Freshly Made Sketches: Floral Hello

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

I put the sketch together specifically to show a cluster of things in and around a frame. I feel like just adding things over and under a frame gives a card visual dimension whether there's any actual dimension or not.  I picked the flowers because they were new-to-me and I was excited to play with them! Then I stuck with the same company and found the hello that I think is a nice style for it.

I hope to see you playing along with us this week at FMS.  I look forward to seeing all of your creative ideas.  I can picture balloons, hearts, flowers, Easter eggs and more - but I bet you surprise me with all of your fun ideas!

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Altenew Sweet Sugar Cookies and Fancy Hello, MFT Stitched Rectangle Scalloped Frames

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Flirty Flamingo, Daffodil Delight, Mango Melody, Granny Apple Green

Freshly Made Sketches: Hey Hello Hi

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!

I was actually not planning on playing this week.  First of all, I've been weeding out my craft room. I am a collector as much as a crafter but there's just too much and it's hard to make decisions and find the products for each card. So each week, I've been going through a small section of my stash and making decisions between keep, donate or throw. But this last week, I picked a big section - I dove into my Stampin' Up stash. I've been collecting for thirty years. I literally have all of the cardstock back to the original colors (I'm keeping all the paper!!)  So I had stamps and dies and punches on every surface of my craft room. There is simply no room to craft.  Second, at the beginning of the year, I marked this past weekend with a big sad face because I planned to do taxes. I find that if I put it on the calendar so I have no positive expectations of that weekend, then try not to think about it except for that weekend, I can deal with the stress and depression that I associate with income tax.

But then as I was looking for a Stampin' Up product that my files said I had but couldn't find, I came across this set of three dies from Photoplay that had hidden itself under a bunch of products that it didn't even belong with and I decided it deserved to come out and play. 

My intent was to follow the sketch more closely and to put a strip behind each word. But I found this paper and decided I liked the look with the style of the dies. Then I decided that I didn't want to cover any of it up and I forgot all about the strips on the sketch!!  

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

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Photoplay Hey-Hello-Hi Etched dies, Avery Elle Postage Stamp, Ellen Hutson Essential Hearts

Paper: Pink Paislee Color Wash 6x6 pad, Stampin' Up Lemon Lolly and Groovy Guava, Taylored Expressions Mushroom

Freshly Made Sketches: Garden Walk

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

 

This sketch immediately sent me to find any paper that I've been hoarding because the sketch had space to show it off.  One of my favorite recent papers is the retired Stampin' Up Garden Walk.  I do have to say that this isn't my favorite color scheme in the pack but after a full card-making session of changing patterns and colors, I ended up loving the mix of the pink/coral patterns with the embossed Wild Wheat.

I just got the sentiment set Wanted to Say from Stampin' Up and I liked the casual look of the font with the garden of cheerful flowers behind it. I have a love/hate relationship with Wild Wheat. When it works, it really works - but when it doesn't...  In this case it was a color in the paper so I wanted to use it but I found a plain piece of it was overwhelming. Then I remembered that I had the SU Cane Weave embossing folder. I like the look of it with the garden, and it "toned down" the Wild Wheat! So as it turned out there is very little on this card that I like individually - pink is not my favorite, Calypso Coral definitely not high on my list, Wild What being so-so - but I really love how it all came together. Lesson learned - I need to challenge myself more often because the results might surprise me.

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

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Stampin' Up Wanted to Say

Paper: Stampin' Up Garden Walk (retired), cardstock in Calypso Coral, Blush Blossom, Garden Green and Wild Wheat

Other: Stampin' Up Cane Weave embossing folder, Stampin' Up Antique Pearls

Freshly Made Sketches: Healing Hugs

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!

I started out with the intention of using an actual circle. I had a die pulled out and had a circle cut. I went to my flower die stash thinking I could decorate with flowers and leaves. But then this envelope with flowers jumped right out at me and demanded to be used!! It all worked out perfectly because the next thing that jumped right out at me was the multipack of in colors that showed up in my Stampin' Up order. I've used all but the blue above. The green, Shy Shamrock, is not normally my favorite kind of green but about this time it started occurring to me that I was accidentally creating a card that I could send to a friend who needed "healing hugs" and I thought Shy Shamrock was a refreshing yet cheerful kind of color. So without a plan in place, everything came together and I love the results!

