Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #632


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week!  We had a beautiful weekend and a lovely start to the week and then the forecast said snow.  I'm pretty much done with snow - at least on my lawn!  It's not supposed to last and temperatures are supposed to be above freezing so I'm hopeful it won't stick around!

We have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Jen Mitchell!  Jen is an amazing clean card maker.  Her cards are so pretty so head over to her blog to check them out!  


I love Jen's sketch this week!  I knew I could pop some big flowers in that sketch and be quite happy!  I love my Honey Bee Stamps Lovely Layers stamps.  The hardest part was choosing which flower to use!  I went with the Coneflower.  I love a good coneflower.  I've never seen one this colour but that's okay.  I had picked up some new Distress Oxide at our local paper store and couldn't wait to use it!!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill Coverstock, Bermuda Bay, Gold Foil, 
Ink: Peacock Feathers, Salvaged Patina, Scattered Straw, Fossilized Amber, Twisted Citron
Dies: Honey Bee Stamps Lovely Layers Coneflower
Other: Hardwood Embossing Folder, Champagne Foil, Glimmer Hot Foil Machine,  

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and join in our challenge!  We always love to see what people create!  If you need some inspiration, the Design Team have posted some great cards!  

You have until Monday at 1 PM EST to enter our challenge!

Trevor and I got out for a hike on the weekend!  We tackled a peak called Ha Ling!  I didn't actually reach the summit.  It was insanely windy.  Winds I have never felt before.  I opted to stay safely at the saddle and let Trevor go to the top alone.  There is still a lot of snow left in the mountains!  I thought for sure some would have melted but alas, this mountain was full of it!  We don't have a lot of hiking options yet as the avalanche risk is still pretty high!







Thank you so much for stopping by today!
Have an amazing day!

Jen


 

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #631


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to the week!  Did you get to see the eclipse this week?  We live on the Western side of Canada so we just saw a partial eclipse.  It didn't last long but it was still neat to see.  We had blue, cloudless skies so it was easy to see (with the special glasses of course!).

We've got a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess is our favourite airline captain, Jen Timko!  Jen is an incredible card maker so head over to her blog and check them out!  Jen is also a great hiker - I can't wait to take her on our next adventure!!!


I wasn't sure what to do with this card.  I had every intention of using a Lovely Layers flower of some sort but that's not what happened!  I decided to keep it nice and simple!  I really like the flowers in the Spellbinders Garden Wreath Add-Ons set.  They're super easy to use!  I hot foiled a circle, cut it out and added a flower!  I used some rose gold foil to cut some leaves and hot foiled a rose gold sentiment then called it day!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock
Other: Garden Wreath Add Ons (Spellbinders), Be Bold Blooms (Spellbinders), Be Bold Sentiments (Spellbinders), Nested Circles (PinkFresh Studios), Monoline Stars Embossing Folder. 

We were able to get out for a hike last Wednesday.  The weather forecast wasn't looking good so we made sure we were out there for a 7 am start and we were able to get up to the "peak" and back down before the weather hit!  We had the most beautiful weather.  It was incredible  The sun was shining and air was warm!  It was wonderful.  It felt so good to get back out there.  It's "shoulder" season so the trails are muddy and icy and overall just gross.  We will have a few weeks of this before actual hiking season will begin!






Thank you so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and join in our challenge!  There are some great cards posted that will inspire you!  The Design Team did a great job this week! 

You have until Monday at 1 PM EST to enter into the challenge!

Have an amazing day!

Jen




 

Wednesday, April 3, 2024

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #630


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week!  It's spring break week here so my boys are off and loving it.  The boys went skiing yesterday (I had to work) and I think they had a blast!  I'm glad they're able to do a few days trips while they're off.  I'm hoping today we can get out for a hike but the weather is all over the map and they're calling for rain.  I don't even know the last time it rained (seriously, it barely rained a drop last year).  It's then supposed to snow tomorrow.  A little bit of each season this week!  We were in capris and tshirts on Monday and Tuesday!  Welcome to spring in Calgary!

We've got a great new sketch at Freshly Made SketchesJudy Rozema is our amazing hostess this week.  You definitely need to head over to her blog and check out her cards!  They're always fantastic!  She's got such a fun sketch for us!

Shockingly I did struggle.  I know you're all surprised!  I really wanted to incorporate some different coloured flowers but couldn't figure out how to do it in a way I liked.  I'm not even sure I like the final product but this is what we're going with!  

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock,  Pacific Point, Coastal Cabana, Mango Melody, Pineapple Punch, Pink Pirouette, Flirty Flamingo
Other: Softly Sophisticated Embossing Folder, Garden Wreath Add Ons (Spellbinders), Nested Essential Dies (SU), Hello Dear Friend Foil Transfer (Spellbinders), Turquoise Foil (Spellbinders), Glimmer Hot Foil Machine (Spellbinders)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll join in our challenge this week!  We'd love to see what you come up with!  There are some amazing cards on our Freshly Made Sketches blog so make sure you head over there to find some inspiration!  

You have until Monday at 1 PM EST to enter into our challenge!  Winner will be announced Tuesday!

Have an amazing day!
Jen


 

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #629


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  Hope you're having a great week so far!  We are deep in snow here in western Canada.  We got a lot of snow over the last week and I'm so ready for it to be done.  Yesterday was cold and windy and I'm trying to tell myself that spring will come eventually!!!  We do need the moisture as we're starting spring in drought conditions but at this point I will take rain!!!

We've got a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is our favourite Texan, Amy O'Neill!  Amy makes such creative cards!  You definitely need to head over to her blog and check them out!  So we've got another sketch with a rounded object on it!!  The team is trying to kill me!  

I wasn't sure what to do for that oval but then I realized that the Lovely Layers Peony looks very ovular!  I opted to go with that.  I have a friend undergoing a medical procedure today and I wanted to make sure to get a card in the mail for her since her recovery won't be as speedy as she'd like!  

I am a little obsessed with using the Distress Oxides to colours my flowers!  I'm late to oxide game but one of these days I'm going to hit up the local paper store and grab some more!!!  I really do love them!  I didn't have a lot of purple paper hanging around so I had to make due with what I found!  

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill Coverstock White, Perfect Plum
DSP:Pansy Petals (SU Retired)
Ink: Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord (Distress Oxides)
Other: Lovely Layers Peony, Perfect Plum Ribbon, Mini Everyday Sentiments (Spellbinders), Silver Foil (Spellbinders), Dainty Diamonds Embossing Folder (SU), Iridescent Rhinestones Basic Jewels (SU), Glimmer Hot Foil Machine (Spellbinders)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll join in our challenge this week!  We always love to see what you create!  If you need some inspiration, head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the cards that are posted!  

You have until Monday at 1 PM EST to get your card entered into the challenge!

Have an amazing day!
Jen


 

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #628



Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  Happy Spring!  We're in our first few days of spring and we've done a complete 180 in our weather.  It was beautiful, sunny and warm on the weekend - feeling just like spring and today we are in the throws of winter!  It's freezing, snowing and driving will be a nightmare!  It looks like we've got about 5 days of yucky weather and then hopefully some improvements.  

We've got a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazingly talented Narelle Farrugia!  Narelle's cards are always spectacular so head to her blog to check them out.  I'm hoping that one day Narelle will take the long trip across the very large pond to hike up a mountain with me!!!  Might be wishful thinking but I'm hopeful!


So this sketch threw me.  What's with all the circles lately?!  Ha!  I couldn't think of what I wanted to put there.  I flipped through my Lovely Layers dies and chose my Coneflower die.  I do love a pretty coneflower!  I started making a purple and yellow coneflower and then I got yellow ink all over my purple coneflower - grrrrr.  I just make a card with the yellow one but I wasn't thrilled so I made a purple one as well.  I wasn't over thrilled with my sequin choices but alas.  It is what it is.

