Wednesday, November 13, 2024

Freshly Made Sketches: Peace Love & Joy

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!
 
Peace Love & Joy

I've had these trees for a very long time. So long, in fact, that the company has closed. But I've never done what I actually got them for - and that is cutting them in a variety of prints. So I created a little forest using some paper that I've had forever.  Then I had a lot of open space left so I found a big sentiment that the look that I wanted with the added benefit of a fun shape that complemented the trees!!  I was thrilled...until I looked at the sketch again and realized that it specified that the sentiment be at the bottom right of the card. But I have so many add-on type sentiments, I just flipped through my stash until I found "to you and yours". Problem solved!

So I don't know about where you are, but since my last post, winter settled in. My little town had 30" of snow and that wasn't even the worst in Colorado. It skipped the moutains but there were areas on the flat plains east and south that had over 50".  Sadly, we totally missed my favorite season - fall.  We had record setting heat (like 90+ in October) until the moment we had 30" of snow.  But I was definitely in winter mood when I created this card because after I got the trees laid out, I found glitter paper for the sentiment and then added some sparkly stars.

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Photoplay Peace & Joy for the "to you and yours"

Dies: Neat & Tangled Scandinavian Print Christmas, Paper Rose Peace Love & Joy Layered die

Paper: Simple Stories Winter Wonderland, Stampin' Up Soft Shimmer 12x12 dsp, vellum

Other: The Stamp Market White Glitter Stars



Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Freshly Made Sketches: Birthday Bow

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!

Birthday Bow


As I was figuring out who I needed birthday cards for this month, I noticed that there's a guy at work on the list. I hardly know him - I don't know hobbies or interest or colors - so I needed something really basic.  This sketch was incredibly helpful because I also just got this Gift Bows dies from Concord and 9th/Kristina Werner so I immediately saw the sketch as a present!

I went with blues and greens - they seemed cheerful yet still masculine. I added patterned paper for a couple of the panels just for interest. The only thing left was finding a sentiment that fit. Very few do because "birthday" is a long word but happily Honey Bee Stamps had Big Birthday and it was perfect!

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

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Concord and 9th (Kristina Werner) Gift Bows Dies, Honey Bee Stamps Big Birthday

Paper: Taylored Expressions Granny Smith and Peapod, Stampin' Up Pretty Peacock from 2019-21 dsp, polka dot is a scrap


Friday, November 1, 2024

Tis the Season for Nordic Bells

 I just got the Nordic Bell from Poppystamps and then this week's sketch from The Paper Players came out and it was all meant to be!

Season for the Nordic Bell


I am such a fan of all of the Nordic products coming out from Poppystamps.  Check out the fabulous Nordic leaves here or the butterfly here or the flowers and pots here.)  The Nordic Bell set along with the Little Bow and String set might be some of my favorites. (Although the Nordic penguin I have that hasn't come out to play yet will give them all a run for their money!)

For the sketch, I also needed a bold sentiment and I saw that I hadn't used the the Bold Text, Christmas set by Sizzix/Tim Holtz. There are so many choices in that set but the sentiments that were three lines crowded the bell and the sentiments with one line left too much open space - so that narrowed my choices down.  The paper is from Photoplay It's a Wonderful Christmas picked mainly because of the colors. I like that it has a hint of almost curry color in it to tie it all together.

This was a very quick card but a great sketch (thanks to The Paper Players) and a fabulous die make it all so easy!

SUPPLY LIST
Dies: Poppystamps Nordic Bell, Little Bow and String; Sizzix/Tim Holtz Bold Text Christmas
Paper: Photoplay It's a Wonderful Christmas, Stampin' Up Lost Lagoon, Crushed Curry, and Poppy Parade


Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Freshly Made Sketches: A Tree in the Window

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!
 
A Decorative Tree in the Window

I love to walk around my neighborhood. Every season has its beauty (loving the squirrels playing in the crunchy leaves right now) but I am most fond of walks before Christmas just as it is getting dark. It's cold and snowy outside but people still have their curtains open and with their Christmas trees and other decorations, their windows just glow. That's what I was trying to create here.

I'm using Stampin' Up's Decorative Tree dies. I love the variety of layered trees there are in this set. I embossed snowflakes and added a shimmery white pine branch on the ouside of the window. The inside is a sparkly tree and a warm yellow glow. The sentiment is a very old single sold by Stampin' Up but it is such a fun look and the perfect size for so many cards, it will always stay in my collection.

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Stampin' Up Be Very Merry (a long ago single)

Dies: Stampin' Up Decorative Trees, Decorative Pines and Stylish Shapes, Essentials by Ellen Essential Arches

Paper: Stampin' Up Gold Foil Sheets, Old Olive Glimmer (from Berry Burst, Old Olive & White 12 x 12 Glimmer Specialty Paper), Cherry Cobbler Glimmer (from Festive 12 x 12 Glimmer paper), Playing with Patterns dsp, cardstock in Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler and Crushed Curry

Other: Stampin' Up Winter Snow embossing folder

Monday, October 28, 2024

Thanksgiving with Nordic Leaves

I got this big Thanksgiving die by Photoplay but hadn't found a way to use it. I generally like big sentiments because they can look so good on a great piece of dsp or an embossed background - and it's so easy. But so far I hadn't found the right way to use this one. Then Poppystamps added leaves to their Nordic collection and I knew what I needed to do! (BTW - with a last name like Singdahlsen and my mom's maiden name being Gustafson - I definitely have an affinity for anything Nordic!)

