Freshly Made Sketches #651

Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #651!

Our super talented Clean Team leader, Jen Timko, is behind the fun asymmetrical sketch this week! I went through so many ideas and thought I'd settled on feathers and a sympathy card, when I came across the Papertrey Ink Leaf Silhouette dies (yup, I tag and use them as feathers as well as leaves) and switched to a masculine leaning birthday card.

The large die is cut several times to give me options for color blocking the finished leaf. An older PTI Birthday Bash sentiment is stamped on a piece of patterned paper, die cut and inked to blend better with the other colors. The design didn't feel finished until a few stitched leaves leftover from another project were layered under the large focal point leaf.

I hope you check out the fabulous Clean Team designs and play along with us at Freshly Made Sketches!

I'm linking this card to Seize the Birthday #290 challenge in the Anything Goes category.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Freshly Made Sketches #619

 Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #619!

I love this fabulous sketch designed by our super talented Judy Rozema! I knew almost immediately that I wanted to create something with a postage stamp look for the square element, but went through numerous ideas and color palettes before settling on this red, white and blue design.

A happy find was the airmail stripe image in an older Simon Says Stamp Sending Happy Thoughts stamp set to use for the vertical element. It is stamped in red first and then the strip was shifted to stamp the blue.

The postage stamp is created using images from Kerri Bradford Southern California stamp set and cut with a Spellbinders die. The SSS Sending die cut layered over the stamp provides the first half of the sentiment and an MFT Bitty Birthday Wishes finishes it off.

I hope you check out the amazing Clean Team designs and play along with us at Freshly Made Sketches this week!

I am also linking this card to Seize the Birthday Challenge #275 in the Anything Goes category.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Freshly Made Sketches #612

 Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #612!

The super talented Clean Team designer Linda Callahan has provided a fabulous, classic sketch for us this week! It was just perfect for pausing the Christmas card production and adding a much needed masculine birthday card to my stash.

The Memory Box Graceful Stag Collage die is cut from a piece of holiday tartan paper that was trimmed to size first. It is adhered to a Sizzix 3D Leaf Pattern embossed panel and a second, darker green panel is embossed and staggered behind it.

The Poppystamps Birthday Blowout sentiment is stamped on a MFT Mod Rectangle die cut that is adhered to a second, slightly offset dark green die cut to finish this super simple design.

I hope you check out the terrific Clean Team designs and play along with us at Freshly Made Sketches this week!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Freshly Made Sketches #595

 Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #595!

I was so happy to see a circle in Amy O'Neill's fabulous sketch this week because I recently added a few  Maya Road transparency doilies to the "use or purge" bowl on my desk.

The doily is layered over a pale blue vellum circle with Simply Graphic Pine Branches and Gold Button dies added to the top. The finished cluster is popped up over the Poppystamps Birthday Blowout sentiment.

Check out the amazing Clean Team designs and play along with us at Freshly Made Sketches this week!

I'm linking this card to Seize the Birthday #265 where the doily and polka dots meet the Circle or Circles challenge.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Freshly Made Sketches #590

Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #590!

 

I love the versatility of the Clean Team designer Kim Singdahlsen's fabulous sketch this week! My first thought was to do something with a trio of sentiment strips, my second thought was a layer cake, and my third thought was to combine the two ideas.

PTI Your Beautiful Birthday stamp set provided the sentiment and images to create the cake. The sentiment, cake plate and candle flame are embossed with Ranger's Gold embossing powder first and then the cake layers and candles added in shades of pink.

Several layers of MFT Stitched Rectangle Scallop Frame die cuts in white and a couple shades of pink are adhered together with a transparency piece between the top two layers to create a shaker box. Sequins and confetti are added before the stamped panel seals them in place.

I hope you check out the amazing Clean Team designs at Freshly Made Sketches and play along with us this week!

I'm adding this card to the Seize The Birthday #263 challenge in their Anything Goes category.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Freshly Made Sketches #584

 Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #584!

I had an immediate idea when I saw Clean Team designer Linda Callahan's fabulous sketch this week and it only took four tries to get something I'm happy with. The stamp platform had a workout as all versions of my design included seventeen images of the PTI Birthday Style candle. 

PTI Hawaiian Shores and Limeade Ice are two of my favorite colors and things came together when I finally pulled them out. The candles are inked once and the MFT Blended Happy Birthday sentiment inked several times to get a deeper color. A teal die cut helps the sentiment stand out over the candles.

Yellow ink is blended around the candle tops and the happy part of the sentiment stamped directly on the panel. Wink of Stella adds a touch of sparkle to the flames and a scatter of enamel dots reinforce the festive feel.

I hope you check out the amazing Clean Team designs and play along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Freshly Made Sketches #542

 Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #542!

Clean Team designer Kim Singdahlsen has given us a fabulous, classic sketch to work with this week. The biggest challenge was deciding what shape I wanted to highlight, but things came together very quickly once I flipped through a few dies and spotted a summer favorite.

The Hero Arts ice cream cone dies are cut and the cone embossed to give it a waffle cone look. Course glitter gives a sugary finish to the ice cream. The cone is popped up over a pretty pink gingham panel. A little white ink was smeared over the panel before stamping the Lawn Fawn Treat Yourself sentiment. A few enamel dots finish the design. 

