Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #705

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week!  The smoke has finally cleared out here and the skies have been so blue!  It's so wonderful!  We've had some incredible sunrises and sunsets this week!  It's been pretty amazing!

We have a brand new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Narelle Farrugia!  Please make sure you head over to her blog to give her some love and check out her incredible creations!  

I thought for sure that the first idea I had for a card would be perfect!  Turns out I was wrong.  The second one wasn't perfect either but apparently third time is a charm.  I stuck with a simple white background.  Added some embossing and then kept the strips simple.  I opted for mushrooms for this card instead of leaves because I love mushrooms almost as much as I love fall!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Real Red, Smoky Slate, Basic Black

Stamps: Fall Foliage (Reverse Confetti)

Ink: Detail Black (Pink Fresh Studio), Real Red

Dies: Autumn Wonder (Spellbinders)

Other: Exposed Brick Textured Embossing Folder

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll enter into our challenge this week!  Please head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to enter your card in this week's challenge.  You'll also find the inspiration you need to kick start your creativity!

This week's challenge ends on Monday at 1 PM EST!  

Have an amazing day!
Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #704

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're enjoying your week so far!  We are still trying to get into the swing of things here.  Getting used to new schedules and the different times that people have to be here there and everywhere.  I'm finding it more difficult to get it all figured out this year.  I think my brain is still in summer mode and rebelling against all the craziness!

We have a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  Our hostess this week is the fabulous Michele Ferguson!  We have a very special guest with us this week!  Please welcome Donna Mikasa the winner of our Challenge #700!!  Head over to Donna's blog and check out her beautiful cards!   

There sure are a lot of circles on this sketch!  You all know how I feel about circles!!  Needless to say when I saw those circles I automatically converted them to leaves!  It's fall after all!!!  The Fall Florals set from Spellbinders seemed perfect for this card!  

Supplies:

Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry (SU)
Stamps: Typewriter Adventure Sentiments (Spellbinders)
Ink: Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Crazy, Crumb Cake, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie (All SU)
Dies: Itty Bitty Strips (MFT), Fall Florals (Spellbinders), Autumn Wonder (Spellbinders)
Other: Hardwood Embossing Folder (SU), Grain and Grunge Gem Stickers (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!  You have until Monday at 3 PM EST to get your card entered into this week's challenge.  

Have an amazing day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #703

Happy Wednesday! 

I hope your week has started well!  We're really starting to see signs of fall on our hikes.  Some of the plants are turning colours and I realized that the trees are also starting to turn!  I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet.  Unfortunately here, snow follows very closely behind fall!!!  

We have a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches today!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Karren Johnson!  Please make sure you head over to her blog and check out her gorgeous creations!  

So, I saw that "window" shape and had absolutely no idea what to do with that.  I had absolutely nothing that would work for that.  After a few quick texts to some local craft friends, I had scored the goods!  Thank you Heather and Sheryl!  I still had some leaves on my desk and since I have fall on the brain, I had to make another fall card!  

Supplies:

Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Cajun Craze (SU), Crumb Cake (SU)
Ink: Cajun Craze (SU)
Dies: Autumn Wonder (Spellbinders), Happy Fall Sentiments (Spellbinders), Garden Meadow Dies (SU)
Other: Distressed Tile Embossing Folder (SU), Grain and Grunge Gem Stickers (Honey Bee Stamps)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll join in our challenge this week!  Please head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the cards that the Design Team have posted! 

You have until Monday at 1 PM EST to get your card entered into this week's challenge!

Have an amazing day!
Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #702

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  It's September!  How did that happen?  I swear it was June a minute ago!  My oldest started back in his second year at university this week and my youngest started Grade 12 today!  I swear I blinked and they went from babies to adults!  It's insane!  If you're a mom or a grandma I am sure you know exactly what I mean!  We are just coming off of a week vacation as well so I'm really not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow.  It's been a lovely summer working reduced hours.  

We have a brand new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the amazing Cecile Ribon!  Make sure you head over to her blog and check out all of her fantastic cards!  

I had this new Spellbinders die set sitting there just waiting to be used and what could be more perfect for a circle than a wreath?  I love fall and love making fall cards so I was pretty excited to use this set.  My wreath is a little oblong but I couldn't get it to look round and finally just gave up!!!  I added in some fall leaves and of course a pumpkin for that other little circle and called it a day!  

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie, Garden Green, Early Espresso, Soft Suede.

Ink: Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie, Crumb Cake (SU)

Dies: Autumn Greetings Wreath (Spellbinders), Autumn Wonder (Spellbinders), Happy Fall Sentiments (Spellbinders)

Other: Exposed Brick Embossing Folder (SU)

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!  The design team has come up with some beautiful cards so make sure you check them out and give them some love!  

You have until Monday at 3 PM EST to get your card entered into this week's challenge!

Have an amazing day!
Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #657

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week!  We're having a beautiful fall week!  I actually don't want it to end!  The sun has been warm and the skies blue.  I know the white, fluffy stuff is just around the corner so I'm going to embrace this weather while I can!  Fall hiking season is almost over and it makes me a little sad.  I'm sure we've got a few more weeks to go but we will need to start packing our winter gear!

We've got a brand new sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches courtesy of the amazing Karren Johnson!  You will love Karren's cards so head over to her blog to check them out!  

This card actually came together quite quickly - I know, I was shocked too!  I had a pack of fall paper that I think I got last year and hadn't opened at all.  I love fall paper and fall cards and since I needed an anniversary card for my husband (22 years on Saturday) I figured this would work perfectly.  I diecut some oak leaves from the Spellbinders Autumn Wonder set and we were ready to go!  I have no idea what set the tag is from.  It was in my storage binder and back then I wasn't too concerned with writing down the names of things.  Now I have no clue where things came from!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Baked Brown Sugar, Hammermill White Coverstock

Patterned Paper: Simple Stories Acorn Lane

Ink: Antique Linen, Vintage Photo (Tim Holtz Distress Oxides)

Dies: Autumn Wonder (Spellbinders), Tag

Other: Curved Everyday Sentiments (Spellbinders), Copper Foil, Twine, Rhinestones (Honeybee Stamps)

I thought I'd share some photos from a recent hiking adventure!  For this one I traded in my regular hiking partner for my friend Annie!  Annie's husband serves in our military and he's on a training exercise so she's been joining us or her and I hike together!  We had a hoot!  This is the Skoki area - behind the Lake Louise ski hill.  It was so beautiful!  The larches were robed in their golden splendor and looked amazing!  There were so many lakes and it was so fun to explore!  We put on 26 km and 1000 m in elevation gain!  It was one of the most amazing days!

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 always love to see what you create!  If you need some inspiration, head over to the blog!  The design team has come up with some incredible examples!  You have until Monday at 1 PM EST to get your card entered in this week's challenge!

Have an amazing day!

Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #655

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope your week has started well!  We're having a bit of a heat wave here - which we will be very thankful for!  The sun is shining and warm and I'm loving having a week of warmth before it changes!  I'm afraid our falling hiking season might not be as long as we had hoped.  There are a couple of weekends when I can't hike so I'm a little sad.  The season has seemed super short this year.

We have a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  I am your hostess this week and I'm so excited to see what you do with my sketch this week.  I made the sketch with a card in mind and then I struggled to make the card.  Such is life these days.  I have not felt an ounce of creativity lately!

I usually love making fall cards.  Fall is my favourite season and I would make fall cards all year long if I could but this year, I've had no desire.  I don't know what's going on.  My desire to create just hasn't been there.

I was going to use different leaves for this card but they didn't work as they were too big.  I found some little (old) SU punches that I thought would work perfectly.  I punched the leaves out of white cardstock and used some Distress Oxides to colour them.  I originally wanted red maple leaves but they just didn't look right against the kraft cardstock.  

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Kraft

Dies: Stitched Rectangles (Lil Inkers)

Stamps: Fall Foliage (Reverse Confetti)

Ink: Antique Linen (Distress Ink), Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo, Scattered Straw, Fossilized Amber (all Distress Oxides), Early Espresso (SU)

Other: Autumn Punch Pack (SU Retired)

A few pictures from a recent hike at Mount Lipsett.  This is such a beautiful hike and it's a fairly quick one.  We were able to get out and back before lunch!  The views are spectacular for the effort that you put in!  

