Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #535

Hello!

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week!  

We've got a brand new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Amy O'Neill!  Amy's cards are always so sweet!  Make sure you head over to her blog to check them out!  

I wanted to try and make up for the card that I wasn't happy with last week!  I started with my Lovely Layers Coneflower again but this time decided to get some texture in the background!  I combined the brand new In Colours Starry Sky and Orchid Oasis on this card!  I just love how they look together!  

Supplies:

Cardstock: Basic White, Starry Sky, Orchid Oasis, Daffodil Delight, Gold Foil

Stamps: LJD Birthday Greetings

Ink: Basic Black, Daffodil Delight

Other: Sweet Bee Sequin Mix (Honey Bee Stamps), Lovely Layers Coneflower Honey Cuts (Honey Bee Stamps), Gold Thread, Dainty Diamonds Textured Embossing Folder, Stitched Dies (no idea what they are or where they're from!)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and join in our challenge!  

The Design Team ladies have created some amazing cards to inspire you!  

Have a wonderful day!

Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #447

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  I am back from an amazing visit with my parents and settling back into routine here.  I can't believe it's already August and the kids only have a month of vacation left.  I must say I have enjoyed having my kids home and will be a little sad to see them go back to school - then again I will not miss 4 people in my kitchen at the same time trying to make their own lunches!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the incredible Kim Singdahlsen!  Kim makes amazing cards - I often end up spending a tad too much $$ after seeing her cards!  Head over to her blog to check them out!

I had a couple of ladies request some cards and the request involved pink and peonies.  I love the Prized Peony stamp set and really do love the Tasteful Texture Embossing Folder.  I paired them together and added a Nested Label Die cut and voila!  I got the Nested Labels in my last order and I just love them!  I had been eyeing them up for a long time and you'll probably see them on every card now!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Petal Pink, Whisper White, Grey Granite
DSP: Peony Garden
Stamps: Prized Peony, LJD Birthday Greetings (MFT)
Ink: Memento Black
Other: Nested Labels Dies, Peony Dies, Stampin' Blends, Elegant Faceted Gems, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the gorgeous cards the Design Team has created!  I must say that I love being on a team with so much talent!  The other ladies truly amaze me with their creativity!

Have an amazing day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #406

Happy Wednesday!  I trust you're having a great start to your week!  We are heading into Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada which means my brain is gearing up to spend the entire weekend standing in the kitchen!!!  We shall see how that goes.  I was recently told I have a Stage 1 bunion and what the chiropodist believes is bursitis in both feet.  Thankfully it's clearing up nicely so I'm praying that the Thanksgiving cooking doesn't put me over the edge!!!  Turkey makes everything better though right??!!!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the super creative Jacquie Southas!  Jacquie makes the most amazing clean and simple cards that look anything but simple!  She's super creative!  Head over to her blog to check them out!

I'm going to be honest.  At first when I saw those circles I thought to myself "circles are nothing, I've got this".  Well, they threw me for a loop.  Every shape and thing I tried did NOT work.  I was getting very frustrated.  There's a card somewhere downstairs with three very large acorns on it. It's very nutty looking!!!  Anyhow, I finally decided that butterflies always solve the problem so I pulled out my favourite butterfly dies from Taylored Expressions!  I then "painted" the butterflies with a little Wink of Stella because they needed a little something!!!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Kraft, Whisper White

Stamps: LJD Birthday Greetings (MFT)

Ink: Stazon Black

Other: In Flight Overlays (Taylored Expressions), Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers),  Wink of Stella, Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals

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

Have an incredible 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 #368

Hello
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week!  How's the Christmas preparations coming along?  I think I'm done.  That being said, I'll probably discover in a few days that I wasn't as ready as I thought I was!   I'm getting over a bad cold that my youngest decided to share with me.  So far everyone else has stayed healthy so we're hoping that remains the case!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches courtesy of our designer down under, Narelle Farrugia!  Narelle creates gorgeous card often with intricately cut, beautiful flowers.  Be sure to check out her blog!

It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do for this card but I remembered I had some of the galvanized metal cardstock and an embossing folder that I had yet to try out!  Once I decided to use the galvanized metal, I knew that black, white and grey would work perfectly!

