Slimline is the "new" line...

I really like the slimline design!  There are so many things that I can do with the sketch for Freshly Made Sketches. I started with soft gray cardstock and then cute some DSP for the featured layer.  The leaf die was cut in peach and gray.  I know that the slim design will figure prominently in future card-making. 

 

Freshly Made Winter Card

I still have some winter cards to send after having sent all the Christmas cards.  This sketch of Freshly Made Sketches worked well with the little penguin in the corresponding black and white theme.  It's a perfect post-Christmas-card  and pre-Christmas Day.   😀

 

That New Slimline Card

I imagine long, slim cards have been created before, but they are attracting interest right now.

This Freshly Made Sketches challenge took me in a couple of directions.  The designer samples are all wonderful, and I checked out Pinterest as well.  That's when I was distracted by Kristina Werner's Distress Oxide blending. I decided I needed to try one for myself and use it for a Slimline card. The first attempt was a failure, so I took a break and then tried again. 

My favorite Stampotique floral image and an old Wordsworth stamp were all I needed to complete the card.

A Freshly Made Challenge of Details

I have drawers of sentiments...great ones, too.  But I am sorely lacking in single-line horizontal ones.  In fact, I would like to see more of those and more single-line vertical sentiments for stampers. But that is for another day.  Today, it is Freshly Made Sketch 445 that had my attention. The die cut is an alcohol ink piece that has been lying around for months; in fact, I trimmed it down some to fit. 

Freshly Made Triangles

Today, I realized once again that choosing the right color of  a card's feature can make all the difference in the world.  First, I had a different shade of purple...wrong!   Then I tried a bland orange-ish butterfly...wrong again.  I was lucky to have choices.  (This gorgeous butterfly is a Prima creation of years ago; I searched online to find as many as I could when the line was discontinued.)  Freshly Made Sketch 443

Freshly Made Sketches 442

This Freshly Made Sketch worked beautifully in the creation of a birthday card for one of our daughters-in-law.  I used stamps and dies from Gina K's Elegant Asters set.  The images were colored with markers and the top layer of the card was dry-embossed. I wish I could find some more of this cardstock; it was just one piece in my stash and it has some tiny flecks in the paper.

Freshly Made with Alcohol Inks

I was playing around with alcohol ink backgrounds, and stamped this flower on one.  It worked well with the latest Freshly Made Sketch. Patterned paper, dimensional cardstock for the card, the AI flower and a simple sentiment....all of which were immediately put into an envelope to deliver with flowers to a friend who just had surgery.  I drove 20 miles to pick up the flowers...another 10 miles to deliver them to the driveway of the friend.  Her children picked up the box and card.... social distancing achieved!  

Freshly Made Sketch 439

I can't identify the patterned paper I used on this card for Freshly Made Sketches.  It's from a 6x6 paper pad, but the cover is gone.  The "happy" die is from Mama Elephant. I discovered that I have only one set of square dies. 

Freshly Made Hugs

I'm trying to get back to some card challenges after my 50-day-cardmaking for Covid 19. I'm getting in just under the wire, too!   Freshly Made Sketch 434.

Freshly Made Half Circle in Metallics

The half-circle was painted with Coliro pearl metallics, as was the Penny Black flower and the horizontal strips.  I chose a Tim Holtz embossing folder for the card front and popped the poppy on foam dots for this Freshly Made Sketch.   (The leaves are metallic green but photograph gray.)

Freshly Made Sketch with a Feather

For the latest Freshly Made Sketch, it was fun to use my very favorite Stampotique feather (2-sided stamp) for the featured piece. I had already chosen papers from "Watercolors" Craft Papers, a 6x6 pad by Craft Consortium. I watercolored the feather, fussy cut it and popped it on foam dots. The sentiment is from Hot Off the Press. 

Pretty Papers for Freshly Made Sketches

I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, but it's difficult.  I stand to craft but I have a hip injury that makes standing for very long difficult; sitting isn't much better.  I started on this Freshly Made Sketches card with a different piece of designer paper from my latest Simon Says order...then I changed it again. The Moda Scrap paper "Let it Bloom"  is a pack of beautiful soft colors and designs.  I cut out one of the larger flowers for the accent piece and popped it on foam.  [Most likely, I will have a hip replacement in February.]

Freshly Made Sketch -- First Christmas Card

Freshly Made Sketch 409 provided the template for my first Christmas card.  The die cut poinsettia was colored with watercolor pens, layered with white and popped on a foam dot.  I decided on an otherwise all-white background for the red poinsettia and the black sentiment.  Both white pieces were dry embossed to provide some interest. 

Freshly Made Leaf

I'm rushing to make the deadline!  This Freshly Made Sketch  led me to a fall leaf cut from a Bigz die from Tim Holtz. It's called Tattered Leaves.  I used a variety of powders and water to create the background color before the die cutting.  The central piece was dry-embossed with another Tim Holtz embossing folder, and I found the sentiment on a sheet of clear stamps. I added a little copper accent with the copper thread. (Edit: this card is different from the card at the link because I decided it needed a "frame" around the central layer.)

Freshly Made Sketch 403

This was a Freshly Made sketch that I had to create twice before I was satisfied with the result.  Each time, however, I used a new leafy die from Pink Fresh; the second time I cut it from heavily patterned paper, which resulted in a "sketchy" look.  Each of the strips in the design was cut from paper in an old Authentique paper pad, "Everlasting."  The sentiment is from Technique Junkies. 

Feathers for Freshly Made Sketches

One design I have "oodles" of is the feather.  In fact, I have so many feather stamps and dies that I store them in a big ziploc bag. To be honest, I have used very few of them.  When I saw this Freshly Made Sketch #402, I thought feathers might work.  I die cut the images from a Simple Stories paper pack called "Good Vibes."   One of my favorite sentiments (from River City Rubber Works) completes the card.

Celebration at Freshly Made Sketches

A month of celebration at Freshly Made Sketches begins with Sketch #1 from 8 years ago.

My first thought for this sketch was the shape....I have many flowers that I rarely use anymore, but I also have some Prima butterflies--glitzy butterflies.  So I chose one and tried some cardstock, but abandoned it for this dark teal butterfly.  The papers are also Prima, from a 6x6 paper stack called Firefly. From there, it was choosing which portion of the patterned paper to use for the "boxes."  The sentiment is from a Power Poppy clear set of magnolias. 

Freshly Made with Asian Inspiration

Several years ago, I often created cards that were Asian-inspired. I still have a drawerful of Asian stamps.  Once I decided to use Fuji Woman, I also chose a piece of black and metallic gold washi paper from an old stash.  That determined the black and gold theme, including gold heat embossing.  The Asian symbol is an old Stampin' Up image.  All worked together for this week's Freshly Made Sketches. 

Freshly Made in Black and White

I like making black and white cards, and I chose that color combo for the Freshly Made Sketch 388 after deciding on the panel for the center.  It's from a piece of specialty cardstock from Ellen Hutson. The large "Smile" from Couture Creations serves perfectly for the horizontal focal piece. 

Freshly Made Sketches #384 -- Carte Postale

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A postcard (in French) on a card...my choice for the Freshly Made Sketch this week.  I flipped the kraft card from vertical to horizontal to use the Stampendous Carte Postale image, accenting it with a green layer and "carte postale" washi tape.