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!  I can't wait to see what you create with my sketch this week!  

You have until Monday at 1 PM EST to get your card entered into this week's challenge!

Have an amazing day!
Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #606

Hello! 

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  Monday was a holiday here - for some people so my days are all mixed up.  My husband was off but my kids were at school.  Trevor and I got a hike in - I'm thinking this might have been our last one for 2023.  Makes me a little sad but that's okay.  The 4:00-4:30 alarms are getting hard!  There is snow on the ground in the mountains which means ski season is right around the corner!

We've got a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our favourite Aussie is hosting this week - Narelle Farrugia!  I always find Narelle's cards are absolutely gorgeous and just when I think they can't get better, they do!  Head over to her blog and check them out!  

3 circles.  I didn't know what to do with 3 circles.  I had to think on it for a few days before I tackled this one.  I finally decided I would stick to fall coloured flowers with a kraft background!  I hauled out my Be Bold Blooms and went to town.  In the process I discovered that the centre die for the smallest flower is missing. I've turned my craft room apart looking for it to no avail.  These little pieces are so small and you just never know when they get stuck to a certain white paw.  She could track them anywhere.  I also don't know how long it's been missing for.  Oh well. 

Supplies:

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry, Cajun Craze, Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Mossy Meadow, Copper Foil (All SU)

Ink: Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Mossy Meadow (all SU)

Other: Mini Everyday Sentiments (Spellbinders), Be Bold Blooms (Spellbinders), Double Stitched Circle Dies (Reverse Confetti), Glimmer Hot Foil Machine (Spellbinders), Copper Foil (Spellbinders)

Here are a few shots from Monday's hike.  Those yellow trees are called Larches (also known as Tamarack in some parts of the land).  Larches are evergreens that don't stay evergreen!  Their needles turn yellow in the fall and then they fall off.  Don't get me wrong, the summit of Mount Fairview was spectacular and Lake Louise looked so small down below!  It was fun to be out in the snow!  This is our first snow of the season - now don't get me wrong, we don't have snow at our house, just some of the higher mountains!  I do like hiking in the snow though as you don't get as hot which is nice and recovery goes faster!

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 always love to see what you create!  If you need a little inspiration, the Design Team has cooked up some beautiful cards so make sure to check those out!

Have an amazing day!
Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #603

Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a fantastic week!  Here were are sliding into the middle of September!  Do you decorate for fall?  Fall is my favourite season and I could leave my decorations up all year long!!  I have a pumpkin collection (obsession) and might have added to it again this year!  I get my decorations out once the kids are back in school and they stay up until November 1.  

We've got a brand new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  I have the privilege of being this week's hostess!  I had fun coming up with a sketch this week and can't wait to see what you do with it!  I love seeing everyone's creativity!

So maybe you see a snowman when you see this sketch!  I did too at first but I really wanted to make a fall card!  I tried using some patterned paper but I'm running low on fall paper and had a hard time pairing together two patterns I liked!  Needless to say, plain white won out!  I grabbed my hardwood embossing folder (or maybe it's called woodgrain?) and added some texture.  I used my Fall Foliage stamp set (Reverse Confetti) for the sentiment and just cut it out by hand.  

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake

Other: Hardwood Embossing Folder (SU), Autumn Wonder Dies (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're looking for some inspiration you'll definitely find some!  The Design Team has some beautiful cards posted!  I'm looking forward to see all the different cards that get posted!

Enjoy the photos from Saturday's hike!  It was crazy.  I actually got a little twinge of altitude sickness from this one!  The false and true summits of this mountain - Observation Peak, are both over 10,000 feet.  You can see both Bow (blue) and Peyto (turquoise) lakes from the top!  There's a fantastic glacier on the back of the mountain we were able to check out - as in look at!  These glaciers are not stable so we don't go near them!  The last picture is just to show how steep the trail was.  I am pretty sure it was the steepest one we've done so far!  Definitely the most amazing and breathtaking!  Hiking season is drawing to a close so you won't have many more pictures to see!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  

Have an amazing day!

Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #601

Happy Wednesday!
Here we are starting our next 100 sketches!  A huge thank you to everyone who participated in our 600th Freshly Made Sketches challenge last week!  We loved seeing all of your beautiful cards!  It's been a true honour to be on this design team and part of this challenge!  I love being inspired by each of you!

We've got a fantastic new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week from Linda Callahan!  Linda is so fun and makes the best cards!  You need to check out her card for today!  I love it!  Head over to her blog to see it and all her other masterpieces!  

I recently acquired these fun Autumn Wonder dies from Spellbinders.  I love them but I didn't initially buy the envelope die that corresponds with them.  I ended up going back and getting it though because a fall bouquet coming out of an envelope just seems so fun!  I really struggled with this one though.  I had trouble coming up with the background.  Finally I settled on some Early Espresso but really the More Mustard looked better!!!  We won't go there though!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, Crumb Cake, Garden Green, Wild Wasabi, Mossy Meadow, Basic White, Gold Foil (all SU)

Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, Garden Green, Wild Wasabi (all SU)

DSP: In Good Taste (SU Retired)

Other: Mini Everyday Sentiments (Spellbinders), Autumn Wonder (Spellbinders), Dazzling Diamonds (Spellbinders), Gold Foil (Spellbinders), Glimmer Hot Foil Machine (Spellbinders)

Okay, it's now time for the latest hiking photos!  We've had some smoky views from the wildfires in BC so we've had to change around some of our hikes.  No sense hiking up a massive mountain if you can't see anything at the top!  This was a "smaller" one but it was a beast.  Definitely not my favourite.  Definitely will not be doing this one again - ever!!!

Rimwall Summit!  It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the summit to ourselves! 

Yup, that's the summit - it sucked getting to that point!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I do hope you'll head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and join in our challenge!  There are some fabulous cards on the blog from the Design Team that I'm sure will inspire you!

Have an amazing day!

Jen

 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #553

Happy Wednesday!  

I hope you're having a great week!  Fall has been in the air a few times over the last week!  The mountains got snow which means our turn is just around the corner!  I'm not quite ready for that yet!  I could use a bit more summer but now that the house is decorated for fall I'm totally ready to embrace it!  

We've got a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  Our hostess this week is our favourite French designer Cecile Ribon!  She is the queen of amazing diecuts so head over to her blog and check out her gorgeous creations!  

I loved Cecile's sketch and had to try a few things to find a combo of elements I was good with!  I wanted a fall card but this isn't the card I made first!  That's the one you'll see below!  This was my second card!  I love fall cards but struggled to get the placement of the leaves just right.  The perfectionist in me wanted to give up but I'm learning to just let some things go!  A few things anyhow!  

Supplies:

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso, Gold Foil

Stamps: Give Thanks (Concord & 9th)

Ink: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake

Other: Intricate Leaves Dies, Seasonal Layers Dies, Harvest Dies, Double Stitched Squares, Gold Sequins, Blending Brushes

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 sure love seeing your cards each and every week!

The Design Team has got some amazing cards on the blog that hopefully will inspire you!

I can't wait to see what you create!

Have an amazing day!

Jen

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #552

Hello!

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a wonderful week!  It's been beautiful here lately.  We had a few smokey days from the many wildfires that are burning through Alberta, BC and down into Montana but it seems clearer now!  We've been so fortunate to have a nice, clear summer this year.  We won't complain about a few smokey days!

We've got a new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  I am your hostess this week and I hope you like my sketch and will join in and play along with us!  I always love seeing each one of your cards!

I wanted to do a fall card.  This isn't exactly what I had in mind but I definitely love the colours!  That gold is one of my favourites for fall!  I bought this paper at our local scrapbook store a couple of weeks ago and couldn't wait to use it!  

Supplies:

Cardstock: Basic White, Hello Honey, Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler

Patterned Paper: Plaid Fever and Falling for Fall (both from Echo Park Paper)

Stamps: Fall Foliage (Reverse Confetti)

Ink: Early Espresso

Other: Intricate Leaves Dies, Seasonal Layers Dies, Twine, Dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I sure hope you'll head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and join in our challenge.  The Design Team has created some amazing cards that will definitely inspire you!

Have a fantastic day!

Jen