Freshly Made Sketches: Tidings of Joy

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Narelle.

Tomorrow is December 1st.  I go back and forth as to whether that's a good thing or not.  I'm not a huge fan of the month of December but I am a HUGE fan of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  So when December hits, I have a few more weeks to survive before getting to the most wonderful evening and day of the year.  Also, I'm not as behind on Christmas cards as I've been in the past - but I'm not on top of it either.  So there was no doubt that this would be a Christmas card!

Just like last week, I ignored the circle (sorry, Narelle!)  I do like circles, but when inspiration hits, it's better for me not to ignore it!  I found these trees from a few years back in my unused stash - and the Joy is brand new.  Seemed like a good combo.  I used the "joy" as the horizontal strip with my sentiment offset which I never would have done without the inspiration of the sketch - LOVE it!  Thank you Narelle!
I hope to see you all playing along this week.  The gallery is always amazing - I am in awe each week as to the variety of cards that come out of the same "fresh" sketch.
SUPPLY LIST

Clearly Besotted Stamps Modern Christmas	Hero Arts JOY Stamp And Die	12" x 12" Glitter Paper by Recollections®	MFT Blueprints 20 die
SSS Hollyhock Ink	SSS Maliblue Ink	SSS Jellybean Ink	SSS Fog Ink
SSS Slate Gray Ink

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Freshly Made Sketches: Bday Candles

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Karren.

An idea for this sketch came into my head almost instantly, but the idea didn't actually involve a circle.  I went with it anyway because I needed a card for a dear friend's birthday tomorrow. My apologies to Karren but her circle became candles!

It's Thanksgiving week for us.  My oldest son is home on his first break from college. I'm off work the next few days - yay! - and I have some Hallmark Christmas movies taped and ready to watch! On the other hand, my husband got tired of retirement and took a job for fun - but it's retail and it's Black Friday so we may not see much of him.
We have volunteered to serve Thanksgiving dinner tonight and tomorrow afternoon with two ministries that my husband is heavily involved in.  It's a wonderful experience - but we do need to figure out when to do our own meal.  We laugh because it isn't the actual Thanksgiving meal we love - it's the leftovers!!  Cold turkey sandwiches. Hot open-faced turkey sandwiches with mashed potatoes and gravy. Turkey soup.  So I think we'll make the turkey and save it for leftovers over the next week!
Hope to see you playing along with our new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.
SUPPLY LIST
The green is the long-retired, but still one my favorites, Stampin' Up Kiwi Kiss!

TE Make a Wish Stamp & Die Combo	PTI Good Times die	SU Crushed Curry CS	SU Basic Gray CS
SU Crushed Curry Ink	SU Flirty Flamingo Ink	Doodlebug Sprinkles - Bumblebee

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Merry Monday: Believe

This week's challenge at the Merry Monday Christmas Challenge is to use gray, white and red.  I recently got the Santa's Sleigh stamps and dies from Stampin' Up and it seemed like exactly the right time to bring them out!


I love the idea of the sleigh gliding into the sky.  Some snowfall, a glittery moon, tall trees - it definitely says "believe" to me.

My oldest son came home from college yesterday.  He's been gone since August. He's having a fabulous time in his first year.  He's already talking about how to make a career out of going to college!  We have friends over today to make holiday lefse and watch a little football.  The guys are all about the beer, but I also just found a Moscow Mule recipe with cranberry and rosemary.  Oh my gosh - I love the holidays!!  (Who's with me on the lefse?  If you are, are you a savory or sweet lefse person?  I just butter mine - but it's a point of contention in my household and we had to go shopping yesterday for fun jams and jellies!)

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The sentiment is from an old Stampin' Up hostess set called Good Greetings.

Stampin' Up Santa's Sleigh	Stampin' Up Santa's Sleigh dies	Stampin' Up Softly Falling	Stampin' Up Stitched Shape Framelits
SU Real Red CS	SU Smoky Slate CS	SU Basic Gray Ink	Versamark
SU Heat & Stick Powder	Martha Stewart Crystal Fine Glitter	Hero Arts White Embossing Powder	PPP 4mm Sparkling Clear Sequins

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Freshly Made Sketches: Birthday Fellows

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Cécile.

I thought about a variety of seasonal options - falling leaves, snowflakes, Christmas ornaments - but I have a whole lot of birthdays next week to make cards for, most of them masculine.  So I decided to pull out some masculine paper and use the circles to give it a celebratory look.  

Thanks to Cécile for the sketch because I like how this turned out.  I find it so hard to do masculine but still have it look like a celebration.  I did sneak in a few puffy dot stickers so there is some embellishment (or "bling" as my guys say with a bit of disdain) but I think I'll get by with it with the clearly masculine papers.
I hope to see you playing along!
SUPPLY LIST
The "2" comes from an older die set - Negative Dot Numbers from My Favorite Things.

MFT Label Maker Sentiments	MFT Label Tape dies	MFT Stitched Circle STAX	Hero Arts Blackboard
Fancy Pants Designs Good Fellows 6x6	MFT Steel Grey CS	MFT Orange Zest CS	Fancy Pants Good Fellows Puffy Stickers

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Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: At Home

It's time for a new challenge at the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: At Home.

lollyjane.com

I started out with the simple of idea of virtually a total copy of the inspiration photo with wood in the background and seasonal words like thankful, grateful or blessed.  That's certainly what "home" says to me!  As I was looking for a good woodgrain paper, I saw this woodgrain with patterns and it fit my feelings perfectly. I am definitely feeling blessed.

I hope to see you playing along!  Check out all of the other designers at the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge blog.

SUPPLY LIST

SSS Blessed die	Lil' Inkers Perky Posies Die	Illustrated Faith She Blooms Enamel Hearts	Stampin' Up Delicate White Doilies
Echo Park I Love Family 6x6	SSS Surf Blue CS	SSS Schoolhouse Red CS	SSS Burnt Orange CS
SSS Sunshine CS

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