Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #167



Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  Are you ready for Christmas yet?  I am slowly getting there.  The boys have their Christmas concert tomorrow.  I'm so excited to see them!  This week is slowly winding down and we have very few commitments between now and Christmas which I'm very excited to have some relax time.  

We have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches care of the amazing Narelle Farrugia!  Narelle is the queen of beautiful layers and flowers!  Her blog makes me so happy!  

I had to try out the new Celebrate Today stamp set!   I just love and I love that it's Polymer!  I'm still getting used to the polymer stamps but this one is super fun!  I must say that I didn't start with a black balloon but that's what I ended up with!  This stamp set and the corresponding Balloon Framelits will be available in the new Occasions catalogue in January!  I also added in some of the new Bermuda Bay Sequins - also available in the new catalogue!

I am not so impressed with my balloon tail but it is what it is!  I would do it a bit differently next time!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Bermuda Bay
DSP: Winter Frost Specialty
Stamps: Celebrate Today
Ink: Basic Black, Versamark
Other: Balloon Framelits, Island Indigo Baker's Twine, Bermuda Bay Sequins, Stripes Textured Impression Embossing Folder, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  This is our last post until 2015!  This also means you have two weeks to enter this challenge!

Please head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the amazing cards the design team has created for you!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen!

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #166


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I trust you're each having a great week and not too busy getting ready for Christmas!  I got a bit more wrapping done yesterday so I'm one step closer to being ready!  Today I need to tackle some baking for a cookie exchange I'm in.  Mom...no comments!!!  We have an "elf on the shelf" at our house who is very, very naughty.  The boys sure get a kick out of him and his antics but this mom is running out of creative ideas!

Being Wednesday, we have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the lovely Karren Johnson.  Karren is so creative and makes such fabulous cards!  I am always envious of the beautiful things she comes up with!  She has a great sketch for you this week that I'm sure you will have a fun time working with.

Surprisingly, this is the first version of this card.  I know, you can all get over being shocked!  I knew what I wanted and it kind of came together - and in less time than it usually does for which I am very thankful!  The Lovely as a Tree stamp set is one of my favourites and I couldn't wait to use it.  Unfortunately I had to cut off one of the trees and I forgot to add in the bow...that being said, it would have cut off one of the trees!

I wanted to keep neutral colours for this card but then realized it needed a slight pop of colour so I added some old Red Riding Hood Ruffled Ribbon that I had.  I think it adds the right amount of colours.  I left a sentiment off this card because the lady I'm making it for requested a few cards that were blank.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Smokey Slate, Silver
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Hardwood
Ink: Smokey Slate, Versamark
Other: Silver Embossing Powder, Red Riding Hood Ribbon, Dimensionals.

Thanks again for stopping by!  I hope you have the time to head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the beautiful cards the design team has created for your viewing pleasure.

Have a wonderful day!

Jen!

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #165


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  It's December!  How on earth did that happen?!  Christmas is coming super fast! I was wrapping some gifts this afternoon but let me tell you,  I'm not feeling too festive these days.  I think it's the strange weather we've been having.  Warm then cold but very little snow - seems so odd for this time of the year around here!  Hopefully over the next few weeks I start to feel a bit more Christmasy!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Cindy Lovell is our fabulous hostess this week.  She makes the most amazing cards.  You need to grab a coffee (or tea!) and head on over to her blog and enjoy each and every one of her creations!
This sketch proved a little more challenging that I had thought it would be!  I do like a challenge though!  I couldn't decide if I would make a Christmas card or a regular card!  Since I'm not feeling all that festive, a regular card won!  I wanted to create a fairly simple card and limit the layers.  I love layers on cards - but sometimes I just need a card that's very simple!

