A Jar of Flowery Thanks — FMS243

Posted on June 29, 2016 by amyoneillblog

It’s my turn to be the hostess over at Freshly Made Sketches, and I am excited to share the sketch with you. I always stress a little bit about designing the sketch. I don’t want to make it too hard, but this is a challenge, so I don’t want to make it too basic either. I hope I found a good middle ground, and I think it will work with lots of different styles. So I can’t wait to see what everyone does with it!

I decided to use a new stamp set with it. It’s called Jar of Love, and it has an amazing coordinating set of framelits as well. This set is so versatile and it’s just beautiful!

I used a color scheme of Dapper Denim, Calypso Coral, Pool Party and Pear Pizzazz. The dsp is from the A Little Foxy dsp stack.

I’d love to see you make your own card using the sketch! We always look forward to looking through the gallery each week and seeing your creativity. Meanwhile, be sure to see what the design team made this week over at the Freshly Made Sketches site. I’ve had a sneak peek, and they’ve made some amazing cards!

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Fresh Fruit — FMS242

Posted on June 22, 2016 by amyoneillblog

It’s time for another new sketch over at the Freshly Made Sketches site, and this week our talented friend, Narelle Farrugia, from Australia is our hostess. This is the treat that she has for us:

One of the things that I love about Summertime is fresh fruit! Cherries, strawberries, peaches, melons, you name it — I love it! So this cute Fresh Fruit stamp set was calling my name this week, as it definitely feels like Summer around here.

I started this card by smooshing some Daffodil Delight ink onto a piece of thick Whisper White cardstock. After it dried, I spritzed on some Gold Wink of Stella and Basic Black ink.

I stamped the the peach and pear with Pear Pizzazz and Peekaboo Peach inks. I added some Gold Metallic Thread and a strip of Gold Glimmer Paper.

I love how this two-step stamp set makes the images look watercolored.

The black and white striped background was made using the new Diagonal Stripe Background Stamp. I’m just going to leave this one out on my desk, I think. I love being able to easily make a piece of striped paper in any color I need.

We hope you’ll join us and play along with the challenge this week! Jump on over to the Freshly Made Sketches site to see what the design team made for a big dose of creative inspiration. They will wow you! Plus, we have a fun announcement today — two new guest designers! And they are fabulous!

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Moroccan Birthday — FMS241

Posted on June 15, 2016 by amyoneillblog

It’s time for another sketch over at the Freshly Made Sketches site! And this week our hostess is our super talented friend from New Zealand, Karren Johnson. Look at the versatile sketch she has for us:

I thought this was a perfect sketch to show off some new dsp. Have you seen the new Moroccan dsp? I love the colors and patterns in this paper.

I started by embossing the medallion image with clear embossing powder on Dapper Denim cardstock. I then stamped the lights on Very Vanilla cardstock and cut them out with my paper snips.

I added a little bit of the new gold 1/4″ Natural Trim. This ribbon is so pretty and adds just a little bit of sparkle.

We hope you’ll make your own card using the sketch and post it in the gallery. We love to see what you make! Meanwhile, be sure to visit the Freshly Made Sketches site to see what the design team made this week for a dose of inspiration.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Pop of Pink Pun — FMS240

Posted on June 8, 2016 by amyoneillblog

It’s Summer vacation here in our household, and I’m having a hard time keeping track of what day of the week it is. I’m pretty sure it’s Wednesday, and that means it’s time for another sketch challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches. This week our hostess in none other than our dear Canadian friend, Jen Brum. And look at what she has for us:

What a fun sketch, huh! I decided to ink up a fun new hostess set called Pun Intended. I do love a good pun, and the images in this set are really cute.

I paired this stamp set with the Pop of Pink Specialty dsp, and used one of the new Layering Squares Framelits. I love the little scallops.

We’d love for you to join us and create your own card using the sketch. It’s always fun to look through the gallery and visit your blogs. Meanwhile, be sure to hop on over to the Freshly Made Sketches site to see what the design team created this week for a big dose of inspiration.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Day Hello — FMS239

Posted on June 1, 2016 by amyoneillblog

Summer vacation for my kiddos is so close I can almost taste it! Just one more day of school! But two great things happen today — no waiting! Stampin’ Up! has released its new catalog, and we can finally order whatever we like (and I have a long list). It’s also Wednesday, which means we have a new sketch for you over at Freshly Made Sketches. Our hostess this week is our favorite Floridian, Cindy Hall. And she has a super versatile sketch for us:

I needed to make a quick card for this one, so I pulled out a new kit that is available today, called the Oh Happy Day Card Kit. It has all kinds of great stuff in it to make 20 cards. Of course, I can’t be bothered to look at the simple instructions, so I just dove in and pulled out some of the elements that I like and thought would work with the sketch rather than making one of the fabulous card ideas provided in the kit. That’s one of the great things about these kits — they provide you with instructions on how to make great projects with the kit contents, or you can go rogue and make whatever you want.

The only stamping I did on this card was the sentiment, and that stamp is from a Paper Pumpkin stamp set that I received a while back. Everything else on the card came from the kit.

We hope you’ll join us and make your own card using the sketch! We love to look through the gallery and see what you make. Meanwhile, be sure to head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches site to see what the design team created. They inspire me every time!

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Flamingo Paradise — FMS238

Posted on May 25, 2016 by amyoneillblog

We have another sketch for you over at the Freshly Made Sketches site today. And this week our hostess is our super talented friend from Colorado, Kim Singdahlsen. Take a look at what she has for us:

This sketch is right up my alley! I’ll call it “clean collage style.” I have a new stamp set, Pop of Paradise, that will be available next week when the new catalog goes live, and I have been itching to ink it up. I’ve paired it here with a piece of Pop of Pink Specialty DSP.

