Freshly Made Sketches #274

Hi all! Hope you had a good weekend. I'm back today, participating in the Freshly Made Sketches challenge #274. I've had to take a break from cardmaking for some life things going on lately, but I'm thrilled to be back at the craft table and joining in today!

You know how some sketches come easy and some take FOREVER to create? Something about this design just "clicked" with me. I'm meeting some friends next weekend to make birthday cards together, so I knew this sketch would be perfect!

After a trip to Hobby Lobby yesterday, the card come together for me pretty quickly today!

Here's the sketch:

And here's my take on it:

I was a little indecisive with a few decisions about this card, so I made two designs to see which I liked better - and I don't have a clear favorite! The orange and mint blue card bases play off the cupcake paper really well. Just got lucky with finding coordinating colors at Hobby Lobby this weekend! I also wanted to experiment with having the small flags line up and be different sizes. I like them both! I'll show my fellow cardmaking friends both designs next weekend to see what they think. Do you have a favorite? I'd love to hear your take on it!

Have a great week, and thanks for dropping by! :)

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!

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!

Freshly Made Sketches #244

Hi all! Hope you had a good weekend. It has been H-O-T here. Gives me more time to stay inside in the AC and make some cards. :)

I recently made the plunge and purchased my first Hero Arts kit, and I LOVE IT. Did anyone else purchase this kit? I think they are all sold out now, but for those of you who were one of the lucky early purchasers, have you played around with the kit items yet? Honestly, I can't stop adding the stamps and die cuts to my cards. It is so perfect for July with the nautical theme, and I think the designers just did such beautiful work. My favorite stamp among the set is that turtle. Adorable! The jellyfish have such movement, too, and even the coral stamps come out beautifully. The ombre ink is so smooth and pretty, and the two specialty papers are amazing in person. If you're like me and you like the look of glitter and sparkle without the mess, these papers are for you!! I think it's one of those ones that I will go to again and again. A new personal fave!

And that leads me to this week's Freshly Made Sketches #244. Guess what set I jumped right to for this sketch? :)

Here's my take on it:

 I thought that turtle from the Hero Arts kit would add a different spin to the oval element in the middle of the sketch, so that was my jumping-off point. (I had die cut some turtles to have on hand when the kit first arrived, so that saved me some time when I went to put this card together. A good tip!) I also wanted to do something non-traditional to make a bit of a water-y look in the back, so I grabbed the shiny green paper that came with the kit, along with Papertrey Ink stencils. I used Blue Ribbon ink from Ranger and a blending took to make that background. I used a phrase from the Hero Arts set and Lawn Fawn Merman ink for the sentiment portion. For some finishing touches, I covered the turtle in Wink of Stella (this effect is so hard to photograph, but I promise it's there!) along with some PTI rainstones to reinforce the water/nautical theme. Then I just mounted this on a white card I had bought in a pack at Hobby Lobby, and that's it!

I'm sending this off soon to a friend with a July birthday. Hope you have a beautiful day! Until next time!

1 card for 3 challenges

Happy weekend! I'm spending some time catching up on cardmaking - it's been too long! Yesterday, I made one card that I'm entering into three (yes, three!) challenges. Love it when challenges come together. :)

Here are the challenges:

1) Freshly Made Sketches #230

2) Papertrey Ink Make it Monday #244

3) Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

And here's what I came up with:

This turned out very clean and simple. I did have a little bit of an urge to fill some of that white space, but I left it as is. I think the blue and pink colors work well for a friend expecting a new little one. Such an exciting time!

Thanks for stopping by this weekend! Don't forget to add your email to that subscribe email box to get updates as they're posted! :)

Materials

Stamp set - Hero Arts Sun Showers

Inks - Ranger Dye Inks (blue ribbon and wild orchid), Versafine Ink (onyx black)

Paper - White card and envelope (Hobby Lobby), blue and white cardstock (Simon Says Stamp)

Other - Pretty Pink Posh sequins

Freshly Made Sketches #226

Hi all! I'm making a quick return today to share a card for Freshly Made Sketches #226. I hope to go back to longer, more detailed posts soon - I'm going through one of those times when the busyness of life leaves little personal and craft time. We all go through times like this, right? Should be back to a more regular routine soon, so stay tuned.

I'm playing along this week over at Freshly Made Sketches with a layout from Rita. Here's her sketch:

And here's my take on it:

I changed up the orientation of the stripe and butterfly image a bit, but I think this still reflects the original design! I'm excited to send this off to a friend who recently got engaged. Happy mail for a joyful life moment!