I so love the Kinda Eclectic stamp set.  I decided to stamp the background with Silver Encore ink.  It has a bit of sparkle in real light!  I tried different colours of butterflies but black showed up best.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black
Stamps: Kinda Eclectic, And Many More
Ink: Silver Encore, Blackberry Bliss, Basic Black
Other: Basic Rhinestones, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Bitty Butterfly Punch

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Please head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the amazing cards the Design Team has come up with for you!  We cannot wait to see what you create for us this week!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen


Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #164


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  Can you believe it's Wednesday already?!  Where has the week gone?  December is creeping up so fast!  I do believe that Christmas is less than a month away!  Are you ready?  I'm not quite there yet!  I think this weekend we will try and get the Christmas tree up!  Still seems too early for some reason though!

We have a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  I have the privilege of being this week's hostess!  I always have a hard time coming up with a sketch! I wanted a sketch that would be clean and versatile.  Sometimes that's easier said than done!

I have a few more nature themed cards to work on and I wanted to get out my Pleasant Poppies stamp set.  I love those poppies.  I think I need to use them more often.  They always strike me as so regal.

I don't have any cherry cobbler blendabilities yet and I don't have any copics and me and a blender pen don't get along very well so this card involved me cutting out those poppies.  What I've learned from this is that I don't see as well at night as I would like!!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Real Red
Stamps: Pleasant Poppies, Perfect Pennants
Ink: Basic Black
Other: Banners Framelits, Basic Black Taffeta Ribbon, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the other beautiful cards the design team has created for you!

Have a fabulous day!
Jen


Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #163


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I can't believe it's Wednesday already!  We are inching closer and closer to Christmas with every passing Wednesday!  The boys helped me put up my Christmas village on the weekend.  I wasn't quite ready but they were eager and wanted to help so I decided we would do it.  Caleb (he's 8) worked the whole time, diligently and carefully helping get each piece out and putting out the people.  He's growing up too fast.  Jacob (he's 6) worked longer than I thought he would.  He then decided he would hope in the Rubbermaid Tote we carried the village pieces upstairs in and pretend it was an F-18 Hornet which he flew around for the rest of the afternoon!

Since it's Wednesday, that means we have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week's beauty comes from the lovely and talented Cindy Hall!  Cindy makes such beautiful cards.  Please head over to her blog and take a look around!
I really love the versatility of Cindy's sketch!  It is perfect for pretty much any kind of card!  I must say though that this isn't the first version of the card I came up with!  Are you surprised?  Didn't think so!

I really do love the Wondrous Wreath Stamp set.  I love that they have the new tabs on the stamps and the Framelits that help line everything up!  It takes a little getting used to but it did work!

I added a few gold pearls that I had in my stash.  I originally tried using gold embossing powder and the berries from the stamp set but it just didn't look quite right!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Champagne Glimmer
Stamps: Wondrous Wreath, And Many More
Ink: Soft Suede, Early Espresso
Other: Wondrous Wreath Framelits, Itty Bitty Banners Framelits, Gold Pearls (non-SU), Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Please head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to see the beautiful cards the Design Team has created!  You will not be disappointed.

Have a  fabulous day!

Jen

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches #162


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week!  We've had two beautiful days here in Southern Ontario.   The temperatures today were so warm...okay, November warm!  It was so nice but I believe that we will be back to seasonal temperatures tomorrow.  I sure enjoyed it today though!

We have a great new sketch today at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our fabulous hostess this week is none other than the amazing Kim Singdahlsen.  Her cards are just beautiful and you need to head over to her blog to check them out!

I had in my head a vision of what my card would look like.  After so many attempts I can't even count, it didn't look at all the way I envisioned!
I need to get some more Christmas cards done.  If I don't get them done we are going to have some serious issues!  I could use a day to sit in my craft room and make Christmas cards!!!  Hopefully soon!

I got out my old Ornament Keepsake stamp set.  It's one of my favourites and of course it comes with a coordinating die which just makes everything so easy!

Supplies;
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White
DSP: Seasons of Style
Stamps: Ornament Keepsake
Ink: Versamark
Other: Black Embossing Powder, Ornament Framelit Dies, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Silver Sequins, Dimensionals

Thank you so much today!  Please head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to see what the Design Team has created for you!  I can't wait to see what you create this week!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen


Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #161


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  Can you believe it's Wednesday already!  I'm sorry I missed playing along with Freshly Made Sketches last week.   Can you believe we're are into November already?!  How on earth did that happen?  The weeks are flying by!