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Altenew Sentiment Strips 2

Dies: Altenew Lovely Envelope, Featured Sentiments

Paper: Stampin' Up 6x6 2024-26 In Color dsp, cardstock in Peach Pie, Petunia Pop, Pretty in Pink, Shy Shamrock, Daffodil Delight, and Emerald Envy

Freshly Made Sketches: Take Care

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!

You would have thought this would be an easy one. There are so many banner options but none of them called my name so I was just flipping through my dies and the first thing that caught my eye was actually the branch. What could I hang from a branch?  Well, duh - birdhouses!!  The set that I have with a variety of smaller houses is Bird Houses by Paper Rose. It actually comes with poles to sit the birdhouses on. You can see a pole with a little picket fence in the die just above my watermark. But obviously I needed to hang them from the branch. I picked three bright colors and built them with all three colors in each one. I had it all adhered when I realized I didn't have a sentiment. I was not going to stamp a sentiment at that point because I wasn't going to risk messing up the whole panel. So I had to find a die cut sentiment that didn't overwhelm the birdhouses and preferably was sized to fit in the corner vs. across the entire card. That was my only criteria - I found this one and I love how it all went together!

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

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Paper Rose Bird Houses, Simon Says Stamp Take Care, Taylored Expressions On a Limb-Branches and On a Limb-Leaves (both retired)

Paper: Simon Says Stamp Country Gingham, Cardstock in Balmy Blue, Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Basic Beige, Pecan Pie and Granny Apple Green plus Paper Trey Lemon Tart for the yellow stripes

Freshly Made Sketches: Big Hugs

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 recently got the Just Say More set from Concord & 9th (the big heart and sentiment). The samples that I've seen are all bold and contemporary and I wanted to have something like that in my collection for cards for my adult sons. As I was picturing this sketch and trying to figure out whether I'd put a big sentiment at the top or along one of the stripes, I realized that I could still follow the sketch but add something big behind a sentiment - and that sent me to this die set. Then after I picked the flower (also from Concord & 9th), I decided I wanted bright, almost tropical, colors. So I ended up going big with the Just Say More set, but with the colors and the ricrac borders, I definitely didn't go contemporary!

I used a couple of embossing folders to fill in the open space. This sent me down the rabbit hole of sorting and weeding out my embossing folders. I'm at the point where I have no idea what I have or don't have. You wouldn't believe how many polka dots and stripes that I have. Of course, they are different sizes and spacing so I couldn't take any of those out of my collection!  Funny story - I weeded everything out, realized what I didn't have, and ordered more from the weekend embossing folder sale at Simon Says Stamp!!  And now I never have to buy another embossing folder!!! (I don't even believe myself on that one!)

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

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Concord & 9th Just Say More and Fresh Cut Florals 3, My Favorite Things Stitched Ric Rac

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Daffodil Delight, Flirty Flamingo, Lemon Lime Twist

Other: Taylored Expressions Leafy Vine EF, YNS Sugar Rush Gumdrops

Strawberry Love

I am quite certain that my son's girlfriend is a keeper. When she came into his life and thus ended up in my card rotation, I asked him what her favorite things are that I could use on cards. He said strawberries and bunnies. So I immediately upped my stash of those two things and what better for a Valentine than some beautiful, red strawberries?!

I spent summers on my grandparent's farm in eastern South Dakota. They sold it when I was very young so I don't have truly strong memories. I do know that my grandfather took great joy in pointing to horses and telling me they were cows and vice versa. It took me years to get over that trauma. I also have memories of a cool, shady and very green strawberry patch. It was a magical place especially because the rest of the farm was all sunlight and openness. (I'm not a gardener - for all I know strawberries need bright sunlight and my memory can't possibly be right. Don't tell me - I like my memory.)  I started pulling out the deep greens I associate with the strawberry patch but the longer that I played around with this card, the more I wanted it to be light and cheerful.  I went for brighter greens (although the strawberries stayed bright red). The sentiment and flower centers are a pearlescent yellow. And just a little basket weave in the background.  It's no longer my magical strawberry patch, but I think it will work for "love day"!

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Spellbinders Strawberry Patch (Spellbinders Large Die of the Month Aug 2022), Concord & 9th (Kristina Werner) Happy Love Day and Basket Weave Card Front

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Granny Apple Green, Lemon Lime Twist, Poppy Parade and Shimmer White (the little flowers), Recollections Shimmer Yellow

Freshly Made Sketches: Love You

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

 

This was created for my teenage niece (not the college-aged one I've done cards for the last two weeks.) When I saw those dies by Simon Says Stamp, I knew they would be perfect for either niece (and maybe my sons, although definitely not in these colors!)

