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 #672

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  We are in a deep freeze here and it looks like it will stay cold for a while!  We have another couple of days of -20 degrees and then it will warm up a little bit.  We have been so fortunate so far so I won't complain!  When the sun is out, it's still beautiful and I enjoyed some nice walks over the weekend! 

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

In my recent Stampin Up Order, I received the Friendly Seagulls stamp set.  I just couldn't resist them!  They're super fun!  I decided they would work for this card - but in hindsight I wish I hadn't attached them to the string.  What's done is done!  This card is for a friend of mine who loves french fries almost as much as I do!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill Coverstock White

Stamps: Friendly Seagulls

Ink: Memento Black, Speckled Egg Distress Oxide, Antique Linen Distress Ink

Other: Copics, Stampin' Blends, Linen Thread (SU), Stitched Rectangles (Lil Inkers)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll join in our challenge this week!  You have until Monday at 1 PM EST this week to enter this week's challenge. 

If you need some inspiration, head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog!  The design team has posted some fantastic cards posted!  

I hope you have an amazing day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #655

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope your week has started well!  We're having a bit of a heat wave here - which we will be very thankful for!  The sun is shining and warm and I'm loving having a week of warmth before it changes!  I'm afraid our falling hiking season might not be as long as we had hoped.  There are a couple of weekends when I can't hike so I'm a little sad.  The season has seemed super short this year.

We have a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  I am your hostess this week and I'm so excited to see what you do with my sketch this week.  I made the sketch with a card in mind and then I struggled to make the card.  Such is life these days.  I have not felt an ounce of creativity lately!

I usually love making fall cards.  Fall is my favourite season and I would make fall cards all year long if I could but this year, I've had no desire.  I don't know what's going on.  My desire to create just hasn't been there.

I was going to use different leaves for this card but they didn't work as they were too big.  I found some little (old) SU punches that I thought would work perfectly.  I punched the leaves out of white cardstock and used some Distress Oxides to colour them.  I originally wanted red maple leaves but they just didn't look right against the kraft cardstock.  

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Kraft

Dies: Stitched Rectangles (Lil Inkers)

Stamps: Fall Foliage (Reverse Confetti)

Ink: Antique Linen (Distress Ink), Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo, Scattered Straw, Fossilized Amber (all Distress Oxides), Early Espresso (SU)

Other: Autumn Punch Pack (SU Retired)

A few pictures from a recent hike at Mount Lipsett.  This is such a beautiful hike and it's a fairly quick one.  We were able to get out and back before lunch!  The views are spectacular for the effort that you put in!  

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!  I can't wait to see what you create with my sketch this week!  

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 #628

Hello!

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  Happy Spring!  We're in our first few days of spring and we've done a complete 180 in our weather.  It was beautiful, sunny and warm on the weekend - feeling just like spring and today we are in the throws of winter!  It's freezing, snowing and driving will be a nightmare!  It looks like we've got about 5 days of yucky weather and then hopefully some improvements.  

We've got a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazingly talented Narelle Farrugia!  Narelle's cards are always spectacular so head to her blog to check them out.  I'm hoping that one day Narelle will take the long trip across the very large pond to hike up a mountain with me!!!  Might be wishful thinking but I'm hopeful!

So this sketch threw me.  What's with all the circles lately?!  Ha!  I couldn't think of what I wanted to put there.  I flipped through my Lovely Layers dies and chose my Coneflower die.  I do love a pretty coneflower!  I started making a purple and yellow coneflower and then I got yellow ink all over my purple coneflower - grrrrr.  I just make a card with the yellow one but I wasn't thrilled so I made a purple one as well.  I wasn't over thrilled with my sequin choices but alas.  It is what it is.

