Freshly Made Sketches 300

Can you believe that we've now had 300 sketches at Freshly Made Sketches and been going for 6 years? Crazy!  I have struggled to remain a part of the team lately, but my amazing teammates keep me around anyway.  It's such a supportive group and I'm thankful that Lesley thought enough of me and my cards to ask me to be on the team.   I hope you'll come play along with us this week.  We will have the winners as usual, but one random participant will win all the cards made by the team.  I know I'd love to have them, so come play!

I love this big poinsettia stamp from Stampin' Up! and it seemed perfect for the sketch.  The sentiment is from another set that I know both Jen Timko and I love, Bright Hopes.  I hope my flower looks okay.  My lightest marker ran out and I had to try and finish with it barely working.  I need to get a refill quickly as it's one of my most used ones.  

I'm off to have coffee and wake up.  I hope to see you in the gallery!

...and more Dirty Cards

You guys!  I am still stamping, but I'm tired!  I keep telling myself I don't have to finish them all, but then I find myself making a list of what I need to work on.  lol  I have about six more left, so Jason swears I can do it.  We'll see. :)  This card was a fun one.  I made background with Distress Oxides that I didn't need, so I die cut this pretty Stampin' Up! butterfly from it.  I kept the background simple so it would be the focus.  The embossing paste adds interest without taking away from the pretty colors of the oxides.

It's a MONARCH!  lol I got a newsletter from Inspired by Stamping and they send out digital freebies on it.  One month is was this one and I was so excited.  I finally got it printed up and used it for a challenge.  We are still raising and releasing them.  We had a lull, but the mommas have been in the garden like crazy again lately.  Most of our releases have been female as well, so maybe they'll come back.  

I didn't love this one. I fussed over it, but I couldn't get it to turn out like I'd imagined.  The background is Distress Oxides and the arrows are from my Cameo.  

I figured it was a good time to start teacher cards.  Simple, but I like it. I need more stamps for teachers as these are the only two I have!

And finally, one of my favorites.  I made the background with shaving cream, reinkers, and a stencil.  So fun! If you haven't tried that technique. go to Splitcoast and check out the tutorial.

I'm hopping off to go get ready for Game of Thrones!

Dirty and Dirtier

Not going to lie, I'm about all stamped out.  I have eleven more challenges to go to finish them, but I just don't see it happening.  I guess I forgot how many there were in such a short time when I decided to attempt them all.  I have a few more ideas and some in progress, but it ends Wednesday and I am a slow creator.  Very slow.  lol  One good thing about the challenges is that I'm really using some of my stuff.  I've probably used my Cameo more this week than EVER!  I used it here for the mermaid.  I made her background using Brusho and the cling wrap technique.  So fun!  I think the cling wrap has found a new home.  I'll have to get a new one for the kitchen. :) 

I found this coffee die on clearance a while back and had to have it.  Had I used it? Of course not.  I got a new stencil and thought it might be fun to pair them up.  The background is just distress oxide in Vintage Photo with a wet stencil laid on top.  So easy with cool results! 

During this time around Eli's birthday I always go through weeks where my sleep sucks.  I have been up at 3 and 4am some nights.  Yesterday I got up around 5 and came in to create.  I made this background then and BEFORE coffee.  It turned out kinda cute, so I need to try again after I'm caffeinated and fully awake. It was fun! 

And finally...  the Cameo came in handy again. I had a galaxy background in my stash that needed using and thought it might be fun to cut the saying out of it.  I'll stash it away for Laila's backpack. :)

I'm off to find dinner and maybe work on sketching ideas for a couple more cards.  Eleven is intimidating, but I'm stubborn.  But also tired, so we shall see who wins out. My mojo might have the final say.

Thanks for looking!
Rita

Dare to Get Dirty continuted

A little blast from the past here.  I love cone flowers.  I have them in my garden and I end up with a ton of pictures of them when we go to the arboretum.  I missed getting this set when it was current, but a sweet friend sent me hers because she knew how much I love the flowers.  I thought the silhouette of them would look pretty on a yellow and orange background.  And, remember Tiny Tags? Now that was another favorite of mine and I added some of those too.  That's one set and punch I'll keep for sure.

The other night before I went to bed I made a few backgrounds and left them to dry.  This was one of them.  I was pleasantly surprised when I woke up and saw how it turned out.  Hopefully it reminds you of a beach?  lol  That big huge acrylic block from Stampin' Up! comes in handy for backgrounds sometimes. I tapped on two blues and two browns of distress ink, spritzed it, and laid it on watercolor paper to try.  Doesn't get much easier than that!

Oh look! More cone flowers.  lol  Power Poppy had this beautiful digital stamp, so of course I needed it.  Since I had Tiny Tags on my desk, I used the friends stamp to add a little sentiment. I am really liking digital stamps lately, but my printer gets a bit grumpy about it.  I need to make sure the next one we get has an option to feed the paper differently.

