Freshly Made Sketches: Strawberry Love

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 specifically designed for my son and his girlfriend.  I have not met her yet. I asked my son early on what she likes so I can personalize cards and he said bunnies and strawberries.  I also know that they read my blog post on their Christmas card.  I'm crossing my fingers that they don't read my blog post every day - just when it's theirs. When they do...

"Sarah and Andrew, Happy Valentine's Day.  I hope you find a special way to celebrate - probably involving strawberries! I'm sorry if you are seeing this early. This card will make it to your mailbox soon.  Sarah, when we do eventually meet and I know you better, we'll know if Andrew was right about the bunnies and strawberries!"

The strawberry paper is from a paper pack available from Stampin' Up during Sale-a-bration. I hadn't really intended to use it today. I did start out knowing I was doing a Valentine with hearts down the side but I just wasn't finding fun hearts that were the right size in my stash. The light bulb came on when I saw this paper sitting on the corner of my desk waiting to be put away. Thank goodness I'm a little behind on organizing my stash! I also knew I had strawberries (purchased for the same girlfriend) then found a bold sentiment 6so it would stand out on that paper, but still decided to add a strip of vellum behind it.

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

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Lawn Fawn Strawberry Patch, Ellen Hutson Essential Hearts, Gemini With Love, Honey Bee Stamps Scallop A1 Card Frames (just used as a border on the vellum)

Paper: Stampin' Up Sunny Days (sale-a-bration), cardstock in Shaded Spruce, Sweet Sorbet and Crushed Curry, misceallaneous vellum

Other: Stampin' Up Playing with Patterns Resin Dots

Freshly Made Sketches: Valentine Envelope

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!

This is a recent purchase for me. I got it on clearance on a general stamping sight so I think it's older. It is still on the Altenew website so must not be too old.  I LOVE it.  I already have envelopes, flowers and hearts but this set has such a fun and bold look - I know it's going to be my go-to now. I used some of my favorite pinks and greens, then made a kraft envelope so it popped from the white. 

The sentiment is from Impress Cards + Crafts. They have a number of basic word sets (in their brand) that I really like for simple banners.  If you haven't shopped there, they carry a number of other brands too.  It's all carefully curated plus their Project Idea section tends toward clean and simple cards. 

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Impress Cards + Crafts Valentine Word Set

Dies: Altenew Lovely Envelope, Honey Bee Stamps Scallop A2 Card Frames

Paper: Taylored Expressions Peapod, Granny Smith and Cupcake, Stampin' Up Flirty Flamingo and Daffodil Delight, MFT Natural, and an unkown brand labelled Speckled Chip

Ink: Taylored Expressions Peapod

Sending Birthday Wishes

I'm a very late adopter of this set.  When it came out over a year ago, it was going to be the first thing that I got but I saw so many other people using it in marvelous ways, I just wasn't sure I'd have any ideas for something new. But I just couldn't let it go and was part of a recent order. Then I saw two challenges that inspired me to use it right away: the sketch at Try a Sketch on Tuesday and the colors at As You See It. 

I saw those skinny panels on the sketch and immediately knew I'd use three of the tall skinny flowers from the set. The long sentiment panel was just right for the long "sending" die along with the one of the add-on sentiments (the sentiments are the reason that I got the set!)  I can't remember the last time that I used ribbon but I wanted to honor the component of the sketch next to the sentiment. A star wasn't quite right on my card, but a little bow worked.

The colors also immediately caught my eye with the bright and beautiful photo that inspired them. I am not a huge fan of Mossy Meadow but I moved ahead anyway. It's less the actual color of Mossy Meadow, but more that I've never been able to get a photo of it without it turning super dark. In fairness to Mossy Meadow, I use the camera on my phone and a big window for light with a cheap LED desk lamp if I need to get rid of some shadows. So of course my photos don't work perfectly with my quick and easy photo set up!

To include the Mossy Meadow, I started out by varying the greens on the stems but I hurt me not have three greens to change the greens across all three of them so I went with Granny Apple Green on the stems but it worked out really well.  The deeper Mossy Meadow gave the sentiment the pop it needed from all of the detail behind it. 

Thanks to the inspiration from Try a Sketch on Tuesday and the As You See It challenge.  

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Stampin' Up Sending Smiles

Dies: Stampin' Up Sending Dies

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Melon Mambo, Mossy Meadow

Ink: Stampin' Up Granny Apple Green, Melon Mambo and Crushed Curry

Other: Stampin' Up Glitter Enamel Dots

Freshly Made Sketches: Nordic Fanfare Butterfly

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!

 

The butterfly is from Poppystamps - the Nordic Fanfare Butterfly. It's a recent release and it was one of those purchases that I didn't think about too long.  I saw it - it was stunning - and I ordered it. The only real "challenge" was choosing colors for it. I think I was impacted by the absolutely freezing temperatures outside my craft room window when I used blue tones - although the blues do connect with its "Nordic" name. I already have it cut in soft spring colors and I'll definitely use it again with brilliant summer or even autumn colors.

I thought this was the perfect sketch for it.  Just a hint of scallops to frame it - and a bit of gingham paper down the side. All the focus is on the butterfly just as it should be!!

I've heard that all 50 states in this country were under some kind of weather warning this weekend.  Ours was dangerously cold temperatures.  I handled it by staying inside the entire weekend, crafting, knitting and reading, and there was perhaps some alcohol involved (there's nothing more warming on the inside than an Old Fashioned with a good bourbon!)  If you are in the States, I hope you comfortably survived whatever weather was thrown your way!

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Memory Box/Open Studio Whittle Sayings

Dies: Poppystamps Nordic Fanfare Butterfly

Paper: Stampin' Up Pretty Peacock, Lost Lagoon, Pool Party

Other: Stampin' Up Glossy Dots Assortment

Freshly Made Sketches: Frosted Cupcake

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

    

I'm a very regular-shaped, balanced kind of card-maker so I thought this sketch would be an extreme challenge for me.  But the card actually came together quickly and I ended up loving it. It's Cécile's sketch and she is absolutely the queen of fresh and clean, yet unique and eye-catching cards. I'm not good at creating layouts like she does but with her sketch in front of me, my card has a wonderfully fun and celebratory look that I never would have figured out on my own.

The cupcake is Frosted Cupcake by My Favorite Things. I pulled a scrap of polka dot paper from the scrap bin. After I cut it, I folded it to give it some dimension.  All the other colors are a mix of cardstock from a variety of companies selected to match the polka dots. The background paper is actually shimmer white to give it a bit more sparkle and shine. 

I hope to see you playing along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches. I think you'll enjoy it as much as I did!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Avery Elle Simple Sentiments

Dies: My Favorite Thing Frosted Cupcake, Honey Bee Scallop A2 Card Frames

Paper: Taylored Expressions Shimmer White, scrap of polka dot papers with various cardstock to coordinate

Freshly Made Sketches: A Trio of Cakes

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Narelle. She's just been picked to be part of the 2024 Stampin' Up Artisan Design Team. What an amazing honor and so deserved.  Here’s what I did with it!

 

I don't know about the rest of you, but there was no cardmaking in my house over the holidays. This card was a struggle - I was totally out of practice. Or maybe it's just because my eye had gotten used to Christmas colors and this is not a Christmas card.  Whatever the reason, this card took an inordinately long time and I'm still not even certain that I like it!

After a number of false starts, I was flipping through my not-yet-used dies and saw this tiny little die peeking out from beneath all the rest.  It's packaged in a little 2x2 bag so just got lost beneath the rest.  It's been there for a while because I don't even see it on the company website anymore. I decided to make it deserved to be on this card. I picked three colors from the rainbow of colors that I love to use then picked a lighter version of each color. For the sentiment, I just went with the longest one I could find.  

Hopefully my cardmaking next weekend will be less of a chore!  And hopefully your cardmaking is never a chore!!  I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Altenew Sentiments Strips 2

Dies: My Creative Time Baby Cake die