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

Lined Up Thanks

Welcome to the latest Fusion challenge, called Family.

I chose to play only with the sketch this time and came up with this card:

I kept to neutral tones and white-embossed the All Lined Up Background onto a Desert Storm card base.  I then die-cut a white panel with a scallop edges die before stamping the sentiment on an angle and clear-embossing it.

The white panel was adhered to the card base with foam tape.  

Yet again, another thank you card, but I have need of several to thank people for all the wonderful support our family has received over the last weeks since we lost our son.  As an aside, I create the graphics for the Fusion challenges months in advance.  Little did I know that this photo would evoke such a feeling of loss, which is why I only used the sketch for this challenge.  I have a photo, taken at Matthew's viewing, of Pete, myself and William all with our hands over Matthew's hand.  Our last family photo, such as it is 😢

Products used:

Stamps:  All Lined Up Background (MFT), Lots to Say (Reverse Confetti)
Ink:  Versamark, Versafine Onyx Black
Cardstock:  Desert Storm, White
Dies:  Stitched Scallop Basic Edges (MFT)
Accessories:  White EP, Clear EP

Karren

Dad's Day

Hi and welcome to the start of a special celebration month at Freshly Made Sketches.  We are up to sketch #400 and after 8 years, the challenge is still going strong.  To celebrate, we're going back to Sketch #1 (which was also Sketch #100) this week.  Check it out!

I used the sketch to create a Father's Day card for my dad.

Lots of die-cutting and not much stamping on this card.  I took a few liberties with the elements but they're pretty much all in the right place and I hope you can see the sketch in there!

The DT have some gorgeous cards and I hope you'll check them out and join in the month-long fun!

Products used:

Stamps:  All About Dad (MFT)
Ink:  Versamark
Cardstock:  White, Grout Gray, Gravel Gray, Cement Gray, Black Licorice, Chili Powder (MFT)
Dies:  Tag Builder Blueprints 2 and 3, Dad (MFT), Layered Plaid Cover Die (Altenew)
Accessories:  Raindrops (PTI) White EP

Cheers
Karren

Flowery Thanks

Hi and welcome to Freshly Made Sketch Challenge day, where our hostess this week is Jen Brum.  And here is her sketch.

I went with a flowery card this week and came up with this design.

The flowers were stamped and die-cut and then put to one side while I worked on the card base.  A grout gray square base was cut to 4 1/2" square and a white panel was die-cut with a mod square stax die.  I arranged the flowers inside each cutout and then stamped the sentiment before adhering to the card base with foam tape.

Thanks for visiting.  The DT have some gorgeous cards so I hope you'll check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Budding Thanks (Altenew)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Frayed Leaf, Forest Glades Citrus Burst, Fresh Lemon, Maple Yellow (Altenew)
Cardstock:  White, Grout Gray (MFT)
Dies:  Budding Thanks (Altenew) Mod Square Stax (MFT)
Accessories:  Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Karren