Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #562

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week!  How's your Christmas card making and Christmas shopping coming along?  If you're visiting from the US you might not start anything until after Thanksgiving.  I put out my Christmas village on the weekend and have a few little decorations out but won't do anything too major until the weekend - maybe!  The snow helps it to feel more Christmassy than it ever did in Ontario where we'd often have green Christmases!

We're got a brand new sketch today at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the super creative Kim Singdahlsen!  If you want to see some super cute cards then you need to head over to her blog and check them out!  

I went with another Christmas card because I'm behind.  I don't send out near as many as I used to - hardly any at all actually but I wanted to try and get a few done regardless!  I had seen a few Christmas cards done with the Honey Bee Stamps Lovely Layers Anemone and I thought I would give it a try.  Not sure how I feel about it but it's supposed to be festive!  I've heard hot foiling can be tricky on coloured cardstock so I was a little nervous but it worked like a charm.  Could I duplicate it?  Probably not!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White, Shaded Spruce, Silver Foil

Ink: Shaded Spruce

Other: Lovely Layers Anemone (Honey Bee Stamps), Softly Falling Embossing Folder (SU), Christmas Mailbox Greetings Hot Foil Plate (Spellbinders), Silver Foil

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!  There are some amazing cards there already!  I think the Design Team did an incredible job on their cards this week!

Have a fabulous day!
Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #551

Hello!

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you are having a great start to your week!  Have your kids or grandkids gone back to school yet?  My youngest goes back tomorrow and my oldest on Friday.  As much as I'm ready for routine and a little bit more alone time, I have really enjoyed the summer this year!  My oldest got his license on Friday so he's excited to have a bit more freedom.  I'm not quite sure I'm ready for this yet! My youngest got his learners on Friday as well so we're all in to the driving scene!  My youngest is only 14 so it's a little crazy to think the province will let him drive!! Pray for us!!!

We've got a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the incredibly talented Kim Singdahlsen!  You need to head over to her blog and check out her beautiful cards!  

I picked up this adorable snowman die from Lawn Fawn on the weekend!  I just loved him!  There's a her as well!  I can't wait to make a bunch of snowmen!  My youngest came in and told me I was crazy making snowmen in the summer!!  I probably am but they were just too cute to resist!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Early Espresso, Blushing Bride

Stamps: Christmas to Remember

Ink: Basic Black, Read Red

Other: Build a Snowman Die (Lawn Fawn), Softly Falling Embossing Folder, A2 Mountain Scene Builder Add-on Honey Cuts (Honey Bee Stamps), Dimensionals

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

The Design Team has a bunch of gorgeous cards posted that will definitely inspire you!

Have an amazing day!

Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #466

Hello!

Happy Wednesday!  I am a tad bit late getting this post out!  I totally forgot to get it ready to go last night.  I was confused on what day it was.  Our youngest is done school for the Christmas break now so I thought it was Friday instead of Tuesday.  My brain just doesn't work the way it used to!  I can't wait to see what it will be like when I'm 60!!!

We have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess if the truly amazing and talented Jennifer Timko!  Jen is an incredible card maker and her creativity always astounds me!  Head over to her blog to check out her beautiful cards!

I needed a sympathy card for one of my best friends.  Her father-in-law recently passed away after a battle with cancer. The area he lived in is currently in a lockdown due to Covid-19 and so they can't even really have a funeral.  I feel so badly for them.  I wanted a wintery sympathy card and knew my "In the Pines" would work perfectly!

Supplies;

Cardstock: Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Silver

Stamps: In the Pines, Essential Sentiments (MFT)

Ink: Smoky Slate

Other: Softly Falling Embossing Folder, Pine Woods Dies, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by - even if it's later than usual!

Our Design Team has created some amazing cards so head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check them out!

We hope you'll join our challenge!  You have a bit of extra time for this challenge as we're taking a break for Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #461

Hello!

Happy Wednesday and Happy Remembrance Day!  I hope everyone is having a great week!  I also hope that today you'll take a minute to stop and be thankful for the freedom that we have.  Regardless of whether you live in Canada, the US or abroad, most of us are so very fortunate to live freely and in safety. Today we will remember those that fought and continue to fight for our freedom and the freedom of others!  