I don't really know where the scraps of DSP came from.  They were just sitting in a pile and worked really well together!  They are from SU though and they're probably retired!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Galvanized Metal, Silver Glimmer
DSP: SU retired
Stamps: LJD Birthday Greetings (MFT)
Ink: Black Stazon
Other: Tin Tile Embossing Folder, Oval Dies (Spellbinders), Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the amazing cards the Design Team has created for your inspiration!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #339

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week!  I am loving the gorgeous weather we're having and am currently typing this post up outside!  I love listening to the birds chirp and see them go zipping by!  My youngest hung up a bird house last night in hopes that we may have some baby birds living in our backyard soon!  I think we may have missed that boat  but maybe he'll get his wish!

We have a brand new sketch today at Freshly Made Sketches and yours truly is this week's hostess!  I always get a little nervous coming up with sketches!  You just never know if it's going to be a hit or a bust!!!

I have a bit of paper left over from getting camp projects ready to go so I opted to use a little piece of the paper on this card!  I truly do love the Bubbles and Fizz DSP from SU.  Such great colours!  I added some glimmer paper along with some sequins and we were off to the races.

Supplies: 
Cardstock: Whisper White, Calypso Coral, Basic Black
DSP: Bubbles and Fizz
Stamps: LJD Birthday Greetings (MFT)
Ink: SU Black
Other: Frosted Sequins

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the gorgeous cards that the Design Team has created!  You will not be disappointed!  We hope that you'll join in our challenge this week!  I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Have a fabulous week!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #321

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I trust you're having a great start to your week!  Are you guys having crazy weather where you are?  We've had warm and cold then warm and cold.  Our snow is gone which disappoints the kids.  There's nothing but mud out there.  The wind is blowing and there's a cold front coming in.  Cold with no snow.  Sounds fabulous!!!

We have a new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  I happen to be this week's hostess!  It's always exciting to get to choose a design and then look at all the amazing cards that end up in the gallery!  I always find it incredible to see how many different cards can be created from one sketch!

So, I needed some birthday cards.  I need a lot of birthday cards actually.  I apparently know a lot of people with a February birthday!  My husband is one of them but I'm pretty sure this card won't work for him so I'll probably need to make a different one!!!  I can't help but keep using the Botanical Builders.  I know they're retired but they're my favourite and I can't bear to stop creating fun flowers with them!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whipser White, Early Espresso, Copper Foil
DSP: Wood Textures DSP Pack
Stamps: LJD Birthday Greetings
Ink: Early Espresso
Other: Botanical Builders, Sequins, Banners Framelits Dies, 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 card the Design Team has created for your inspiration!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #306

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope everyone is having a great week so far!  We've been having the most gorgeous weather here.  It's been warm and sunny almost every day.  It's been so summer like!!!  I honestly don't want it to end!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches courtesy of the amazing Jen Mitchell!  Jen's cards are so gorgeous and she makes clean and simple look absolutely elegant!  Head over to her blog and check out her beauties!

So of course this isn't card #1!!!  I struggled with this one.  I was really lacking creativity when I was trying to make this card.  I wanted to create a fall birthday card!  Mainly because I just love fall and fall colours!  I love the Painted Autumn DSP and wanted to use it on this card!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Crushed Curry, Copper Foil
DSP: Painted Autumn DSP
Stamps: LJD Birthday Greetings (MFT)
Ink: Early Espresso
Other: Daisy Die (Retired), Copper Sequins, Layering Leaves Dies (Concord & 9th)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches and check out the amazing cards the Design Team has created for you!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #293

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're all having a great start to your week!  I guess we're right in the middle now aren't we?!  My kids still have a week and a half of school. Nothing like dragging it out until the end of June!  They're both mentally done too which isn't helping!  My oldest even has a test today!  I'm looking forward to the start of summer vacation and a little less rushing and scheduling!

We have a great new sketch today at Freshly Made Sketches courtesy of our resident New Zealander, Karren Johnson!  Karren's cards are just diving and I totally think we need to take a Design Team trip down under to visit her and play with all her fun crafting supplies!!!