I stamped the flamingo with Flirty Flamingo ink (what better color could there be for a flamingo stamp, right?) and sponged on a little Melon Mambo ink on the wing area. The leaf was stamped with Emerald Envy ink. I used a little strip of Pop of Pink Designer Washi Tape to help hold the doily down and to give the flamingo something on which to stand.

We hope you’ll play along and make your own card using the sketch and post it in the gallery. We love to see what you make! Meanwhile, be sure to hop on over to the Freshly Made Sketches site for some inspiration and to see what the design team made.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Eat all the Cake–FMS237

Posted on May 18, 2016 by amyoneillblog

We have another sketch ready for you over at the Freshly Made Sketches site! And this week our hostess is the lovely Linda Callahan, whose stamping and sense of humor always bring a smile to my face. Look at what she has for us this week:

The sky is the limit with this sketch! Sometimes sketches help me narrow down my stamp set choices by what will fit/work with the sketch. But with this sketch, one could use just about anything. So, I decided to make a birthday card because I needed one. Plus, I have a new set that will be released with the new catalog on June 1st, called Birthday Banners, and I’ve been wanting to play with it.

I started by stamping the candle images with Watermelon Wonder and Pool Party inks. I stamped the flames with So Saffron and Crushed Curry inks by using the Rock ‘n Roll technique (stamp the entire image with the lighter color, So Saffron, and then roll the edge of the image on the darker color’s ink pad to pick up a little of its color on one side).

The banner was stamped on a piece of Whisper White cardstock using Peekaboo Peach and Dapper Denim inks, and popped up with Stampin’ Dimensionals. I added some It’s My Party Enamel Dots and Gold Metallic Thread for some embellishments.

This card has lots of white space — way more than I’m typically comfortable using. And now that I look at the photos, I see that my photography doesn’t show the scoring lines I used that go with the sketch. Sigh… They are more visible in person.

We hope you’ll join us and create your own card using the sketch! We love looking through the gallery and seeing your work! For a dose of creative inspiration, head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches site and see what the design team has in store for you this week! You’ll be wowed!

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Adios Cute Typewriter — FMS236

Posted on May 11, 2016 by amyoneillblog

We have another sketch challenge for you over at the Freshly Made Sketches site, and this week our super talented friend, Rita Wright, is our hostess. Check out what she has for us:

Since I’m still in mourning over the upcoming retirement of some beloved stamp sets, I used one of these sets for this sketch. I love the cute little typewriter in the Tap Tap Tap set.

I used a color palette of Pool Party, Smoky Slate and Basic Gray, and my favorite new In Color which will be available starting June 1st, Peekaboo Peach. It is such a happy shade of peach and I know I am going to have fun using it with many different colors.
I used a piece of Schoolhouse dsp for the background. I love how the fun polka dots on the dsp mimic the cute typewriter alphabet.

We hope you’ll play along and create your own card using the sketch! If you’d like some inspiration, head over to the Freshly Made Sketches site to see what the design team created this week.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Sweet Sugarplum Rose Garden — FMS224

Posted on April 27, 2016 by amyoneillblog

We have another new sketch for you over at the Freshly Made Sketches site today, and our favorite pilot, Jennifer Timko, is our fearless hostess. Take a look at what she has for us:

Your possibilities are pretty endless with this one! I wasn’t sure where to start when choosing a stamp set, so I decided to focus instead on a set of dies that I love but haven’t used much — the Rose Garden Thinlits dies.

I got a box of goodies from the upcoming new catalog, and had to break open the new In Colors cardstock package. I decided to use one of the new colors, Sweet Sugarplum, for the flower on this card.

I applied a layer of Clear Wink of Stella on top of the flower, so it’s really sparkly in person. The flower was placed on a layer of Color Me Irresistible Specialty dsp in the Tip Top Taupe color.

Some little bits of Tip Top Taupe 1″ Dotted Lace Trim were added as embellishments, and the sentiment is from the Picture Perfect stamp set.

So what do you think of the new color? I have a hard time describing it. Sometimes I think it looks like a shade of purple. Sometimes it looks like a mauve. And with the Tip Top Taupe, it almost looks pink. Hmmm….

We hope you’ll play along and join us in this week’s challenge. You can jump over to the Freshly Made Sketches site for some inspiration. The other designers always inspire me!

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Retiring Star — FMS233

Posted on April 20, 2016 by amyoneillblog

It’s my week to be the hostess over at Freshly Made Sketches, and I can’t wait to see what you do with the sketch. Here it is:

Stampin’ Up! will soon be retiring lots of products to make room for new stuff in the upcoming annual catalog. I’ve seen the new catalog, and I love so many things in it! It makes the pain of losing some old favorites a little easier. So before they retire, I am going to try to use as many of my favorites as I can.

I started by pulling Pictogram Punches off my shelf. I love this set and will be sad to see it go. I paired it with some other retiring products — Color Me Irresistible dsp, the Eclectic paper-piercing pack, a Brights Designer Button (still crying over the loss of buttons), the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack, and the It’s My Party dsp stack.

I used a color combo of Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, and Smoky Slate. The little stars on the main panel are from the Be the Star stamp set — also retiring.

I hope you’ll make your own card using the sketch! I always love to see how you interpret the sketch. Meanwhile, you can jump over to the Freshly Made Sketches site for some inspiration from the design team. They did a fantastic job with it!

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!