Big Thanks

Hi, it's time for another challenge at Freshly Made Sketches and this week I am the hostess.  Here is my sketch.

Those circles can be anything and I chose to make them flowers.

Because I haven't felt like coloring lately, I've been turning to multi-step stamps to give the illusion of coloring.  I stamped several flowers and leaves and cut them with my Scan n Cut.  I cut a strip out of a card front-sized panel and then stamped leaves directly onto the remaining two pieces.  The sentiment was stamped in the "gap" and then I added foam tape to pop the front panels up on the card base.

The flowers are adhered with a mixture of liquid glue and foam tape for added dimension.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll check out the gorgeous cards made by the DT and have a go yourself.

Products used:

Stamps:  Sunflower Daisy (Altenew), Embroidered Blooms (PTI)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Golden Sunset, Summer Afternoon, Green Fields sets (Altenew)
Cardstock: White
Accessories:  Scan n Cut, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Karren

Distressed Leaves

Hi and welcome to the latest challenge from the Fusion team.


I needed a Father's Day card for my DH and I wanted to keep it low-key because of the loss we have just suffered.  I knew it would be a hard day for him (and for all of us) so came up with an autumn-themed card with only a small mention of Father's Day.

The background to the leaves was created by smooshing Bristol Smooth paper through many colours of Distress Oxide inks.  Once I was happy with the colour, I splattered on some Black Soot ink and then die cut with the leaves dies.  I then die-cut the black top layer and glued to the coloured leaves.

A simple and small sentiment and a panel of Jellybean Green cardstock to match the sketch and my card was finished, apart from some dew drops.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll check out the wonderful cards made by the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  All About Dad (MFT)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Rusty Hinge, Shabby Shutters, Mowed Lawn, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick, Fossilized Amber, Black Soot, Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint, Ground Espresso Distress Oxide Inks

Cardstock:  Kraft, Jellybean, Black Licorice (MFT), Bristol Smooth

Dies:  Maple Thanks, Oak Leaf (Neat & Tangled)

Accessories:  Raindrops (PTI)

Karren

Leafy Hello

Hi and welcome to sketch 401 from the team at Freshly Made Sketches.  After our celebration month, we are back to having a team-member create the sketch and be the week's hostess and this week that person is Cecile Ribon.  Check out her fun sketch:

I went pretty literal with the sketch to come up with this card.

I embossed the leaf canopy stamps with gray embossing powder and then die-cut with the co-ordinating die.    Onto a square panel of Grout Gray cardstock I die-cut the stitched dot circle dies, offsetting the smaller one a tad.  I adhered that panel to a white top-folding square card and then arranged the leaf sprigs on foam tape.  The sentiment was white-embossed and then die-cut with a Mod Square Stax die before also being added with foam tape.

I had originally intended this card to be another thank you card but couldn't find a sentiment to fit, so ended up with a neutral hello card.  To brighten it up a bit, I added some peach sequins.

Thanks for visiting.  Please check out the wonderful cards from the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Leaf Canopy (Altenew), Happy Mail (Gina K Designs)

Ink:  Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Grout Gray, Black Licorice (MFT)

Dies:  Leaf Canopy (Altenew), Stitched Dot Circles, Mod Square Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Smoky Slate EP (SU), Peach Sequins

Orange Flowers

Hi and welcome to our 400th sketch at Freshly Made Sketch Challenge!  It's a big week with some big prizes so I hope you'll head over to the challenge blog and check it out.  If you follow along, you'll know that our previous three sketches this month were from past challenges (Sketch #1/#100, Sketch #200 and Sketch #300).  This week we have a brand new sketch and it's wonderful!

I hadn't done any coloring at all since we lost our son in June.  I just couldn't bring myself to sit down and color, even though it is meant to be therapeutic.  So last weekend, I forced myself to sit down and pick up the Copics and this is the result. 

And, even though I was incredibly rusty, it was quite calming to focus on nothing but laying down color.  I had no plan when I started - I just pulled out one of my favourite floral stamps sets, stamped a heap of images and picked up the markers. 

Once I was finished coloring with markers, I went in with a dark blue Prismacolor pencil to add to the shadow areas.  I think I went a bit heavy in parts, but so be it.

To put the card together, I arranged all the die-cut images plus the embossed sentiment strip and put some Press n Seal over the top to hold them in the arrangement I wanted.  I then die-cut a piece of patterned paper and adhered the floral arrangement to the patterned paper piece.  To mimic the horizontal panel on the sketch, I added two score lines because I wanted to keep the card clean and let the flowers pop off the white card base.