I picked the paper for its funky look next to the dies. I like it - but it's a little pink for my niece. I'm hoping she'll forgive me given Valentines are all about the red and pink! Simon Says has lots of good examples for Circle Sentiments on their website - I'm modeling off of one that did the two types of letters. They also have other ideas for those letters (plus there is an "h" and an "i") so you could do "hey you" or even "ho ho ho"!  Plus "LOL" or "YOLO" and there are two samples of those that I will copy at some point!

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

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Simon Says Stamp Circle Sentiments, Spellbinders Postage Edge Rectangles

Paper: Stampin' Up Sunshine & Rainbows dsp (retired), cardstock in Mango Melody, Pool Party, Flirty Flamingo and So Saffron

Freshly Made Sketches: Let's Celebrate

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!

I probably cheated a little on this sketch with two balloons and a sentiment vs. the three circles but I thought a third balloon at the bottom of the card had the sad look of the day after a party when the balloons have all deflated!! I really need birthday cards and the balloon idea was so strong in my head that I just couldn't change it so I opted for a second sentiment at the bottom. (Of course, two of my teammates used balloons with one at the bottom and it actually looks fabulous!) 

I used to play along with multiple challenges at once, but one of the sad downsides of getting older is that multi-tasking becomes harder!!  I can't remember the last time that one of my cards was for more than one challenge.  This card was for the same college-aged niece as last week's card and I wanted something unique. I had seen the colors at Hand Stamped Sentiments and realized I never use any of the colors so they defnitely seemed unique (at least to me!) and they were very bright and cheerful for a birthday card.

Thanks to both challenges for the inspiration!

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Poppystamps Birthday Banners and die set

Dies: My Favorite Things Party Balloons, Waffle Flower Balloon Ties, Paper Rose Happy Birthday Chunky Layered

Paper: Stampin' Up Gingham Gala, cardstock in Petunia Pop, Lemon-Lime Twist and Highland Heather, Taylored Expressions Sea Salt

Other: Taylored Expressions Sprinkles embossing folder, YNS Stamps Garden Sparkly Gumdrops

Freshly Made Sketches: Pop Heart

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

This one was a stretch for me and I'm still cringing a little. It's intended for my college-aged niece so I wanted to use a unique color scheme. I pulled out an older paper pack from Stampin' Up named Playing with Patterns that has very unusual color pairings (in my opinion). I've used many of the single color or two-colors patterns from the pack but this is the first time I used one that put them all together.  Not sure I love it. I don't hate it or I would have made something else to show you.

I do like the big heart die - it's Pop Heart from Concord & 9th. It has the fun look that I wanted for my niece. That's probably what pulled the card together for me. I don't really like the card - but I LOVE the heart!  

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

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Concord & 9th Pop Heart Dies, Taylored Expressions Postage Stamp Edger

Paper: Stampin' Up Playing with Patterns and cardstock in Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana, Night of navy and Purple Posy

Other: Stampin' Up Playing with Patterns Resin Dots 

Freshly Made Sketches: Birthday Balloon Wishes

Happy New Year!!!  And what better way to start the year than with a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by the fabulously creative Cécile and here’s what I did with it!

I love Cécile's sketch exactly as it is with snowflakes, but before I saw the sketch I had scared myself a little by looking at all of the upcoming birthday cards that I need to make. I had already decided that no matter what the sketch was, I had to make it work for a birthday - thus the balloons!!

The patterned balloons are from Paper Rose. I love their "sparkly" decorations! I found a bigger plain balloon and surrounded it with the decorative balloons. Then following the sketch, I pulled out a pre-printed sheet of sentiments and I closely trimmed the "birthday wishes".  I struggled a bit with the background although it's hard to tell when you see how simple I went. I tried colors and dsp and stitched borders and more. I like where it ended up though. It's fun but the balloons are still the showcase. 

I hope you decide to play along with us. Maybe this will be your first card of a year full of crafting enjoyment!

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Paper Rose Balloon Trio, Scrapbook.com Nested Stitched Balloons (the big orange one), Essential by Ellen Square Frames

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Mango Melody, Flirty Flamingo, Daffodil Delight, Lemon Lime Twist

Other: Taylored Expressions Embossing Folders: Sprinkles and Diagnoal Stripes, Creative Expressions Birthday Wordies Sentiment Sheets, Pink & Main Enamel Dots