We have an amazing new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Karren Johnson!  Karren is so talented and every week she knocks it out of the park with her cards!  Head over to her blog and check them out!

 I recently purchased the In The Pines stamp set and the coordinating Pine Woods dies.  I had seen Narelle make too many amazing cards that I decided I needed these stamps and dies!  Of course when I got them and attempted to make a card, it was a disaster.  This was an "under the wire" card.  Nothing like trying to find good lighting in your house when it's pitch black outside!!!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black

DSP: Plaid Tidings

Stamps: In the Pines, Star of Light

Ink: Basic Black

Other: Pine Woods Dies, Softly Falling Embossing Folder, Sequins, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to be inspired by the ladies and their beautiful cards!  

Have a fantastic week!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #460

Hello!

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  I guess if you live in the US (or anywhere in the world) you might still be waiting for the results of yesterday's election!  I do hope that regardless of who wins or who doesn't that there aren't any riots or unrest.  

We have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week courtesy of our giraffe loving Judy Rozema! Judy's cards are always gorgeous!  She's so talented!  Head on over to her blog to check them out!  

When I saw the sketch I was a bit stumped.  I must admit I left making this card a little late!  I felt the pressure to get it done and I'm not overly thrilled with the final creation!  Needless to say I know I need more Christmas cards so that's where I started.  I might have experiments with different paper and a different green for the holly leaves but this is what I settled on.

Supplies:

Cardstock: Basic Black, Real Red, Red Foil, Green Foil

DSP: Tis The Season

Stamps: Star of Light

Ink: Basic Black

Other: Banners Framelits Dies, Poinsettia Dies, Sequins, Softly Falling Embossing Folder, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll join our challenge this week!  Head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the gorgeous cards my team members have created!  You won't be disappointed!

Have an amazing day!

Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #436

Hello!

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week.  Yesterday our schools were officially cancelled for the rest of the year.  I find it really hard to believe.  I am totally okay with it, don't get me wrong.  I just didn't realize before the March break that it would be the end of the year.  I realize now that Caleb (my oldest) won't get his Grade 8 grad.  I still remember my Grade 8 grad like it was yesterday.  Thankfully (and probably because he's a boy) he doesn't really care!  He didn't like the thoughts of having to dress up and walk across the stage!  Oh boys!

We have a brand new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  I have the joy of being the hostess this week!  I wanted to keep the sketch very simple.  I had in my mind that I would use it to make my son's 14th birthday card.  His birthday is tomorrow.  Obviously that didn't happen!  Best of intentions!

You can also probably see that I put my sentiment in the wrong spot!  Actually,  had it in the right spot but the rhino and the sentiment didn't look right so I had to switch them.  My dad's cousin needed some gender neutral baby cards.  I knew white would be the ideal colour.  I haven't done a shaker card in a LONG time so I figured it was about time to crack out the sequins!

I made a second card (actually this was the first card) using the retiring poppy DSP.  I just love that paper.  The Sweetly Stitched Dies might just be my favourite ever and I think they get used on pretty much every card right now!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Smokey Slate
Stamps: Zoo Babies, Sentiment Flags
Ink: Smokey Slate
Other: Sentiment Flags Dies, Stitched Frames, Softly Falling TIEF, Sequins (Taylored Expressions), Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out all the amazing cards the the Design Team has created!  They are absolutely gorgeous! I can't wait to see what you come up with this week!

Have an amazing day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #403

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I trust you're having a great week so far!  Some of you know I have a bit of an obsession with pumpkins!  Like a total love for them!  I could buy hundreds!  I don't.  I limit myself to one or two a year!  I've already bought one this year and I just ordered a tiny little one from a friend who is going to knit it for me!  Anyhow, my pumpkins made their annual appearance yesterday and I was so excited about it.  However, when Jacob (our 11 year old) came home from school he promptly saw the pumpkins, rolled his eyes and told me I just ruined our house with pumpkins.  That child.  Needless to say I was slightly crushed!!!

