Winter Frost Sparkle –FMS106

Posted on October 2, 2013 by amyoneillblog

I’m excited! I get to host the challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches this week. Here’s the sketch:

I just got the Festive Flurry bundle yesterday (resistance was futile), so I decided to break it out and use the snowflake die for the circle shape in the sketch.

I hope you’ll join us for this challenge. You can check out what the other designers made at the Freshly Made Sketches site here.

In other news, my Mother-in-Law is getting out of the hospital tomorrow. She is slowly recovering from her broken hip. My brother-in-law from New York is staying with her this next week, so she’ll have someone with her. I tell you, a broken hip looks like a very painful injury — wouldn’t wish it on anyone! We bought a new (used) car yesterday to replace the one my husband totaled in his accident on the way to the hospital for my MIL’s surgery last week. It’s nice to have that off my plate — shopping for a car takes a lot of time. I’m ready to have some regular time for stamping again!

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Paper: Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, Winter Frost Specialty dsp, Silver Foil Sheets, Silver Glimmer Paper
Embellishments: Festive Flurry framelits, Expressions Thinlits dies, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, Silver 1/8″ Ribbon

Wahoo! Let’s play Four Square — FMS

Posted on September 25, 2013 by amyoneillblog

Alyssa has a great sketch for us over at Freshly Made Sketches this week!

This sketch made me think of the game, four square, that my daughter loved to play at recess in elementary school. I guess that technically, there are five squares in this sketch but I chose to do something a little different with the one on top. In accordance with my rebellious nature (not), I chose to make it a rectangle.

This card came together quickly for me. I knew I wanted to use the new My Paper Pumpkin stamp I just got last week (that’s where the cute file folder piece came from too), and the I Am Me dsp because it’s fun and bright.

You can see what the other design team members made at the Freshly Made Sketches site. I hope you can join us this week!

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Wahoo (My Paper Pumpkin)
Ink: Real Red, Basic Gray
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Gray, I am Me dsp
Embellishments: September My Paper Pumpkin kit, Real Red 1/4″ Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Basic Rhinestone Jewels

Poinsettia Joy — FMS104

Posted on September 18, 2013 by amyoneillblog

Are you ready for another sketch challenge from the Freshly Made Sketches team? Well, Linda Suarez, who always makes amazing CAS cards, is our hostess this week and has this sketch for us to use:

When I saw the Joyful Christmas set in the holiday catalog, I knew I had to get it. I love poinsettias at Christmas-time. I always buy several to decorate my house, and they just say Christmas to me. I turned the sketch on its side and used stamps from this set for my card.

I embossed the poinsettia with Cherry Cobbler and Wild Wasabi embossing powder, and then colored the petals and leaves with a blender pen.

You can check out what the other designers made with the sketch at the Freshly Made Sketches site. We’ve got a wide variety of projects for you this time. I hope you’ll be able to make the time to join us this week.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Joyful Christmas
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Wild Wasabi
Paper: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Season of Style dsp stack
Embellishments: Cherry Cobbler and Wild Wasabi Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Neutrals Designer Buttons, Linen Thread

Ampersand Happy — FMS103

Posted on September 11, 2013 by amyoneillblog

It’s Wednesday, and that means it’s time for a new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches. The lovely and talented Jen Brum has a fabulous sketch for us this week:

I just love this sketch! I know I’ll be using it again and again! Since I’m in the middle of Hello, Lovely week here on my blog, I wanted to continue with that theme. I’m using the same stamp set on all of my projects this week, hoping to show you how versatile this set truly is.

Ampersands are so trendy right now. This stamp set has a cute ampersand image in it, but for this card I used the ampersand from the Typeset Alphabet Bigz die collection. I stamped the So Saffron medallion repeatedly on the Very Vanilla card stock piece (using a Stamp-a-ma-jig to help with placement).

I haven’t used Blushing Bride enough since that color was brought back this summer. I love it with the other three colors used here.

Swing by and check out what the other designers have to share at the Freshly Made Sketches site. You’ll be inspired, and then hopefully you can play along with us this week.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Come back tomorrow for another Hello, Lovely project. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Hello, Lovely
Ink: So Saffron, Coastal Cabana
Paper: Blushing Bride, Basic Gray, Very Vanilla, Afternoon Picnic dsp
Embellishments: Subtles Designer Buttons, White Baker’s Twine, Typeset Alphabet Bigz dies, Basic Gray 1/4″ Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Subtles Candy Dots, Pearl Basic Jewels

Creepy Crawly — FMS101

Posted on August 28, 2013 by amyoneillblog

This week we have a fun sketch for you at Freshly Made Sketches from the supremely talented Linda Callahan. She is not only talented at paper crafting, but I so enjoy her sense of humor.

When I saw the long panel on this sketch, I knew I wanted to use this fun Halloween stamp from the Halloween Bash stamp set. I colored it with my markers. I swear I use my markers to ink stamps just as much as I do my ink pads. I love my markers!

Did you notice the tiny black scallops along the long panel? I made them with the new Small Scallop Stampin’ Trimmer Rotary Cutting Blade (say that five times really fast :)). It is so easy to use, and I love the effect — it’s very subtle and adds just a little extra something-something.

I hope you can make the time to join us at Freshly Made Sketches this week! The design team has some great inspiration for you at the website here.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Halloween Bash
Ink: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Summer Starfruit, Pumpkin Pie
Paper: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Very Vanilla, Witches Brew dsp
Embellishments: Small Scallop Stampin’ Trimmer Rotary Cutting Blade, Pumpkin Pie 3/4″ Chevron Ribbon, Neutrals Candy Dots

A Touch of Fall — FMS100

Posted on August 21, 2013 by amyoneillblog

It’s a special day at Freshly Made Sketches today! Today we’re celebrating our 100th sketch, and we have some fun things going on over at the site so be sure to go check it out. As part of the festivities, we thought it would be fun to bring back our very first sketch for the challenge this week:

A fun little fact about this sketch is that the super talented Cindy Hall was selected as the Queen of Clean for Sketch #1, and now she’s on the design team.

I decided to use some of my Fall goodies for this card. They’ve just been sitting here staring at me for the past three weeks and I’m finding it hard to get motivated to use them when it’s still 90+ degrees outside.

I went a little crazy with the Gold Glow Smooch Spritz, which is sadly now retired, but I could never get it quite where I wanted it so I kept trying again. And before I knew it, I thought I probably shouldn’t have done that. Oh, well!

One fun new thing I used on this card is the new Small Scallop Stampin’ Trimmer Rotary Cutting Blade. It’s peeking out from under the chevron ribbon. I love this new tool, and I can’t wait to play with it more and the other blades as well. It is so easy to use!

Make sure you go by and check out the Freshly Made Sketches site. There are some surprises over there — including guest designers from the past and some prizes.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Magnificent Maple, Truly Grateful
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango
Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Tangerine Tango, Sweater Weather dsp
Embellishments: Crushed Curry 3/4″ Chevron Ribbon, Early Espresso Baker’s Twine, Naturals Designer Buttons, Small Scallop Stampin’ Trimmer Rotary Cutting Blade, Pearl Basic Jewels, Gold Glow Smooch Spritz, Houndstooth embossing folder

Autumn Temperatures can Come — FMS99

Posted on August 14, 2013 by amyoneillblog

Well, look at that! We’re on sketch #99 at Freshly Made Sketches this week, and the fantabulous (she deserves her own superlative) Rita Wright has a fun sketch for us this week:

Now I will have to say that this one had me stumped for quite a while. I just didn’t know what to put in those circles. I finally decided that they didn’t have to be circles and that I should use hexagons. And then I decided to use little favorites in the negatives of the punched hexagons.

I pulled out some of the new Sweater Weather dsp because I LOVE Fall colors and I’ve been dying to use it. The title of this dsp just made me laugh out loud because I can’t even imagine wearing a sweater — it has been so HOT here the past three weeks. Though I’m not ready for the kids to go back to school, I am ready for some Autumn temperatures.

I hope you can make time to join us with this challenge. Go see what the other designers made at the Freshly Made Sketches site— you’ll see a wide variety of incredible projects this week. And make sure you come back next week for our 100th sketch milestone! There will definitely be a few fun surprises — that’s all I’m saying!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Six-Sided Sampler
Ink: Crushed Curry
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Very Vanilla, Sweater Weather dsp
Embellishments: Naturals Designer Buttons, Early Espresso Baker’s Twine, Pearl Basic Jewels, Hexagon punch, Boho Blossoms punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, Candy Dots Brad Bases, Regals Candy Dots

Little Lovely Romance — FMS 98

Posted on August 7, 2013 by amyoneillblog

It’s Wednesday, and the amazing Jen Mitchell has a fun sketch for us at Freshly Made Sketches:

I decided to make a little 3″x 3″ note card for this sketch, and since I’m having Lovely Romance week, I used the Lovely Romance stamp set. I also used one of the new envelope liner dies — very fun!

I hope you’ll join in this challenge. You can check out what the other designers made at the Freshly Made Sketches site.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Grunge and Hexagons — FMS97

Posted on July 31, 2013 by amyoneillblog

It’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for another sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches, and the super talented, Artisan Award Winning, Jennifer Timko has a fun sketch for us.

In keeping with the Gorgeous Grunge theme this week, I used that stamp set and the Six-Sided Sampler set (the hexagon set). I was slow in getting this set, but now that I have it, I’m having a hard time not using it all of the time.

I’m not sure why, but I’ve had a hard time using the Modern Medley dsp. At convention, it seemed like all of the stamping demonstrations included this dsp — everyone raved about it. So I’m determined to give it a fair shake and use it. And I must say, that I like it on this card. I like it with the softer colors.

I hope you’ll join us in this sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches. You can see what the other designers made here. Come back tomorrow and I’ll have another Gorgeous Grunge project for you.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Six-Sided Sampler
Ink: So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz, Coastal Cabana, Calypso Coral, Basic Black
Paper: So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz, Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Very Vanilla, Modern Medley dsp
Embellishments: Honeycomb embossing folder, Hexagon punch, Basic Rhinestone Jewels (colored with a black Sharpie), staple

Rhino Baby — FMS96

Posted on July 24, 2013 by amyoneillblog

It’s Wednesday, and that means it’s time for another challenge at Freshly Made Sketches. It’s my week to host the challenge, and I wanted to design a card with a tag. Just to mix things up a bit, I turned the tag on its side.

It’s really a pretty simple sketch, and I think it has a lot of possibilities. I pulled out my Zoo Babies set and decided to use the cute little rhino.

I hope you’ll get to play along with us this week. Check out what the other designers did with the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Zoo Babies
Ink: Smoky Slate, Melon Mambo
Paper: Smoky Slate, Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Gingham Garden dsp
Embellishments: Alphabet Press embossing folder, Daffodil Delight 1/2″ Seam Binding Ribbon, Chalk Talk framelits, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, Pearl Basic Jewels, Brights Designer Buttons,