Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #699

Happy Wednesday!  

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

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

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

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill Coverstock, Basic Black

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Our first paddle this year which is quite shameful!

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

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

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

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

Have an amazing day!
Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #649

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I apologize for being MIA for so long.  We went on vacation for a week and I just was having a hard time getting back into the groove.  I still feel like I'm lacking in the creativity department but we're working on it.  My kids are both working full time and I feel like the summer is flying.  I'm not too sure how we went from April to August but here we are!

We have a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week courtesy of our favourite Texan, Amy O'Neill.  Amy's cards are always so sweet and she always uses different pieces so creatively so head over to her blog and check them out!  

I have to admit I struggled with this one a bit.  The lack of creativity is probably affecting me.  I do unfortunately need a sympathy card though so I decided I would tackle that and see what I could do.  My craft cave desk had become quite a disaster so before I even started this card I decided I would clean it and I discovered all these pre-cut white flowers.  They worked perfectly for this card.  I love when you find little treasures that will work for your card!  That being said I'm not too sure what die sets they all came from!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Silver Foil

Stamps:Essential sentiments (MFT)

Ink: Detail Black (PinkFresh Studios)

Dies: Be Bold Blooms, Garden Wreath Add Ons

Other: Dainty Diamonds Textured Embossing Folder

We'd love for you to join in our challenge this week!  You have until 1 PM EST on Monday to get your card loaded onto the Freshly Made Sketches blog!  If you need some inspiration, just head over to the blog and you'll find some pretty amazing examples!

I've included some photos from our hike on Monday.  I've got a stockpile of hike photos to share over the next little while.  This one started from Moraine Lake and was called Wastach Mountain.  It was a grind.  I was almost in tears with frustration.  There were falls and lots of sweat but we did it and the view was incredible.  Definitely worth it but definitely won't be doing this one again!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you have the most amazing day!

Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #618

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you had a great week!  I started work yesterday and am excited to see how this will go!  I'll have to share a bit more next week when I have a few more days under my belt!

The polar vortex is almost upon us.  I can't believe how cold it's going to be.  Not as cold as it has been in previous winters but we've had such mild temperatures up until now.  I'm not looking forward to lows of -36C!!!  That seems soooo cold!  I don't think we'll be doing much hiking or skiing this weekend if it doesn't significantly warm up!  We did get a hike in last weekend and I'll attach some pictures at the bottom of this post.  What a brute.  I totally was ready to give up halfway through.  We managed to make it to the ridge and get to see some mountain sheep!  Always a plus!

Being a Wednesday we've got a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is our favourite French designer Cecile Ribon!  Cecile's cards are always amazing.  You need to head over to her blog and check them out!  

So this one threw me for a loop.  I wasn't too sure what to do with it.  I actually made one card and thought it was okay but after a while decided I wasn't thrilled with it.  Back to the drawing board.  I have found myself in need of sympathy cards so I thought I would add some to my collection.  

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill Coverstock (White), Basic Black

Stamps: Essential Sentiments

Ink: Black (Pink Fresh Studios)

Other: Lovely Layers Spring Greenery (Honey Bee Stamps), Give Thanks Dies (Concord & 9th), Wax Seal (Spellbinders), Black Thread (SU), Basic Rhinestones (SU), Subtle Texture 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!  The Design Team has posted some incredible cards that will definitely give you some inspiration!  We can't wait to see what you make this week!

Three Sisters in Canmore

Lougheed and Wind Tower (on the left) Rimwall and the Orphan (on the right)

We took pictures as fast as we could - it was soooo cold!  

Thanks for stopping by this week!  I hope you have an amazing day!
Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #490

Hello!

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  This is going to be my last post for a while!  I will be taking a small break from Freshly Made Sketches (and card making in general) as our family prepares to and moves across Canada!  My craft cave will be packed up shortly and I'm not sure when I'll get it fully unpacked at the new house.  It's an exciting journey and one we're eager to get started so our family can be back together again!  I think my husband is tired of flying back and forth - I can't say I blame him!

We have a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and I am honoured to be this week's hostess!  I stuck a big ol' circle on that sketch so that I could attempt to conquer my fear of those big round things.  I'm not sure it's working to be honest.  Thankfully I had a general idea of what I wanted to do for this card.  I actually made a few cards with this sketch!  