 

Supplies:

Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Early Espresso, 

Ink: Milled Lavender, Scattered Straw, Dusty Concord, Fossilized Amber, Ground Espresso, Antique Linen (all Distress Inks or Oxides)

Other: Lovely Layers Coneflower (Honey Bee Stamps), Happy Parents Day (Spellbinders), Gold Foil, Purple Foil, Stitched Rectangles (Spellbinders), Glimmer Hot Foil Machine (Spellbinders), Elegant Sequin Mix (Honey Bee Stamps), Sweet Bee Sequin Mix (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!  If you need some inspiration, you'll definitely find it on the blog!  We can't wait to see what you create this week!

Have an amazing day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #544

Hello!

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week this week!  I'm really enjoying this week so far.  It's nice having the kids home and we're trying to find things to do.  Now that they're older they actually like going to the mall!  I wish I did!!!  I'm thankful to be home with them and take them on these little adventures!  On the weekend my husband and I climbed the Windtower summit.  It was amazing in so many different ways.  The view is spectacular but I couldn't believe how tough that climb was.  Oh to be 25 again!!  Can't wait for the next climb!!  Yes that's a winter coat!  It was SOOOO cold and windy at the top!  There was still some snow in places even!  Deep snow!!!  It's absolutely incredible to see snow in the middle of July!

We've got a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the super talented Karren Johnson!   Karren's cards are always super cute and I'm so jealous of her hot foiling!!!  I think I should head over to New Zealand to get some pointers!!!  Please head over to Karren's blog and check it out!  

I apparently did not realize the two rectangular panels should be more overlapping.  I actually made three different cards for this challenge and messed up all three cards!  Sometimes I make myself wonder! 

I did two masculine cards and then decided I wanted to use my Coneflower dies!  I just love coneflowers and now that the hot weather is here I really do feel like it's summer and my cards should be flowery!!!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Basic White, Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight, Gold Foil

Stamps: Itty Bitty Birthdays

Ink: Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight

Other: Dainty Diamonds Embossing Folder, Lovely Layers Coneflower Honey Cuts (Honey Bee Stamps), Stitched Rectangles (Lil Inkers), Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll be inspired to join in our challenge this week!  I you need some inspiration, head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check it out!  You'll definitely find some amazing cards!  

I hope you have a fantastic day!

Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #289

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you are having a great week so far!  We had a lovely long weekend here.  The weather wasn't exactly perfect but it was super nice to spend time together and we got in a few great bike rides!  The boys are really getting on to "mountain biking" and loved seeing a deer on the trails!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess today is the lovely Linda Callahan!  Linda's cards are fabulous and so creative!  I also love Linda's sense of humour!  She has a special way of making us all laugh!

I saw the sweet little flowers on the sketch and knew I wanted to use flowers on my card too!  I opted for my Awesome Blossom Stamps from Lil' Inkers!  I truly do love the Watermelon Wonder/Crisp Canteloupe combo.  I think despite their retirement, I'll be using them regularly!  Of course there is some Wink of Stella on those flowers just to give them a little sparkle!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White
Stamps: Awesome Blossom (Lil Inkers)
Ink: Crisp Canteloupe, Watermelon Wonder, Cucumber Crush, Stazon Black
Other: Stitched Rectangles (Lil Inkers), Double Stitched Squares (Lil Inkers), Awesome Blossom Dies (Lil Inkers),Sequins (SU), Wink of Stella, 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!  We can't wait to see what you come up with this week!  We hope you'll play along!

Have a fabulous day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #245

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you've had a great week so far!  The boys and I are enjoying our first true week of summer vacation!  Last week was camp week at our church!  750 very excited kids! It was a great week and we ended the week very tired!!!  This week we are totally enjoying ourselves and will be treating ourselves to a trip to the Hockey Hall of Fame!

We have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our fabulous hostess in the amazing Jen Mitchell!  Jen's cards are so gorgeous!   Please hop on over to her blog and check them out!

I had been feeling rather uncreative since the end of camp.  I needed a thank you card for a friend of mine.  He is an amazing artist and gave my boys (all three of them) some hand drawn airplane prints. They are incredible and the boys love them.  I wanted to thank him for an airplane card since he's a plane lover himself!  I am not totally thrilled with the card but once the boys write notes in it, it will convey how truly thankful we are!

