Freshly Made Sketches: Birthday Balloons

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Jen Timko and here’s what I did with it!

 

This was an easy choice for me to use balloons.  It's been a busy May which I've been over-sharing about for the last few posts.  I saw a birthday for a workmate was today and I didn't have any cards in my stash that would work - so the circles on the sketch instantly became balloons in my mind. I struggled with the balloons a bit because I seem to have a couple of big ones and a lot of small ones in my stash - but nothing for that middle gray circle.  So I'm a little off in proportions but I like the way it came out.  I just got that background embossing folder from the Spellbinders EF of the month, so I just had to use it!  I don't know this person well and the little bit I had to go on were the pictures she has hanging on her office wall.  I picked the colors based on the look and style of the art. Can you tell I tend to overthink my cards???

I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches!

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Paper Rose Happy Birthday Chunky Layered, Papertrey Ink Balloon Shaker (the big balloon), Paper Smooches Celebration Balloons (the two smaller balloons)

Paper: Stampin' Up Crushed Curry and Pretty Peacock CS, Butterfly Kisses dsp (the Crushed Curry pattern), very old dsp for Calypso Coral, Soft Shimmer 12x12 (Lost Lagoon), 

Other: Spellbinders Candles for Every Birthday Embossing Folder (May EF of the month), Stampin' Up Fine Sparkle Adhesive-Backed Gems

Copic Marker Matches to Stampin' Up 2023

I have updated my Copic marker charts for the Stampin' Up 2023 color refresh and for the new in colors. Just click on the picture below, then print or download as desired.

Remember:

• I am in no way affiliated with Stampin' Up.  I just happen to have all of their cardstock back to the beginning of time - and I love to use Copics!!
• The way each of our eyes view color is different. There are colors in the current line-up that I don't like and will never be dominant on my cards, but they might be an accent. So when I'm picking Copic colors, I will lean toward any aspect of the color that I like. For instance, I don't love yellow - but I like it if it has some golden tints in it and that's what I'll lean towards. They do match, but if your eye looks at that color differently, you may have picked a different Copic color. In fact, I guarantee there are other matches that many of you would have picked for the new color line up.  Look at this chart as a quick and easy starting point. 
• I tend toward lighter shades because as you color over an area multiple times, it does get darker as you layer. 
• The paper you use does make a difference in the colors.  I use Neenah Classic Crest. Because this is for my personal use, I have not experimented on other papers.

Freshly Made Sketches: Crocus Thank You

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Jacquie and here’s what I did with it!

 

I used the Etched Crocus Stems from Simon Says and I apologize to flower lovers. I googled and I know that crocuses are virtually always purple but I already had all of the blue papers cut and I didn't think the purple popped liked I wanted it to. Since I don't know flowers - this looked perfectly fine to me!!  I just needed a fresh and sweet card so used some favorite colors.

I'm still in the midst of reorganizing with both of my adult sons coming home temporarily(!!??) in just a few weeks (see prior posts).  I really had planned to get the guest room re-done, this is just rushing it. (My oldest son gets the guest room. We moved after he left so he's never had a room in this house).  The big problem is that guest room had become my overflow storage.  So the boxes of knitting supplies in that room have now come into my craft room (there's a certain logic to crafts being stored in a craft room!) but that also means boxes of card-making supplies are getting weeded out. But there's so much more overflow in that room, including a piano (try finding space for a piano, even temporarily!)  I actually enjoy the act of organizing but this is breaking my brain!!

I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp Flower Friend (I think it's retired)

Dies: Simon Says Stamp Etched Crocus Stems

Other: Paper, cardstock and ink by Stampin' Up

Email Problems

I have recently learned that no emails are going out for my blog posts.  I am currently evaluating options as it appears that anything that works for me is an expense and I'd rather spend that money on crafting!!  Depending on which direction I go, hopefully you'll be getting them again soon.  Thanks so much to all of you who have had to actively seek out my blog without the email reminders. 

Freshly Made Sketches: Stripes and Flowers

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Judy and here’s what I did with it!

I got a little lazy on this card.  The sketch has five bold stripes but I have a cover plate that cuts seven stripes in one cut so I went with it. I love this Memory Box Cottage Flower Stem. It has a nice layer for dimension without a million little fiddly pieces.  (Clearly I was feeling the need for super quick and easy when I made this card!) 