Supplies (For the sympathy card)

Cardstock: Whisper White, Champagne Foil

Stamps: Heal Your Heart

Ink: Basic Black

Other: Dainty Diamonds Textured Embossing Folder, Pierced Blooms Dies, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I really do hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the amazing cards that are there!  I'm always amazed at the cards the girls' make!

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

Have a wonderful day!

Jen  

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #485

Hello

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you have been having a great start to your week so far!  My husband just arrived at our new home in Alberta.  We don't actually take possession of it until Thursday but he stopped by to get a picture just to show us he made it safely.  He had a 3000+ km drive (took him well over 30 hours) to get there.  He was by himself though he had a coworker driving behind him for most of it.  I was so relieved when he got there safe and sound.  Now for the excitement of a new house!  

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the incredible Judy Rozema!  Judy's cards are always so beautiful.  Head over to her blog to check them out!

I needed some sympathy cards.  I have been asked by a friend to make a bunch up for her.  Then I realized that I needed one for myself as well.  I saw the Peony Garden DSP sitting there and knew it would be perfect.  This paper is so beautiful and I'm sad to use it up BUT I've been putting more effort into actually using my paper instead of hoarding it!!!  We'll see how long that lasts!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Whisper White, Gray Granite, Granny Apple Green, Cucumber Crush, Black, Petal Pink

DSP: Peony Garden

Stamps: Prized Peony

Ink: Basic Black

Other: Peony Dies, Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches and join in our challenge this week.  The Design Team has created some amazing cards that will definitely inspire you.  

Have an amazing day!

Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #474

Hello!

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week!  We had lots of snow last week but this week we're getting above freezing temperatures and some rain.  I guess that means our snow will start melting - which is okay with me.  Maybe the death trap sidewalks will become more walkable!!!  The long range forecast (which is never right, let's be honest) indicates about freezing temperatures every day.  I'm totally okay with an early spring!!!  Bring it on!

We have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  Our hostess is the amazing Judy Rozema!  Judy's cards are always so beautiful.  She sure creates some super creative cards!  Head over to her blog to check them out!

I had to be a bit of rebel with this card and turn it on it's side.  I tried to make it work in portrait mode but unfortunately I didn't have the right "with sympathy" sentiment to work.  So, over it went!  Narelle used flowers like these a few weeks ago and I knew they would be perfect on my card. My colouring isn't quite as good as Narelle's but we're going to go with it!  Thankfully whoever I send this to probably won't not how good Narelle's colouring is!  I used the Crumb Cake Stampin Blends to colour the flowers.  

Supplies:

Cardstock: Whisper White

DSP: In Good Taste

Stamps: Forever and Always

Ink: Memento Black

Other: Always Dies, Stampin' Blends, Braided Linen Trim, Elegant Faceted Gems

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

We can't wait to see what you create this week!

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 #448

Hello!

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week so far!  Can you believe we're cruising into the middle of the month?  It's now dark when I get up in the morning which makes it a little hard to wake up but now I get to see some spectacular sunrises again.  I love watching the sun come up.  To me it's the perfect time of day!

We have a brand new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  I have the honour of being this week's hostess.  It's always fun to be the hostess and see how many different cards can be created from one sketch!  I love all of the creativity out there.

I wanted to keep this sketch relatively easy.  It leaves a lot of room for interpretation!

I needed a sympathy card for a dear friend of mine who recently lost her sister.  I wanted to keep it fairly neutral but have flowers on it because she has the most amazing gardens!  

I pulled out the Poppy Moments Dies and some of the In Good Taste DSP.  I absolutely love this paper and the fabulous wood grains there are to choose from.

Supplies:

Cardstock: Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Gumball Green, Granny Apple Green, Early Espresso

DSP: In Good Taste

Stamps: Tall Blooms (Reverse Confetti)

Ink: Early Espresso

Other: Poppy Moments Dies, Sequins (Close to my Heart), Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  

I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the cards the Design Team has created!  I think I've mentioned once or twice before how amazingly talented these ladies are!