We have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week courtesy of our fabulous Linda Callahan.  Linda makes such beautiful cards so you are going to want to go and check out her blog!
The Christmas season is approaching far too quickly.  I have realized too quickly that I will not have my cards ready if I don't get my act together!  I need to be creating a few more of these this week!

I tried the sketch using the orientation that Linda has designed but I just couldn't get it to work.  Once I turned it, I seemed to be able to create a card I actually liked!  I made a different one as well that I will share tomorrow!  I was having some issues with my cherry cobbler ink so I decided to use embossing powder instead.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler
Stamps: Bright and Beautiful
Ink: Versamark
Other: Cherry Cobbler Embossing Powder, Silver Taffeta Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Stars Framelits, Dimensionals.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you are able to head to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the beautiful cards the Design Team has created for your inspiration.  We can't wait to see what you come up with!

Have a fabulous day!
Jen

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #159


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  Hope you're having a great week so far!  We've started out our week with a fair bit of rain and cloud.  I'm looking forward to a few days of sunshine again!  The leaves have been so beautiful but we need some sunshine to enjoy the last few days of them staying on the trees!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week our fabulous hostess is Jen Mitchell!  Jen makes the most amazing cards and you need to head over to her blog to check out those beauties!
Surprisingly despite that giant circle on this card, it didn't take me long to come up with an idea!  I may have celebrated my "30th" birthday again this past weekend and now need some thank you cards to thank some very special people who spoiled me rotten!

I decided to use a word bubble instead of a circle and the Just Sayin' stamp set worked just perfectly! I needed a little texture on that small square panel and I couldn't help but use the polka dot textured embossing folder!

The card needed a little something else so I decided to emboss some of the flowers from the Pictogram Punches stamp set!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black
Stamps: Pictogram Punches, Just Sayin'
Ink: Versamark
Other: Word Bubbles Framelits, Polka Dot Textured Embossing Folder, Itty Bitty Accents Punches (Flower Punch), Silver Embossing Powder, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Please head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the beautiful cards the Design Team has created for you!  We can't wait to see what you come up with!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #158


Hello!
I hope you're having a great day!  Can you believe it's Wednesday already?!  I guess because we celebrated Thanksgiving on Monday and had a holiday, the week is flying by!  I love it!  We are definitely having a great week.

We have a a great new sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is Jennifer Timko!  Jen makes such beautiful cards!  You need to go and check our her blog and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about!
I knew as soon as I saw this sketch that I wanted to get some practise with my Blendabilities and use a set that would require some colouring.  I haven't really used my Blendies much so I wanted to make sure they didn't get too dusty!  Of course I had to throw a butterfly in there!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Blackberry Bliss
DSP: Moonlight DSP Stack
Stamps: I Like You, Kinda Eclectic
Ink: Hello Honey, Memento Black
Other:  Bitty Butterfly Punch, Rich Razzleberry Blendabilities, Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by!
I hope you can head over to the Freshly Made Sketches to check out the beautiful cards the design team has created for you!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen




Monday, October 13, 2014

Retro Autumn


Hello!
I hope my fellow Canadian readers had a great Thanksgiving weekend.  We had such a nice day today.   It was so nice to relax together!  I actually uploaded photos to be printed and am excited to start working on my Project Life albums again!

I have another card today!  Shocking - I know!  I loved the sketch at Retro Sketches this weekend!  I don't usually know what to do with tags but I kinda had an idea of what I wanted to do with this one!


I'm still filling a customer order of nature themed cards.  My customer has requested some of the cards be blank!  It's actually hard for me to do that!  I sometimes find that my cards look naked!  However - this is what she requested and this is what I'll do!

I love French Foliage and was so sad when SU retired it.  It is so perfect for cards at any time of the year.  I love how many different patterns you can create with this set!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Champagne Glimmer
Stamps: French Foliage
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze
Other: Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Lattice Textured Embossing Folder, Fun Fall Framelits, Natural Twine,  Natural Chevron Ribbon, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a  fabulous day!

