Freshly Made Sketches: Let's Celebrate

It's time for 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!

Not only was I inspired by the sketch on this one - but also by the gift bag!

Given the number of birthdays and other events coming up this month, I knew right away that I would cut balloons out of the Paper Rose Balloon Trio and arrange them around the square as shown in the sketch. I didn't have anything in my mind after that but I had the gift bag and the light bulb came on that I could use the same colors. Then I realized there was even more inspiration in the bag - I added embossed stripes and embossed dots! (I won't tell you how many colors and background I played around with before I realized the inspiration was right there in front of me.)

We spent part of last week visiting our son and his girlfriend in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I have never been in Michigan, but more importantly I hadn't met his very-serious girlfriend. We all played tourists and I have to say, I was very impressed with the state - so many cute and vibrant downtowns in the various "suburbs" with unique stores and restaurants, plus amazing natural beauty including really big (or great) lakes!!  And the girlfriend is absolutely wonderful. It's so good for a mother's heart to see their child settling into a happy life!

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Altenew Sentiment Strips 2

Dies: Paper Rose Balloon Trio

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Pacific Point, Tahitian Tide, Poppy Parade and Daffodil Delight, Taylored Expressions Candy Corn

Othher: Stampin' Up Stripes embossing folder, Polka Dots embossing folder

Reverse Confetti: Celebrate

 I needed a birthday card for workmate today who's had a rough few months/years. I wanted to use a bold sentiment and bright colors. Plus she's a gardener so it needed flowers. I recently used the flowers from Reverse Confetti's Sending Smiles but in subtle colors on this card, then I put the stamp set back in my new-to-me stash because I wanted to be sure to also go bold and bright.  Here it is!

I used Reverse Confetti's large Celebrate Tag (without the tag behind it) and just did it in black and white so the flower colors popped. I started on a standard-sized card but I liked the proportions of the "celebrate" with the bold flowers above and below on a mini slimline. 

Now I need to quit writing and go hunting for an inside sentiment. This will be a tough one - I really can't happily say "have a wonderful year" because she already knows it won't be wonderful.  (Maybe the year after, but not this one.) I have a terrible handwriting - so really need a stamp.  Hmmm...maybe I'll just say "happy birthday" and let the bright flowers speak for themselves!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Reverse Confetti Sending Smiles

Dies: Reverse Confetti Sending Smiles, Celebrate Tag

Ink: Stampin' Up Flirty Flamingo, Daffodil Delight, Mango Melody, Parakeet Party

Freshly Made Sketches: Celebrate Your Special Day

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!

Creating sketches can be scary.  Like what if I did a sketch and even I couldn't come up with a card for it that I liked!! So when it's my turn to do a sketch, I often work in reverse. My card is created months ahead of the challenge, then I draw the sketch.  At least then I know that I'll have something to show. The weekend that I needed to do the sketch, I didn't have time to create a new card so I flipped through my own blog and found a card that I particularly liked from a few months ago - and that card became my sketch.  It's the Panda Hugs card from April. Months later, I created today's card and I am only now realizing that it is a total copy of that panda card. I must have a "style'! (Or maybe I am totally stuck in my comfort zone!!!)

Today's card uses a die set from Gina K. I love the details in it. Originally I cut it from black mirrored paper as a silhouette, but when I finally settled on that oversized sentiment (by Papertrey), all of the black just got too heavy. Then I was afraid the white would get lost, so I only adhered a small portion in the center and let it the rest of it curl up for dimension.  Hmmm...I think part of my "style" involves overthinking everything!

I do hope to see you playing along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  It is amazing to study all the ways that a sketch is handled in everybody else's style!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Papertrey Ink Perfect Pairs: Essentials (and dies)

Dies: Gina K Designs Botanical Duo

Freshly Made Sketches: Celebrate

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!

 

I started this card by figuring out what I wanted to use in the open space. I decided to go with a big and bold "celebrate"! This is the Celebrate Tag by Reverse Confetti (but I didn't use that tag part). It comes with the background that has all the letters together. I did it in white, but popped it to differentiate from the background. Then each letter is cut separately. I pulled out a pad of stripes and dots from Sunny Studio and just randomly started cutting. LOVE the look!

Then I picked three colors and cut the stripes. I did go with a narrow stripe otherwise my "celebrate" just didn't fit. Just to make it more of a celebration, I added a few polka dot stars.

I LOVE this sketch.  Be sure to check out what the rest of the design team did with it - and as always, I look forward to browsing the ideas in the gallery! I hope to see you playing along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Reverse Confetti Celebrate Tag, Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Stripes

Paper: Sunny Studio Dots & Stripes Pastels Paper

The Card Concept: May Flowers

There’s a new inspiration challenge at The Card Concept and the theme is May Flowers. My Clean and Simple card was inspired by the sweet pinks flowers and the colors.

 

This card uses the Concord & 9th Friendship Garden die set.  I used it on the card in my other post today also.  I did the other card first, then as I was cleaning up I realized this planter and flower die pieces had a look that could work very well for today's inspiration!  (It's very VERY rare that two cards come together as quickly and easily as my two cards today!)

I did the flowers in the pink tones. Then I added their centers and the little heart in glittery orange. I did the planter in yellow but it's funny how much inspiration you can find in the photo, because the polka dots on my planter were inspired by the round lemons. I guarantee I wouldn't have thought of polka dots without it and I ended up loving them.

The sentiment is from an older Concord & 9th set - Little Thoughts - which was in my not-yet-used stash but I don't even think it's available on their website anymore (a sure sign that my stash is out of control!)  I used it anyway because I liked the way it grounded the planter. (The heart is from that set too even though the garden dies had one - that one was just too big.)

I hope to see you playing along with us this week at The Card Concept!

Supply List:

Dies: Concord & 9th Friendship Garden, Little Thoughts and Stitched Stripe Card Front

Paper: Stampin' Up Flirty Flamingo, Taylored Expressions Cupcake and Granny Smith, Papertrey Ink Lemon Tart, Doodlebug Designs Swiss Dot Rainbow Petite Prints, Memory Box Twinkling Jewel Glitter Pad

Freshly Made Sketches: Celebrating You

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!

 

I've had this masking stencil and the diagonal stitch square that fit inside in my not-yet-used stash for a while.  I recently got the butterflies. (All from Taylored Expressions.) I was thrilled when I realized all of them could come out to play with this sketch!

I love the "rough" look of the butterflies - the outline stamp is deliberately missing chunks, the filler stamp doesn't quite line up and they are kind of chunky looking.  It's such a different look from many other butterfly stamps. There are many other butterflies in the set -you can see some of them from the die cuts I used to decorate my photo. I already had way too many butterfly stamps/dies (along with leaf and snowflake stamps/dies) but these cuties managed to find a home in my stash!

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Taylored Expressions Social Butterflies and coordinating dies

Dies: Taylored Expressions Diagonal Stitch Square Stacklets

Ink: Taylored Expressions Candy Corn, Lemon Meringue, Confetti Cake

Other: Taylored Expressions Scalloped Squares Masking Stencils

Freshly Made Sketches: Celebrating You

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 have two different posts up today and in both posts I had a problem with my cards and solved it the same way.  The problem - my idea for the card just didn't fit on a standard card front. In this case, I cut the rainbow of butterflies but they just got lost on a standard-sized card.  So I changed it to a mini-slim!  It's 3 1/2 by 6.  The slightly narrower card meant my butterflies didn't get lost.  I just had to fill in the vertical size so I picked a pretty floral and added borders!

I was thrilled to find a die in my stash with multiple different butterflies of the same approximate size.  Some of them had pierced detail so I was equally thrilled to find a banner for my sentiment with pierced.  So when I decided I needed something instead of plain white in the background - but it couldn't have much detail - lo and behold, I just got the Altenew Cross Stitch background which gave me the same pierced look.  It was a happy day!

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: The Greetery Sentiment Suite Birthdays

Dies: Penny Black Flights of Fancy, Altenew Cross Stitch, The Greetery Sentiment Suites Basics 

Freshly Made Sketches: Your Special Day

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

I am a huge fan of the cards many people are making with black and white images and color around it so that's what I did!  Using this particular image is kind of funny though.  I specifically bought this stamp set because it has solid images to color the flowers - so what do I do?  I leave it black and white!  It will be fun to add color and I will do that soon.  But the pop of pink, mango and lime green - particularly on kraft seemed like all the color this card needed.  

I hope to see you play along with us this week!

SUPPLY LIST
Stamps: Avery Elle Simple Sentiments, Pinkfresh Believe in Yourself
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Crumb Cake, Flirty Flamingo, Mango Melody, Lemon Lime Twist

Other: Stampin' Up Tasteful Textile Embossing Folder, Studio Katia Arctic Breeze Pearls (colored with Copics)

CAS Colours: Oh Happy Day

 I'm squeezing in a last minute entry to CAS Colours & Sketches. Their color combo includes Terracotta Tile and I immediately knew I wanted to play along. Terracotta had gotten no love from me yet and that's surprising - it really is my kind of color.  I pulled out a Memory Box die so that I could use the darker colors for the flowers and leaves - then I just brushed on some Blushing Bride and added a few pink pearls!