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

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #394

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  School is almost done here - finally! I  can't wait!  I am excited for school and lunches to be done with!  Bring on summer holidays!  The kids are so done!  I am not sure why we even bother going this week.  I'm not sure they're even doing anything!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Jen Timko!  I love Jen's cards.  Her colouring is fantastic and she is so creative.  You need to head over to her blog and check them out.

I struggled a bit with this card. I am not completely satisfied with the outcome but that's okay.  I also realized that I totally should have taken the picture landscape.  I don't know what I was thinking when I took the photo!  I find sympathy cards are hard to make and this one was especially hard for me!  I had to haul out the Botanical Builders Dies.  Though retired, they are my favourite flowers ever and I will continue to use them!  I added a sentiment from Sentiment Essentials (Reverse Confetti).  I went with a neutral Kraft background this time!  Wow, it's hard for me to change like that - every ounce of me wanted to do white!!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Kraft, Whisper White
DSP: Gingham
Stamps: Sentiment Essentials
Ink: Basic Black
Other: Sentiment Essentials Dies, Botanical Builders Dies, Enamel Dots, Dimensionals

Thanks again for stoping by!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches page and check out the gorgeous cards the Design Team has created!  You will love them!

Have an amazing day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #231

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're week has started out well!  We have had a good start to the week. The boys have a PA Day on Friday so they get the day off school.  I don't quite know what we'll be doing but I'll have to think of something exciting!  I'm sure running around doing grocery shopping won't quite fit the bill!  I can't see why not?!

We have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the fabulous Karren Johnson!  Karren is such a creative card maker!  I totally love the fun cards she makes!

I needed a sympathy card this week.  I love the Field Flowers stamp set for sympathy cards. I actually love it for any cards.  I wish it hadn't retired!  I used a combination of Sahara Sand and Early Espresso to create the flowers.  I used some scraps I had to create the end pieces. There is no science to the end measurements.  I kinda just cut them and glued them together!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Early Espresso
DSP: I can't remember where this is from...It's SU though!
Stamps: Field Flowers, Sentiment Flags (Lil' Inkers)
Ink: Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, Old Olive
Other: Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Basic Pearls, Sentiment Flag Die, Dimesionals

Thanks again for stopping in today! I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the amazing cards the Design Team has created!  We can't wait to see what you'll create for our challenge!

Have a wonderful day!

Jen

Retro Sympathy

Hello again!!!
Second post for the day!  Same sketch though so don't get too excited!  I needed another sympathy card and since I'm going through my neutrals phase (and seem completely stuck in it) I created this card.

I used the sketch at Retro Sketches again to create the card.  I really did love this sketch!  It was super fun to work with!

I wanted to keep my card simple.  Sadly it sometimes take me longer to create a simple looking card than it does a complicated one.  You would think this took 5 minutes...we won't discuss how long it really took and how many different colour combinations I used!!!  Obviously I haven't learned the art of churning out cards!!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand
Stamps: Papillon Potpourri, a PTI one who's name escapes me!
Ink: Sahara Sand
Other: Scalloped Circle Punch, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Basic Pearls, Dimensionals

Thanks again for checking this post out!  One more using this sketch....hopefully something new coming tomorrow or Saturday!!!

Have a great day!
Jen

CAS(E) This Sketch Sympathy

Hello!

I don't usually get to posting during the day!  I like being home when the kids are at school!  I snuck a few minutes in this morning and headed down to the craft room!  I wanted to get a few cards finished up and get ahead for next week! 

Unfortunately, I needed a sympathy card this week (actually, I need two) and I wanted to get those done so they can get into the mail.  The uncle of a friend of mine recently passed away and I want to send my friend and her aunt a card to let them know I'm praying for them.  

I've been feeling rather uncreative lately.  I think sometimes creativity goes in waves!  I started out with the sketch over at CAS(E) this sketch and went from there.  I knew I wanted this card to be mostly vanilla.  I love the look of vanilla on vanilla.  It just seems so clean!  I put some tiny little pearls in the centre of the flowers but unfortunately they don't show up in the picture too well.  It's a grey day here today so there isn't much light shining in the patio door!

I turned to my trusted Field Flowers, some Sahara Sand and Early Espresso Ink and voila!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Very Vanilla
Stamps: Field Flowers (SU), One from PTI that I can't remember the name of!
Ink: Sahara Sand, Early Espresso
Other: Basic Pearls, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by!
I will be back again (later tonight) with tomorrow's Freshly Made Sketches post!

