It’s time for a new sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, and this week our sketch comes all the way from Colorado, which is where I would love to be to escape this Texas heat.  Our hostess is Kim Singdahlsen, and she has a good challenge for us.  Take a look:

This sketch had me stumped for a while.  We’ve been traveling a lot and have had so much going on the past couple of months that I haven’t been stamping very much.  I feel rusty.  I have a few new stamp sets, and I really wanted to use them but I couldn’t figure out how to make them work with this sketch.  So I turned to an old favorite, Tropical Chic.

This was my first time to use the new In Color, Pretty Peacock.  I love it!  I paired it with a mix of greens, oranges and yellows.

We hope you’ll join us and create your own card using the sketch.  We love to browse the gallery and see all you make.  Meanwhile, be sure to stop by the Freshly Made Sketches site to see what the design team has created for your inspiration.

Enjoy your Wednesday!  Thanks for stopping by!

Product List

Well it’s time for another new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches, and this week our favorite Coloradan, Kim Singdahlsen, has a fun sketch for us.  Take a peek:

Now that the retirement list has been posted, I tend to get a little nostalgic about sets that will be leaving us.   It makes me want to use them all one last time.  The Tropical Chic bundle is on the list and I hadn’t used it in a long time, so I decided to dust it off.  After I finished the card though, I noticed that it isn’t really retiring.  It’s just being improved to cling-mount.  This switch really makes the whole retirement list thing extra confusing.

I started by inking the focal leaf with Pear Pizzazz ink, stamping off once, and then sponging on some Granny Apple Green ink in the center.  I die-cut this image and the two background leaves from Call Me Clover card stock.

The dsp is from the Tropical Escape dsp pack.  Some Happiness Blooms enamel dots and linen thread were added as embellishments.

We hope you’ll join us and create your own card using the sketch.  Meanwhile be sure to stop by the Freshly Made Sketches site and see what the design team has created for your inspiration.

Enjoy your Wednesday!  Thanks for stopping by!

Product List

It’s time for a new sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, and this week it is my turn to be the hostess.  I focused my sketch on the rule of thirds — a photography technique where the focal image isn’t centered, but is off to one side.   Just picture a tic-tac-toe frame, and place the focal image on one of the red intersection dots.  This helps draw the viewer’s eye to the composition of the card instead of just glancing at the center.  It’s pleasing to the eye.  However, as with most artistic rules, it’s a rule that doesn’t have to be followed.  Sometimes, centered is better.

Well, enough of that.  Here’s the sketch:

Not only did I consider the rule of thirds for the sketch, but I made the focal image a cluster of three — another composition trick that is pleasing to the eye.  I decided to use images from the Tropical Chic set.

I started this one by adhering a piece of Tropical Escape dsp to the card base.  I then embossed the sentiment on a slightly smaller piece of vellum card stock and adhered it on top of the dsp.  A strip of dsp from the Brights dsp stack was placed on the vellum, and the focal images were arranged on it as well.

Each image was stamped using two different ink colors.  I stamped the whole image with the lighter color, and then used a sponge dauber to add a little darker ink around the edges.

We hope you’ll join us and create your own card using the sketch.  I can’t wait to see how everyone uses the rule of thirds this week.  Meanwhile, be sure to stop by the Freshly Made Sketches site to see what the design team has created for your inspiration.

Enjoy your Wednesday!  Thanks for stopping by!

Product List

August has arrived, and it has hit me that Summer is almost over in our household.  The girls go back to school in less than two weeks now, and my oldest goes back to his university in just a little over two weeks.  And I was just getting used to our Summer routine!  Well, time flies in the stamping world too.  It’s time for another new sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, and this week our talented Canadian friend, Jen Brum, is our hostess.  She has a fun sketch for us.  Take a look:

I still had the Tropical Escape suite of products out on my desk from my last card, and while I was putting it away I thought that one of the dies would work with the sketch.  However it is ONE large square die, while the sketch has four.  But the one square has four leaves in it, so I thought I could take some creative liberties with the sketch.

I started by running five pieces of card stock through the Big Shot — one each of Shaded Spruce, Pineapple Punch, Lemon Lime Twist, Mango Melody, and Whisper White.  I then cut out the individual leaves with my paper snips and glued them onto the white die-cut.

A piece of Whisper White was embossed with the Subtle embossing folder (love that thing!) to add a linen-like look.  The sentiment was stamped with Shaded Spruce ink, which I had never used before and I have to say I really like this color.

We hope you’ll join us and create your own card using the sketch.  We love to see your work as we browse the gallery.  Meanwhile, be sure to stop by the Freshly Made Sketches site to see what the design team has created for your inspiration!

Enjoy your Wednesday!  Thanks for stopping by!

Product List