Freshly Made Sketches #53

Well, its been awhile since I've been able to play along with Freshly Made Sketches, but I had some time today, so I decided to give it a go. Here is the fun sketch provided this week:

I pulled out more of my Target washi tape to use for the strips in the background. The adorable witch, sentiment, and spider are from the Paper Smooches set "Halloweenies" that my mom surprised me with as an October surprise (a week early ;) Thanks so much mom, I love it! The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye, the cardstock from PTI, and the twine from the Twinery. Both circle punches and the label punch are from SU.

You all know how much I like Paper Smooches, well now I like them even more! Their customer service is amazing. I went to stamp the vampire image from "Spookalicious" for the first time tonight. But it didn't all come out...I looked at the stamp and realized that part of the image lines were missing in the acrylic. Well, I took some pictures and wrote Kim to let her know. Well, she responded in less than an hour! And this is on a SUNDAY!! She apologized and let me know that she already had a new vampire in an envelope ready to send me tomorrow! Now THAT is what I call customer service! Just reaffirms why Paper Smooches is my favorite company :) If you don't have any of their stamps, I highly recommend them!

Freshly Made Sketches #48

So here's a card that missed the deadline, but since I don't have anything new to share at the moment, I figured I'd show this one:

Here's the sketch that I used:

I used the Paper Smooches Squeaky Clean set for this card. It all started with the "Gloss and Starch" patterned paper, so I knew I had to go with the cleaning set. Although now looking back at it, I should have used the washing machine, detergent, and basket stamps, that would have fit better with the theme, but not the sketch. Oh well!

To be honest, I have no idea what I'll use this card for, lol, but I do like how bright and cheery it turned out.

The ribbon is that cool denim ribbon I got from SU. The cardstock is from PTI, and the pattern from October Afternoon.

I hope you're enjoying your week so far! It has been really busy for me, so its going by fast, but I'm pooped!

Freshly Made Sketches #46

This incredibly adorable owl is from the brand new Paper Smooches set, "Spookalicious." I was taking a PS class at my local stamp store and browsing, they had this set before it was even released online! I had to have it :)

Here is the sketch I used for my card:

So all those buttons? To cover up some clouds I stamped, but didn't like. I think the buttons turned out cute :) They're from PTI. The sentiment I created using the Paper Smooches "Alphadot" set.

The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye, and the Mat Stack is from PTI (Mega #5). The double ended banner die is also from PTI.

The scallop punch is from SU and the cardstock all PTI.

I'm very pleased with the cuteness factor in this card. I'll also enter it into the Guest Designer search for Paper Smooches that just opened up today. One day I am going to get a Guest Designer spot!

Freshly Made Sketches #38

This morning Suzanne and two other new crafting friends and I went to the best local stamping store ever, Absolutely Everything, for their annual yard sale. Oh geeze did I LOVE it! The store had so much of their own stuff on sale that I actually didn't make it out to the regular vendors lol. I got a couple of PS stamps (I used a coupon on one...you got that right, they will let you use Michaels or Joanns coupons on any regular priced item!) but the rest of my stuff was so cheap, like $1, $2, or even .50! All the Christmas stuff was 70% off! So anyway, after that long story, how about a card? Using one of my new PS sets:

I used this sketch from Freshly Made Sketches this week:

That neat embossing folder is a Cuttlebug one that I've been wanting for awhile! While I was in FL, I showed it to my mom and she got it for me for Mother's Day :) (yes, I know I have no kids, but she STILL sent me a package for being a good "mom" to my "kids" the dogs and cat). The grass is from PTI's On the Farm, the road is from PS Metropolis. The golf cart and sentiments are from PS My Guy.

I picked up the twine today. It is from Lawn Fawn and was marked down to .50! The paper is an old DSP from SU. The cardstock is PTI and the little tab is a SU punch.

I like how this turned out, I think I'll make a few more to send out to the other Dads in my life. Hope you are coming along on your Father's Day cards (if you make them) and I hope you are able to find a stamp store as great as Absolutely Everything (although I think it may be hard!)

Happy Birthday, Joyce! & Paper Dolls Challenge #47, & Freshly Made Sketches #33

I am so happy to be a part of a birthday blog hop for a very special crafty friend, Joyce! I am lucky to be in two groups with Joyce, The Paper Dolls & The 12 Kits of Christmas :) Joyce goes out of her way to comment on everything I make and is truly sweet. She has arranged several birthday blog hops for other members of our groups, so I'm thrilled that Kim has arranged one for Joyce and that I am a part of it! So without further ado, Happy Birthday, Joyce!

I used this sketch to create my card:

I'm also entering this card in our monthly Paper Dolls challenge which was to use fruit and a sketch. You can head on over to the blog here to find out more about it.

The patterned paper is PTI's Frutti Tutti. The "happy" die is from PTI's wonderful words. The birthday sentiment is also from PTI.

The strawberry picking girl is from MFT. The set is called "Who's that Harvesting Girl?" The curly label punch is from SU.

The twine is from the Twinery and the cardstock is PTI.

Joyce, I am truly happy to know you! You are a beautiful and wonderful person both inside and out and you are incredibly talented and creative! I hope your birthday this year is one of your best, and hope you get lots of crafty goodies as presents! Now head on over for the rest of your blog hop!

Kim - http://cupcakescardsandkim.blogspot.com/

Renee - http://itsapatchworklife.blogspot.com/

Cathy - http://emptynestcrafter.blogspot.com/

Michelle - http://michellesambajon.blogspot.com/

Kara - http://www.kandrdesigns.blogspot.com/

Gayatri - http://scrapawayg3.blogspot.com/

Tracey - http://inmycreativeopinion.blogspot.com/

Marybeth - http://marybethstimeforpaper.blogspot.com/

Kristin - http://kristinshappy.blogspot.com/

Jessica (that's me!) - http://thepaperparade.blogspot.com/

Christy - http://giftingit.blogspot.com/

Sharron - http://onpapillonwings.blogspot.com/

Jeanne – http://akeptlife.blogspot.com/

Susan - http://madskydesigns.blogspot.com/

Freshly Made Sketches #30

My nephew Liam's first birthday is next week! Wow, I can't believe he's one already. And he's having a dinosaur birthday party, so this adorable little PS dino was the perfect stamp for his card!

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketches sketch:

The "1" and the "st" are from PTI along with the cardstock and the patterned paper. The circle was cut from Nestabilities. The city scape, road, and dino are from Paper Smooches. The "Birthday" sentiment is also from Paper Smooches.

I also have a dinosaur hat I knitted for him, a stuffed triceratops, and one of my favorite movies as a kid, "The Land Before Time." I think he'll like his dino themed gift :)

Freshly Made Sketches #25

My grandpa's birthday is coming up, so I decided to get a heads start and make his card early. I used this great Venetian paper from Amuse that I got from the party I hosted yesterday! (stay tuned to see pics of the cards we made). Here's the card:

And here's the sketch from this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge:

The typewriter image and "just a note to say" is from Hero Arts. The Happy Birthday Sentiment is from PTI. The corduroy button is from SU and the ribbon is from Amuse.

The polka dot paper is from DCWV.

You will definitely be seeing more of this great Venetian paper, because I ordered a multi pack! Hope everyone had a nice weekend, we sure had beautiful weather here today, so we took the dogs exploring around our town and saw some really pretty areas that we had no clue existed!

Freshly Made Sketches #24

My sister's birthday is coming up on the 18th and her favorite color is orange, so I broke out the PTI Canyon Clay cardstock and created this card for her:

Here is the sketch I used from this week's Freshly Made Sketches:

The butterflies are from PTI's new Beautiful Butterflies, the mat is Mat Stack 3 and Layerz 3 from PTI. The patterned paper is from a DCWV patterned paper pack.

I also stamped PTI's Mehndi Medallion on the Canyon Clay band.

This is the other card I created on Wednesday night when Suzanne was over :) On another note, I feel completely back to normal now, thank goodness!

MIM #54 & Freshly Made Sketches #23

I haven't played along with a PTI Make It Monday in awhile, but I thought this Glitter Button technique was pretty cool, so I gave it a shot...and plus I got my release package today, so you KNOW I had to play with it :) So here is a card I created for Phillip's cousin who is getting married next month:

And here's the sketch I used from this week's Freshly Made Sketches Challenge:

I used the new PTI Beautiful Butterflies set that came in today, and oh do I love it! All the different butterflies, and the gorgeous sentiments, too. It was a lot of fun using it, and I only used one die and 3 butterflies...many more to play with later! And at the bottom you notice my glittered buttons. It was a neat and easy technique. You'll also notice the new Aqua Mist patterned paper that came in my package, too.

Everything on this card is PTI except the pearls and the ink (SU). It was hard for me to leave that "blank" space on the right side, but I'm trying so hard to stick to the sketch. I think it turned out to be a very nice wedding card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Freshly Make Sketches #22

I decided to make a card using my MSS prize stamps and the Freshly Made Sketches challenge for this week.

Here's the sketch, you can check it out for yourself here.

This little bird and sentiment came in the set that I won. The DSP is all from SU (can you tell I've been going through my stash lately?)

The cute little bird ribbon was in the dollar bin at Michaels awhile back. I thought it went nicely with this card :)

Hope you had a great weekend!

Color Throwown #174 & Freshly Made Sketches #17

Here's a birthday card that I made for my Grandma using this cute Hero Arts Cling that I picked up at the Black Friday sale at one of my local stamp stores (I'm just now getting round to using it!)

I used this sketch from this week's Freshly Made Sketches Challenge:

And these colors (the closest matches I could find) from Color Throwdown's weekly challenge:

It took me 3 different inks and 5 tries to get the image to come out looking like this (which is still not as solid as I'd like). I about gave up on it! It is definitely a sweet image, though. Notice the PTI pinking sheers die on the left side.

The sentiment is from PTI's Ribbon Tails set and the pearls are from Recollections.

The ribbon and all cardstock are from PTI. This was a nice easy sketch to use, and I think my Grandma will love the card :)