Anyhow, being Wednesday, we have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the creative Narelle Farrugia!  Narella is our resident Aussie and fussy cutter!  I am always amazed at the things she cuts out and she seriously must have the patience of a saint!

I kinda knew what I wanted to do for this card but it took me a few times to get it to work!  I also had to reverse the sketch because the holly and berries didn't quite look right on the other side.  They looked upside down or something.  Regardless, I switched it up a little!

I threw some ribbon in there from the Come To Gather ribbon pack.  I sure love kraft coloured ribbon and it seemed to work for this card!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler
Stamps: Christmas Gleaming
Ink: Basic Black, Memento Black
Other: Come to Gather Ribbon, Softly Falling Embossing Folder, Stampin' Blends, 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!  They are definitely inspiring!

Have an amazing day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #355

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  It's been a gorgeous week here so far.  The humidity is decreasing a little bit and I am soaking in the last days of summer.  Don't get me wrong, fall is my favourite season but I do love the warmth and simplicity of summer!  Flip flops, sunglasses and away you go!!!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Kim Singdahlsen!  Kim's cards are always so amazing!  She has the most incredible stamps, dies and colouring tools! I'm always excited to see what she's created!  Head over to her blog and check it out!

I loved Kim's sketch and since I was still in the Christmas card making spirit, I decided to give another one a whirl.  I used the now retired Festival of Trees for this card.  I just love this set and love that there's a punch to coordinate with them.  I opted for a black, white and red theme!  Not sure why but it just seemed to be what I liked that day!!  The one tree looked a little sad so I added some sequins to him!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Red Foil
Stamps: Festival of Trees
Ink: Stazon Black
Other: Softly Falling TIEF, Tree punch, Sequins, Dimensionals

Thanks 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.  You won't be disappointed!!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #353

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week.  If your kids started school yesterday (like mine did), I hope they had a wonderful first day!  My boys had a good start.  They both like their teachers and look like they'll have challenging years...in a good way!

Speaking of challenges, we have a brand new challenge this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Jen Mitchell!  Jen makes the most gorgeous cards and she is totally the queen of Clean and Simple - yet totally elegant!!! Head over to her blog to check her cards out!

So I have totally yet unintentionally veered from the sketch just a little as I may have gotten a tiny bit carried away with the flowers.  I couldn't help myself.  I truly love these flowers.  I know they're retired but they're my favourite and probably always will be!

Two friends of mine recently got engaged.  I am so excited for them so wanted to congratulate them with a card.  I figured this sketch would work perfectly...until of course I really changed it up!  One of these days the design team is totally going to disown me!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Gold Foil
Stamps: Essential Sentiments (MFT)
Ink: Basic Black
Other: Botanical Builders Framelits, Softly Falling TIEF, Dimensionals, gold pearls

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

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #320

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week!  We've got a bit of snow on the ground right now so the kids are happy.  They like to play in the snow at school and they both really like to shovel snow.  There is rain in the forecast though so I'm assuming our snow will disappear - which I don't mind but leads to lots of indoor recesses and squirmy kids!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches courtesy of the amazingly talented Kim Singdahlsen.  Kim's cards are fantastic and she comes up with the best designs!  I could totally go and play in her craft room for hours too!  I've always wanted to visit Colorado!

I must admit that at first I was a little stumped with this design.  I started to panic a bit but then realized that I needed a baby card for my sister in law who had a baby early in December.  Now, don't think I'm a slacker and just sending the card now!  Kim had her sketch ready super duper early because she's amazing and so my card was done a LONG time ago!!!  I decided to stick with the heart theme, added some glimmer pink, threw in some texture and voila.  A card to welcome my first niece!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Glimmer Pink (Non-SU)
Stamps: Sentiment Flag Additions (Lil Inkers)
Ink: Stazon Black
Other: Pinewood Planks Embossing Folder, Softly Falling Embossing Folder, Stitched Flags Die (Lil Inkers), Hearts Dies (Spellbinders), Dimenaionals

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 has created!  You can also welcome our Guest Designer Teresa Kline to the team!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #312

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope everyone has had a great start to their week.  We have had some early mornings this week with the time change!  It was so lovely to get an extra hour of sleep but the boys are waking up super early these days.  I must say that I also am waking up around 4 am every day!  Hopefully after a few more days we'll be used to it!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches courtesy of our favourite French Design Team member, Cecile Ribon!   Cecile has the most amazing die cuts on her cards and they always inspire me!  Please head over to her blog and check her beautiful creations out!