I hope you check out the amazing Clean Team designs and play along with us at Freshly Made Sketches this week!

I'm adding this card to Seize the Birthday #241 - Summer Activities challenge.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Freshly Made Sketches #530

 Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #530!

The first thought I had after looking at Jen Mitchell's terrific offset panel was to wrap it around the back of the card base, so I did. I think it is my favorite part of this design.

Still adding to the masculine birthday stash, a favorite tree stamp and die were pulled out today. The Concord & 9th Tree Ring Background image is stamped in lime green on a kraft MFT Mod Rectangle die cut panel first and the Memory Box Arboscello tree cut three times.

The trees are layered with dark green on the bottom, kraft next and a light green on top.

For a little extra interest and dimension, several green and tan Distress Inks were blended over the tree and the MFT Bitty Birthday Wishes sentiment strip. The sentiment gave me a giggle and seemed completely appropriate paired with the tree rings.

I hope you check out the fabulous Clean Team designs and play along with us at Freshly Made Sketches this week!

I am linking this to Seize the Birthday #235 in the Anything Goes category.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Freshly Made Sketches #528

 Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #528!

I'm thrilled to be hosting the Freshly Made Sketches challenge this week! I'm not sure which came first, the card design or the sketch, but they definitely were interlinked in my mind as a mulled over a few ideas for a simple masculine birthday card for my Pisces husband.

MFT Abstract Art images were inked with Mermaid Lagoon, Salty Ocean and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks, spritzed and stamped on the white panel. Once dry, the Simply Graphic Sardines images were stamped and heat embossed with Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder.

A Memory Box Fish Tales sentiment finishes the design.

I can't wait to see how you use the strips in the sketch! They can be for a sentiment, design element or some combination of both. Check out the amazing Clean Team designs and play along with us at Freshly Made Sketches.

I am linking this card to Seize the Birthday #234 in the Anything Goes category.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Freshly Made Sketches #508

 Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #508!

I'm excited to be hosting the challenge this week and created this sketch with a borrowed stamp in mind. 

A couple of weeks ago I had a long overdue crafting day with friends and fell in love with the  CAS-ual Fridays Flowery Background stamp. Joyce Mehrberg generously let me take it home to play around a bit with heat embossing and watercoloring this fabulous explosion of flowers.

A deep pink panel is cut in half and adhered to the top and bottom of the card base first before the watercolored panel is popped up over it. The Avery Elle Thanks a Bunch sentiment is stamped on a PTI 

tag, layered with a couple other tags and tied with twine before being added to the watercolored panel.

I'm linking this card to Seize the Birthday #225 in the Anything Goes option.

I hope you check out the amazing Clean Team designs and play along with us at Freshly Made Sketches this week!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Freshly Made Sketch #480

 Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #480!

I admit I was a little intimidated by Jen's fabulous sketch this week until I thought about how I could arrange elements to give the illusion of a curved line. Butterflies were the first thing I thought of, although I almost immediately switched to cherry blossoms after seeing a few gorgeous trees in bloom on social media.

The Pretty Pink Posh Cherry Blossoms are stamped and embossed on watercolor paper before being colored with Kitsch Pink Distress Ink. While they dried, the curved line is added on a white panel using a Tim Holtz Burlap stencil. A little more color is added after the stencil is removed to soften the lines.

A few Pretty Pink Posh jewels add a bit of shine and the MFT Bitty Birthday Wishes sentiment is tucked in place.

The Clean Team has amazing cards to inspire you this week! I hope you will plan along with us at Freshly Made Sketches!

I'm linking this card to Seize the Birthday #211 in the Anything Goes category.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Freshly Made Sketches #476

 Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #476!

I admit I fluffed it with Linda's great sketch this week, thinking I had the design solidly in my head and not checking again before adhering all my bits and pieces, so the diagonal line isn't quite as sharp as I could have made it.

With my dad's birthday coming up, I've depleted the always small stack of masculine cards ready to go, so decided to keep this design super clean and simple. A Taylored Expressions embossing folder adds a bit of interest and reinforces the musical theme started with the Poppystamps Happy Birthday Melody die. The large PTI balloon adds a bright pop of color.

The Clean Team has fabulous cards this week! I hope you are inspired to play along with us at Freshly Made Sketches.

I'm linking this card to Seize the Birthday #209 (Anything Goes) and Time Out Challenges, where they are celebrating their 7th Birthday with Challenge #182!

       

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Freshly Made Sketches #468

 Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches #468!

Linda Callahan has designed a fabulous sketch this week! I created a multipurpose card that can be used for a birthday or any occasion you want to celebrate with friends like the (hopefully one day) end of a global pandemic. 

My initial plan stayed true to the landscape orientation with 5 drinks but when I decided to use a MFT fishtail flag die to back the focal point panel, the balance didn't feel right and I turned the card and dropped a couple drinks. 

The sentiment pairs MFT's Cheers die and a Spirited Sentiments stamp while the vellum and cardstock cocktails are created with Impression Obsession Mixed Drinks dies.

I hope you check out the Clean Team designs at Freshly Made Sketches and join in the fun!

I am also linking this card to Seize the Birthday #205 in the Anything Goes category.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie