Celebrate Fresh Inspiration (A Little Late)

Hi All! I just wanted to share a card that I made for my niece. The inspiration came from this Freshly Made Sketches challenge:

This was actually last week's sketch, but I didn't get my card mailed until late, and I didn't want to post it until I was sure my niece received her card. Soooooo...... (It was fresh inspiration when I made it!) ;-)

Here's my take on the sketch:

I had so much fun making this card! I began by layering Thistle cardstock on a Neenah Solar White 110lb card base, and then set it aside to work on the front panel.

For said panel, I ran a 4 x 5 1/4-inch piece of White Daisy cardstock through my Big Shot Plus machine using the new Happy Thoughts embossing folder by Close To My Heart. I then cut a strip of Sea Glass glitter paper and added it to the embossed layer with regular adhesive. 

I cut the striped panel from paper from the Whimsy Fundamentals paper pack and added two strips of gold foiled dotted vellum from the Uptown Fundamental paper pack to the back of it, and popped the whole thing over the Sea Glass glitter paper with foam tape.

I cut Celebrate from Sea Glass glitter paper using the new Celebrate Thin Cuts Die by Close To My Heart and added it to a third strip of the dotted vellum with foam tape. I then popped that strip up over the striped paper using strategically placed foam tape.

I cut "You" from the gold striped paper in the Uptown Fundamentals paper pack using My Favorite Things Little Letters Die-namics Dies. I tucked them under the vellum and adhered them with Liquid Glass.  I then finished things off with a liberal sprinkling of purple and clear sequins from 28 Lilac Lane. I added the front panel to the base with regular adhesive. 

Here are a couple of close-ups:

So better late than never! Hopefully we'll be back on schedule with some sketch challenges this week. In the meantime, have a wonderfully creative day!

CTMH Uptown Fundamentals Paper Pack	CTMH Whimsy Fundamentals Paper Pack	CTMH Thistle Cardstock	CTMH Sea Glass Glitter Paper
CTMH White Daisy Cardstock	CTMH Celebrate Thin Cuts	CTMH Happy Thoughts Embossing Folder	Neenah Solar White Cardstock (110LB)
CTMH 3D Foam Tape	CTMH Liquid Glass	MFT Little Letters Die-namics	On Lilac Lane (28 Lilac Lane)
Pastels Sequin Tin (28 Lilac Lane)

InLinkz.com

Freshly Made For the Bride & Groom

Hi All! I just wanted to share a wedding card I created with inspiration from the current sketch at Freshly Made Sketches. Here's the sketch:

And here's my take:

I made this card for some wonderful friends who tied the knot this weekend in Florida. (They had a lovely outdoor ceremony with perfect weather!--That's not as easy to come by in South Florida as one might think...)

So the card base is the standard 4 1/4 x 5 1/2-inch base made from White Daisy Cardstock. The blackboard paper is a Picture My Life card from the For Always collection that I cut down to size. The sentiments are from the Celebrate Love stamp set by Close To My Heart. I heat-embossed each of the sentiments. "Just Married" was stamped in Versa Mark Ink and embossed using White Superfine Embossing Powder. The banner and "Mr & Mrs" were stamped on White Daisy Cardstock in Black Pigment Ink and embossed with Clear Superfine Embossing Powder. "Love" was also stamped on White Daisy Cardstock in Cranberry Pigment Ink and also embossed with Clear Superfine Embossing Powder. I used Cranberry Cardstock to mat the "LOVE" sentiment and popped it up using dimensional adhesive. The "Mr & Mrs" banner is also popped up with dimensional adhesive. Finally, I added Slate Diagonal Striped Ribbon and a cute little Red Enamel Heart for an extra pop of color.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

And here is the card one more time:

I hope you enjoyed this little freshly made celebration card! Have a wonderful week!

Better late than never....

So today's card is late in a couple of ways. First, I made it for my nephew whose birthday was at the end of July. It's mid-August.... so yeah, it's late. I also got the design inspiration from last week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge. Ummm...yeah...it's now too late to link up. Still, I enjoyed making it, so thought I'd post it. And after all...better late than never, right?

The card base is White Daisy cardstock cut at 5 x 10 inches and scored at 5 inches. (FYI: square cards need extra postage.) The three colored cardstocks are from the May National Scrapbooking Month special paper pack: Free To Be. All three have very subtle geometric resist patterns on them. The sentiment is stamped on White Daisy cardstock in Lagoon and Chocolate Exclusive Inks. For the boarder I used a retired back ground stamp and stamped it in multiple directions. The other sentiments are from the Reel Life stamp set and some other retired stamps that I have in my stash.