I finished the card with some orange Nuvo Crystal Drops.

Thanks for visiting.  Head on over to the challenge blog and check out the wonderful cards made by the rest of the design team.  And here's a peek of what's on offer from our generous sponsors to some lucky players...

Products used:

Stamps:  In Bloom:  Addie's Garden (Winnie & Walter); Modern Petunias (WPlus9)
Ink:  Amalgam, Versamark
Cardstock:  White, Black, Watercolor Wash Brights (MFT)
Dies:  In Bloom:  Addie's Garden (Winnie & Walter); Inside/Out Stitched Squares (MFT)
Accessories:  Copics, White EP, Ripened Pumpkin Nuvo Crystal Drops

Karren

Rose Wall

Hi and welcome to another Fusion challenge.  We have a beautiful photo to inspire you this week and a fun, yet CAS sketch.

I played along with the photo and came up with this card.

The flowers were stamped in various groupings of pink inks and die-cut and set to one side so I could work on the card base.  I stamped the Wood Plank background in Weathered Wood Distress Oxide ink, then ink-blended with Broken China and Peacock Feathers inks.  The sentiment was stamped in black and cut out and tucked in under the roses.

Thanks for visiting.  Please check out the fabulous cards made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Painted Flowers, Wood Plank (MFT), Label Love (Altenew)

Ink:  Rose Petal Set, Cherry Blossom Set, Spring Bouquet Set, Green Fields Set (Altenew), Weathered Wood, Broken China Distress Oxide, Peacock Feathers Distress Ink

Cardstock:  White

Dies:  Painted Flowers (MFT)

Karren

Blended Thanks

Hi and welcome to week 3 of our month-long 400th sketch celebration over at Freshly Made Sketches.  And make sure you check out the challenge blog next week - just sayin'

This week's sketch was originally designed for Sketch 300, which doesn't seem that long ago.  This time around, I decided to do some emboss resist and used the sketch elements for a Triple Time Stamping card.

This Tim Holtz stamp would have to be one of my favourites - especially when combined with Emboss Resist.  I white-embossed the stamp onto a panel of Bristol Smooth cardstock and then ink blended with Festive Berries, Worn Lipstick and Scattered Straw Distress Oxide inks (one of Kristina Werner's combos).

Once that was dry, I die-cut the various shapes, starting with the topmost shape and working down to the bottom.  I then die-cut white mats and pieced it all back together, using foam tape for the circle layer.  The sentiment was stacked three high and adhered with liquid glue.  I finished with some sparkling clear confetti.

Thanks for visiting.  Be sure to check out the fabulous creations made by the rest of the design team.  We hope you'll join in the fun.

Products used:

Stamps:  Papillon (Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous)

Ink:  Versamark, Festive Berries, Worn Lipstick and Scattered Straw Distress Oxide inks

Cardstock:  White, Black, Bristol Smooth

Dies:  Infinity Circle and Rectangle Dies (Hero Arts), Fancy Words (Reverse Confetti)

Accessories:  White EP, Sparkling Clear Confetti (PPP)

Karren

Super Cute

Hi and welcome to the second week of our month-long 400th challenge celebration at Freshly Made Sketches.  I decided to look back at my history with FMS and I first starting playing along at Sketch #20 - a month after I started my blog.  I was lucky enough to be chosen as a Perfect Princess in that challenge - chosen by none other than then-Guest Designer, Kim Singdahlsen. 

It was a crafty dream come true when I was asked to be a Guest Designer in January 2014 and I've stayed ever since.  I love this team - they are so talented, caring and supportive.

Following on from last week's theme, we're going back to sketch #200.

My late son, Matthew, has a very good friend who is due to have a baby girl later this month.  It is nice to have something as sweet as a new baby to look forward to after all the heartache of the last two months, and I enjoyed making this card for the upcoming arrival.

I die-cut the onesie and the dress from patterned paper and added a little bit of shading with Copic markers.  The bib was cut from cardstock.  I adhered Watercolor Wash patterned paper to the bottom of a white card base and then heat-embossed the sentiment.  The clothing was added to the clothesline with foam tape to lift if from the white card and add some dimension.  A thin strip of Cotton Candy cardstock separated the two layers.

To finish the card, I added some clear sparkle pen to the pink heart.

Thanks for visiting.  Please check out the fabulous creations made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Welcome Baby (MFT)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
Cardstock:  White, Cotton Candy, Watercolor Wash, Just Delightful Patterened Paper (MFT)
Dies:  Bundle of Baby Clothes (MFT)

Karren