Thank you to the CAS Colours and Sketches design team for the inspiration to use this lovely color.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Memory Box Springtime Typewriter Sentiments

Dies: Memory Box Antique Corner Rose Label

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Terracotta Tile, Garden Green

Ink: Stampin' Up Blushing Bride

Other: Studio Katia Arctic Breeze Pearls (colored with Copics), Fun Stampers Journey Black Licorice Silk (for splatters)

The Paper Players: It's Time to Celebrate

It's definitely time to celebrate!!  The Paper Players is holding their 500th challenge!!!  I haven't played along with them since their beginning but here's my first Paper Players post on March 31, 2011 which is just a few months after I started my blog.  If you click to my first post, look at some of the comments - LeAnne Pugliese, Anne Schach, Ann Marie Hile, Jaydee - all still part of the team.  And also Nancy Leedy, administrator, and Lesley Croghan, creator. To you - and to the rest of the design team - thank you for the years of inspiration.

I don't think I've done a celebration card lately without pulling out the Pinwheel Party group of products from The Greetery. Originally I didn't get the Twisted Crepe die knowing I already had too many banners but I remedied that mistake recently.  Although I didn't do it here, it's fun because it has individual sections so you can add darker/lighter layers or different colors to clearly show the twist. 

I started with colored cardstock base and sponged on a darker color using the stencils.  The little sparkles came from the Pinwheel Party stamp set.  And did you notice that I splattered ink?!  I don't do that often because I really hate the lack of control.  But it worked this time!  I've been using Silks by Fun Stampers Journey.  They are packaged like finger nail polish so I can just tap on the applicator and I have splatters. Although a fun (or sad) story - A particularly big splatter showed through one of the openings on the large green pinwheel.  That's all I could see, so I actually pried up part of the pinwheel and slid a small piece of white paper under the hole.  That is utterly obsessive and so very controlling. Of course, now I can see which one it is because it's white, instead of sponged on blue - but I didn't sponge a scrap with blue and try again.  I think that's proof that I can "let go" - HA!

Thanks again to The Paper Players - here's to another 500 challenges!!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: The Greetery Sentiment Suite: Birthday

Dies: The Greetery Pinwheel Party dies, Twisted Crepe, Sentiment Suite Basics die

Other: Pinwheel Party stencil

The Paper Players: Poppy Moments

The soft color challenge at The Paper Players caught my eye especially because I had recently decided that Stampin' Up's Seaside Spray was my favorite from that batch of In Colors and I needed to stock up before its retirement in a year. 

I have a workmate with a birthday this week.  I don't know her at all; the poor lady started just two weeks before we were all sent home to work.  I know she lives out of town on some acreage and I get the impression of a calm and simple life so this is what I came up with.

My first use of Smoky Slate was to stamp the sentiment and cut plain cardstock for the flower center but then I remembered that I had Smoky Slate embossing powder. I love the shine it adds - it's just a bit more celebratory! These dies will always be some of my favorites - the flower is wonderfully big and detailed - yet still very clean. I used vellum for the bottom layer to keep the softness of the colors. The sentiment just retired but I purchased it a few weeks ago from a retirement sale.  It was a bit of a happy accident. I had ordered a different set, but it was gone, so the seller asked if I wanted a substitute set.  I added this set and look - it's just right for my card!

Thank you to The Paper Players for the inspiration.

SUPPLY LIST
Stamps: Stampin' Up Around the Corner (retired)
Dies: Stampin' Up Poppy Moments, Layering Squares Framelits
Paper: Stampin' Up So Saffron, Seaside Spray, Perennial Essence Vellum, 2019-2021 In Color dsp (last year's)
Other: Stampin' Up Smoky Slate Embossing Powder, Pretty Pink Posh Buttercream gems

Freshly Made Sketches: Celebrate Dragonflies

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

As seems to be the norm for me, this card was planned to go in an entirely different direction.  I pulled out a variety of seasonal stamps out of my stash to play with - autumn leaves, snowflakes, little Christmas trees, a pair of snowmen.   But somehow I accidentally pulled a dragonfly set and look what ended up getting used!!

The images in the set weren't quite big enough to fill a regular card front - so I cut the card down to 3 1/2".  Then the sentiments in the set were too big for my narrow card front so I went digging for a tiny little sentiment that fit.  I think I should have stuck with the falling leaves or the Christmas trees - but I am always happy to have another birthday card in my stash!

I hope to see you playing along with us this week.