Here are some close-ups:

For the envelope, I cut a 5x7-inch envelope down to 5x5 size and added a flap in matching patterned paper so that the card would have a nice square envelope to match. (This is when I found out that square cards require more postage...) Here's the card with its envelope:

And here is one more look:

Hope you enjoyed my belated little card. I'm sure my nephew will like it and that all will be forgiven when he pulls out the plastic gift card that's inside....

 

 

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A Little Freshly Made Christmas

Hi All! I hope you're having a wonderful end of the summer! My kids went back to school today, so the house is oddly quiet. (I'm NOT complaining, though!)

I'm in the process of making some cards for a swap and thought I'd take the opportunity to play along with some challenges. Today's card is in answer to the challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches. It's the 100th sketch! Congratulations! Here's the sketch:

And here's my take on it:

I kept pretty close to the sketch with this one. The card base is a standard A2 in Colonial White. I used Ruby cardstock for the first layer. The patterned paper is from Close To My Heart's new Frosted Paper pack. The snow flakes are from the Frosted Stickease Assortment pack. I used the new CTMH Quick Cards-Bright All Night stamp for the sentiment, which I stamped in Champagne Exlusive Ink. (This is a Hostess Rewards Stamp.) I popped the sentiment and large snowflake up with dimensional adhesive and added a bit of bling to finish things off.

Here are some close ups:

I made a second card using Blush cardstock and a different piece of the Frosted patterned paper. Here it is:

And, finally, the two together:

I hope you enjoyed this little bit of Christmas in August. Have a wonderful week!

Freshly Made Rose Blossom Challenge

Hey Gang! Happy Spring!!!
Okay, it's not officially spring, but I'm not letting that stop me from reveling in the spring weather in DC today.

I decided to combine 2 challenges in this project. The first was issued by the ever-crafty and über-inspiring Brenda Rose. The challenge: create something using the colors Pear, Gypsy, Honey and White Daisy. No other colors allowed. None. (Yikes!) So I thought I'd give it a try using this sketch from Freshly Made Sketches as my inspiration:

And here's my springy little take on it:

The base of the card is made from White Daisy Cardstock, which I scalloped using a border punch. I inked around the edges of the base using Pear Exclusive Ink. The Pear Cardstock is embossed using a damask embossing folder. I sponged the embossing with Pear Exclusive Ink to make it pop. I left a small section flat and tied Color-Ready Seam Binding for a simple bit of flair. I cut 2 1-inch squares and one 2-inch square from Honey Cardstock and embossed them. I used a corner punch to add some interest and sponged the edges and embossing with Honey Exclusive Ink. The roses are stamped using Floral Happiness, which is the March Stamp Of The Month. The small roses are stamped in Gypsy Exclusive Ink. (I stamped the back ground using the second generation stamping technique to give it a two-toned look.) The large rose is stamped in Honey (second generation) and Pear Exclusive Inks. The roses are popped up using dimensional adhesive. The sentiment is from "A Garden" stamp set, and is stamped in Gypsy Exclusive Ink. I added some bitty pearls to the scallops for extra pizzaz.

Here are some close-ups:

Hope you enjoyed my little bit of spring! Stay tuned for the Kraft-y Hearts Blog Share, which will be coming your way in two weeks!

Freshly Made Sneak Peek...

Hi All! Are you enjoying your sneak peeks? I hope so!
Here's another peek that was inspired by the challenge over on Freshly Made Sketches. I enjoy clean and simple sketches like this one:

Here's my take on the sketch:

The A2 card base is White Daisy cardstock, layered with a 5 1/4 x 4-inch piece of Lagoon cardstock. The paper collection is called For Always, and will be available in the new spring idea book that is being released on February 1st. This black and white collection is great for everything from Valentines to Weddings, to everyday life. I used Ruby Exclusive Ink for the sentiment, which is from the For Always Workshop On The Go, and to ink around the edges of the paper. I also sanded down the patterned paper to make the sentiment more legible. The hearts were made with a punch, but either of the Cricut cartridges--Art Philosophy or Artiste--could cut them for you in no time. I added white dots to the black and whisper doily heart with a gel pin. A little Color-Ready Seam Binding (to which I never seem to add color!) adds just the right texture. 

Here are a couple of close-ups:

Hope you enjoyed the Freshly-inspired sneak peek. Have a peaceful Sunday!