Appreciate you taking some time to visit my blog today - have a great rest of the day!

Freshly Made Sketches #223

Jumping right in today for a quick post... I'm taking some inspiration from Jennifer McGuire for Freshly Made Sketches #223. I loved her recent post about distress ink lifting!

Here was the FMS sketch:

And here's what I came up with:

The world could use a little more kindness lately... let's remember, no matter our disagreements, to keep being kind to those we know and those unknown who will be affected by our actions.

Enjoy the rest of your Valentines weekend!

 

Materials

Paper - white envelope and cardstock (Hobby Lobby), purple patterned paper

Stamps - Acts of Kindness (Hero Arts), Rustic Wreath (Papertrey Ink), flower woodmount stamp (Hobby Lobby)

Inks - Versafine Onyx Black, Tim Holtz Distress Inks (crushed olive, tumbled glass, dusty concord)

Other - Light blue ribbon (WalMart), white embossing power (gift)

Freshly Made Sketches #221

Happy Saturday! Are you having a good weekend? I spent some time with a friend today making cards and having lunch. It's so fun to share cardmaking ideas, tips, and techniques with a fellow cardmaker. Hope you're enjoying your time off.

I also took some time this weekend to create a new card for Freshly Made Sketches sketch #221. Here was the design to follow:

And here's what I came up with:

A little masking in the middle of the card really makes the sentiment the focus of the card, even more than so than the sketch inspiration. I think masking is such an effective and easy way to add some technique and creativity to a card.

The green, blue, and purple combination is one of my go-to ink sets, and the Ranger inks just work so well together. I used two different shades of blue for the "hello" die cut. The masking was just a simple circle. This was a pretty easy card to make and is another one of those that could be reproduced with a variety of sentiments and colors.

I hope the recipient enjoys this card and has a wonderful birthday! Join me again next week for another Freshly Made Sketches post!

Materials

Paper - white card and envelope (Hobby Lobby), true blue paper (Michael's), light blue paper (Simon Says Stamp card kit)

Stamps - Make It Market Mini Kit: Garden Gild (Papertrey Ink)

Inks - Ranger dye inks (Carribbean Coast, Blue Ribbon, Lily Pad), Tim Holtz distress inks (Dusty Concord)

Embellishments - Blue gems (Simon Says Stamp card kit)

Freshly Made Sketches #220

Happy Monday, everyone! I'm playing along today with Freshly Made Sketches, sketch #220. A friend introduced me to this blog, and it's quickly become one of my go-to sites for inspiration. I think coming up with a layout and design is one of the hardest parts of cardmaking, so I love that this site provides different ideas. Here's this week's sketch:

I thought about this for a few days before diving in. I thought about snowflakes, balloons, and flowers for the top left corner. And then I remembered some new craft goodies (paper, die cuts, stamps, and inks) I received as a gift, and I wanted to incorporate those into this project. Here's the final card - more details below.

It's a little bit different than the sketch, but I think it still works with the focus in the top left corner and sentiment to the right.

I really LOVED that leaf paper (one of my new goodies!), so that was my starting point for this design. It's so clean and simple, and gives a few different colors to use with green, yellow, and red. I decided to use them all with the flower die-cuts and leaves.

The flower dies are unique because they help add some dimension to the card. Part of the petals actually lift up, giving some added interest. I think it's really neat that the flower isn't completely flat on the card, but comes up off the card. Here's a better view where you can see the petals lifted up off the card a bit...

I think anyone who receives a card with these flowers just couldn't help but touch the petals! The flowers are the focus point, and then it comes with a little more fun with petals coming off the card. So fun!

I really wanted the focus to be the leaf paper and the die cuts, so I left the rest of the card simple with the black paper, white ink, and sentiment that isn't too big or distracting. The small pearls and sequins are also good, subtle embellishments.

This was a fun sketch to try, and there will be more Freshly Made Sketches posts to come!

Materials

Paper - white card, black card stock, green paper (Hobby Lobby); yellow envelope (Paper Source); leaf background paper, red paper, yellow paper (Stampin' Up)

Dies - Botanical Builder framelits dies (Stampin' Up)

Stamps - Beautiful Butterflies (Papertrey Ink)

Embellishments - clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), small pearls (Hobby Lobby)