Jen!

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Majestic Monarchs


Hello!
I had a few minutes this weekend to play in my craft room!  The boys enjoyed one of the last flying days of the season on Saturday so I took advantage of hanging out with my paper, stamps and ink!

I'm still working on filling an order of nature inspired cards and what doesn't scream nature more than butterflies?!  I could make dozens of cards with butterflies!

I started with the Fusion card challenge sketch!  It fit my butterflies perfectly!  I decided to pair it with the colours from the Card Concept challenge (using the Clean and Simple style).  I don't really use Halloween cards so I knew that instead of halloween I could do monarchs!



Papillon Potpourri is one of my favourite stamp sets!  Those butterflies totally make me smile!  I used my Score Board to create the lines on the bottom of the front white panel!  I chose a sentiment from a PTI stamp set.  I tried colouring the butterflies to start with but ended up having to just stamp them on some Pumpkin Pie cardstock!  My colouring skills need some work!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie
Stamps: Papillon Potpourri, PTI (Sentiment)
Ink: Basic Black
Other: Elegant Butterfly Punch, Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by!
I hope you have a fabulous day!

Jen!

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #157


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week!  We are having a busy week here.  Somehow I thought once both boys were in school full time I would have oodles and oodles of spare time to do all sorts of crafty things!  I was sadly mistaken!  I am enjoying the things I have been doing though!

We have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches today!  This week the amazingly creative Amy O'Neill brings us a great sketch!  You need to head over to Amy's blog to see her beautiful cards.  You may want to grab a tea though because you'll be there a while!

As soon as I saw Amy's sketch I knew I wanted to make a particular card (which you will see tomorrow).  I then was asked by a friend's mom to make some nature themed cards for her and I hauled out my "Lovely as a Tree" set.  I do love this set and don't get to use it as often as I would like.  I decided to keep the colours simple with the grey/white/silver.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Grey, Whisper White,
Ink: Versamark
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Pennant Parade
Other: White Embossing Powder, Silver Embossing Powder, Silver Ribbon, Silver Sequins

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the amazing cards the design team has created to inspire you!  You won't be disappointed!

Have a fabulous day!
Jen


Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #156


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  Hope you're having a great week!  We've been having great weather here and I do wish it would last longer!  Today is my Halloween wreath making class that I'm super excited about.  I think the girls are going to love these wreaths!  I mean, who doesn't love a super cute bead spider?

We have a great new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Narelle Farrugia.  She has created a great sketch for us!  Narelle is the queen of beautiful cards, amazing layers and fabulous flowers!
I must admit (shamefully) that this sketch sent me for a loop and it wasn't the circle that gave me grief.  It was just the whole thing.  This card is version #4.  It also doesn't look quite as nice in the picture as it does in person.  We had a cloudy day on Tuesday so my lighting wasn't the greatest.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Island Indigo, Silver Glimmer
DSP: Winter Frost Specialty
Stamps: Flower Patch, And Many More, Kinda Eclectic
Ink: Basic Black, Silver, Island Indigo, Pool Party
Other: Sequins, Flower Fair Framelits, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Please head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the amazing cards the Design Team has created!  You will not be disappointed!  I'm so fortunate to be part of this great team!

I hope you have a amazing day!

Jen

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #155


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week!  We are having some great weather here in Ontario and we will take it as long as we can!  I love the cooler nights and the warm days.  The sunshine was so beautiful today!

We have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week courtesy of the extremely talented Karren Johnson.  Karren makes such beautiful cards.  Head over to her blog and take a look!
I am starting on getting those Christmas cards done.  It is a daunting task and I wish I were more organized.  I think I will settle on a design soon and go to town!