Thanksgiving with Nordic Leaves

You gotta love the pink tone to all of my fall cards. All of my pictures are natural light - I've never invested in any kind of photo set up. But there's a massive and absolutely gorgeous red maple outside my craft room window so the light that filters in is pink! I do color correct the photo but I can only go so far before all the other colors start changing.  Here's how it started!

This will be the last of my daily posts. I made a great dent on the pile of products that I wanted to remember to use, reuse or destash. The pile isn't gone but it is manageable. I made multiple cards for upcoming holidays. I made decisions about destashing. And it was great because for a week, I didn't have time to cook dinner, clean house or pay bills!! (Although I did manage to get to work every day, so no one can say I'm totally obsessed.) For sure, I'll still be here every Wednesday for Freshly Made Sketches and also whenever another card or challenge calls my name.

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Photoplay Happy Thanksgiving, Poppystamps Nordic Oak Leaves and Nordic Maple Leaves

Paper: Stampin' Up Pumpkin Pie, Peach Pie, Crushed Curry, Daffodil Delight, Lemon Lolly, Granny Apple Green, Lemon Lime Twist, Pecan Pie and Lost Lagoon, Taylored Expressions Granny Smith and Candy Corn

Other: Stampin' Up Subtle Embossing Folder, Paper Rose Ben's Plaid Embossing Folder

Sunday, October 27, 2024

Waffle Flower Postage Collage Snowman

Last week I posted a card with a stenciled leaf wreath but said I was thinking of destashing my stencils because I don't use them. It seems that, while many of you love using stencils, you've given me "permission" to destash!! The general view being that there are just too many great crafty products out there so why use something that I don't enjoy. I had totally decided to do that and what shows up in my mailbox? New stencil sets. (I think I have a problem!) 

Merry Snowmen

I absolutely love the series of postage collage stencils, dies, stamps, etc from Waffle Flower so I had to try them before cutting stencils out of my crafting life.

If any of you have this stencil set, you might be looking at my card like there's something wrong.  There is.  I got it all finished and pulled out the postage stamp die, tried to line it up, and cursed multiple times...loudly. My family came running - I don't typically curse, let alone at the top of my lungs.  But guess what?  I had done the whole thing backwards so it didn't line up with the die.  It was a horrible moment.  Obviously I got the job done - I die cut from the backside so the edges aren't crisp and clean. But I was not wasting my entire inky morning!

It hasn't changed my decision on stencils - in fact the panicked moment at the end just solidified my move away from stencils. It's really a shame and a loss on my part, because these postal collage stencils are amazing!  (And yes, I ordered two different sets so I have one more to play with!)  And then I'll destash!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Waffle Flower Elegant Christmas Sentiments (and dies)

Dies: Waffle Flower Postage Collage Die

Ink: Stampin' Up Balmy Blue, Pecan Pie, Mango Melody, Flirty Flamingo, Daffodil Delight, Coastal Cabana, Fresh Freesia and Lemon Lime Twist

Other: Waffle Flower Postage Collage Snowman stencil, Frost Shimmer Spray

Saturday, October 26, 2024

Christmas Lights Inlay

I've posted every day this week and "blaming" my friend Carol (or giving her credit for motivating me!) but truth be told, I needed the productivity of this week.  I have three areas for my stash.  The corner of my desk is for those products that absolutely must be used. It might be because I've used it once but it deserves to be used again, or maybe it's a product that needs "testing" (like a few days ago when I stenciled something to decide whether I was destashing my stencils) or quite frankly, maybe it cost more than I usually spend.  The corner was overflowing and getting in the way of my regular crafting. I should have taken a before picture, but after crafting all week (I only posted a small portion of what I did) - my desk is looking fantastic!!  Thanks to Carol! 

In case you are curious, the second area of my stash is a rolling cart with boxes for products that I haven't used but someday I will...at least I hope I will!  (Some of my stash has been there for years - literally purchased new but now retired.) Then there's actual storage for products that I've used. I keep stamps and dies by theme and/or company. I used the white mesh Elfa drawer system.  We won't talk about how many drawers that I have.  Unfortunately, many products tend to go there to just disappear. Frankly, I couldn't make enough cards to use all of it. But I know you all understand that collecting is as much fun as crafting!

Enough chatter - the cover die for today's card came from the corner of my desk and falls into the "cost-a-lot" category. Although in fairness, Concord and 9ths cover plate dies are very reasonably priced compared to other companies so I think I over-reacted by putting it on my corner. But being there got it used so it's all good!! (The sentiment came out of the second area of my stash.)

Christmas Lights Inlay

The colors were on my desk from yesterday's card so easy choice there. I went with the orange sentiment just to be different but I think I'm regretting it - I'm not sure it's a "strong" enough color. Of course, Christmas lights need tinsel so I added just a bit along the edge.

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Concord & 9th Christmas Lights Inlay die, Simon Says Stamp Fancy Happy Holidays

Paper: Stampin' Up Granny Apple Green, Flirty Flamingo, Daffodil Delight, Pretty in Pink, Mango Melody, and Poppy Parade, Papertrey Ink Aqua Mist, Taylored Expressions Cilantro

Other: Stampin' Up Trim Tinsel Clear