We went school clothes and shoe shopping today.  I can't believe it's so close!  It does start later here on the 28th, so a little while longer at least.

Dare to Get Dirty Day Something or Other

I'm back!  This card here totally derailed my creativity.  I struggled forever to find a layout that worked and tore it apart several times.  I had to color the girl a couple times.  It almost made me give on the challenges, but I'm back in the game now.  :)  I love this sweet little image.  Perfect get well card for a tea lover.

I've been trying to play with my watercolors a bit more, so this one is pretty simple.  A watercolor wash and then the die cut and sentiment.  I decided to add some sequins because I have so many!

I woke up at 5am today and couldn't go back to sleep. I figured I'd come color a bit.  I ended up with this card.  I love these little critters and it's been ages since I'd used them.  I don't have a lot of birthday cards for kids, so this will be gladly added to my stash. 

And finally this guy.  I don't have a clue about steampunk, but I found this image and thought it would be the closest to my style that I'd find.  It was fun and HARD to color, but I did it!  Whew!

I'm off to shower and then head out to the doctor.  It's a rainy blah day, so maybe I'll get more cards made when I get back.  :) 

Dare to Get Dirty Day 2 cont.

More fall colors.  :)  I tried a new technique using tissue paper and distress inks.  It was fun and the result is pretty neat.  I need to try it again with some brighter colors.  I think yellows would be pretty, maybe some blues?  If you want to try it, cut out some tissue, spread some distress inks on a craft mat, spritz with water, lay the tissue over it and let it absorb the colors, and then carefully pick up the tissue and lay it on a paper towel to try.  It works beautifully with Stampin' Up! inks, so I might give those a go!

Finally a simple card.  I think bees and hexagons make a cute card.  Plus yellow and black are a favorite color combination of mine.  I got a new little bug and insect set to make notes for Laila, so I borrowed the cute little bees for this one.  

And finally a little Christmas card.  I figured I should get at least one Christmas in July card made before we start a new month.  Not much stamping here.  I just added a little of the Stampin' Up! Dictionary background stamp on the birch trees.  It adds a little interest, but doesn't take over the card.  I'm hoping my cardboard deer doesn't look like he's been flame broiled at Burger King.  lol 

That's it for today. I didn't manage to get any of the challenges for today done, so now I'm five behind.  Oh well.  I like to try to do them all, but life gets in the way sometimes.  This is one of the rough weeks of the year for me with Eli's birthday coming up on Wednesday, so I try to distract myself by creating.  I hope you're not getting tired of all the posts.  

Have a nice week.

Rita

DTGD Day 2

A bonus second post today!  I've been working away as much as I can today.  I have three more finished and three more to go to be caught up.  I don't know if it will happen. lol I'm getting tired.  I wish it didn't take me so long to make them.  I get caught up and it gets out of hand.  I don't even know how long this one took.  Have you tried the cling wrap background?  I thought it was easy and came out really neat.  It was a perfect under the sea background.  I love trying new techniques, especially the ones that work. :)  I'm doing good on my plan to use my Cameo more.  The seaweed was done with that.  I need to buy less dies, so that should help.

This was one of those throw things at it and hope it comes out looking okay kind of cards.  I can't really do the collage look very well, but I love trying it.  The background is made with Brusho.  I love the Stampin' Up! Butterfly dies.  Laila has already asked me to make a Monarch with it after she saw this one.  :)

This one is super simple.  That image is so pretty that I wanted it to be the focus.  I love trying to color it.  It is a nice test of using neutrals and coloring apples.  Plus, HEDGEHOGS!  Who doesn't love those!

Now I have to take a break and run back to the store.  We decided to have quesadillas tonight, so we need a rotisserie chicken.  At least it's only one thing to go get and there's tons of choices of where to go. 

Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow for more cards! 

Dare to Get Dirty Day 1 Continued

I managed to get four cards and a background for the fifth completed yesterday.  I swear it's impossible to stamp without interruptions, so I'm proud that I was able to knock out that many.  Why do husbands need you to come look at stuff when you're busy crafting?  I swear it's ONLY when I'm stamping.  There's nothing that needs looked at any other time.  lol  Crazy! Anyway, I thought this card was kinda fun. The paper seemed to go well with the sentiment.  I kept it black and white to match that. I used the Geek is Chic set from My Favorite Things, as well as their Blueprints 18 that I scored in the retirement sale last week.  It's been on my wishlist for ages, so I had to get it while I could.  :)

This was my card I made after everyone was in bed last night.  It was way too messy to attempt with a kid and kitten constantly invading my room.  I don't usually like heat embossing because I make a mess and it always looks bad.  I think this one turned out okay.  The distress inks distract from any bad embossing. ;)  It's made with the Flora background and Sketch Ranunculus sets from Simon Says Stamp.

I'm off to watch some morning shows and try to do a bit of creating before laundry.  Enjoy your Sunday!