Supplies:
Cardstock:  Kraft, Whisper White, Basic Black, Daffodil Delight
Stamps: Send me Soaring, Another Thank You
Ink: Stazon Black
Other: Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), Sun 'n Clouds Confetti Cuts, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head on 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 #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

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #236

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  We're finally getting some sort of spring like weather around here.  The long range forecast has some temperatures that are not very springy but I guess as long as it's not snowing we shouldn't complain!  If you haven't heard about the terrible wild fires in Fort McMurray (Alberta, Canada), you need to check out the news.  This entire city of over 80,000 has been evacuated and about 2500 structures (homes and businesses) have been lost.  I can't even begin to imagine the devastation these people are facing.  So many people were only given a minute's notice before they had to leave their home and they've lost everything.  If you haven't done so, please consider donating to the Canadian Red Cross and helping out these thousands of families who are in such incredible need right now!

Being Wednesday, we have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess with the mostess this week is Rita Wright!  Rita makes fabulous cards and can colour like nobody's business!  I long to colour like Rita!!!

This sketch may have thrown me for a loop.  There's a giant bird on it!  That's like planting a giant circle or even a square for that matter. I could not think of a shape to use!  That and I have felt so uncreative lately.  I saw my Fancy Feathers stamp set from Lil Inkers sitting in my bucket and decided I would use them for this card!  I opted for some silver embossing powder and vellum to create the feathers!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White
Stamps: Fancy Feathers (Lil' Inkers)
Ink: Versamark, Stazon Black
Other: Basic Rhinestones, Stitched Rectangles (Lil Inkers), Fancy Feathers Dies (Lil Inkers), Silver Embossing Powder, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over the the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the amazing card the design team has created!  I also hope you'll head over to the Canadian Red Cross and make a donation to help out some families who have lost so much!

Have a wonderful day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #235

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week!  The trees are starting to get their leaves and the tulips and daffodils are finally blooming.  It seems so late this year!  My hostas are poking out of the ground and I bought Jacob a cherry tomato plant for the deck.  It's his plant to take care of.  We'll see how long it lasts. He loves tomatoes so hopefully he manages to take care of it well so he can enjoy the "fruits" of his labour!

We have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches today!  Our talented hostess is the amazing Jen Mitchell!  Jen creates the most beautiful cards!  I love her style and her clean lines!  She has a great sketch of us this week and it is a super fun one to work with.

I needed an anniversary card for my in laws and once I saw the sketch and knew I needed an anniversary card, I decided to ink up my Pleasant Poppies!  I love that stamp set!  It makes me smile!!!

I used some white embossing powder and despite my best efforts it still got everywhere!  I decided to use some silver embossing powder on the "Celebrate".  It worked quiet well actually.  I managed to successfully emboss it without burning my fingers!!!  That's always a plus!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Real Red, Basic Black
Stamps: Pleasant Poppies
Ink: Versamark
Other: Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), Silver Embossing Powder, White Embossing Powder, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll take the time to head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the gorgeous cards the team has created for your inspiration!

Have a fabulous day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #225

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having great start to your week!  We are supposed to be getting a big storm here today!  Now, the question is, will we get snow or rain?  I must say I'm hoping for rain. At this point in the winter, well, the snow has missed it's chance and now it should just go somewhere else!  Right now the forecast is half rain/half snow.  I doubt it will be enough to result in a snow day though!

We have a great new sketch today at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the one and only Jen Mitchell!  I love, love, love Jen's cards!  She is super creative and her card making style is one of my favourites!