I mentioned earlier this week that I would be using the Festive Flurry stamp set again.  I just can't help it.  I love those snowflakes!  They're so fun.  I also embossed the silver on black again.  Instead of a tag I went with the Framelits Banners.  I wanted to keep the card simple and the background fairly clean.  I couldn't resist the red glimmer card stock or some bling!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black. Red Glimmer
Stamps: Festive Flurry, And Many More
Ink: Real Red, Versamark
Other: Banners Framelits, Festive Flurry Framelits, Silver Embossing Powder, Basic Rhinestones,  Frosted Finishes

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the fabulous cards the Design Team has created for you!

Have a  wonderful day!

Jen

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Fusion Christmas



Hello!
I can't believe that I am able to actually post a card on a Sunday!  I know - shocking!  I made this card a long time ago and took a picture of it the same day then realized when I downloaded the picture that one of the jewels had fallen off of the snowflake!  Took me a while to get around to jewel correction!

We had a great weekend celebration Jacob's 6th birthday with his friends.  He had a blast.  There is a picture at the bottom of the page of him with his Triceratops ice cream cake.  It was a hit and the leftovers are pretty stellar as well!

So, I made this card for the Fusion card challenge!  I was pretty pumped when I first looked at the challenge and came up with this card.  Then I realized after a few Fusion blog posts that the colour of the car was pink not red (I guess I should have read the title of their challenge!).  So, my shiny pink is a beautiful, bright, shiny red!

Christmas is fast approaching and I love the Festive Flurry stamp set and coordinating dies.  You may see another card this week that also uses that set!  I love snowflakes though I like paper ones far more than real ones!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Silver, Red Glimmer
DSP: All is Calm Specialty DSP
Stamps: Festive Flurry, Festival of Trees (Sentiment)
Ink: Basic Black, Versamark
Other: Basic Rhinestones, Silver Embossing Powder, Festive Flurry Framelits, Dimensionals


Thanks so much for stopping in today!  I hope you've had a great weekend!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #154


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you are having a great week!  Things are getting busier around here and I'm gearing up for Jacob's birthday party on the weekend.  Because his birthday is at the end of summer vacation we do his friend party after school starts.  Dinosaur theme this year.  Planning is a bit more tedious than I thought!

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  The fabulous Cindy Lovell has created a beauty for us!  If you haven't been to Cindy's blog lately you are missing out!  Her cards are amazing!

I think I strayed from the sketch further than I normally would.  I got a little frustrated and opted to use a banner instead of a square.  I needed a little something different.  I apologize for the colour of the photo.  It looked great on my camera but once I downloaded it, I was rather disappointed.  I love DSP paper stacks.  They are perfect for cards and usually result in far less scrap paper around here!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Grey, Smokey Slate, Whisper White
DSP: Moonlight DSP Stack
Stamps: Starburst Sayings, Amazing Birthday
Ink: Smokey Slate, Versamark
Other: Silver Embossing Powder, Starbust Framelits, Banners Framelits, Hexagon TIEF, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Please head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the amazing cards the Clean Team has come up with!  You will not be disappointed!

Have a  fabulous day!

Jen!

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #153


Hello!
Can you believe it's Wednesday already?!  Where did the week go?  It's been a great week so far!  The busyness of school and activities are ramping up and making life pretty exciting!  The boys are still loving school and their teachers which is fabulous!

We have a a new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  I have the privilege of being this week's hostess!  It's always fun and stressful to come up with a sketch!  I like very clean and very simple.  One would think they would be easier cards to make but they generally take me longer to make a card from than a complicated sketch!  Does that make any sense?
Fall is coming - too quickly but I do love fall colours and fall cards!  I love the new Fun Fall Framelits.  Who doesn't love leaves?!  I decided my card needed some nice champagne ones!  I am also in love with the Polka Dot Embossing Folder.  I think I've been using it a bit too much these days!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Champagne Glimmer
Stamps: Truly Grateful
Ink: Early Espresso
Other: Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Fun Fall Framelites, Basic Pearls, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Please head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the amazing cards the design team has created for you!  You will not be disappointed!

I hope you have a a fabulous day!