Have a fabulous Tuesday!

Jen

Deepest Sympathy

Hello
I hope you had a great weekend!  We had a good weekend here!  We had a ton of snow yesterday.  The boys were thrilled with it.  This afternoon they were out building forts...or at least trying to.  The snow was dry and they had a hard time but they managed to get a tunnel between our house and our neighbour's house!

Last week I made a baby card for my cousin and her sweet little boy Decklan who came rushing into this world at 31 weeks.  Unfortunately, Decklan suffered some major complications and was taken off of life support on Thursday and passed away.  Making a sympathy card for this particular occasion was hard and hopefully one I never have to do again.  

I decided to use this week's "CAS(E) this Sketch" challenge as a starting point.   I decided to incorporate some butterflies into the card as well.  I wanted to keep the card very neutral and soft.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla
DSP: Sweater Weather
Stamps: PTI
Ink: Sahara Sand
Other: Mosaics Textured Embossing Folder, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Circle Punch, Bitty Banners Framelits,  Basic Pearls, Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by.   I hope you have a wonderful week!

Jen

Seize the Sketch Sympathy

Hello!
Hope you are having a great week so far!  Tomorrow (Thursday) Jacob has his Halloween Parade at school.  The Kindergarten students parade around the first level of the school in their costumes.  It is just too cute!!!

I had a few minutes this afternoon while Jacob was at cooking class to craft it up!  I needed a sympathy card for a friend who's grandmother passed away over the weekend.    The sketch at Seize the Sketch was just perfect!

I used decided that I wanted to use Basic Grey and Daffodil Delight on this card.  I used the Thanks for Caring stamp set (retired) and then combined it with some Polka Dot Parade Paper and a woodgrain background!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Grey, Smoky Slate, Whisper White
DSP: Polka Dot Parade
Stamps: Thanks for Caring
Ink: Smoky Slate, Daffodil Delight
Other: Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Basic Grey Taffeta Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by!
Have a fabulous day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #76

Hello!

Happy Wednesday!  Can you believe it's Wednesday already?  How does that happen so fast?  We are currently counting down the hours until Daddy comes home at our house!!!  My husband has been on a small business trip but whenever he's out of town my boys seem to go crazy!  The sure do miss him when he's gone!  

Another Wednesday means another sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Along with a new sketch comes a new look to the blog and some new designers!  Welcome Narelle and Amy!!!  We are so happy you've joined us!!!    The fabulous Linda Suarez has a great sketch for us this week.  I must say I had fun with this one!

I needed a sympathy card for family friends who lost a cherished Grandma and Great Grandma.  I wanted to keep it simple and you all know how I feel about Very Vanilla, butterflies and pearls!

I decided to try the butterflies in gold and loved the finished look!  They may be too much for some...but I do love gold!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Brushed Gold

Stamps: Papillon Potpourri, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Versamark, Soft Suede

Other: Gold Embossing Powder, Basic Pearls, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Powder, Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by!

Please stop by the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the fabulous cards our design team has come up with!

Have a great day!

Jen!

Create with Connie and Mary Sympathy

Hello!
I trust you're as ready for the weekend as I am!  It's been an interesting week here at the Brum house!  Needless to say we're excited for next week and to have Daddy home with us.  We have some exciting day trips planned that should keep the boys good and entertained!  Stay tuned for the photo highlights!

Today's card was a hard one to make.  A friend of mine lost her dad a week ago in a terrible motorcycle accident.  I wanted to make a sympathy card for her and her family to let them know that we are thinking and praying for them.

I started with this week's Create with Connie and Mary Challenge sketch.  It was a great sketch and it worked perfectly for what I had in mind for a card.  I really love the Very Vanilla and Soft Suede combination. I use it often for sympathy cards.  I love the French Foliage stamp set as well and find it perfect for this type of card.  I used the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder for the background and the piece of soft suede.  It just needed a little something extra.  I included a butterfly and some pearls...of course!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede

Stamps: French Foliage, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso

Other: Basic Pearls, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Word Window Punch, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Dimensionals

One more picture of the cute birthday boy on his birthday with new Angry Birds Lunch Box...all ready for Junior Kindergarten!