CAS(E) This Sketch Birthday Wishes

Hello!
I hope you're all having a great week!  It's been beautiful here and the weather has been so summery! I do hope this weather continues for awhile!

I had a few minutes at home alone this morning and decided I would play along with a challenge I had been unable to join in on in a very long time.  I am hoping to be able to take part in more challenges over the next little while but we shall see!

CAS(E) This Sketch is one of my favourite challenges and I loved this week's sketch but this one did stump me!  I don't do so well with washi tape so I knew I would have to use stamps!

I don't think my card is much like the sketch - I took a very liberal interpretation of the sketch.  I don't usually do that.   I feel kinda guilty!  Anyhow, I got my Butterfly Basics stamp set out and went to town!

I used some of the thicker Whisper White cardstock for the card base and it's fantastic!  Sure helped give my card a lot more stability!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White
Stamps: Butterfly Basics
Ink: Smokey Slate, Crushed Curry, Blackberry Bliss, Stazon Black
Other: Butterfly Basics Thinlits, 3/4" circle punch, Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by today!  I will be back shortly with this week's new Freshly Made Sketches sketch!!!!  It's a fun one!

Have a great day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #203 and some Acorns!

Hello!

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week!  Yesterday was a big day at our house as it was the first day of school!  I had two boys who didn't want to go.  They thought homeschool sounded like a great option!  Little did they know that though it works for some families, their mom would probably lose the one marble she has left!!!  They came home from school happy and wanting to go back!  Amen!

We have a great new sketch today at Freshly Made Sketches and our amazing hostess is the talented Jen Mitchell!  Jen's style is so fabulous.  I just love it!  I can't wait to be like her when I grow up!  You need to head over to her blog to see exactly what I'm talking about!

I really love the Acorny Thank You from Stampin' Up!  It's such a fun stamp set and I LOVE acorns. Caleb used to love them when he was little and now I love them and cherish the memory of him and his acorns!  Anyhow, brown and gold are some of my favourite fall colours so I embossed me up some acorns and away I went.  I decided I needed to make a shaker box since I am one of the only ones who doesn't do it regularly!

I had some old double sided dimensional tape laying around that I used to create the shaker box.  The hardest part was taking apart all of those sequins!!!!  Now, just to set the record straight, this isn't the first edition of this card!  It started out being all white and then just plain brown but I needed to add in the embossing. It just didn't look right without it!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Early Espresso
Stamps: Acorny Thank You
Ink: Versamark
Other: Acorn Punch, Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Gold Embossing Powder, Gold Sequins, Dimensionals, Circle Dies

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you'll hop on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the beautiful cards the design team created for you!  We can't wait to see what you'll create for the challenge this week!

Have a great 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 #200!

It's here!  It's finally here!  Our 200th Sketch Challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!  Can you believe it?  This has been weeks in the making.  If there is one challenge that you want to take part in, this is it!  Why you ask?  Well, we have some amazing prizes to give away!  I mean totally amazing!  We have found some super generous sponsors who have donated some fabulous prizes!  Lots of these sponsors have joined in our challenge and have created some gorgeous cards that will definitely inspire you!

0ur sketch this week is super versatile and there are so many different things you can do with it!   Don't let it fool you though, it's not always as easy as it looks!!!  Trust me (and the rest of the design team!!!).

I would love to say that the card you see above was the first card I made and that I whipped it up in seconds BUT after last week's post I'm pretty sure you know as well as I do that it isn't!  This is in fact card #7!!!  Yup, #7!  Card 1 turned out not too bad.  I actually don't mind it.  Cards 2-5 did not even get finished and ended up in the garbage.  Card #6 looks like this one only it's more vanilla and brown.  I decided that one just wasn't doing it for me.  Finally I (with help of our fabulous design team) decided on this one!!!!  I'll get on to this creative process one of these days!

This week we will be picking TWO grand prize winners!  

Our two overall winners (two Queens or Kings of Clean) will win one of the following (1 of each prize to be given) from our premier sponsors:

Purple Onion Designs - $50 USD Stamp Prize Package

Stampin' Up! - Watercolor Wings Stamp and Framelit Bundle + 3 Classic Ink Pads of choice ($56 USD value)

Players will be randomly selected to win the following prizes from these fabulous sponsors:

Altenew - $30 Gift Certificate

Avery Elle - $25 Gift Certificate

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - $25 Gift Certificate + 20% Discount Code for ALL players (FRESH200 through Aug. 30th)

Clearly Besotted - £20 Gift Certificate

Lawn Fawn - Stamp Set of choice

Lil' Inker Designs - $35 Gift Certificate

My Creative Time - €25 Gift Certificate

Neat & Tangled - $25 Gift Certificate

Newton's Nook - $20 Gift Certificate

Paper Sweeties - $25 Gift Certificate

Paper Smooches - $25 Gift Certificate

Reverse Confetti - $25 Gift Certificate

Simon Says Stamp - $25 Gift Certificate

Sugar Pea Designs - $20 GIft Certificate

SRM Stickers - SRM Product

Stamplorations - $15 Gift Certificate OR 3 ARTplorations Stencils

Taylored Expressions - Petite Stamp and Die Combo plus Embossing Folder of Choice

Top Dog Dies - Borders #1 die and Happy Birthday Banner die ($20 value)

Two Paper Divas - $25 Gift Certificate

Uniko - Stamp set

Winnie & Walter - $25 Gift Certificate

As you can see, this is going to be one FABULOUS week!  You don't want to miss out!  You have until Monday, August 24th at noon to get your card entered!  Now, head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out what the Design Team and the Sponsors have created to inspire you!

Have a fabulous week!  Can't wait to see your creations!

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

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #198

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week!  We are having a great week visiting with my mom and dad!  The boys are in Grannie and Papa Heaven and enjoying their soccer games, the train sets and the monopoly challenges!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our fabulous hostess this week is Cindy Lovell!  I adore Cindy's cards.  She creates the most magnificent cards.  I am totally jealous of her creativity!

I was inspired by a few gallery cards a few weeks ago that were created using the Flower Patch stamp set and coordinating Flower Fair Framelits dies!  I must say I've developed a fond affection for the Bermuda Bay/Basic Black combination.  It just reminds me of summer and really, who doesn't love summer?!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White
Stamps: Flower Patch, Sentiment (now I can't remember what I used!!!)
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Pool Party, Stazon Black
Other: Flower Fair Framelits,  Bermuda Bay Sequins, Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I do hope that you'll head on over for the Freshly Made Sketches Blog to see the amazing cards the design team has created!  You won't be disappointed!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen