Freshly Made Sketches #694

 

My card for Judy's Freshly Made Sketches #694 came together quickly thanks to

bits and bobs that I found while cleaning up.

 

 

 

Some blooms from Pinkfresh Studio that were stenciled and cut were adhered

to the corners and a hummingbird completed the design.  A sentiment from

a favorite set from Altenew and the card was done. 

I forgot to mention that the embossed card base was also done and waiting 

to be used. For once I am linking up early and I'm not a hot mess! Yay!

Thanks for stopping by!

JUGS Word Week #783 -- WATER

 

 It's Word Week over at JUGS Challenge #783 and the cue word is WATER.

 

 

 

Since it's summer, the water that I chose was the ocean. I'm sure I won't be alone 

on that idea. Here's my card with a DIY beach scene.

 

 

I have stamps and stencils of an ocean shoreline, but in the end I decided to create 

one of my own. I inked watercolor card stock in various shades of blue and spritzed 

a good amount of water to mimic splashing waves.

 

The "sand" was created on kraft card stock, torn for an uneven look. I applied 

Versamark ink to the edge and heat embossed with white embossing powder. 

I added a beach umbrella. a pair of flip flops and finished off with the sentiment, 

making sure to show as much ocean water as possible. The panel was then adhered

to a postage frame.

Now it's your turn. What does the word WATER bring to mind? Visit the JUGS 

challenge blog for all the details and deadline. We'd love to see you in the gallery!

 

 

 

Freshly Made Sketches #693

 

It's a new month and week as Amy brings us Freshly Made Sketches #693.

 

 

Here's how I was inspired. For the record, I used three products that are either 

discontinued and/or no longer exist. But I have them, love them, and used them. 

 

I reached for Waffle Flower's Dry Flowers--again. It's pretty forgiving when doing

messy water coloring with Zigs. I chose a Papertrey Ink label that was a favorite

years ago and stamped Hero Arts' Raindrop Background in Versamark ink.

A sentiment from Reverse Confetti that was featured during Simon Says Stamps'

STAMPtember (from 2021!) was white embossed on the label. The flower stems were

trimmed in half then rejoined to form longer stems per the sketch. The label was 

then adhered to the card base.

 

Off to link this up. Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

 

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Edited to add: I'm honored that Verena chose my card with a Princess pick!

Thanks so much, Verena!

 

 

JUGS Die Week #782 -- SUMMER THINGS

 

Vicki Dutcher of JUGS (Just Us Girls) Challenge invited me to guest for the month

of July and it was more than enough time to plan ahead, so I gladly accepted.

 

 

This is DIE Week #782 and the theme is SUMMER THINGS.

 

 What screams summer to me is popsicles and shaved ice, although here in Hawaii,

we gobble them down no matter what the season--and endure "brain freeze."

 

 

I love these ice cream dies from Concord & 9th. They are discontinued

but I think the shapes are relatively easy to DIY to create your own sweets.

 After stenciling details on the popsicles I spattered them with liquid stardust.

A yellow card base was embossed with a Spellbinders folder and the popsicles

were adhered to it. Some clear drops were added and a white embossed

Paper Smooches sentiment finished off the card.

 

So, what does "summer' mean to you? Pull out your dies and come and join 

the challenge! Please visit the JUGS blog for all the details and deadlines.

We hope you can join in the summertime fun!

 

 

The Flower Challenge #103

 

With just hours left before the deadline, I'm linking up this card to 

The Flower Challenge #103 which is to add embossing--either heat or dry--to your 

card, and still keep the focus on flowers.

 

It took me a while to decide whether or not to enter the challenge, hence the

under the wire submission. I just found the embossing folder which I'd misplaced after

it arrived and I decided to finally use it.

I planned to do some ink blending over the entire panel, but it would have covered up 

the beautiful embossing so I left it white and focused on the die cut piece. I've always 

admired those who color their embossed images and since this was a small area, I thought 

I'd give it a go with my Copic markers.

Gosh, that was stressful! Between my bad eyesight (with glasses!) and markers

that needed refilling I barely managed to color all the flowers and leaves.

But if you squint, it looks pretty decent.

I finished off with a sentiment from Altenew and popped up the piece and called

 it done. Have you ever colored an embossed panel? Maybe if I had steadier hands 

and wasn't in such a rush to finish I wouldn't have freaked out.

Thanks for stopping by and listening to my angst!

Freshly Made Sketches #691

 

It's Michele's first post as a Freshly Made Sketches designer! And she's created

a sketch that is "all her". 

 

 

I was tempted to use a flower but resorted to some new Spellbinder goodies

that just arrived.

 

I was smitten with the Frog Prince and assembled him and the toadstool pretty quickly.

Choosing a sentiment was the roadblock for me, as it usually is

 

I recalled the story of The Frog Prince and there are so many versions, as I found

 out on Wikipedia. The premise is that a frog (who is actually a prince) is turned back 

into a prince after he finds a princess who actually gave him a kiss (yuck!) and 

broke the spell. Lucky prince who got his wish!

Alex Syberia's Tiny Dot Cover Plate was layered over kraft card stock and the frog

and sentiment were adhered to it and the card was done. Now off to link it up!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

 

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Edited to add:  Honored with the Princess title from Judy! 

Thank you Judy, and FMS!

 

Freshly Made Sketches #690

Today's card for Freshly Made Sketches #690 gets a prize for the most

remakes and layers, ever.

 

 

I think it's because of the elements on the top portion of the sketch which 

I thought about flipping several times.

 

 

 I've seen the new bird collection from Spellbinders and ordered Oscar which 

I knew would not arrive in time. Then I remembered a Small Die of the Month set

and dug deep to find it.

I watched Tina Smith use a circular element which I liked because it has a 

cage like feel. I assembled the parrot which has a jillion pieces from its tail to 

the wing and those teeny tiny feet.

After choosing the colors for the striped portion of the sketch, I ran the card

 front through an embossing folder. I added the greenery and sentiment to the 

circular element along with the parrot and branch. Done! Finally.....

I'm thinking this card isn't exactly "clean" and I should have simplified the

design but it was crunch time. I'm off to link this up! Thanks for the visit!

* * *

Edited to add: My card received the Princess status from Kim.Thanks so much, Kim!

 

 

Freshly Made Sketches #689

 

Cécile brings us Freshly Made Sketches #689 and I was excited to make a square 

card, although it's not a requirement. It's just been a while since I've made one.

 

 

 

I substituted a wood slice from The Greetery for the square element and added 

some splatters and a few Waffle Flower Dry Flowers that were colored with Zigs 

and a water brush. 

The 5" by 5" card base was embossed before the wood slice was adhered. For the 

sentiment I found an oldie from Right at Home to finish off the card.

Thanks, always, for stopping by! 

* * *

Edited to add:  Honored with the Princess title from Jen B. Thanks so much Jen and

Freshly Made Sketches!

 

Inspired by Challenge #338

 

Squeezing in a card for Inspired by Challenge #338 which is all about

LADYBUGS.  I semi panicked because I looked through my supplies and there

were NO ladybugs except for teeny tiny ones. 

Then I spotted a ladybug on an Alex Syberia set and decided to use it

since it was a nice size. Here's how I was inspired.

I had a wicker basket embossed card base already assembled so it was just

a matter of finding greenery and a sentiment. There were some extra

leafy branches from a previous project and I placed them diagonally

on the card.

The ladybug was cut from C&9th card stock and assembled. I found a bottle

of Glossy Accents and applied one coating on the bug. An MFT sentiment

finished off the card.

Ok, off to link this up. Thanks for stopping by!

Freshly Made Sketches #688

 

I went way off course with Freshly Made Sketches #688. I blame my time on

the CAS(E) this Sketch design team for that. Often times I'd squint at the sketch

and then have an "ah-ha!" moment.

 

 Here's this week's sketch, courtesy of Jen B.

 

 

And here's my take on it. I must have had graduation and lei on my mind although 

there are no graduates that we know of this year.

 

I ran a gray panel through a Spellbinder's embossing folder and it them per the sketch.

The flowers from a Stamp Market Cover Die were inked lightly in pastel colors and my first

thought was to adhere them to an oval shape but in the end I went rogue and just  adhered

 them to the card. 

 

A CZ Design sentiment was cut from white card stock and adhered to a vellum shadow 

before being adhered to the card. I'm forever grateful to the inventor of vellum. Being 

able to adhere a word sentiment and still have that transparency makes me so happy.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

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 Edited to add: I'm thrilled that Cécile gave my card a Princess honor! Thank you, Cécile!