Freshly Made Sketches: Delightful Deer

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

I flipped through my not-yet-used stash and came up with this elegant deer.  I figured it worked for the sketch if I put these tall birch trees next to him and a circle of blue behind him. 


Then I ventured from the sketch because I didn't want him to look like he was floating - I needed some ground. In retrospect, I could have added some simple brushed on ground in the background but instead I added some snow banks and some poinsettias - so now you have to look closely to see the sketch!!

I used a variety of dies from a variety of companies. One of my many excuses for having too much is that I need a variety of sizes.  I have multiple Christmas stars but only this one was the right size.  I have a lot of poinsettias - but these were the right size.  I can justify anything!!

I hope to see you playing along with us this week.
SUPPLIES
Stamps: Altenew Blessings
Dies: My Favorite Things Delightful Deer and Mountain High, Memory Box Small Blooming Poinsettia, Taylored Expressions Birch Tree Border and Little Bits-North Star

Freshly Made Sketches 2: Move Mountains

Yesterday, we had a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches and I had two ideas.  For yesterday's official post, I used an autumn wreath.  Today I am "moving mountains"!


This card is going in my stash to use for my youngest son away at college that I'll give to him at a time that he's facing a big decision or struggling with a problem.  Before he left for college this year, he and my brother hiked a 14,000-foot mountain here in Colorado.  I told him at the time that when he's facing tough times in the future, he will remember that he made that climb and feel stronger for it.  So when I saw the new mountain die from Tim Holtz, I had to have it.

And here's the sketch again!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: WPlus9 Encouraging Words (sentiment and the birds)

Dies: Tim Holtz Alpine dies

Other: Stampin' Up Subtle Embossing folder

Freshly Made Sketches: Happy Harvest

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

I am definitely feeling autumn today.  Two weeks ago, Colorado went from summer to winter in just 36-hours going from 83 to 13 degrees - no kidding!  Colorado weather is nothing if not unpredictable and within two days we moved from winter back to gorgeous autumn temperatures.  But the extreme temperature is going to make us miss the changing leaves.  Our trees were just starting to change to their glorious fall colors when the freezing cold hit - and they went instantly to brown.  The temperature is cool and brisk as I am making this card and I can hear the leaves in the breeze - but I'm going to have to get my fall colors through my cardmaking!!


I just recently got this Autumn Wreath from Pretty Pink Posh.  It's been on my wishlist forever.  I love its fresh and open look.  I know they also have a Spring Wreath and their recent release came out with Winter Wreath - I'm not going to wait so long to get that one.  The sentiment in the wreath set wasn't skinny enough so I pulled out Mini Strips - Harvest from Taylored Expressions.

I love sketches that are open to so many ideas and that includes a skinny strip for all of my skinny sentiments!  I hope to see you playing along with us this week!

SUPPLY LIST
Stamps: Pretty Pink Posh Autumn Wreath, Taylored Expressions Mini Strips - Harvest
Dies: Pretty Pink Posh Autumn Wreath, Taylored Expressions Mini Strips die
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Seaside Spray
Other: Pretty Pink Posh Marigold Jewels, Stampin' Up Embossing Folder

Freshly Made Sketches: Everyday Doodles

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

Right at the top of my all-time favorite stamps sets is Everyday Doodles from Essential by Ellen.  Sweet little images and the stamp to add color is just slightly offset for a fun and quirky look.  In fact, just a few months ago, I used the apple and ice cream for one our sketches.  Those cards also used Everyday Punnies which has the perfect sentiments to match the stamps.  This card needed to be a basic birthday and no so "punny" so I used a Neat & Tangled sentiment.

To give it a little extra detail, I used an old Stampin' Up embossing folder that just puts flowers in the corner.  I need to find more corner folders - it's a nice detail on a clean and simple card!

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

SUPPLY LIST:
Stamps: Essentials by Ellen Everyday Doodles, Neat & Tangled So Many Sentiments
Ink: Stampin' Up Lemon-Lime Twist, Coastal Cabana, Mango Melody
Other: Stampin' Up Embossing Folder (old!), Pretty Pink Posh Glossy Black Jewels

Freshly Made Sketches: Peace Joy Love

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

I'm still plugging away on Christmas cards  I'm in good shape but I've have sworn to myself that I'm not going to hate December this year.  (LOVE Christmas Eve and Christmas Day - don't so much like the hustle, bustle and stress leading up to it.)  Part of the stress is cards and I hate being stressed over  a hobby!!  So I saw the sketch - and I saw poinsettias!!


I love those dimensional poinsettias - it's a die set from Paper Smooches that is one of my favorites (yes, I have a few other poinsettia dies).  I like how they layer - and there's actually even a bigger one in the set so the poinsettias can take center stage.