Of course I'm still trying to tackle the Christmas card problem!  I will be tackling that one for a while at the rate I'm going!  I need to put some additional effort into it!  I decided to combine some Copper foil and some basic black for this card.  I just couldn't help myself!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Copper Foil
Stamps: Festive Flurry, Christmas Pines
Ink: Versamark
Other: Copper Embossing Powder, Softly Falling Embossing Folder, Sequins, Festive Flurry Dies, Dimsionals

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 has created for you!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #310

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're all having a great week so far.  I had a crazy busy last week.  My husband was so sweet and got me a new computer for my birthday so I am up and running again.  Don't get me wrong,  I like my iPad but some things don't work well on the iPad.  The boys both had presentations that required the computer so we are thankful to be back in business!  Oh how we've become so dependent on technology.  That part I don't like so much.

We have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches today courtesy of the amazingly creative Kim Singdahlsen.  I know that I'd definitely love to go to Colorado and visit Kim and play with all of her fun stamps and dies!  I'd love to see those gorgeous mountains too!!!

This sketch kinda stumped me.  Mainly because I was super tired when I was trying to make the card, I had a ton of thank you cards to make and wasn't feel the most creative.  I want to try and get as many Christmas cards done now as I can.  I'm falling behind though.  I need to get my act together!!! I do love the wise men from the Wise Men From Afar set.  I also really love when they're embossed in gold.  I decided to do a completely black and gold themed card.  You will notice that a sentiment is missing.  I just couldn't figure out where it would work best so I went without.  I may go back this week sometime and add one in somewhere.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Gold
Stamps: Wise Men From Afar
Ink: Versamark
Other: Gold Embossing Powder, Softly Falling Textured Embossed Folder,  Gold 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 amazing cards the Design Team has created!  You won't be disappointed!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #274

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're all having a great week so far!  Anyone else having some super weird weather? We have almost no snow - and today it poured rain.  I mean, it poured.  Ugh.  Nothing worse than rain in February.  Last week I had 10 robins hanging out in my front tree.  I don't know what they were thinking and I am hoping they were just stopping over on their way to Florida.

We have a new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  I have the honour of being this week's hostess.  I always get a little nervous when it's my turn to come up with a sketch.  I'm not really creative and I do find it challenging to come up with something that I think will work!  I'm hoping you enjoy what I've come up with!

I need to restock my birthday cards and so decided to combine the Botanical Builders from Stampin Up and the "You're So" stamp set and dies from Reverse Confetti.  I went with yellow and green which totally aren't colours I would normally pick but they jumped out at me and stuck!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green, Black Glimmer (Michaels)
Stamps: You're So (Reverse Confetti)
Ink: Stazon Black
Other: Botanical Builder Dies (SU), You're So Confetti Cuts, Mini Banner Punch (SU), Basic Rhinestones, Softly Falling TIEF, Dimensionals

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

Have a great day!
Jen

Freshly Mae Sketches Challenge #250

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you are having a great week so far!  Jacob and I are heading to the Ontario Science Centre today with friends today!  Jake isn't so sure about it yet but I'm sure we'll have a great ol' time!

We have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches today courtesy of our amazing guest designer Cecile Ribon!  She makes beautiful cards and we have been so fortunate to have her join us!  You can head over to her blog to see exactly what I'm talking about!

