Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #672


Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  We are in a deep freeze here and it looks like it will stay cold for a while!  We have another couple of days of -20 degrees and then it will warm up a little bit.  We have been so fortunate so far so I won't complain!  When the sun is out, it's still beautiful and I enjoyed some nice walks over the weekend! 

We have a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  Our hostess this week is the lovely Jacquie Southas!  Jacquie's cards are so pretty so please head over to her blog and give her some love!  

In my recent Stampin Up Order, I received the Friendly Seagulls stamp set.  I just couldn't resist them!  They're super fun!  I decided they would work for this card - but in hindsight I wish I hadn't attached them to the string.  What's done is done!  This card is for a friend of mine who loves french fries almost as much as I do!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill Coverstock White
Stamps: Friendly Seagulls
Ink: Memento Black, Speckled Egg Distress Oxide, Antique Linen Distress Ink
Other: Copics, Stampin' Blends, Linen Thread (SU), Stitched Rectangles (Lil Inkers)


Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll join in our challenge this week!  You have until Monday at 1 PM EST this week to enter this week's challenge. 

If you need some inspiration, head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog!  The design team has posted some fantastic cards posted!  

I hope you have an amazing day!

Jen

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #671


  
Hello!  Happy Wednesday! I hope you're having a great start to your week!  We are once again having a chinook!  For those of you who aren't using to living on the eastern side of the rockies, a chinook is when we end up with some really warm air that comes flowing over the mountains.  Our temperatures can swing 20 degrees from one day to the next!  This week it's supposed to hit 10 degrees C!  We will enjoy it while it lasts because by Monday it's supposed to be -20!  

We have a great new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is the lovely Judy Rozema!  Judy's cards are always so beautiful so head over to her blog to check them out!  


I recently received a Stampin' Up order and decided to put a few of those new items to work on this card!  It was really fun to play with some new toys!!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill Coverstock White, Daffodil Delight
Stamps: Delightful Wishes (SU)
Ink: Black Detail (Pink Fresh Studios), Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide, Scattered Straw Distress Oxide, Gathered Twigs Distress Oxide
Dies: Delightful Wishes (SU)
Other: Linked Together Decorative Masks (SU), Tiny Bees (SU)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  
We hope you'll join in our challenge this week!  You have until Monday at 1 PM EST to get your card entered into this week's challenge!

If you need some inspiration, you'll find some amazing cards from the Design Team on the Freshly Made Sketches blog!  

Have an amazing day!

Jen


 

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #670



Hello and Happy Wednesday!
I hope your week has started well!  We had cold weather which has since blown out with another chinook and it's warmer again.  It is crazy windy though!  One could blow away!  It was cold on the weekend so we opted against hiking (I was also exhausted) but hopefully we'll get out this weekend to do something fun!

We have a brand new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our favourite Texan, Amy O'Neill is our hostess this week!  Amy makes such beautiful cards so please head over to her blog and check them out!  
I had just purchased some Waffle Flower stamps and stencils and I was pretty excited to try them out knowing they would work perfectly for this card!  I'm still new to the stenciling game so I need to perfect the technique a bit and figure out what ink works best but we'll get there.  One thing at a time!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill Coverstock White, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, Vellum
Stamps: Sketched Marigold (Waffle Flower), Sketched Aster - sentiment (Waffle Flower)
Ink: StazOn Black, Scattered Straw Distress Oxide, Mustard Seed Distress Oxide, Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide, Bundled Sage Distress Oxide, Mowed Lawn Distress Oxide
Dies: Sketched Marigold (Waffle Flower), Nested Essential Dies
Other: Iridescent Basic Rhinestones, Softly Sophisticated Embossing Folder, Sketched Marigold Stencil (Waffle Flower)

Thank you 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, please head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the cards already posted!  

You have until Monday at 1 PM EST to enter this week's challenge!

Have an amazing day!
Jen



 

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #669

Hello!

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great start to your week!  We are almost halfway through January!  I actually feel like it's flying by.  Normally I'd say January has 693 days but this year I feel like I'm blinking and it's gone.  I'm sure it doesn't feel that way to everyone and I know a lot of people struggle with January.  I think our weather has been so uncharacteristically mild that it doesn't quite seem like January.  At least that's what I'll tell myself!

We have a brand new sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Our hostess this week is our favourite Australian and the lady I'm most excited to take to the top of a mountain, Narelle Farrugia!  Narelle makes beautiful cards.  She's our layering queen so head over to her blog to check them out! 

I wanted to make another Valentine's Day card but I really struggled.  I probably should have just scrapped it and moved on to something else instead but I didn't.  I'm not overly thrilled with the final product but I got it done!  

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill Coverstock White, Silver Foil, Real Red (SU)
Dies: Many Hearts Dies (SU)
Other: Curved Everyday Sentiments (Spellbinders), Silver Foil (Spellbinders), Subtle Texture Embossing Folder.

We headed out on a much warmer hike at Rummel Ridge on Saturday.  We thought we were in for a treat of a hike but turns out we hit a snowstorm on our ascent and our views were pretty non-existent!  Thankfully the skies cleared on our way down and we were able to catch a few beautiful views!  






Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll join in our challenge this week!  You have until Monday at 1 PM EST to get your card entered into this week's challenge!  If you need any inspiration at all, please head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the cards the Design Team have posted!

Have an amazing day!
Jen



Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #668




Hello!
Happy Wednesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far!  We've had a chinook blow in so the temperatures have increased and it's lovely!  I don't love the chinook headaches that accompany said temperature change but they don't last long for us!!

We have a great new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches today!  Our hostess this week is the lovely Karren Johnson!  Karren's cards are always so beautiful so please head over to her blog and give her some love!  
I popped into the local paper store here and saw this cute little gnome die from Spellbinders and couldn't resist him!  I absolutely love gnomes!  Not as much as I love grizzly bears but grizzly bear dies are hard to come by!  I decided I would make this guy a cute little Valentine's Day gnome.  I had some old SU Valentine's Day paper from years ago that I grabbed to make this card.  I had originally made him in red but my oldest told me he looked like a Christmas gnome!  

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill Coverstock White, Melon Mambo, Early Espresso, Granny Apple Green, Petal Pink, Pink Foil (didn't photograph well at all)
DSP: Pop of Pink (SU Retired)
Stamps: P.S. I Love You (SU Retired)
Ink: Detail Black (Pink Fresh Studios)
Dies: Garden Buddies (Spellbinders), Nested Circle Dies (Spellbinders), Tasteful Label Dies
Other: Tasteful Textile Embossing Folder, Heart Punches (SU - Retired)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you will join in our challenge this week!  We would love to see what you do with our sketch this week!  
You have until Monday at 1 PM EST to get your card entered in this week's challenge. 
If you need some inspiration, please head over to our blog!  The Design Team has created some beautiful cards! 
Thought I'd share some of the pics from our hike on Friday.  It was a beautiful day - despite being -20C.  The sun was shining and we had bluebird skies!  The hike itself sucked and might have made me scream at some trees!  








I hope you have an amazing day!
Jen

 

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #667


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Hello and Happy New Year!  
We are starting the year off with a bang!  Okay, maybe not a bang at our house but we're definitely starting out the year right.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and got rested up.  The tree and my Christmas village went away yesterday clearing away the last of the Christmas decorations.  The storage room has been cleaned and tidied and there is a massive load for donation and the dump!  I doubt the momentum will continue but we tried!

We have a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  Our hostess is the amazing Cecile Ribon!  Cecile is a master card maker and I'm always blown away by her creations - both cards and other amazing paper crafts! Please head over to her blog and show her some love!  
I was totally wishing I had some really pretty snowflake dies I could use for this card but alas!  Now that I'm looking at it, I could use heart dies!  That's probably what I should have done.  Gotten a jump start on Valentine's day!  I went with stars instead!  I knew I had some pretty star paper that I managed to locate, I cut out some stars and used a pre-made foiled sentiment since it was just sitting there waiting to be glued onto a card!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Night of Navy, Copper Foil, Copper Sparkle 
DSP: It's an old Christmas one from SU.  I can't remember the name.
Dies: Stars Framelits (SU)
Other: Curved Everyday Sentiments (Spellbinders), Copper Foil (Spellbinders), Tin Tile 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!  You have until Monday at 1 PM EST to get your card entered into this week's challenge.
If you need some inspiration, the design team has created some amazing cards!  Go check them out!

I hope you'll follow along for my 2025 hiking adventures!  Trevor and I wrapped up 2024 with 31 hikes together and I managed to squeeze in another 9 hikes with friends (and without Trevor) to top out at 40 hikes this year!  Not our biggest year for kilometers or elevation but we had such a fantastic year climbing.  I can't wait to see what we tackle this year!

Have an amazing day!

Jen

 

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #666


Hello and Happy Wednesday!
I hope you're having a great week!  We're quickly inching our way towards Christmas.  I think I have most of the shopping done now.  Stockings are giving me grief but that's the trouble with teenage boys!  I just need a couple of little things and we'll be good to go!  

We have a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week and it's or last one of the year!  How is that even possible?!  I have the privilege of being this week's hostess!  I sure hope you'll head into your craft area, make a card and join in our challenge!

I need a couple more Christmas cards and I figured that poinsettias would fit best in those massive circles that I opted to put on that sketch in a moment of weakness!  I actually had 3 of the 4 poinsettias already made on my desk.  They were just sitting there from a previous card making attempt and were just calling to be used on this card. 

Supplies:
Cardstock: Hammermill White Coverstock, Real Red, Silver Foil
Stamps: Christmas Pines
Ink: PinkFresh Detail Black
Dies: Christmas Bird Poinsettia (Spellbinders)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I thought I'd share a few photos of our most recent hike.  This was a hike to Chester Lake.  It's not long and not a lot of elevation gain but there was a ton of snow!  It was beautiful!  









I sure hope you'll join in our challenge this week.  You have until Monday at 1 PM EST to get your card entered into this last challenge of 2024!

If you need some inspiration head over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog and check out the cards that are posted! 

Have an amazing day and Merry Christmas!

Jen