Jen

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #152


Hello!
I hope you're having a great week so far!  The boys had their first day of school today!  I can't believe we're dealing with a little boy in Grade 3 and my baby in Grade 1!  How does that happen?  Time has sure flown by!  They both had a great first day.  they both love their teachers and can't wait to go back tomorrow!

Today being Wednesday means we have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today's beauty comes courtesy of the talented Cindy Hall!  Cindy creates the most beautiful cards and I love checking out her blog!  We have some great news at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  Our August guest designer Kim Singdahlsen will be joining us on a permanent basis!  We're so glad she's decided to join our crazy crew!


I couldn't help making a Christmas card! I don't know why!  I decided to use my new Festival of Trees stamp set.  I tried different colours for the trees first and then decided to try embossing them on vellum with silver embossing powder.  I seemed to like that look the best.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Silver
DSP: All is Calm Specialty DSP
Stamps: Festival of Trees, Wondrous Wreath (Sentiment)
Ink: Versamark, Cherry Cobbler
Other: Sequins, Silver Embossing Powder, Dimensionals


I wanted to share a few pictures of our trip away!  We had such a great vacation!  I can't wait to go back!  The top picture is of the boys at the Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport.  They both wanted to pose with one of their favourite planes - a Corsair!  The next picture is of the Space Shuttle Discovery!  Can you believe it? We saw a real space shuttle!!!  It was amazing!  If you haven't been to this museum you NEED to check it out!  You won't be disappointed!  The last picture is of my monkeys running in the ocean - it was the first time they'd dipped their feet in an ocean!  They loved it!  I loved it!



Thanks again so much for stopping by today!  Please head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the amazing creations the design team has come up with!

I hope you have a fabulous day!

Jen!

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #151



Hello!
Welcome to another Wednesday!  We are on vacation right now and currently enjoying the sand and surf in Myrtle Beach!  Since I'm pre-writing this post I'm going to go out on a limb and assume we are having a fabulous vacation!

We have a great new sketch today courtesy of Kim Singdahlsen.  This is Kim's last week with us at Freshly Made Sketches!  We have loved seeing her fabulous cards over the last four weeks and she leaves us today with an amazing sketch!

As the weather here in Burlington gets colder and fall approaches, I feel the need to make some Thanksgiving cards!  I must say that fall cards are my favourite ones to make!  I had some old DSP stashed in my craft room and decided to haul it out.  Sadly I can't remember the name.  Surprising?  Not so much, I know!  I paired up some Autumn Wooden Elements (from the new Holiday Catalogue).  I used the woodgrain embossing folder to add a little more texture!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Very Vanilla
DSP: I can't remember....
Stamps: And Many More
Other: Autumn Wooden Elements, Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by!  

Please hop on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the amazing cards the design team has created for you!  Don't forget to leave Kim some love and thank her for her great sketch and amazing contributions to our team!

Have a fabulous day!
Jen!

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #150


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope everyone is having a great week!  We are on "vacation" this week!  I would say it's more like a stay-cation so far!  We are gearing up for a big vacation adventure next week and will be heading on a road trip!  I'm so excited!  One of the highlights will be meeting up with Freshly Made Sketches' design team member Jennifer Timko!  I can't wait!

Today brings us a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  The amazing Linda Callahan brings us today's beauty!  You can head on over to her blog and check out the incredible cards she comes up with!

I had visions of this card in my head and it took a few go's at it before I actually got something I was happy with!  Part of the problem is that my craft room is a disaster.  I mean, it looks like a bomb went off in it.  I haven't had much time to actually clean it up lately so it's been a dumping ground for everything.  Once the boys are back in school it will become priority #1!

I love the new Bright and Beautiful stamp set!  It's in the new Holiday Mini Catalogue!  It will be available for customers August 28th!  This fabulous stamp set coordinates perfectly with the Star Framelits!  Who doesn't love coordination!  I added some of the fabulous new Cherry Cobbler Sheer Linen Ribbon and some sequins and voila!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Champagne Glimmer
Stamps: Bright and Beautiful
Ink: Versamark, Cherry Cobbler
Other: Gold Sequins, Cherry Cobbler Embossing Powder, Star Framelits, Cherry Cobbler Sheer Linen Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by today!  Please head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the beautiful cards the design team has created for your viewing pleasure!

