A Collection of Fresh Sketches

Hello, and Happy Monday!

This is a long post with LOTS of cards!  I actually won't give too many details on the separate cards, because this is a gift set.  I made 3 cards last Thursday, 2 on Friday, and 3 yesterday.  I intended to post yesterday, but we had a major thunderstorm, at least 7 inches of rain, and a tornado warning.  I stayed off my computer!  Fortunately our home is okay; some of our friends did not fare as well.

As I have mentioned before, one of my 2015 stamping goals is to complete all of the 2015 Freshly Made Sketches challenges.  Well, I did almost no stamping in April, and that put me very far behind.  I may have even been a bit behind already!  At any rate, I decided to use a bunch of sketches for this gift set.  It also gave me a great excuse to use most of the remaining pieces of some retired dsp. Most.  I still have a little bit left!

The cards feature kiwi kiss, baja breeze, basic gray, and crumb cake card stock and ink.  The dsp is SU's "Urban Oasis." Usually, I keep my creases on top of my cards, so I should have had half of my cards oriented horizontally and half vertically.  But for whatever reason, all of my cards are vertical.  No biggie, I suppose, but it is driving me a bit nuts!  LOL  

I'll start with the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge, then go through the rest quickly.  I used the decorative dots embossing folder, and sponged lightly.  The sentiments are from "Happiest Birthday Wishes" and "Perfect Words."  I used my Sizzix circle die, large oval punch,and decorative label punch.  The last detail is the gray stitched ribbon.  I love the polka dotted paper, and used it on several cards for this set.

This next card could easily have gone horizontal, but I flipped the sketch.  I used this wonderful floral
pattern which coordinates with the "Fifth Avenue Floral Stamps."  I surely can make my own pattern paper in the future!  I stamped two sentiments; one from "Because I Care" and the other from "Whimsical Words."  I used my baja breeze marker to outline the dsp.  This ribbon is reversible, so I used it for both strips.  More enamel hearts finish it off.

The next card uses more of that floral pattern, plus I used the Manhattan Floral embossing folder to add a layer for a tone-on-tone look.  The sentiment is from "Whimsical Words" cut out with the decorative label punch.  After sponging, I added some lucky limeade bakers twine.

This next card features the 2-step set "Awash with Flowers," "Well Scripted" and green gems from...hmmm. I have forgotten!  The outer package is gone!

Now I have a simple sympathy card.  I used the decorative label and scallop trim punches.  The sentiment is from "Thoughts & Prayers" and I added one enamel dot to keep the clean and simple look.  

Next, I used some of the more neutral patterns from the dsp pack, but did add kiwi when I stamped the sentiment from "All Holidays" and in the smaller horizontal strip.  I added some enamel hearts from Anna marie, and retired corduroy brads.  I wish I had not added those big brads.  This card will be the hardest to mail, of the entire bunch.

Here's a quick, nearly flat card.  It's still quite fun, I believe, because of the polka dot pattern.  The sentiment is from "Blessings from Heaven" punched with the scallop circle. The layered circle was made with my Sizzix die.  I added some striped ribbon to finish off the sketch.

The last card may be my favorite, because of the large floral pattern, and the soft seam binding I used. I also used the Manhattan floral embossing folder again, plus a few of the green rhinestones.  The sentiment is from "You're a Gem" punched out with a small circle.  

Here are all of the cards together.  You might think with 8 sketches here that I am all caught up.  Not. Quite.  But hopefully I will be before the end of this month.  It's the halfway point...gotta reach my goal!

Inky {{{HUGS}}}
Kim