I finally got around to ordering some SU stuff from the new catalogue.  I know, it's shameful but I don't really get a lot of crafting time in the summer!  I couldn't wait to get the Botanical Builder Dies and the Copper Foil cardstock from the upcoming Holiday catalogue is just amazing!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Copper
Stamps: Another Thank You
Ink: Versamark
Other: Botanical Builder Dies, Softly Falling Embossing Folder, Copper Embossing Powder, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping in today!  I hope you'll hop on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the beautiful cards the Design Team has created for your inspiration!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #248

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're enjoying your week!  I know some of our American readers have kids heading back to school next week!  We are still in summer vacation mode and are enjoying a week long visit at my mom and dad's.  The boys are in Grannie and Papa Heaven!  Hockey, baseball, soccer, basketball oh and don't forget Monopoly!  They are getting their fill of attention and games!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our hostess this week is the incredibly talented Linda Callahan.  Linda makes amazing cards!  She also has a great sense of humour and her blog posts pretty much always make me laugh!

Okay, so I saw the feathers on Linda's sketch and knew I needed to use my Lil Inkers Fancy Feathers set.  I decided to use some white embossing powder on vellum (after a few tries of other colours on other paper didn't work!).  I love black, white and red so I decided that would be my colour combination.  At first I didn't have an embossed background but the card needed something so I used the Softy Falling embossing folder to give the background some texture.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Real Red, Vellum
Stamps: Fancy Feathers (Lil Inkers), LJD Pretty Poppies (MFT - sentiment)
Ink: Stazon, Versamark
Other: Softly Falling Embossing Folder, White Embossing Powder, Fancy Feathers Dies, Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and take a peek at the beautiful cards the Design Team has created!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #238

Happy Wednesday!
I can't believe it's Wednesday already!  Monday was a holiday here in Canada (Victoria Day) so I'm all mixed up with what day it is!  I went around all day thinking it was Monday!  I almost forgot to do my post thinking I had an extra day!  Oh how these long weekends mess with my head!  We did have a gorgeous weekend though and have started the week off with some super warm summer weather!  I love it!

We have a great new sketch today at Freshly Made Sketches courtesy of the amazing Kim Singdahlsen.  Kim makes beautiful cards!  I mean, truly amazing cards.  She is one of the chief enablers on our team!!!

Okay, you may find this scary (or amusing) but when I saw Kim's sketch, I saw circles!  I knew right away I wanted to use my PTI Dot Spot stamp set.  I had it out to do a card for camp and realized it would work perfectly with the sketch!  I used clear embossing powder on the coloured cardstock!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green
Stamps: Sentiment Flags (Lil' Inkers), Dot Spot (PTI)
Ink: Versarmark, Stazon Black
Other: Softly Falling Embossing Folder, Clear Embossing Powder, Circle Punches, Stitched Flag Die (Lil' Inkers), Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), 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 has created for you!

Have a fabulous day!
Jen

Fusion Wishes

Hello!
Happy Sunday!  It's a gorgeous day here!  Bright, sunny and warm!  The pool is being heated today for one last dip today and tomorrow.  Probably be the nicest weekend of the fall.  The leaves are slowly turning and look radiant in this beautiful sunshine!  I think tomorrow we'll try some family pictures.  They will be impromptu and the clothes won't match perfectly but they'll hopefully reflect us as a family and how much we love each other!  It's also our 13th anniversary tomorrow.  Fitting maybe to take some pictures!!!

Today's card is for this week's Fusion Card Challenge.  I loved the picture and the sketch and I'll be honest, I think I bombed both!!!!

I totally forgot the bottom panel of the sketch and the little circle behind the feathers.  I'm losing it I tell you!  I think the problem was that this card originally started with a different embossing folder which was just half of the card (to create the bottom panel).  Then I changed my mind but forgot about the sketch.  Just shoot me now!  Both the butterflies and the sentiment were created with silver embossing powder.  Oh how I love silver and white!!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Silver
Stamps: In a Big Way (Reverse Confetti), Papillon Potpourri
Ink: Versamark
Other: Bitty Butterfly Punch, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Silver Embossing Powder,  Softly Falling Textured Embossing Folder, Dimensionals, Stitched Squares (Lil' Inkers), Dimensionals

We look like children here!!!  Wow!!!  Oh how times have changed!

Thanks so much for stopping in today!  I hope you have a wonderful day!!!

Jen!