I hope you have a fabulous day!

Jen!

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #149


Hello!
Hope you're having a great week!   So glad you've stopped by!  We are having a good week here in Burlington.  The weather has been a little warmer this week but still not the summer I had been anticipating!  The boys and I are headed to the Brantford Zoo today for a little excursion.  Thankfully the zoo isn't big and the boys can run around and have a great time together (hopefully!).

Today, being Wednesday means another great sketch for us at Freshly Made Sketches!  This one is brought to us by the talented Rita Wright!  I love Rita's cards!  Did you see her card last week?!  So fun!  Today's sketch is fabulous.  Of course I had to be the rebel and turn it the other way.  If you actually knew me you would know how far from a rebel I truly am!  Right mom!!!!
I had trouble with the sketch to start with.  I think that's why I turned it.  I liked a horizontal panel better than a vertical one.  Now, this card is going to be for my dad.  It's not very masculine but I find masculine cards so hard to make and this one seemed to be the one that came together!  My dad turns 65 next week.  Shhh....don't tell him I told you!  I was tired of making him cards with ships on them!  I wanted to branch out and be different.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Basic Grey, Blackberry Bliss
DSP: Moonlight DSP Stack
Stamps: Banner Blast, Perfect Pennants
Ink: Hello Honey, Blackberry Bliss, Versamark
Other: Silver Embossing Powder, Lattice TIEF, Mini Banner Punch, Silver Elastic Cord, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I do hope you'll head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out what the design team has created for your viewing pleasure!  You won't be disappointed!

I hope you have a  fabulous day!

Jen!

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #148


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week!  We are totally enjoying a fabulous week with my mom and dad!  Jacob is having his vacation week!  He was super excited to stay (as long as mom and Caleb stayed too!).  Today we took a trip to Ottawa and visited the Museum of Nature and the Canada Aviation and Space Museum!  Both were big hits!

We have a great new sketch today at Freshly Made Sketches courtesy of the fabulous Jen Mitchell!  I am always inspired by the amazing cards that Jen creates!  For the month of August we have a fabulous new designer with us!  Please welcome Kim Singdalhsen to our little group!  Please stop by her blog and show her some love!



I wanted to keep my card fairly simple.  I decided to go with a black and white look.  Of course I needed to throw in some silver.  That wasn't quite enough.  It needed a something little extra so I added a pop of red in there to give it some pizzazz.  I used the new Amazing Birthday stamp set!  Super fun to work with!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Silver
Stamps: Amazing Birthday
Ink: Basic Black, Real Red, Versamark
Other: Silver Embossing Powder, Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Please head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches Blog to check out the fabulous creations the Design Team has come up with!  You won't be disappointed!

Have a wonderful day!

Jen!

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #147


Hello!
Welcome to Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  I am having a good week with Jacob!  Caleb is enjoying his "vacation" with my mom and dad!  Jake and I will be joining him next week so Jacob can have a vacation as well.  Jake does well for a night or two by himself but then starts to miss Mom and Caleb.  He has been going on already about how much he misses his brother.  I have no idea how he could do two weeks without him!

We have a great new sketch today at Freshly Made Sketches!  The incredibly talented Jennifer Timko has created this beauty for us!  If you want to see some amazing creations, you need to check out my friend Jen's blog!  She is one creative lady!
So, this sketch threw me for a loop!  I tried a whole pile of different combinations.  This is the one that stuck.   In hindsight I should have matted the stripes but I wanted to keep the card simple.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Hello Honey
DSP: Moonlight DSP Stack
Stamps: Endless Wishes
Ink: Hello Honey
Other: Vintage Faceted Buttons, Gold Sequins, Bakers Twine, Dimensionals

Thanks again for stopping by today!
Please go and check out the Freshly Made Sketches blog and see what wonderful cards the Design Team has created for you!

Have a fabulous day!

Jen