 

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Early Espresso, 
Ink: Milled Lavender, Scattered Straw, Dusty Concord, Fossilized Amber, Ground Espresso, Antique Linen (all Distress Inks or Oxides)
Other: Lovely Layers Coneflower (Honey Bee Stamps), Happy Parents Day (Spellbinders), Gold Foil, Purple Foil, Stitched Rectangles (Spellbinders), Glimmer Hot Foil Machine (Spellbinders), Elegant Sequin Mix (Honey Bee Stamps), Sweet Bee Sequin Mix (Honey Bee Stamps), 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and join in our challenge this week!  If you need some inspiration, you'll definitely find it on the blog!  We can't wait to see what you create this week!

Have an amazing day!
Jen

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #627


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week!  We have emerged from winter and have been enjoying some beautiful weather!  Warm temperatures and lots of sunshine!  My husband I went skiing on the weekend and had the best time!  The weather and conditions were perfect!  Probably our best skiing adventure in a long time!  

We have a fun new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Karren Johnson!  Karren is an incredible card designer and I'm always wowed by her creations!  Head over to her blog to check them out!  

I wasn't sure what to do with this when I first saw the sketch but then when I next looked at the sketch I saw mountains and a sun so that's how we rolled!  I had to piece a few dies together hence the big trees in front.  I needed to cover up the ugly joint!  I can't wait for the summer hiking season to start.  Right now we're in a severe avalanche risk season.  Trails that don't normally experience avalanches are seeing avalanches.  I digress...back to cards!

I grabbed some mountain dies, some Distress Oxides and went to work!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock
Ink: Bundled Sage, Rustic Wilderness, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Uncharted Mariner, Pumice Stone, Hickory Smoke, Scattered Straw (Distress Oxides - Tim Holtz)
Other: Mini Everyday Sentiment (Spellbinders), Layering Alpine Lake Scene (Prism Studio), Shine Bright Confetti Cuts (Reverse Confetti), A2 Mountain Scene Builder (Honey Bee Stamps), Glimmer Hot Foil Machine (Spellbinders)

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and join in our challenge!  If you need some inspiration you'll definitely find it on the blog.  

We can't wait to see what you create this week!

Have an amazing day!
Jen

 

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Freshly Made Sketches #626

 


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  March has come into Calgary like a raging lion.  We started off the month with lots of snow and super cold temperatures.  I am sure hoping that March goes out like a lamb but this is Canada, I won't hold my breath.  We do desperately need the snow - we are already looking at a drought so any snow is better than no snow I guess!

We've got a brand new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is our French designer Cecile Ribon!  Cecile's cards are always spectacular so make sure you head over to her blog and prepare to be wowed!  


When I first saw Cecile's sketch I was a little nervous.  Not only is there a giant circle but it's cut in half!  Half circles!  What on earth do I do with half circles?!  I remembered for a card a long time ago I had cut some sunflower dies in half.  I realized I could do that again!  So, off I went to make some sunflowers!  I'm running a little low on my daffodil delight so I just used my white cardstock and blended it with brushes.  The sunflower looked a little naked on the page so I decided to stencil some honeycombs onto the page using the Distress Oxides!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Sahara Sand (SU) Copper Foil (SU)
Ink: Scattered Straw, Pumice Stone, Scorched Timber, Ground Espresso (All Distress Oxides)
Other: Lovely Layers Sunflowers (Honey Bee Stamps), Sunflower Dies (SU), Mini Everyday Sentiments (Spellbinders), Brown Foil, Glimmer Hot Foil Machine, Grain and Grunge Gem Stickers (Honey Bee Stamps), Honey Comb Stencil

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and join in our challenge this week.  We can't wait to see what you create!  You have until 1 PM EST on Monday to get your card entered!

If you need some inspiration you will want to head over to the blog and see some fantastic cards from our Design Team!

Have an amazing day!

Jen