Howl-o-ween Treat — FMS201

Posted on August 26, 2015 by amyoneillblog

Wow! What a great week we had celebrating our 200th sketch last week at Freshly Made Sketches! We had such a great turnout, and it was so fun to look at all of the cards in the gallery. I hope you enjoyed it too, and I hope you’re ready for sketch number 201. Our so-very-talented friend from Australia, Narelle Farrugia, is our hostess this week. Narelle is the queen of layers, so it is no surprise that there are some layers on her fun sketch:

I have another sneak peek of some new products in the Holiday Catalog, which will be released on September 1. There were two stamp sets with coordinating dies that immediately went to the top of my wish list, and I’ve used one of them today — the Howl-o-Ween Treat stamp set and coordinating Boo to You Framelits Dies. I love Halloween, but I’m not a fan of the scary stuff. I like cute Halloween stuff. And this set is perfectly cute.

I’ve also used some other fun new products — the Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Black Glimmer Paper, and Happy Haunting dsp. I also used the new Basic Black Archival ink pad, which I am loving.

We hope you’ll play along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches. You should click on over to the Freshly Made Sketches website to see what the design team made with this sketch for a big dose of inspiration.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Autumn Box Cheer — Monday Montage #50

Posted on August 23, 2015 by amyoneillblog

Welcome to another Monday Montage blog hop! We have ten stampers who love to share what we create, and every other Monday we get together for a blog hop. All you have to do to follow along is click on the links at the bottom of each post.

I have some sneak peeks for you tonight. One of the items I was most excited to see in the new Holiday Catalog is a Square Pillow Box Thinlits Die. It comes with all sorts of cute embellishment dies and even comes with some cute window dies.

I decided to make another Fall-themed project because I LOVE Fall. So I decorated it with some Fall-themed products from the Holiday Catalog.

I started by cutting some Tip top Taupe card stock with the Square Pillow Box die and then embossing it with the Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. I then sponged on a little White Craft ink to highlight the trees. I thought they reminded me of some of the beautiful Birch trees we saw while in Alaska last summer.

I added a square of window sheet behind the window, which I cut out with one of the dies in the pillow box framelits set.

The feathers, acorn and sentiment were stamped using a super cute new set in the Holiday Catalog called Cheer All Year. I love every image and sentiment in this set. I used Delightful Dijon, Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze, and Early Espresso ink for my color combination.

Next time I go to the store I’ll need to pick up some Fall themed M&Ms and fill the box with them. It will make a cute surprise for a teacher or one of my kids.

You’re ready to hop on over to Breelin Renwick’s blog. She is amazing and you will love what she has to share. If you prefer to work your way backwards, you can hop over to Wendy Weixler’s blog for a dose of stamping inspiration.

Enjoy your Monday! Thanks for stopping by!

It’s a Celebration for FMS#200!

Posted on August 19, 2015 by amyoneillblog

Are you ready for this?!? I know I am, and the rest of the design team at Freshly Made Sketches is too. We are celebrating our 200th sketch this week, and we’ve invited some amazing sponsors to help us celebrate. They have all generously donated prizes for this milestone.

We would love to have you join us and share in the fun. All you have to do is make a card using the sketch and follow the simple rules shared on the Freshly Made Sketches post and you will be eligible to win some great prizes. Two winners will be selected as the Queen (King) of Clean and will win the grand prize packages, and 20+ others will randomly be selected as winners of other fabulous prizes. How fun!

I guess I should share the sketch, so you can start planning your card, right?

Super simple and lots of room for creativity with this one!

I pulled out my new Vintage Leaves stamp set for this challenge. It has been so hot here in Texas, and I am ready for Fall. My girls went back to school this week so I feel like it’s fair to start pulling out the Fall-themed sets. Hopefully, Fall is right around the corner.

I used a color combo of Old Olive ( with Mellow Moss ink), Tangelo Twist (with Cajun Craze ink), Crushed Curry (with Delightfully Dijon ink), and Cajun Craze (with Cajun Craze ink) for the leaves. I used a sponge dauber and Early Espresso ink to color the Expressions Natural Elements sentiment. The “from all of us” sentiment is from the Crazy About You stamp set.

I sponged a little Soft Sky ink onto the Very Vanilla card base and spritzed on some Early Espresso splatters as well.

Not only can you see the rest of the design team’s inspiring work with this sketch over at the Freshly Made Sketches site, but you can also see lots of cards made by our sponsors’ design teams as well. You’d better go refill your coffee and settle in for a fun viewing experience. Just make sure to save some time to make your own card so you can be eligible to win one of our great prizes!

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Remarkable Leaves — FMS199

Posted on August 12, 2015 by amyoneillblog

Hello, and happy Wednesday! It’s time for another sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, and this week Karren Johnson, our fabulous friend from New Zealand, is our hostess and she has a great sketch for us that you are sure to love:

I’ve been on vacation with my family and have missed the past couple of challenges. In fact, I haven’t stamped in over three weeks (and that’s a LONG time for me). I was worried I wouldn’t remember how to make a card. But Karren’s sketch made it easier to jump back in and get my feet wet.

I pulled the Remarkable You stamp set off my dusty shelf because it has large images and there’s a lot of blank space on this sketch, which kinda scared me a little. I paired the image with the Pretty Petals dsp stack, and that is where I got my colors.

I started by stamping the leaves with Old Olive ink and then colored them with a blender pen. I cut them out with my paper snips and added some punched Calypso Coral flowers. The sentiment was cut from Mint Macaron card stock using the Greetings Thinlits dies.

We hope you’ll play along with us and make your own card using the sketch. You can jump on over to the Freshly Made Sketches site to see how the design team interpreted the sketch this week for some inspiration.

Be sure to join us next week when we celebrate the 200th sketch at Freshly Made Sketches. We’re all excited to celebrate this milestone, and we have some fun surprises for you — we have lots of awesome sponsors lined up.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Remarkable You — Monday Montage #49

Posted on August 9, 2015 by amyoneillblog

Welcome to another Monday Montage blog hop. We have ten stampers who share our creations every other week, and all you have to do to follow along is click on the links at the bottom of each post.

This is the third and last swap I made for convention. It was for a swap with a group of stampers that were all convention display stampers last year. I love every single one of the swaps I received!

I used the Remarkable You stamp set for my card, and started with a watercolor wash of Pool Party ink on the Whisper White Thick Card Stock to add a soft blue background. I then added some black splatters with a stamp from Gorgeous Grunge. Some Silver Metallic Thread was swirled around, and then I fussy cut one of the flowers from Remarkable You, which I had watercolored with Watermelon Wonder ink.

I thought the sentiment was appropriate, as so many of the ladies in this group are stampers that I so admire.

Speaking of ladies that I admire, you are ready to hop on over to Breelin Renwick’s blog. If you prefer to work your way backwards you can venture over to Wendy Weixler’s blog. Either way be sure to work your way through all ten blogs.

Enjoy your Monday! Thanks for stopping by!

Snappy Crab Convention Swap

Posted on July 31, 2015 by amyoneillblog

One of the things that I most love about attending Stampin’ Up’s annual convention is seeing friends that I usually only get to see electronically during the rest of the year. Our group does a swap and dinner each year and I always look forward to it. It’s such a great group of women, and they happen to be talented stampers as well.

This is the card I made for our swap using the You’re Sublime stamp set.

I used the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set for the background, and I watercolored Mr. Crab with Real Red and So Saffron ink. I added some gold metallic thread (because I am completely addicted to this stuff) and some punched Gold Foil stars from the Confetti Stars Border Punch and a gold star sequin. The dsp is from Everyday Chic.

This crab makes me smile, so it wasn’t too hard to make 30 of these cards. Even after coloring him that many times I still think he’s cute.

Enjoy your Friday! Thanks for stopping by!

A Convention Swap — Monday Montage #48

Posted on July 26, 2015 by amyoneillblog

We have another Monday Montage blog hop scheduled for you today. There are ten of us stampers who participate, and all you have to do to follow along is click on the links at the bottom of each post.

I typed this post up and scheduled it to post tonight before I left for Stampin’ Up’s convention in Salt Lake City. One of the things that I always look forward to at Convention is seeing friends that I only get to see once a year. There were only five of us from this Monday Montage group going to Convention this year, but we were excited to get together for hugs and a little swapping. This is the card I made for these sweet friends.

I used the Friendly Wishes stamp set for the fun sentiment. I also used a stamp from Tin of Cards for the little cross border. The paper is from Schoolhouse and Cherry on Top. I even dusted off my sewing machine to sew the banner onto the card.

You’re ready to hop on over to Breelin Renwick’s blog to see her beautiful work. If you prefer to work you way backwards, you can hop over to Wendy Weixler’s blog for some creative inspiration. Either way, be sure you work your way through all of the links.

Enjoy your Monday! Thanks for stopping by!

A Cup of Cheer — FMS196

Posted on July 22, 2015 by amyoneillblog

It’s Wednesday, and that means that we have a new sketch for you over at Freshly Made Sketches. This week Cindy Hall is our hostess, and she always amazes me with her attention to detail in her beautiful creations. Look at the sketch she has for us this week:

I had just received my new Paper Pumpkin kit in the mail, and I’ve been so busy preparing for Convention this week, that I didn’t have much time to make a card for this sketch. But then it hit me that this kit would work perfectly with this sketch.

I only added a couple of little pieces that weren’t included in the kit — the sequins and a strip of Tangelo Twist card stock. This card came together in no time.

We hope you’ll join us and make your own creation with the sketch. We always love to see what you make each week. Meanwhile, you can check out what the design team made at the Freshly Made Sketches site for some inspiration.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

You’re the Best — FMS195

Posted on July 15, 2015 by amyoneillblog

We have another fun sketch for you over at Freshly Made Sketches today, and the lovely and talented Kim Singdahlsen has a clean and simple sketch for us.

I stayed really true to the sketch this time, and pulled out a new stamp set, Friendly Wishes which I inked up with my Stampin’ Write markers. I love the fun sentiments in this set. I paired the stamp with some of the Schoolhouse dsp.

I used Pacific Point on this card. I haven’t used that color in a really long time, and it is such a pretty color. I paired it with Daffodil Delight and Tangerine Tango. These colors came right from the dsp.

We hope you’ll join us for this challenge and make your own card using the sketch. It’s always fun for us to visit the gallery. Meanwhile, you can hop over to the Freshly Made Sketches site to see what the design team made for a dose of inspiration.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Artistic Dragonfly — Monday Montage #47

Posted on July 12, 2015 by amyoneillblog

We’re back again with another Monday Montage Blog Hop. We have ten different stampers that participate, and we all share a different project with you. All you have to do to follow along is click on the links at the bottom of each post.

I have a new stamp set that I haven’t been able to ink up yet, so I thought this was a great time to do so. I liked Awesomely Artistic the first time I saw it in the catalog, but I thought I didn’t need it. Ha! I started seeing other beautiful creations using it, and then came to the decision that I definitely “needed” it.

I absolutely love having my kids home for the summer, but I have to say that it has drastically reduced my creative time. When I do have a chance to sit down and stamp, it has to be quick. This set surprisingly made a really fast card. There are so many great elements from which to choose, that it makes a beautiful collage so easily and quickly.

I added a few fun, extra elements like the Expressions Natural Elements, In Color Blossom Accents, Pearl Basic Jewels, and Gold Metallic Thread. The color scheme is Calypso Coral, Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey and Kraft.

You’re ready to hop on over to Breelin Renwick’s blog for a dose of her fun creativity. If you prefer to work your way backwards, you can venture over to the ever talented Wendy Weixler’s blog. Either way, be sure to work your way through all of the blogs.

Enjoy your Monday! Thanks for stopping by!