster and one of my jobs this week/weekend is to clean it up!  I still have a stack of stuff sitting on my desk and I need to put it away so that my desk can actually look clean again!!!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Basic Black, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight

Stamps: Hello Sunshine (Waffle Flower)

Ink: Detail Black (Pink Fresh Studios)

Dies: Hello Sunshine Piercing (Waffle Flower), Butterfly Blossom (Waffle Flower), Stitched Rectangle (Lil Inkers)

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.  You have until Monday at 3 PM EST to enter your card in 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 #691

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  I've spent a lot of time in the mountains since last week and it was so amazing.  The wildflowers are blooming and the views are amazing.  I won't even mention how good it smells!  My favourite time of year!  I always find it amazing that so many beautiful flowers can grow in such a harsh environment! 

We have a brand new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is one of our newest team members, Michele Ferguson!  Michele makes absolutely stunning cards so you'll want to head over to her blog to check them out!  

I have wildflowers and other spring flowers on the brain and this one reminded me a bit of an Alberta Wild Rose.  I thought it would be perfect for this card!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock

Stamps: Special Moments (SU)

Ink: Detail Black (Pink Fresh Studios), Distress Oxides

Dies: Woodland Tales Floral (Spellbinders), Stitched So Sweetly (SU)

Other: Iridescent Rhinestones (SU), Subtle Texture Embossing Folder

Thanks 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 the amazing cards that you all come up with!

I thought I'd share some photos from our hike on Saturday.  With the G7 Summit taking place our hiking trails are a little limited as they have a big area shut down but we found the perfect location and tackled two peaks - Belmore Browne and Boundary!

If you're wondering where the G7 is being held - basically it's at the bottom of those ski runs!  

I hope you have a wonderful week!

Remember, if you want to enter a card in our challenge this week, you have until Monday at 1 PM.

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