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

SUPPLY LIST
Stamps: Simon Says Stamp Merry Everything
Dies: Paper Smooches Poinsettia dies, Taylored Expressions Inside Bracket Stacklets and Stitched Rectangle Stacklets
Cardstock: Taylored Expressions Cherry Pop, Peapod, Granny Smith
Other: Pretty Pink Posh Marigold Jewels, Taylored Expressions Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder

Taylored Expressions Release: The Very Best Gift and a Vintage Sled

It's release day at Taylored Expressions.  Everything you have seen this week is not available.  I'll keep this post short so you can go shopping but be sure to check out each of the creative team members' blogs for all of the sneak peeks starting with the Taylored Expressions blog.

This release includes a clear stamp set in the Clearly Crafty line named The Very Best Gift.

I...LOVE...THIS....SET!!!

Let me show you how much I love this set - - - six cards!!!


Now let's look at each one.  For all of them, I used the new background Boughs & Berries. It's a wonderfully delicate stamp and I did it tone-on-tone just as a simple accent.  I used three different colors for the gift on the manger.  This one is Pineapple.  On each of these, first I die-cut the present (without stamping) and I used my Blender Brushes to brush the same color ink in from the edges to give it a little dimension.  Finally I white-embossed the gift, manger, two sentiments and the star.


The next card is done in Gumball.  I used a different sentiment inside the gift.

The last one is done in Spearmint.  This bigger stamp on the inside shows you how the set got its name.  BTW - there is also a version of this sentiment in reverse as a solid stamp - so you could do this on white cardstock and add the color with the sentiment block.  

This is a wonderful set!!

Here's the supply list for this card - but keep scrolling because I have one more card that might even be my favorite!!

SUPPLY LIST


There are a large number of new die sets in this release; I've only shown you a few this week.  But I couldn't let release week go by without showing you Vintage Sled. 

I love the detail in this sled.  I layered up the Toffee pieces three times to add some dimension.  Then I decorated it with another new die set - Winter Greens.  The Little Bits - Snowflake Confetti and the Noel were released previously.  (FYI - "Noel" comes with the two little dots over the "e" for a traditional spelling, but I did not notice until I was writing this post that I never added the two little dots.)

 

This sled will definitely get more attention from me.  I definitely want to do it in classic Christmas colors.  Or with some of the Christmas Little Bits in my collection - like the ice skates.  Or I'm even thinking it would be fun with any of the wonderful Christmas critters in the TE store!

Have yourself a merry little Christmas! Every order placed between October 3rd - October 6th will earn DOUBLE crafty points to apply to a future purchase! Plus, receive FREE U.S. shipping on orders over $25 OR $5 off shipping for residents of Canada with the code CANADA5. 

Have fun shopping and an early Merry Christmas to you!!

SUPPLY LIST

Taylored Expressions Day 3: Rejoice and Adore

It's day 3 of sneak peeks for the October release from Taylored Expressions and today it's about the true meaning of Christmas.  Everything you see today will be available on Thursday, October 3rd.  Be sure to check out each of the creative team members' blogs for all of the sneak peeks starting with the Taylored Expressions blog.

I have two cards today.  First I want to show you another new series of dies.  I had a series yesterday that built wintery outdoor scenes.  Today's dies build nativity scenes.

I used the two dies in A Savior is Born on this card.  But there's another set with two dies called Follow the Star (the star on my card is part of that set).  I cut the two in the other set just as samples for you to see.  All four can layer up for an amazing scene - you will definitely have to pop over to the TE blog and the rest of the creative team for inspiration on all of the options.

Also new on this card is the Label Stacklets 12 set - a set of dies in various sizes that are creche-shaped!! 

I kept the card very neutral, except for the burst of light in the background that I created using the previously released Here Comes the Sun stencil and Pineapple Ink.  I used Blender Brushes to brush it on heavily through the stencil, then a lighter amount over the entire piece.  I also wanted to a bit more sparkle so I added clear glitter to the inner label/frame and to the sun.  And, of course, another sentiment from Simple Strips - Christmas!

Here's the supply list for this card - but keep scrolling to see a second card and for all the fun and prizes with this release!

SUPPLY LIST
Remember that the new links won't work until Thursday.


Have yourself a merry little Christmas! Every order placed between October 3rd - October 6th will earn DOUBLE crafty points to apply to a future purchase! Plus, receive FREE U.S. shipping on orders over $25 OR $5 off shipping for residents of Canada with the code CANADA5. 

Now for a stunning Nativity Background that along with Simple Strips - Christmas make gorgeous but easy Christmas cards.


Another brand new color in this release is Poblano Pepper.  Not really a color name that I associate with Christmas (!) but I think it worked very well on this one-color card.

The background is lovely and can stand alone but to give it just a bit more dimension, after I stamped it, I cut out a frame with the previously released Stitched Frame Stacklet.  That frame also gave me the perfect place to highlight a sentiment from Simple Strips - Christmas below the Rejoice that is already part of the background stamp.