I loved Jen's sketch this week!  It is super versatile!  I didn't really want to use a square - because really I didn't know what I would do with a square but I really wanted to use my Fancy Feathers set from Lil' Inkers!  I hadn't had a chance to ink it up yet and I do really love feathers!  This isn't the greatest picture and I apologize. I  had taken a better one that showed the gold off better but apparently it was blurry and I didn't notice!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Gold
Stamps: Fancy Feathers (Lil' Inkers)
Ink: Versamark
Other: Gold Embossing Powder, Fancy Feathers Die, Hello Confetti Cut (Reverse Confetti), Falling Snow Embossing Folder, Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you are able to get 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 #221

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week!  If you are living along the Eastern Seaboard I hope you have dug yourself out of the crazy amounts of snow you have received.  Much to the dismay of my boys, we have lost all the snow that we had.  It rained all night on Monday and was above freezing so our snow is gone.  I won't complain but the kids now have a very wet, muddy playground at school.  My boys would definitely take snow over mud!

We have a great new sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches today!  Our hostess this week is the fabulous Karren Johnson!  Karren is uber creative and I love her cards!  You need to stop by her blog today and be amazed!

Strangely enough, I already had this card half created when I saw Karren's sketch!  I am still using my MSTN Cute Critters stamps!  I have posted a few cards on my Facebook page (that I haven't necessarily blogged).  I coloured my little fox with my Zig Clear Colour Real Brush Markers.  Oh how I love them!  I could colour all day!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, More Mustard (Retired), Watercolour Paper (Canson)
Stamps: MSTN Cute Critters (My Favourite Things), Hey Foxy (Lil' Inkers)
Ink: Black Stazon
Other: Zig Clean Colour Real Brush Markers, Cute Critters Die-namics, Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), Sequins (SU), Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping in today!  I'm so glad you did!
Please head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the beautiful cards the Design Team has created for you!

Have a wonderful day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #220

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week!  It's been a lot colder here this week than it has been.  That being said, it's no where near as cold as it was last year so we'll take this.   We finally have a bit of snow on the ground which makes the kids happy!  Caleb loves to shovel so he's happy to be of assistance whenever we need him!!!

We have a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  I am happy to be your hostess this week!  I always find coming up with sketches tough.  Of course I had to design a sketch with circles!  They say you should face your fears right?!  I designed this sketch with this stamp set in mind though!

I still love my Zig markers and can't stop using them!  I just want to colour everything in sight!  Unfortunately my 7 year old (who is writing utensil obsessed) feels that he should also have a right to use them so I kinda have to use them when he's not around!  It's taking me a bit to get the hang of these markers and when to use a water brush and when to not use the brush!  It's sure fun to play around with them.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Water Colour (Canson)
Stamps: Love Blooms (Reverse Confetti)
Ink: Stazon Black, Cucumber Crush
Other: Love Blooms Confetti Cuts (Reverse Confetti), Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), Zig Clean Colour Real Brush Markers, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you get a chance to head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the amazing cards the Design Team has created for your viewing pleasure!

Have a wonderful day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #217

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  Only a few more days until Christmas!  Can you believe it?!  Seriously, the days are whipping by!  Jacob's Christmas concert is today at school!  Last night at 8:15 he announced that he needs a Santa hat and sunglasses for said concert.  We have one Santa hat in our house and it belongs to Jacob's older brother.  Needless to say when I suggested he wear his older brother's hat, said older brother had a few things to say about that.  Oh goodness.  The fun never stops!

We have a brand new sketch today at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our amazing hostess this week is Linda Callahan!  Linda makes such beautiful cards and I totally love her sense of humour!  She keeps me laughing!  You need to check out her blog as soon as you're done reading this!

I struggled a bit with this giant rectangle!  I think it was mainly because I just didn't feel like using any of my stamps!  Oh well!  I decided to use my "In a Big Way" from Lil' Inkers instead!  I kinda had a little accident with the stamp when I inked it and the "eat cake" portion didn't stamp right.  Needless to say I opted to cover it with a banner rather than re-stamping it!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Melon Mambo
Stamps: In A Big Way (Lil' Inkers)
Ink: Stazon Black
Other: Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), Double Banner Garland Die (Reverse Confetti), Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Thanks so much 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!  You sure won't be disappointed!  Please remember that we are now taking a break until January so you have until January 4th to enter our challenge!  Our next new sketch will be coming your way on January 6th!

