Freshly Made Sketches #256

Happy Monday! Who participated in World Cardmaking Day over the weekend? There were some GORGEOUS cards out there! I love WCD because it's a chance to see the amazing talent out there! There were some great examples to use as inspiration.

I spent some time this weekend making a card for this week's Freshly Made Sketches #256. I thought about this sketch a few times before jumping in - anyone else ever do that? Some of the sketches I can just roll with immediately, but this one took some thought.

Here's the sketch from FMS:

And here's my take on it:

I recently bought that holiday music paper at Hobby Lobby, so that was my jumping-off point! I played off of the red in the printed paper with some red cardstock, ribbon, and ink. I also thought some gold in there would be a nice complement to all of the red. The gold embossing just adds a little elegance to the card, right?

Hope you all got in some cardmaking time over the weekend, and have a great week! Excited to see this week's winner over at FMS!

PTI September Blog Hop

Hi all! Hope you had a good weekend! :)

I'm joining in the Papertrey Ink monthly blog hop today. This is one that I'd like to participate in more frequently. They always pick the most gorgeous inspiration photos and colors for us. This month's picture is no exception...

I love the combination here of white, black, gold, kraft, and green. All of them could really be used as neutrals on a card, and they look beautiful together. There's also a slight hint of Christmas with the pine cones and greenery, so that gave me the idea for a card. I was inspired by Betsy Veldman and this week's Make it Monday (check it out here - I am always SO impressed with her and ideas), and I used her sketch for my own card.

Now, it's no Betsy Veldman card, but I really loved the way this turned out. The color combination is just so elegant and rich, and there are so many different sentiments I could have included here. This is maybe the 3rd or 4th Christmas card I've made so far this year, and it's my favorite! Still deciding what my card is going to look like, but this one will also be going out to someone this holiday season! Have you started your Christmas cards yet?

Have a great week!


Stamps - PTI (wreath and gold branches), Paper Smooches (sentiment)
Paper - Simon Says Stamp (black), Studio Calico (brown and white patterned paper)
Leaf die - Simon Says Stamp 
Black twine - Hobby Lobby
Versamark ink - Hobby Lobby
Gold & white embossing powder - Hobby Lobby
Gold ink - Michael's
Dark green paper - Stampin' Up
Powder tool - Amazon 

Freshly Made Sketches #245

Hi all! I'm back today with another card for Freshly Made Sketches. Have you checked them out yet? They are one of my favorite sites for sketch ideas. That's where I struggle the most. I find once I know what I want the layout to be, then the colors, sentiment, and embellishments come pretty quickly. But getting that design down the toughest part for me!

So, I'm playing along with Freshly Made Sketches #245 this week. I'm also entering this card into the gallery for Online Card Classes: Heat Wave. It's my first session with OCC, and I am very happy with the videos, tips, and tricks! (How can you not be when the leaders are Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner???)

Here's this week's sketch from FMS:

And, with a little "Christmas in July" inspiration, here's my take on it:

This card was SUPER simple to get together. Last year, I bought a paper pack from Hobby Lobby with Christmas theme. (It's by Recollections and called the "Cozy Lodge" collection if you're interested). All of the papers, including that deer with the sentiment, are from that pack. I just did some cutting with my Fiskars trimmer to get the paper to the size I wanted. The most difficult part of this card was the heat embossing across the card. I used Wow! Primary Ebony embossing powder. I also included a new technique I picked up from Online Card Classes to include that heat embossing. I finished the card with some black and white baker's twine, and a touch of Wink of Stella on the deer and his antlers. Done!


Anyone else getting an early start on Christmas cards in July? It does take a lot of time to make all of those holiday homemade cards!


Have a great day, and be back again soon!