One of the things I like about this stamp is that it's not 100% solid - it has little open spots to give a textured, vintage look.  But what I really like about that is it makes it much easier to stamp - I don't have to get 100% perfect coverage and it still looks great!!  In fact I like this stamp so much (and there are other sentiments in Simple Strips that work below the "rejoice" that I made a set of four!)

There's not a company out there that does nativity scenes better than Taylored Expressions.  If you don't believe me, go to their store and search on "nativity" (and these two new items won't even be there until Thursday!

And for even more fun and prizes, Taylored Expressions is celebrating Release Week with a giveaway during each day of sneak peeks! Visit the TE blog to answer Taylor’s Question of the Day for a chance to win one of the latest products before you can buy it!

Be sure to come back tomorrow - it's still Christmas around here and tomorrow I have two of my favorites from this release.  One set I loved so much, I made six Christmas cards!!  The other is truly stunning die set.

SUPPLY LIST

Remember that the new links won't work until Thursday.

Freshly Made Sketches: Bird-Day Wishes

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

I needed a birthday card for a friend this week.  Squares weren't quite right.  I played around with leaves but as much as I love autumn leaves, somehow falling leaves didn't see right for this birthday!!  I ended up with these charming little birds!


I was really struggling with colors.  I had blue birds and yellow birds and green birds and more.  They all seemed to springy.  Then I thought I could make use of the cute little patterns for their bellies and keep those the focus.  So I just added splashes of color and didn't worry about coloring the birds.  I brushed a bit of soft blue behind them to help them pop.

I hope to see you playing along with us this week at FMS!!


SUPPLY LIST
Stamps: Reverse Confetti Tweet Life

Taylored Expression Day 2: A Snowy Day

It's day 2 of sneak peeks for the October release from Taylored Expressions and it's a snow day!!  Everything you see today will be available on Thursday, October 3rd.  Be sure to check out each of the creative team members' blogs for all of the sneak peeks starting with the Taylored Expressions blog.

I have two cards today.  First I want to show you  new series of dies that work together to create winter scenes - plus an addition to the beloved series of Simple Strips stamps.  (Guess what?  There's a new Mini Strip - Holiday too!!)

For my first card I'm using Border Builders - Snowflake and Border Builders - Evergreens and two sentiments from Simple Strips - Christmas.

I love the way those two soft colors - Salt Water Taffy and Spearmint - pop on the Toffee.  I put the top panel on a background embossed with the Corrugated Embossing Folder just for a bit of texture.  Then to finish my scene I went looking for a deer that would sized appropriate and happily I found it in the older die set Sitting Pretty Holiday Accessories.  (As a total side-track - there are a wide range of seasonal and holiday dies in the Sitting Pretty series.  They were designed to decorate a "shelf" and the "wall" behind it on your cards - a fabulous look.  But if you don't want to do that type of card, the icons in them are fabulous on other cards like this.  The Holiday set has this deer, a Santa, a snowman and others - all of which fit perfectly.)

There's another die that's part of this group that I did not use.  It's Border Builders - Home Sweet Home.  Plus the Border Builders - Evergreen die actually has a second die with trees to the right.  You can layer them all up and it's gorgeous.

Here's the supply list for this card - but keep scrolling to see a second card and for all the fun and prizes with this release!

SUPPLY LIST
Remember that the new links won't work until Thursday.



Have yourself a merry little Christmas! Every order placed between October 3rd - October 6th will earn DOUBLE crafty points to apply to a future purchase! Plus, receive FREE U.S. shipping on orders over $25 OR $5 off shipping for residents of Canada with the code CANADA5. 

Now for a new set in the "Flip the..." series.  This is Flip the Snowflake.  I used it directly on my card, but there's also a coordinating die to pop it.

My whole card is done with Blueberry; it's a gorgeous blue.  To get the sparkle, I used my Misti to stamp the blue, then I stamped over it with Versamark and applied Diamond Fine Detail Embossing Powder.

 You might notice in my supply list that I used the previously released Notepaper Background and I doubt you are seeing any notepaper on my card!  I was thrilled when I saw that Sentiment Stacker 2 fit the sentiment, but the piece in the back seemed a little dull with all of the sparkle going on in the card.  I thought about just glittering the whole thing, but instead I used just the striped part of the Notepaper Background at an angle to get a thin little stripe and then I used embossing powder on that too.

And for even more fun and prizes, Taylored Expressions is celebrating Release Week with a giveaway during each day of sneak peeks! Visit the TE blog to answer Taylor’s Question of the Day for a chance to win one of the latest products before you can buy it!

Be sure to come back tomorrow - it's still Christmas around here and tomorrow is the reason for the season!!

SUPPLY LIST

Remember that the new links won't work until Thursday.