Have a great week and a Merry Christmas!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #212

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  Not only is it Wednesday but also Remembrance Day.  I am so thankful for all the men and women who sacrificed their comfort, safety and their lives for my freedom.  I am thankful for a grandfather who was willing to go to war not knowing if he would return.  I am thankful for his safe return (without it, I wouldn't be here!).  I am thankful for the men and women who currently serve in our Armed Forces and protect not only our country but fight for the freedom of those around the world who cannot do it on their own.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

We have a great new sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our amazing hostess this week is Narelle Farrugia.  Narelle is one of the most talented card makers around!  Her cards are absolutely beautiful!  Make sure you check out her blog!

This sketch is so versatile.  I thought at first I'd do a Christmas card.  I think I even told my dad that's what I was going to make!  Ha!  I didn't even try and plan out a Christmas card.  I saw this DSP sitting in the disaster on my desk and loved it so much I needed to try it out!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Calypso Coral
DSP: Pretty Petals DSP Stack
Stamps: Apothecary Accents
Ink: Stazon Black
Other: Stitched Square Dies (Lil' Inkers), Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), Sequins

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a chance to check out the Freshly Made Sketches blog and see the amazing cards the girls have created for you!  You will love them!  Also, don't forget to take time today to be thankful for your freedom and for those that fought for it!

Have a wonderful day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #209

Happy Wednesday!
I hope you're all having a great start to your week!  We've had a beautiful week here so far.  Monday and Tuesday were both quite warm which was a nice change from the weather we had on the weekend!  I love warm fall day!  I know winter is right around the corner and I'm dreading it!

We have a new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches and I am this week's hostess!  Coming up with a sketch is not an easy task.  You don't want to make something too complicated and you don't want something that is too easy!  I think I may have leaned a little more towards the easy side!  I like to think of it more on the "clean" side!  I hope you like it and will play along with this week's challenge!

I am trying to get ahead on Christmas cards!  I do love the snowflake punch (as you are probably well aware!).  I like it's simplicity.  You must be sick of seeing the snowflake and the word "Merry"!  I'll try and mix it up next week!  I like to show that cards don't have to be layered or complicated (though those cards are also fabulous!).  Simple can be lovely too!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler
Stamps: Holly Jolly Greetings
Ink: Cherry Cobbler
Other: Snowflake Punch, Christmas Greetings Thinlits, Silver Sequins, Basic Rhinestones, Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), Dimensionals

I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out what the Design Team has created for you!  You will be inspired!  I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Have a fabulous day!
Jen!

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #204

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I trust your week is going well!  Can you believe we are halfway through September already?  Honestly, where is the time going?  My oldest asked me today how many more days until Christmas!  I couldn't believe it!  Christmas?  It's just over three months away.  I guess I should get going on my cards!

We have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week courtesy of the amazing Jennifer Timko!  Our dear Jennifer celebrated a very special birthday on Tuesday!  If you haven't checked out her blog and her beautiful cards, head over there and do it and give her a little birthday love!!!

Our sketch this week is a great one!  I must say that I had to sit and think about this one for a while.  I had a few ideas and tried some different things before I finally decided on a design.  I figured I had better get some Christmas cards at least started.  I used some of the fun new products from the Stampin' Up Holiday Catalogue which was super fun!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Silver
Stamps: Holly Jolly Greetings
Ink: Stazon Black
Other: Big Rhinestones, Christmas Greetings Thinlits, Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), Stitched Tags (Lil' Inkers)

Thanks for stopping in today!  I really appreciate your visit!
I hope you'll head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the fabulous cards the Design Team has created for you!  You will not be disappointed!

Have a wonderful day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #202

Hello!
I hope you're having a great week!  To my American friends, I hope your kids have enjoyed their first week back at school!  Our school board doesn't start until next Tuesday which is fantastic!  I don't mind having another week without the hectic schedule of school!  The boys aren't complaining either!