SUPPLY LIST
Stamps: My Favorite Things Fluttering Friends, Mama Elephant Birthday Messages
Dies: My Favorite Things Fluttering Friends, Memory Box Tessatina, Neat & Tangled Skinny Strips die
Other: Pretty Pink Posh Buttercream Jewels

Freshly Made Sketches: Celebrate

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

My favorite stamp set out of the new catalog is To a Wild Rose.  I fell in love when I saw it - and have been surprised that it hasn't been given more love out there. When a new catalog comes out, it's fairly clear what the favorites are because you seem them all over blogs, etc. - not so much on the rose. Maybe I just don't follow the people who are using it - but I follow a lot of people!  I LOVE the texture from the layering.


On my favorites list, this stamp set is followed closely by a die set that I guarantee is going to come out over and over - Stitched Labels.  I didn't get the stamp set, just the dies, and they are fabulous.  On this card I used the background die to give a hint of pattern. I cut it twice; it overlaps under the flower but that part is hidden.


I needed to find a tiny sentiment and I found one that fit in an old hostess set.  This card is being used this very day for someone at work who is an avid gardener.  I think it's just right.

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

SUPPLY LIST
Stamps: Stampin' Up To a Wild Rose, Good Greetings (an older hostess set)
Dies: Stampin' Up Stitched Labels, Wild Rose
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Grapefruit Grove, Granny Apple Green, Lemon-Lime Twist
Ink: Stampin' Up Grapefruit Grove, Petal Pink
Other: Stampin' Up Iridescent Sequin Assortment

Freshly Made Sketches: Llama Fun

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

I'm not sure what got into me with this one.  I had a nice, respectable circle-like element on my desk all ready to go - actually an apple die-cut but close enough.  Then I saw a Zulily ad with a llama coffee mug (I think) and a really close up llama looking at it.  I was inspired!  And my circle became a llama!!


This is such a fun die set. It's a little bit like playing with paper dolls with all of the options to dress him up!  I took my colors from the paper but avoided the pink since I think this might eventually be a birthday card for my oldest son (if I remember it when his birthday rolls around again).  He's not a huge tequila fan but he is a college student and has over-imbibed (once or twice anyway!!)  I used a sentiment for the inside from the same stamp set - "Hope your birthday is a whole llama fun".  I thought about using "Happy birthday party animal" but I didn't want to give him any ideas!!  
 
I've loved this guy since he was released in February but haven't had a chance to use him.  The rest of Taylored Expressions design team came up with amazing examples but you have to check out this particular card by Jill Hawkins.  I fell in love with him in his sombrero.  FYI the sombrero is actually from a different set - but what a perfect fit!!
I hope to see you playing along with us this week!
SUPPLY LIST

Freshly Made Sketches: Happy Day!

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!

At the time I was getting a card ready for this challenge, I also needed a birthday card for my youngest niece who turns 7 on Monday.  This was a situation in which the sketch truly was an inspiration.  I know, I know - challenges are also supposed to inspire - but many times I really have to work to find stamps that fit a sketch.  It's less "inspiration" and more trial-and-error.  In this case, I looked at it and immediately saw the stamps that I would be using.  Clearly that big heart is actually a bunny jumping out of the grass!!

I hope to see you all playing along with this sketch - I am excited to see how many ways the big heart and little heart can be interpreted!
SUPPLY LIST
The green is a Wild Wasabi print from an earlier version of the Backgrounds Designer Series Paper Pack. 

Stampin' Up Cheerful Critters	Stampin' Up Crisp Cantaloupe Thick Twine	Stampin' Up Beautiful Wings Embosslit	SU Wild Wasabi CS
SU Crisp Cantaloupe CS	SU Calypso Coral CS

InLinkz.com

CAS(E) this Sketch: Cheers to You!

This is my second post today.

If you are looking for the My Favorite Things Release Rewind,

it's just a post away BUT the card in this post also uses MFT new products!!

It's time for a new sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch!

There is so much that you can do with these three elements.  As is usual, I am amazed by the variety of elements that the design team has come up with.  I went with actual circles because I have these fun new dies from My Favorite Things.


You won't believe how I picked these colors?  Blue margaritas - do you see it?  Red wine.  Champagne!  I wonder what that says about my state of mind as I was creating this card!?  I cut the circles in their colors and then again in white.  I painted the white with MFT's Glitter Glaze to give it shine and a bit of sparkle.   I think it all says "cheers"!
I hope you can play along - I look forward to seeing what everybody uses for those three elements!

• Stamps: My Favorite Things Celebrate Big
• Paper: MFT Blue Raspberry, Brick Red, Natural, Project Life Midnight Edition (the stripes)
• Ink: MFT Brick Red
• Accessories: MFT Cheers Glass Charms Die-namics, Pretty Pink Posh flat black sequins, Hemptique 10 lb black twine