I'm not posting much lately. I am making lots of cards but they just aren't making it to the blog.  Have you never noticed how life hits you all at once?  I have three nieces graduating - one of whom will require a whirlwind trip to Georgia.  My youngest son is graduating but isn't immediately starting a job. I have no idea why. It is so different from the olden days when we were lucky to have a week to move somewhere before starting careers. Knowing how hard it is financially to start these days, we have always offered that our kids could come home as long as they were moving towards something and he is.  We're driving 844 miles for his graduation to get our car there because we're hoping we can get his stuff back home in our car and his car - fingers crossed.  The surprise is that our oldest son is moving home for a month or so. He is eventually moving far, far away (from 90 miles away to 1,200) but there is a gap between when his current lease is up and the new living arrangements come together.  I love my kids - but seriously...four adults who are used to their own space are going to be in the same house. It could be ugly!!  And it does require that the room that we had planned to eventually fix up as a functional guest room needs fixing up fast. (We moved when my youngest was a senior in high school so my oldest has never had a room in this house.)

I hope to see you playing along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  But I truly do understand that May might be the busiest month of the whole year!!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: My Favorite Things Bitty Birthday Wishes

Dies: Memory Box Cottage Flower Stem, Papertrey Ink Stripes Horizontal Cover Plate, Simon Says Stamp Frames

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Daffodil Delight and Gray Granite, My Favorite Things Pineapple

Freshly Made Sketches: Hello with Curvy Leaves

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Linda and here’s what I did with it!

It's just a few days after the color refresh at Stampin' Up and I have to say that the biggest surprise for me was the retirement of Mango Melody.  It's such a vibrant and cheerful color and it's become a favorite of mine. I love the way it pairs with Flirty Flamingo and all the bright greens. I use it every few cards and through every holiday!  SO - this is just my formal declaration that it will keep showing up on my blog and today I made it the main color (and paired it with a splash of Flirty Flamingo and a bright green!)

Along with the Stampin' Up colors on this card, I used five different companies' products.  That's unusual for me. I like to stay within a company mostly because it narrows down my choices. If I am using a die by a company then I only have to look through their stamps for a sentiment. But the rectangles on the sketch threw me a bit and I ended up pawing through my entire stash.  I just got the Waffle Flower Outlined Hello and I realized it had the rectangular look of the sketch.  I tried multiple options for the bottom rectangle, mostly actual rectangles with stamps or patterns on them, but ended up liking the Pinkfresh Curvy Leaves (apologies to Linda for not finding that second rectangle to use on her sketch). Plus it allowed me to add a butterfly off to the side. This is Alexandra Renke's Layered Butterfly 8. Then all of that alone didn't fill the card front so I added a background using Spellbinders Postage Edge Rectangles. Finally, a few pearl "berries" from Kat Scrappiness.

I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Waffle Flower Outlined Hello, Pinkfresh Curvy Leaves, Alexandra Renke Layered Butterfly 8, Spellbinders Postage Edge Rectangles

Paper: Stampin' Up Mango Melody, Flirty Flamingo, Granny Apple Green

Other: Kat Scrappiness Taffy Pink Pearls

Freshly Made Sketches: Birthday In Bloom

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Narelle and here’s what I did with it!

 

When I saw the sketch, I had intended to use a rainbow.  I hadn't used one in a while and I love the look.  I'm just not sure when that idea went out the window. I think it happened gradually.  First I saw one of my stamp sets with an arc of flowers - that sounded fun.  But then I started thinking that I didn't feel like coloring plus how was I going to do an accent like the cloud.  Then I looked for a set that had an extra flower that I could pop up like an accent instead of the cloud  And the next idea...and the next...and the next!  So I ended up nowhere near a rainbow but I was clearly inspired by the sketch!

I didn't post anything last week because we drove across 2 1/2 states to see my son play lacrosse on his senior day. (2,072 miles there and back!) My youngest is just a month away from graduating from college - so we'll be doing it all again soon!

My husband and I both like road trips so we decided to take some extra time and meander across half of Colorado, Nebraska and Iowa.  It was a very enjoyable trip.  My husband is convinced we need to retire to northeast Iowa because it has great fishing for him.  I love how he tries to convince me in the spring - not in the humid summer heat nor during the long gray winters. We took the Lincoln Highway going east which wanders through farmland and small towns - it was truly beautiful. We took in a few "touristy" things - the Field of Dreams, the Bridges of Madison County, Herbert Hoover's presidential library, the Dutch settlement of Pella.  But the actual highlight of my trip were the Freedom Rocks.  It's hard to explain - you really have to experience them.  Each of the 99 counties has a giant rock that an artist has painted as a tribute to veterans, typically from that county, and their stories are included.  Every war, every branch, POWs, MIAs, one of the flag raisers on Iwo Jima, medal of honor recipients and so much more.  We hadn't heard of them so missed quite a few on the drive east - but once we did figure it out, we went out of our way and managed to see about a dozen of them on our way home.

I hope to see you playing along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Concord & 9th In Bloom and dies

Dies: Concord & 9th Birthday dies

Paper: Stampin' Up Flirty Flamingo, Mango Melody, Granny Apple Green and Balmy Blue, Memory Box Glossy Black

Ink: Stampin' Up Balmy Blue

Other: Honey Bee stamps Black Gem Stickers