We have another new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  Our incredible hostess is Amy O'Neill!  She creates such beautiful cards!  I love all of the amazing colour combinations she comes up with!

Amy's sketch this week is so versatile.  I love that it can be used for pretty much anything.  I needed to make a birthday card for my dad (his birthday is the day after Jacob's).  I decided I would start with Amy's sketch and see where I ended up.  I used the Double Banner Garland Die and Circle Garland Die along with some fun Stitched Rectangles and Squares.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Silver
Stamps: In a Big Way (Reverse Confetti)
Ink: Black Stazon
Other: Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), In , Stitched Squares (Lil' Inkers), Double Banner Garland Die (Reverse Confetti), Circle Garland Die (Reverse Confetti), Dimensionals, Silver Bling (not sure where I got this one!).

Thanks again so much for stopping in for a visit.  I hope you'll head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to see all the amazing cards the Design Team has come up with to inspire you!

Have a wonderful week!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #201

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  We are back to another Wednesday already!  Thank you all so very much for your participation in our 200th sketch challenge last week!  We love how many of you created cards for our challenge!  It was amazing to see each and every one!

We have another great sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our fabulous hostess this week is Narelle Farrugia.  Narelle makes the most beautiful cards.  Those flowers and all that fussy cutting and oh, don't forget those gorgeous layers!  Head on over to her blog and check them all out!

We had a sweet little birthday boy at our house this past week.  This particular now 7 year old LOVES soccer!  One of his many loves actually.  I decided to turn that evil circle into a soccer ball.  Solved the circle issue right away!  I used the hexagon embossing folder and die to create that soccer ball look!

I originally had a white background instead of green but it was a little too elegant looking for a 7 year old!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Gumball Green

Stamps: Sentiment Flag Additions (Lil' Inkers)

Ink: Stazon Black

Other: Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), Stitched Flag Die (Lil' Inkers), Sequins, Hexagon Embossing Folder, Hexagon Die, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I sure hope you'll head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches Blog and check out what the Design Team has "whipped" up for you!  We can't wait to see what you create for us!  

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #199

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I don't know where the time is going?!  We had such a great week visiting my mom and dad.  This week the kids are doing tennis lessons in the morning (which really only works out to 2 hours).  They are really enjoying them so far.  I'm enjoying a wee bit of time to get a few things done.  Not much though because you really can't get much done in an hour and a half!

We have a super fun sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  Our marvellous hostess this week is the one and only Karren Johnson!  Karren makes amazing cards.  I totally love her creativity! You need to head to her blog and see exactly want I'm talking about!

So, this sketch is very versatile.  It actually gave me a bit of a challenge.  Sometimes people think that cards just come together in 5 minutes.  For some people they do.  I'm not one of those people.  Trust me.  I wanted to attach some of the cards that I made first BEFORE making the card I posted on the FMS blog.  

This one (above) sure felt okay while I was making it until it was done and then I realized I didn't like the bike.  Then the green banner at the bottom looked naked so I added the pearls.  Still, not too fond of it.  But it's a card and it's done.

This one (above) was the second card I made.  I think it's okay but it just didn't wow me.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I don't think the card I posted is of wow'ing calibre but I had to choose one!  So, as you can see, this process isn't easy for me and often offers much frustration!

Supplies: (For the sunflower card)
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Gumball Green, Crumb Cake, Crushed Curry
Stamps: Sentiment Flag Additions (Lil' Inkers)
Ink: Early Espresso
Other: Daisy #2 Die,  Flower Patch Framelits, Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), Stitched Flag (Lil' Inkers), Lattice Textured Embossing Folder, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches Blog to check out the beautiful cards the Design Team has come up with!  You will be glad you did!

Also, don't forget that next week is our BIG 200th Sketch Challenge.  You will NOT want to miss this!  We have some fabulous sponsors (some of whom will be creating some beautiful cards to spur you on).  If there is one challenge you want to participate in, this is it!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen