Freshly Made Sketches Challenge 661

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week!  I feel like Halloween ended and suddenly Christmas is everywhere.  I have a bit of Christmas shopping done but not a whole lot.  I can't really wrap my head around Christmas yet.  Our church hosts a Christmas market every year and I'm helping plan that and then the next night I'm hosting a ladies Advent evening.  To say that my brain feels like it might explode is an understatement.  The best part is that the week of all this excitement my husband needs to be out of town!  I'm so thankful both my kids can drive!  Makes crazy weeks more bearable!

We have a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  Our hostess is the lovely Jacquie Southas!  Jacquie's cards are so pretty - please head over to her blog and check them out! 

Shockingly this card came together quickly - probably because it wasn't the first one I made.  The first one I made I wasn't too happy with but I'll probably still post it on Instagram so if you want to see if you'll have to hop over there!  I got this new Snowflake embossing folder the last time I was at the Paper and Ink Boutique and decided to give it a whirl!  I really do love it!  I threw on a foiled sentiment and some jewels and called it a day!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock

Other: Winter's Veil Embossing Folder (Tonic Studios), A Merry Little Christmas Sentiments (Spellbinders), Glimmer Hot Foil Machine, Silver Foil (Spellbinders), Basic Rhinestones (SU)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!!!  

Stay tuned for a new card next week!

Have an amazing day!
Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #616

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far.  We received a surprise dumping of snow last week so it looks like we'll have a white Christmas.  Trevor and I got out for our first ski of the season on the weekend.  I am not a confident skier.  I don't possess that athletic prowess that most seem to have.  Skiing is very hard for me and so I really have to push myself to do it.  We had a great day and I mostly stayed upright which was the goal.  I'm sure the next time we go out I'll feel much more comfortable!  

We've got a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is our favourite Texan and the incredibly talented Amy O'Neill!!!  Amy's cards are always gorgeous so make sure you head over to her blog and check them out!

This was such a great sketch and the timing was perfect because I knew I was going to need a couple more Christmas cards.  My husband asked me for a few extras so he could give them to his staff.  I also think I will need one for my hair dresser!  Maybe I should just make enough to get started on next year's!  

Yup, black on black with the poinsettia's again.  Why re-invent the wheel when it's working?!  I added some Wink of Stella to the pine boughs to make them a little sparkly!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Shaded Spruce, Gold Foil (All SU)

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green

Other: Christmas Bird and Poinsettia (Spellbinders), Lovely Layers Winter Greenery (Honey Bee Stamps), Dainty Diamonds Embossing Folder (SU), A Merry Little Christmas Sentiments (Spellbinders), Glimmer Hot Foil Machine (Spellbinders), Gold Foil (Spellbinders), Wink of Stella

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 will definitely be inspired when you see the cards that are posted!  

Have an amazing day!

Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #615

Happy Wednesday!  We're a week closer to Christmas!  Are you ready?  Cards are mailed, gifts are mostly purchased, wrapping is almost done, baking has started, house is decorated.  I'm exhausted!  I actually still have some cards to make but they're for local people so they don't need to be mailed.  I need to make them simpler so that I can make them quickly!  Oh, December is always so busy.  I wanted to get my jobs done early so I could enjoy the month.  We shall see how it works out!  The more I think about it the more I keep adding stuff to my list so I might not be any further ahead!!!

We've got a brand new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Karren Johnson!  Karren makes the most beautiful cards so make sure you head over to her blog and show her some love!  

Shockingly this card came together fairly quickly.  I knew right away what I wanted to do.  The only thing that took some time was ironing out the background colour!  I originally wasn't going to have a black background and a black panel but black on black won out!  

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

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green

Other: Dainty Diamonds Embossing Folder (SU), Christmas Bird and Poinsettia Dies (Spellbinders), A Merry Little Christmas Sentiments (Spellbinders), Glimmer Hot Foil Machine (Spellbinders), Gold Foil (Spellbinders), Gold Sequins

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and join in our challenge!  We always love to see what you create!  If you need some inspiration the design team has some beautiful cards posted!  

 Have an amazing day!
Jen

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

 

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