Freshly Made Sketches #755

 

 

Sketch #755 over at Freshly Made Sketches is by yours truly. 

It seems that I had Christmas on my mind and even though you may see a tree, 

the shape can be anything you wish.   

 

 

I went with a tree.

 

 I saw, but never bought, Pinkfresh Studio's Festive Foliage stencils and die when

it was first released. Well, I'm glad that I waited because I was able to grab both

at 50% off. I was hoping the order would arrive in time for the challenge,

and although I had a "plan B", I was thankful that it did.

 

I stenciled the tree and die cut the image. A green strip was adhered per the sketch

 and I popped up the tree on a card base embossed with tiny dots. I chose the word

 "joy"  for my sentiment and cut it out of shiny silver card stock. Small clear sequins 

finished off my card.

 

And for those inquiring minds, here's a glimpse at Plan B that I was going

to share if my PFS order didn't arrive in time. Still a tree.

 

So, to tree or not to tree? The choice is yours! 

Visit Freshly Made Sketches to see how my teammates interpreted the sketch and 

join us if you can. You have until Mon, Sept 28th at 3PM EST to link up your card.

Hope to see you in our gallery! 

 

Freshly Made Sketches #754

 

 

 

Our Freshly Made Sketches teammie Judy brings us the most CAS sketch

 that I've seen in a while. It's fun, unique, and challenging in its simplicity.

 Here's Sketch #754. 

 

 

 

And here's what I came up with. 

  

 

I nearly sat on my hands trying not to add anything to the top half of the card

except for the sentiment. I chose some patterned paper and ran it through an

embossing folder for interest.

 

I adhered it to a top folding card base then stamped the sentiment. 

I added a strip of patterned paper and finished off with some pink sequins.  

 

Stop by Freshly Made Sketches to see how the rest of the team interpreted

Judy's sketch and join us with your version. You have until Monday, Sept 21

at 3PM EST to link up your card. 

 

 

Freshly Made Sketches #753

 

Here we go with a new Freshly Made Sketches! Karren brings us Sketch #753

and it looks like this. 

 

Can you see the possibilities? Here's what I came up with, and if I'm just being

honest here, it's my third and final design.

 

 A large Gerbera daisy wouldn't come together for me so I went smaller

but it was too small. After going through my supplies, I spotted this ginormous

pumpkin which (I don't think) I've ever used before, so I went with it.

 

After die cutting the pumpkin and flowers, I inked them and borrowed some

greenery from Spellbinders. I used Altenew's piped waffle die and adhered 

everything over it. I finished off with a Waffle Flower sentiment.

 

Head on over to Freshly Made Sketches to see how the rest of the team

interpreted Karren's sketch and join us if you can. You have until  

Monday, September 14 at 3PM EST to link up your card.

 

 

Freshly Made Sketches #752

 

Are you ready for this week's Freshly Made Sketches? Here's #752 compliments

of our teammie Narelle.

 

 

And here's my take on her sketch.

 

  I chose a Papertrey Ink bird's nest and turned it into an autumnal wreath. 

I used icons from Waffle Flower and colored them then adhered them to the wreath. 

A card base was embossed with wooden planks and topped with a smaller frame.

The wreath was adhered per the sketch and finished off with the sentiment. 

 

Visit Freshly Made Sketches to see how the rest of the team interpreted Narelle's

sketch and join us if you can. Link up your card by Monday, Sept 7th at 3PM EST. 

We hope you'll join us!

 

 

Freshly Made Sketches #751

 

It's Michele's turn as this week's sketch designer for Freshly Made Sketches #751.

How fun is this one?

 

 

I decided to go postal with a postage stamp as my rectangular element. 

 

 I created a stamp with some patterned paper and added the postal marks. I thought

about adding a pretty bloom but reached for this happy bird instead because it's time 

she made another appearance. I stamped the sentiment then layered everything onto

a card base. 

 

Note: This card was sent to a centenarian who reached an amazing milestone and 

we've been told she likes to receive birthday cards and opens and reads each one! 

 

 Visit Freshly Made Sketches for all the details and deadline and see how the rest

of the team interpreted Michele's sketch. We hope to see you in the gallery!

 

 

Freshly Made Sketches #750

The ever creative Cécile is our sketch designer for Freshly Made Sketches #750.

And here's her artsy sketch.

 

 I must admit the diamond element stumped me until I used a square and 

tilted it to form an equilateral diamond.  

  

A square piece of kraft card stock was embossed and swiped over with a

white pigment ink pad. Flowers and leaves from Papertrey Ink's wood slice set

were colored and assembled on the square.

 

It's a little hard to see, but an old MFT die of stitched lines was added to the card per 

the sketch and the floral piece was adhered to it. A white embossed sentiment that

I found in my scrap pile finished off the card.  

 

Visit Freshly Made Sketches to see how the rest of the team interpreted Cécile's sketch

and join us if you can. You have until Mon Aug 24 at 3PM EST to link up your card.

Hope you'll  join us!

 

 

Freshly Made Sketches #749

 

This week our teammie Jen B brings us Freshly Made Sketches #749.

 

 

Here's my take on her sketch.

 

I know exactly what you're screaming....."PINK PUMPKINS??"

This is when I tell you that these are the fifth batch of pumpkins I colored 

today and I don't know why I threw in a pink one. For shock value?

 

After coloring each of the pumpkins I ran them through embossing folders

because I thought they looked a little flat. And now they look like pin cushions.

 

For the diagonal element I ran a strip of white card stock through an embossing

folder with sentiments. I was going to leave the card without a sentiment but decided 

at the last minute to run a strip of gray card stock through the same sentiment folder 

and trimmed one out. 

 

Now it's your turn. Play along if you can and stop by the Freshly Made Sketches 

blog to see how the rest of the team interpreted Jen's sketch. You have until Monday,

August 17th to link up your card. Hope to see you in the gallery!

 

 

Freshly Made Sketches #747

 

This week's Freshly Made Sketches #747 is brought to us by our teammie Kim.

 

 

So many possibilities for this sketch! What do you see? Balloons? Hearts?

I brought out citrus slices from The Greetery. Again.

 

 I went with lemons and limes this time. I assembled them on an embossed panel

and tucked in some leaves. A white embossed sentiment finished off the card.

 

 Visit Freshly Made Sketches to see how the rest of the team played with Kim's

sketch and join us if you can. Link up your card by Monday, Aug 3 at 3PM EST.

Hope to see you in the gallery!

 

Freshly Made Sketches #746

 

Teammie Jen M  brings us this week's Freshly Made Sketches #746 and it's a fun one.

 

 

I love this sketch and years ago, I made some cards with the same general design

A square card base with a circular element on the top that, when added, becomes 

an A2 sized card. 

  

My circular element was Papertrey Ink's wood slice that I decorated with 

leaves and blooms from the set. After folding a cream colored card base into

a 4.25" square, I adhered the wood slice over the fold. 

 

I found a scrap of embossed leaves, adhered it per the sketch and added the

sentiment. A last minute decision was to add some white splatters to help balance 

the wood slice.

 

Visit Freshly Made Sketches to see how the rest of the team interpreted Jen's sketch 

and join us if you can. Link up your card by 

Monday, July 27th at 3PM EST.  Hope to see you in the gallery!

 

  

Freshly Made Sketches #745

 

Jen T is this week's sketch designer for Freshly Made Sketches #745 and 

here's what she designed for us. 

 

 

 

It's been a while since I made a square card and I was looking forward to working

with Jen's sketch. Here's what I came up with.

  

I used Concord & 9th's Just Picked dies after seeing Michele use them on a card and I

didn't realize that I already owned the set because I was so focused on the vases and 

didn't notice the prickly bloom. 

 

I colored two of the blooms and a bud and assembled them on a scalloped

square (from MFT which is no longer in business). A square was cut from gray

card stock and run through an embossing folder then adhered to a card base.

I adhered the scalloped square and finished off with the Altenew sentiment.

 

Visit Freshly Made Sketches to see how the rest of the team interpreted

Jen's sketch and we hope you'll play along with us. The deadline to link up

your card is Monday, July 20th at 3PM EST.

 

 

Freshly Made Sketches #744

 

I'm the sketch designer for this week's Freshly Made Sketches #744 and it 

looks like this,

A card kit from Gina K Designs arrived with an assortment of Polaroid frames

that sparked the idea for my card sketch.  

 

Alex Syberia's Floral Splendor Cover Die was cut and inked in summery colors. 

After die cutting a Polaroid frame, I placed the floral piece behind it and backed it with 

a colored card stock piece in a soft shade of blue. I stamped a sentiment on the frame 

and adhered it to an embossed card base then tucked in a few flowers following the sketch.

 

Keep in mind that you don't have to use a Polaroid frame as presented but I'd love

to see what you place inside one if you choose to do so. It's your choice! 

 

And if you would like to use a Polaroid frame on your card but don't own a die, here's a

quick tutorial from Mary Fish of stampin' pretty that will have you cranking out a bunch

of frames just by using nesting dies.  

 

Visit Freshly Made Sketches to see what the rest of the team came up with and join us

if you can. The deadline for linking up is Monday, July 13th at 3PM EST.

 We hope to see you in the gallery!

 

   

Freshly Made Sketches #743

 

It's Wednesday, time for another Freshly Made Sketches. Our teammie Judy 

brings us Sketch #743 which had me stumped when I first saw it.

 

 

Thankfully, a new set of Simon Hurley's cone flowers arrived and sealed the deal.
 

Three cone flowers and leaves were cut from white card stock and inked. A strip 

of card stock was embossed with a dot folder and adhered to a card base. A sentiment

was white embossed on a green circle and adhered over the flowers and leaves.

 

Now it's your turn! We'd love to see how you interpret Judy's sketch so come and

join us! Visit Freshly Made Sketches to see projects from the rest of the team, too.

The deadline for linking up is Monday, July 6th at 3PM EST.

 

 

Freshly Made Sketches #742

 

Freshly Made Sketches #742 is brought to you by our teammie Amy.

 

 

And here's my take on it, 

 

 Yes, I brought in the third mushroom that fit perfectly on the sketch. This time I added 

the windows and door for a whimsical touch and tucked in some greenery. I adhered 

everything onto an embossed card base and finished off with another punny sentiment. 

 

We  hope you'll join us this week and play along with Amy's sketch. The deadline

to link up your card is Monday, June 29th. Hope to see you in the gallery! 

  

 

Freshly Made Sketches #741

 Narelle is our sketch designer this week for Freshly Made Sketches #741, 

and here's her sketch.

 

Here's my card and my looooose interpretation of the sketch.  

 

I found Altenew's mushroom die set that had never been opened so I remedied that.

There are three mushrooms in the set that come with windows and doors so they

become mushroom houses--so cute! For my card I opted to leave them plain and 

used only two of the mushrooms. (The third will make an appearance soon!)

 

All of the pieces were cut from white card stock and ink blended. I placed them on an

embossed panel and finished off with the sweet punny sentiment.

 

Please visit Freshly Made Sketches to see how the rest of the team interpreted

Narelle's sketch and play along if you can. Link up your card by Monday, June 22nd.

Thanks for stopping by and we hope you'll join us!

 

 

Freshly Made Sketches #740

 

Over at Freshly Made Sketches, Michele is this week's sketch designer 

and she's making a scene. Literally. Check out her fun sketch!

 

 Here's what I came up with and yes, that rooster makes an appearance again.

 

I used several patterned papers to cut out panels then hand cut my own slopes

and hills. I added an atypical mauve colored slope to break up the greens. I had 

some assembled roosters and chose this orange one because he stood out against 

the colorful terrain.

 

The panel was adhered to a postage card base that was hinged so the card could 

stand on its own. I tucked in a sun, popped up the rooster and white embossed 

the sentiment. The panel was finished off with a few white splatters.

 

Visit Freshly Made Sketches to see how the rest of the team interpreted 

Michele's sketch and come and play along. You have until Monday, June 15th

to link up your card. Hope to see you in the gallery!

 

 

Freshly Made Sketches #739

 

Our teammie Karren brings us a fun sketch for Freshly Made Sketches #739.

Check it out.

 

 

Oh, the possibilities with this sketch! Here's my take on it 

 

Occasionally I like to browse through my older supplies and play with a favorite

set. Do you do that, too? These leaves were and still are a fave and it made me

happy to put them on a card again.

 

I die cut three leaves and inked them, then ran them through a 3D embossing

folder that brought them to life. I also ran a strip of sand card stock through the 

same folder and lightly inked it with a white pigment pad to bring out the leafy details. 

 

The embossed strip and leaves were adhered to a card base. A white embossed 

sentiment finished off the card  

 

Visit Freshly Made Sketches to see how the rest of the team interpreted Karren's

sketch and join us if you can. You have until Monday, June 8th to link up your card.

 

Freshly Made Sketches #738

 

The uber creative Cécile is our sketch designer this week and wowed us 

with another great sketch. Here's Freshly Made Sketches #738.

 

 

Cécile has such an artistic flair that I had to bring my "A" game and here's 

how I interpreted her sketch. 

 

I assembled a butterfly from patterned paper and used Spellbinders Tangled Threads

for the wispy elements. A card base was run through a dotted embossing folder 

and shaded with some lilac ink. I adhered the threads and butterfly and finished

off with the sentimentt.

 

Visit Freshly Made Sketches for all the details and deadline and see how the rest of

the team interpreted Cécile's sketch. We'd love to see your take on her sketch 

and hope to see you in the gallery!

 

 

Freshly Made Sketches #737

 

This week's designer for Freshly Made Sketches #737 is Jen B and

here's her sketch.

 

 

So many possibilities for that central rectangular shape, right? 

I envisioned flowers, a tranquil scene, or an ink blended background. 

I decided to go with numbers on a birthday card.

 

While cleaning up and arranging my "oldies but goodies" I came across Penny

Black's By the Numbers die which was a fave over ten years ago. The die cut was

inked and originally I was going to use rainbow colors but stopped and let the

colors fade out. 

 

I stacked three die cuts together and adhered them to an embossed frame panel.

A white embossed sentiment and iridescent sequins finished off the card.

  

Stop by Freshly Made Sketches for more inspiration from the rest of the team

and join us if you can. You have until Monday, May 25 to link up your card and

we hope to see you in the gallery!

 

 

Freshly Made Sketches #736

 

Our sketch hostess for Freshly Made Sketches #736 is Verena and here's 

her fun sketch.

 

 

This sketch reminded me of a Japanese street stall snack called "dango" and

I resisted the urge to use it has inspiration and went with tulips.

 

 I found a diecut of Penny Black Tulip Trio that was stenciled, embossed, and

cut out. I probably meant to use it for The Flower Challenge but sadly, the site

closed and I've kept it ever since.

 

A last minute decision was to do some surgery and cut the tulips apart. 

I cut a piece of Brass and Bliss' cheesecloth and adhered it to a card base.

The tulips were adhered  per the sketch and I added the white embossed

sentiment. Some iridescent sequins finished off the card.

 

 Visit Freshly Made Sketches to see how the rest of the team interpreted

Verena's sketch and join us if you can. You have until Monday, May 18th to 

link up your card.

 

* * *

 

For inquisitive minds, here's a photo of some dango that I attempted to make

years ago. 

 

 Somehow I can't picture it on a card.....

 

Freshly Made Sketches #735

 

Kim brings us Freshly Made Sketches #735--a sketch that stumped me

when I first saw it. 

 

 

I stopped overthinking the sketch, and eventually I came up with a simplified 

take on an A2 sized card.

 

I used Simon Says Stamp's Artful Palette bundle, which was part of their February

2026 Card Kit. Using one of the templates as a guide, I cut patterned papers in 

different colors and patterns and arranged them, again using the template.

 

I white embossed the sentiment and added a few sequins as a finishing touch.

So...do you see Kim's sketch? I hope so! I had a lot of fun with the set and hope

to use it often. 

 

Come and join us at Freshly Made Sketches this week and stop by for more 

inspiration from the rest of the team. You have until Monday, May 11th

to link up your card.