Karren's sketch is super versatile and even though it's a chunk of a great big circle, it didn't freak me out!  I saw it and knew I wanted to use my pop of pink DSP that I had sitting on my desk!  After it was done though I knew I needed to add something so some pink sequins were applied.  I just couldn't find a way to tie Wink of Stella into this one folks, sorry about that!  Now, this giant circle was a bit investing to cut.  Thankfully I still have my very old Creative Memories circle cutters and they came in VERY handy for this one!!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black
DSP: Pop of Pink
Stamps: LJD Birthday Greetings (MFT)
Ink: Stazon Black
Other: Sequins, Creative Memories Circle cutters, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Please take a minute to head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the amazing cards the Design Team has created!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #290

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  We've had a great start to our week!  We were able to spend this past weekend with my parents.  I was able to get the last 3 camp projects cut and ready to go!  I have never been ready a month before camp starts!  Woohoo!!

We have a fantastic new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Kim Singdahlsen!  Kim makes the most beautiful cards!  I always love seeing what she comes up with each and every time she makes a card!

Kim's sketch is super fun!  I had some of the Tasty Treats Specialty DSP sitting on my craft table and decided to use it.  I'm still very sad that the botanical builders and Watermelon Wonder are retiring but I don't think that will stop me from using them!!!  Of course there is some Wink of Stella on the flower!  I don't think I can do a card without it!!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Watermelon Wonder, Basic Black
DSP: Tasty Treats Specialty DSP
Stamps: LJD Birthday Greetings (MFT)
Ink: Versamark Black
Other: Botanical Builders Framelits Dies, Double Stitched Circles (Lil Inkers), Wink of Stella, Basic Rhinestones


Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the fabulous cards the Design Team has created!   You won't be disappointed!

Have a fabulous day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #280

Hello!

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  I missed last week's challenge because I was visiting my parents for the March break!  We had the coldest March break ever!  I guess winter isn't quite ready to say goodbye despite me being totally ready to let go!!!  

We have a great sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the fabulous Linda Callahan!  Linda makes the cutest cards and has such a great sense of humour!  Her blog will definitely make you smile!

I knew I wanted to use the Botanical Builders on this card.  I just love them.  Of course you know how I feel about white and black cards!  I wasn't sure how this would come together but I think I'm happy!  I also may have added some Wink of Stella to the middle layer of the flowers!  The leaves are embossed with silver embossing powder j to give a bit of shine!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Silver
Stamps: LJD Birthday Greetings (MFT)
Ink: Stazon Black, Versamark
Other: Botanical Builders Dies, Lacy Scalloped Confetti Cut Die (Reverse Confetti), Silver Embossing Powder, Silver Sequins, 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 have created.  You will not be disappointed!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #277

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week!  I have recently been challenged to "declutter" my house over the next 40 days.  I'm not a big hoarder and don't have a lot of "excess" but I have taken on the challenge to "declutter" a space in the house for about 15 minutes each day.  We shall see how this goes.  I started in my closet today and I'm off to a good start.  I need to make a list though or this will not be a successful task!!!

We have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  Our fabulous hostess is the one and only Jen Timko!  Jen's cards are so beautiful and inspiring and she's a whiz with Zig markers!  Head over to her blog and check them out!

I had a little trouble with the sketch.  I had a vision in mind but that's not exactly what ended up on paper!  I had wanted this to be a masculine card since I'm a little low (aka completely out) of anything masculine looking.  Unfortunately I can't resist Watermelon Wonder (at all) and I had to add the heart.  I just couldn't stop there and added some rhinestones and there went the masculinity!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Grey, Night of Navy, Watermelon Wonder
DSP: Fox and Friends
Stamps: LJD Birthday Greetings
Other: Double Garland Banner Dies (Reverse Confetti), Blueprints Dies (MFT), Basic Rhinestones, 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 you!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #272

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  Can you believe that it's almost the end of January?!  Where does time go?  I need to start getting ready for Valentine's Day! I don't necessarily go all out but there are a few cards that need to be finished!  It will be here before we know it!

We have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  Our hostess this week is the lovely Cecile Ribon!  Cecile is the queen of "elements"!  She always has the loveliest die cuts or sequins or whatever else on her cards!  I love them!  Check out her blog and you'll see exactly what I mean!

Now, I can imagine that you saw this sketch and laughed thinking "oh Jen, is going to love that"!  Shockingly no one on the Design Team commented on all the circles!!!  To my surprise, I knew right away what I wanted to do.  I love the circle dies from Lil Inkers and couldn't wait to get those out and some of my favourite colours of cardstock.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black
Stamps: Birthday Greetings (MFT)
Ink: Stazon
Other: Pierced Rectangle Frames (MFT), Double Stitched Circles (Lil Inkers), Stitched Flags (MFT), Basic Rhinestones, 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 you!  We can't wait to see what you come up with this week!

Have a fabulous day!
Jen


SaveSaveSaveSave

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #247

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week!  We have had a hot start to our week here.  Our air conditioner broke on Saturday so we've been fighting some extremely hot days and nights at our house.  The boys have been troopers and have slept so well given how hot their rooms are.  Thankfully, installation of a new AC unit is scheduled for first thing this morning.  I'm praying we have a nice cool sleep tonight!!!

We have a fun new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the fabulous Shannon Jaramillo!  Shannon is one of our new Guest Designers for a while and she makes the most beautiful cards!  Please head over to her blog and check them out!

Our sketch this week has a giant circle on it!  I guess the team forgot to give Shannon the notice about how I feel about circles!!!  Actually, as soon as I saw this sketch I knew I wanted to use my Wondrous Wreath set from Lil' Inkers!  I opted for some fall coloured flowers though this isn't actually intended to be a fall card.  I just love those rich colours!  Embossed the background and voila!  I stamped a sentiment on a banner and called it a day!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Early Espresso,  Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Vellum
Stamps: Wondrous Wreath (Lil Inkers), LJD Birthday Greetings (MFT)
Ink: Early espresso, Crushed Curry, Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green
Other: Warm Welcome Dies (Lil Inkers), Woodgrain Textured Embossing Folder (SU), Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out what the Design Team has created.  They've knocked it out of the park!

Have a fabulous day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #237

Hello!
I hope you're having a great start to your week!  This is a very busy week here at our house!  We are gearing up for a big 10th birthday at our house!  Caleb (my oldest) turns 10 on Saturday.  I don't believe it.  I mean, I'm only 29.  I'm pretty sure it's not possible for him to be 10!  He will be having a hockey birthday party which I am preparing for!  I think it's under control but then again, we won't know until his party on Monday!!!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Linda Callahan!  Linda is so creative and I love her cards!  Did you see the one last week with the books?  Super fun!

This is a great sketch for your imagination!  There are so many ways you can use it!  I wasn't quite sure what I would do but then I found this fun DSP in a paper stack and decided it would do the trick.  Of course the first time I tried stamping the sentiment, I tried to stamp it directly onto the card.  It backfired.  So I tired embossing it in silver embossing powder on the black banner.  That backfired too so I covered it up with the white banner which I realize is crooked.  I guess technically that's a backfire as well but I couldn't bring myself to stamp and cut a new one!!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Silver
DSP: Cherry on Top DSP Stack
Stamps: LJD Birthday Greetings
Ink: Stazon Black
Other: Sequins, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll take the time to visit the Freshly Made Sketches blog and admire the beautiful cards the design team has created for you!  You won't be disappointed!

Have a wonderful day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #227

Hello!
Happy Wednesday! I hope you're having a great week so far!  We've had some beautiful weather and finally our snow is GONE!  Yup!  Last week at this time we were praying for a snow day (which we didn't get) and now we are enjoying some beautiful spring weather!  March break is just around the corner here and my boys are super excited to see their Papa and Grannie (and their best friend Simon the cat) very soon!

We have a great new sketch here at Freshly Made Sketches today!  Our hostess this week is none other than the amazing Linda Callahan!  Linda is one of my favourite people and is always making us laugh!  I also love Linda's creative and super cute cards!  Head over to her blog and check out her creations!

I saw those squares on Linda's sketch and kinda decided I didn't like squares.  They reminded me of circles...only with corners!!!  I thought flowers would work much better for me!

I had made a card using this "flower" on the weekend for a friend and thought it would work perfectly.  These "flowers" are really Confetti Cut Suns!  I threw on some leaves from the SU Secret Garden Framelits!  The flowers needed a fun centre and I have some Champagne Glimmer paper laying around and thought that would be just what I needed!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Champagne Glimmer
Stamps: LJD Birthday Greetings (MFT)
Ink: Stazon Black
Other: Secret Garden Framelits, Sun 'n Clouds Confetti Cuts (Reverse Confetti), Circle Punch, Dimensionals

Thanks again for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches Blog and check out the beautiful cards the Design Team has created for you!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen