Tag: sketches

Masculine Designs

Amazing Nature

susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Howdy, friends. Can you believe it’s Monday already? There was lots on the to-do list this weekend which meant that the weekend flew by, but it felt good to get most of what we had on the list all done. We bid adieu to the Christmas decorations (am I the only one who waits until February to take it down?) and put the house back together.

This week we’re beginning a new design series that’s all about the fellas. It can sometimes be hard to make cards that feel more masculine, but we’re going to explore our crafty stash together and find some shortcuts to masculine designs. And today’s shortcut begins with a sketch. I’ve found that a geometric feel to a card layout can lend itself to feeling more masculine. With a more neutral color palette and some earthy patterns in the Autumn Toile and Nature Walk papers, we have the perfect recipe for a card fit for a dear dude. (Did you catch my play on words there? *wink*)

We get started with a base of Crumb Cake cardstock. I used a sheet of the Mossy Meadow Nature Walk patterned paper to serve as the backdrop for the design. Our three repeating shapes are from the Nested Essentials die set and are cut from a sheet of the Autumn Toile patterned paper. I really love how you can still make out the original scene as you look down the three shapes and how the deer repeat in each panel in a perfect triangle.

The sentiment panel finishes our visual triangle and is punched from vanilla cardstock with the To the Point label punch. The sentiment from the Words of Beauty stamp set is stamped in Early Espresso. We cut some oak leaves and acorns from Cajun Craze and Early Espresso cardstocks and adhere them behind the sentiment panel, along with a twist of white & gold baker’s twine. The whole panel is then adhered to the card front with dimensionals. And we finish everything off with some gold drusy embellishments for the perfect pop of sparkle.

Today’s sketch is from the current Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and also happens to be our current Luv 2 Stamp team challenge sketch. What do you think about using a sketch to inspire your masculine cards?

I hope you’ll drop by tomorrow to see what other tips we can use to make creating masculine cards a little less challenging!

Product List
Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [ 120953 ]
[120953]
$14.00
Very Vanilla 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [ 166784 ]
[166784]
$14.00
Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [ 119686 ]
[119686]
$14.00
Cajun Craze 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [ 119684 ]
[119684]
$14.00
Autumn Toile 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper [ 165882 ]
[165882]
$12.50
Nature Walk 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper [ 166912 ]
[166912]
$12.50
Words Of Beauty Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) [ 167083 ]
[167083]
$20.00
Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [ 147114 ]
[147114]
$9.00
To The Point Label Punch [ 164568 ]
[164568]
$25.00
Nested Essentials Dies [ 161597 ]
[161597]
$34.00
Label Me Grateful Dies [ 166111 ]
[166111]
$24.00
Drusy Adhesive Backed Embellishments [ 164223 ]
[164223]
$9.00
Black & White & Gold Baker's Twine [ 166005 ]
[166005]
$8.50
Stampin' Dimensionals [ 104430 ]
[104430]
$4.25
Mini Glue Dots [ 103683 ]
[103683]
$7.25
Add All to Cart
Coming Soon · Online Exclusives · Winter

On My Mind

susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Monday, crafty friends! It was a busy weekend here in the studio as I worked furiously all weekend to make Christmas-themed product for an upcoming craft show. While I made a lot of progress, I still have quite a ways to go to be fully prepared for a Christmas market. Eeek!

But I digress. This week, we’re on to a new design theme, and I thought we would continue to hang out in the woods this week. The fun thing about a general theme is that we get a lot of freedom to pull all kinds of things from our crafty stash. *grin* And I’ll be sneaking in some of the new Online Exclusives that I snagged in my preorder.

So today we’re getting started with a sketch. When I saw the Freshly Made Sketches #709, I knew exactly what I wanted to pair together — the new Winter Scenes stamp set, the Elegant Pine Snowflakes paper, and the brand new Words of Beauty stamp set (releasing tomorrow!).

I kept things super simple with today’s color palette. We get started with a base of Basic White cardstock. The sheet of white snowflakes from the Elegant Pine Snowflakes pack serves as our backdrop. Our focal panel starts with the mountain scene from the Winter Scenes stamp set on a postage stamp of white cardstock cut with the smaller square from the Perennial Postage die set. I did some light shading with Stampin’ Blends to add a touch of color to the scene and covered the scene with Wink of Stella for the perfect snowy twinkle. This scene is matted with some silver brushed silver and a square of Lost Lagoon cut with one of the smaller squares from the Stylish Shapes die set. The sentiment panel is a smaller banner cut from white cardstock using the Stylish Shapes dies. The sentiment from the *new* Words of Beauty stamp set is stamped in Pretty Peacock and then flanked with some silver drusy embellishments before being adhered on the back of the winter mountain scene panel. The full panel is adhered in the bottom-left corner with dimensionals.

Super simple but oh-so stunning, don’t you think? I hope you’ll tune in tomorrow to see where our trek in the woods takes us!

Product List
Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [ 166780 ]
[166780]
$14.00
Lost Lagoon 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [ 133679 ]
[133679]
$14.00
Brushed Silver And Gold Foil 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper [ 164861 ]
[164861]
$10.00
Elegant Pine Snowflakes 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper [ 166066 ]
[166066]
$12.50
Winter Scenes Cling Stamp Set (English) [ 166088 ]
[166088]
$22.00
Perennial Postage Dies [ 162607 ]
[162607]
$33.00
Stylish Shapes Dies [ 159183 ]
[159183]
$30.00
Drusy Adhesive Backed Embellishments [ 164223 ]
[164223]
$9.00
Shaded Spruce Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [ 154903 ]
[154903]
$11.00
Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [ 154904 ]
[154904]
$11.00
Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush [ 141897 ]
[141897]
$10.00
Stampin' Dimensionals [ 104430 ]
[104430]
$4.25
Add All to Cart
12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar

Advent Thanks

susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Howdy, crafty friends! Welcome back to our second day of the 12 Days of Crafty Christmas as we work our way through the new SU! 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar, where we’re opening two boxes each day and then creating a fun project with them.

Yesterday, in our boxes we received a set of coordinating dies that go with the included stamp set, along with a set of 6×6 patterned papers. Let’s see what boxes 3 & 4 have in store for us today.

So today, we have a set of gold glitter shaker elements and gold foiled diecut shapes. After thumbing through the set of patterned papers we opened yesterday, the white floral pattern really caught my eye — especially the golden centers. So I looked for a sketch that would make quick work of today’s project and settled on Sketch 2 from the Holiday Mini catalog on page 14. Let’s see how our clean & simple project comes together.

I wanted a nice neutral base that paired well with the subtle background of the patterned sheet and decided that Smoky Slate was the ideal choice for the card base. The sheet of patterned paper serves as the backdrop for our card front. I modified the sketch slightly so that our 3 diagonal elements are solid lines rather than broken and used the narrow Daffodil Delight satin trim for those diagonal elements. The sentiment from the coordinating 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar stamp set is heat embossed in gold on the long oval diecut from today’s box of diecut pieces. The sentiment panel is mounted over the ribbon with dimensionals. I used the shaker elements as individual embellishments in several floral centers by adding pieces of glue dots to the backs of each small gold glitter circle.

Are we having fun yet? I’m looking forward to opening the next two boxes of our Advent calendar tomorrow. What about you?!

12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar

Advent Birthday Wishes

susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Monday, everybody! Have you missed seeing crafty inspiration because I’ve certainly missed having time for it! Sometimes we just have to know when to make a little space for other things — like coordinating major work programs and family time, all of which were time well spent.

But we’re back at it this week with 12 days of crafty Christmas! Each day we’re going to be opening 2 slots in the Stampin’ Up! 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar. Each calendar comes with a box of crafty surprises, as well as a coordinating stamp set. Let’s see what we have in store today!

So isn’t that fun — today we’ll be working with the coordinating dies and 6×6 patterned paper for the Advent Calendar stamp set. The first thing I wanted to do was put everything side-by-side to decide on a theme and color palette for a card design.

The pink floral pattern stood out to me in the selection of papers, so from there I looked for a simple design that would allow me to use the stamps & dies. I pulled out the Holiday Mini catalog and turned to the sketches on page 14 and was drawn to the very first one — clean and simple & a perfect way to coordinate the paper, stamps & dies.

So we have a sketch, our 2 Advent Calendar boxes, and the stamps. We pull coordinating papers together — Strawberry Slush, Pretty in Pink, Mossy Meadow, and white — to get started. To add a pop of interest, I decided to add some texture to the background panel using a *NEW* embossing folder that releases in just a few weeks.

We get started with a base of Strawberry Slush cardstock. The background panel is a quarter sheet of Strawberry Slush that I machine embossed with the new Beautiful Pattern embossing folder, which releases in just a few weeks! The sheet of pink florals is cut and then wrapped with Strawberry Slush ribbon before being adhered to the embossed background panel. Using the Advent Calendar stamp set, we stamp the large and smaller flowers on Pretty in Pink in both Strawberry Slush & Pretty in Pink ink. The center is stamped in Timid Tiger. The flowers are then diecut with the new coordinating dies we opened today, along with coordinating leaves from Mossy Meadow. Our flower is adhered over the ribbon on the left — substituting for the circle in our sketch. The sentiment from the Advent Calendar stamp set is stamped in Strawberry Slush on white cardstock and cut with the banner from the Mixed Labels die set and adhered over our flower element and just under the ribbon. A few Strawberry Slush & Pretty in Pink gems finish things off with pops of twinkle across the card front.

I hope you’ll pop in tomorrow to see what our next 2 boxes will reveal. I know I can’t wait!

Product List
12 Days Of Crafting Advent Calendar (English) [ 167335 ]
[167335]
$99.00
Strawberry Slush 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [ 165625 ]
[165625]
$14.00
Pretty In Pink 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [ 163793 ]
[163793]
$14.00
Mossy Meadow 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [ 133676 ]
[133676]
$14.00
Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [ 166780 ]
[166780]
$14.00
Pretty In Pink Classic Stampin Pad [ 163807 ]
[163807]
$9.00
Strawberry Slush Classic Stampin' Pad [ 165286 ]
[165286]
$9.00
Timid Tiger Classic Stampin' Pad [ 165278 ]
[165278]
$9.00
Mixed Labels Dies [ 164652 ]
[164652]
$21.00
Strawberry Slush 3/8" (1 Cm) Faux Linen Ribbon [ 165274 ]
[165274]
$8.00
Strawberry Slush & Pretty In Pink Gems [ 165615 ]
[165615]
$8.50
Tear & Tape Adhesive [ 154031 ]
[154031]
$7.00
Mini Glue Dots [ 103683 ]
[103683]
$7.25
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals [ 144108 ]
[144108]
$4.25
Add All to Cart
Beautiful Pumpkins · Peaceful Garden · Sketchy Fridays

Sketchy Fridays: BIG thanks

susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Sketchy Fridays, everyone, and welcome to the weekend! Except it’s Saturday, but we’re all good with that, right? *snicker* My week could be summed up by lions and tigers and bears, oh my! We had a major cloud data migration at my office over last weekend and everything that could go wrong did go wrong. So we were having to make due with alternative ways of accessing e-mail and cloud files all week, and let’s just say that it’s been a mess! In and amongst all of that, we’re hosting a big educational conference in our office next week annnnnnd naturally all of my spreadsheets and files were a part of the data migration. *sigh* So it’s been a little challenging at the office this week, to say the least!

BUT here I am on Saturday bringing you the Sketchy Fridays card because it was just going to be too cute not to make & share! For those of you who are new here, Sketchy Fridays is a weekly series where we use a card sketch to design our featured card.

This week’s card is based on the Freshly Made Sketches #706 sketch. As soon as I saw it, I already had an idea in mind and that made it an easy choice! And we’re turning it on its head, so to speak, to make it landscape. Today’s design features the new Online Exclusives Beautiful Pumpkins bundle.

We get started with a neutral base of white cardstock. Our front panel backdrop is a sheet of the gold foiled script paper from the Nature’s Sweetness paper pack. The focal panel is a combination of two sheets of the Gathering Together paper – the Cajun Craze small leaf pattern and the gold foiled fall foliage pattern. It’s mounted to the card front with dimensionals. The sentiment from the *new* 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar stamp set is heat embossed in black at the top of the panel. I wanted the pumpkins to have more texture and interest than what the stamps alone would provide, so I selected several of the woodgrain patterns from the Country Woods paper pack and used the detail stamp from the Beautiful Pumpkins set and a coordinating, but light, color on top of each woodgrain and then used the coordinating dies to cut out each one. The pumpkin stems are also cut from one of the darker woodgrain patterns from the Country Woods paper pack. I tried several different colors for the leaves and vines before settling on the Old Olive sheet from the Season of Elegance paper pack. We give the pumpkins lots of depth of field by adhering them with varying heights of dimensionals. And we finish things off with some gold low profile dots.

I’ll be closing out this week’s design series with some home decor. I hope you’ll drop back by later to check it out.

Product List
Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [ 166780 ]
[166780]
$14.00
Nature's Sweetness 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper [ 162616 ]
[162616]
$16.50
Gathering Together 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper [ 165969 ]
[165969]
$16.50
Country Woods 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper [ 163393 ]
[163393]
$12.50
Season Of Elegance 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper [ 164144 ]
[164144]
$16.50
Beautiful Pumpkins Bundle (English) [ 166012 ]
[166012]
$36.00
Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [ 147116 ]
[147116]
$9.00
Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad [ 147101 ]
[147101]
$9.00
Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad [ 147097 ]
[147097]
$9.00
12 Days Of Crafting Advent Calendar (English) [ 167335 ]
[167335]
$99.00
Versamark Pad [ 102283 ]
[102283]
$9.50
Basics Wow! Embossing Powder [ 165679 ]
[165679]
$21.00
Low Profile Dots [ 164658 ]
[164658]
$7.50
Stampin' Dimensionals [ 104430 ]
[104430]
$4.25
Add All to Cart
Autumn

Celebrate Fall

susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

This week, we’re exploring our fall-themed crafty stash as we create our projects. And today, the Gathering Together suite is taking center stage. Because I’m a little pressed for time today, I decided to make things a lot simpler by using a sketch to get started. So I’m using Sketch #5 from the recent SU! Craft-a-Long, which takes the cards on page 42 of the Holiday Mini Catalog and turns them into versatile sketches.

Screenshot

Sketch #5 is the perfect way to use a few scraps of patterned paper and allows for an easy diecut focal point. Here we start with a base of white cardstock, which isn’t visible on the card front itself. A sheet of the white woodgrain pattern from the Country Woods paper pack. A sheet of the lovely Gathering Together paper serves as the backdrop for all of our focal elements. The Cajun Craze leaf pattern is the background panel, while the plaid and foliage strips provide the grounding for the focal leaf element. The leaf is cut from a combination of Gathering Together and Country Woods papers using the Gathering Moments die. To help the pattern leaf stand out against the busy background, I used a darker woodgrain-patterned leaf to provide the shadowing, which really brings out the brown details of the pattern nicely. The sentiment from the Simply Said stamp set is heat embossed in copper and then adhered over gold cording with dimensionals. Some Cajun Craze & Gold dots are scattered around the card front to provide the perfect pops of twinkly color.

Tune in tomorrow to see some more autumn inspiration!

Product List
Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [ 166780 ]
[166780]
$14.00
Gathering Together 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper [ 165969 ]
[165969]
$16.50
Country Woods 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper [ 163393 ]
[163393]
$12.50
Gathering Moments Dies [ 165979 ]
[165979]
$37.00
Simply Said Mix & Match Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) [ 163756 ]
[163756]
$17.00
Versamark Pad [ 102283 ]
[102283]
$9.50
Metallics Wow! Embossing Powder [ 165678 ]
[165678]
$21.00
Gold Twisted Thread [ 164603 ]
[164603]
$7.50
Cajun Craze & Gold Dots [ 165984 ]
[165984]
$9.00
Stampin' Dimensionals [ 104430 ]
[104430]
$4.25
Add All to Cart
Coming Soon · Holiday Mini Catalog · Peaceful Garden · Sketchy Fridays

Sketchy Fridays: Peace, Love, & Joy!

susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Sketchy Fridays, everyone, and welcome to the weekend! Around here, we’ve survived our first week of school and now we’re sailing into the weekend ready for the R&R for sure. I’m super stoked because I just got my box of pre-order goodies for the new Holiday Mini catalog. Anyone know what I plan to be doing this weekend? *grin*

We’ve taken a little break from Sketchy Fridays for the last little bit, but I thought it would be fun to get back to it. Because who doesn’t love being able to push the easy button on getting a card started?! *wink* For those of you who are new here, Sketchy Fridays is a weekly series where we use a card sketch to design our featured card.

This week’s card is based on our Luv 2 Stamp Group’s monthly sketch challenge using the Atlantic Hearts Sketch #640. Today’s design features the new Peaceful Garden suite that will release in Holiday Mini catalog in September.

We get started with a base of Cloud Cover cardstock. The background panel is a nice neutral pattern from the Peaceful Garden paper pack. The focal panel backdrop is a floral pattern and cross-hatch sheet from the pack. The sentiment from Peace on Earth is stamped in Misty Moonlight on white cardstock and then cut to a simple banner. The sentiment panel is adhered over a bow of Misty Moonlight & silver edged ribbon with dimensionals. I finished things off with some Hues of Blue flowers. Super simple and super elegant!

We’ll be wrapping up our Peaceful Garden card series tomorrow with a fun fold. I hope you’ll drop in!

Products used in today’s card:
Cloud Cover, Basic White cardstock
Peaceful Garden DSP (coming in Sept)
Peace on Earth stamps (coming in Sept)
Misty Moonlight & silver edged ribbon (coming in Sept)
Hues of Blue flowers (coming in Sept)
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Sentiments · Sketchy Fridays

Sketchy Fridays: Thinking of You

susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Sketchy Fridays on a Saturday! It was a long work day yesterday and I didn’t have any giddyup left. This week, we’re putting our sentiments center stage in our designs.

For those of you who are new here, Sketchy Fridays is a weekly series where we use a card sketch to design our featured card.

This week’s card is based on Sketch #691 from the Instagram Freshly Made Sketches crew. Today’s design features the new Sentimental Framing stamp set and Beautiful Butterflies die bundle.

We get started with a base of Strawberry Slush cardstock. The background panel of Pool Party is machine embossed with the Beautiful Butterflies embossing folder. I mounted it with the debossed side up because I really liked how this made the floral pattern of the focal strip stand out. Our focal section starts with a strip of the Florals in Bloom patterned paper that is matted with a strip of the yellow Beautiful Bokeh paper. The sentiment from Sentimental Journey takes center stage. It’s stamped in Secret Sea on white cardstock that’s been cut using the Spotlight on Nature dies. The sentiment panel is mounted on dimensionals over a twist of the iridescent striped ribbon. I added a small butterfly cut from pastel ombré glimmer paper and Secret Sea cardstock using the Beautiful Butterfly dies. It’s mounted just above the sentiment on dimensionals to draw the eye in. A few In Color flat pearls on either side of the sentiment panel finish things off.

A little later today, we’ll be wrapping up our sentiment series. And I’m going to offer you a little sneak peak at some upcoming Online Exclusives that release in just a little over a week! I hope you’ll drop back by and check it out.

Product List
Strawberry Slush 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [ 165625 ]
[165625]
$14.00
Pool Party 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [ 122924 ]
[122924]
$14.00
Secret Sea 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [ 165624 ]
[165624]
$14.00
Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [ 166780 ]
[166780]
$14.00
Florals In Bloom 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper [ 165175 ]
[165175]
$12.50
Beautiful Bokeh 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper [ 164607 ]
[164607]
$12.50
Pastel Ombre Glimmer 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper [ 164851 ]
[164851]
$12.00
Beautiful Butterflies Hybrid Embossing Folder [ 164614 ]
[164614]
$42.00
Spotlight On Nature Dies [ 163580 ]
[163580]
$35.00
Sentimental Framing Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) [ 165475 ]
[165475]
$24.00
Secret Sea Classic Stampin' Pad [ 165285 ]
[165285]
$9.00
Iridescent 1/2" (1.3 Cm) Striped Trim [ 163299 ]
[163299]
$8.50
2025–2027 In Color™ Flat Pearls [ 165192 ]
[165192]
$8.50
Stampin' Dimensionals [ 104430 ]
[104430]
$4.25
Add All to Cart
Coming Soon · Sketchy Fridays

Sketchy Fridays: Smile!

susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

This week, we’re getting some sneaky peeks at some of the brand new product that will be launching next week. And today we’re making another trip to the garden as we combine some new products with a sketch for Sketchy Fridays.

For those of you who are new here, Sketchy Fridays is a weekly series where we’re using a card sketch to design our featured card. Right now, we’re working through a full series of designs using the card sketches found in current Stampin’ Up! catalogs.

This week’s card is based on Sketch #3 from the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog. Today’s design features the Florals in Bloom suite that will release next week. This week, I’m staying pretty true to the sketch. I simply flipped the side where the focal panel is affixed.

We get started with a base of Blackberry Bliss cardstock. I used the Pattern of Friendship die on the front panel to add a little texture in the background. Our background panels are a combination of Florals in Bloom and Petunia Pop glimmer paper, and these are all adhered directly to the card front. I tied a piece of Fresh Freesia velvet ribbon around the card front before placing the focal panel. The focal panel base is a white circle cut using the Spotlight on Nature dies. Using the Pretty Florals dies, I cut some flowers from the Florals in Bloom paper and then affixed them to the circle using a combination of dimensionals and glue dots. The sentiment panel is cut from vellum using the Something Fancy dies. The sentiment from Sweet Blooms is stamped in Blackberry Bliss ink and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder before being adhered to the focal panel with glue dots. We finish things off with two tone sparkle gems across the card front.

Tomorrow we’re going to have our sentiments take center stage. I hope you’ll drop by and check it out.

Products used in today’s card:
Blackberry Bliss, Basic White cardstock
Florals in Bloom (coming soon), In Color glimmer, vellum DSP
Sweet Blooms stamps (coming soon)
Pretty Florals (coming soon), Spotlight on Nature, Something Fancy, Pattern of Friendship dies
Clear embossing powder
Fresh Freesia velvet ribbon
Two tone sparkle gems
Dimensionals

Online Exclusives · Sketchy Fridays

Sketchy Fridays: You Can!

susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

As I mentioned in my earlier post today, my week kind-of got away from me. So we’re having our Sketchy Fridays post today instead. This week, we’re working with a nature theme and with a dreary, rainy day here in North Texas, I’m finding myself leaning into a water theme for our next card design.

For those of you who are new here, Sketchy Fridays is a weekly series where we’re using a card sketch to design our featured card. Right now, we’re working through a full series of designs using the card sketches found in current Stampin’ Up! catalogs.

This week’s card is based on Sketch #7 from the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog. Today’s design features the Otterly Adorable suite from one of the latest Stampin’ Up! Online Exclusives releases.

I just love the Otterly Adorable suite and was actually just mentioning to my husband how I hadn’t used it much. So as I was looking for a sketch, I had this set on my mind. One of the things we’ve talked about throughout our Sketchy Fridays series is that sometimes your final design follows a sketch to a tee, while other times the sketch was just your jumping off point. And I think for today’s card, my selected sketch from the SU! Annual Catalog was more of an inspiration for the placement of the card elements I had in mind. The beautiful thing about crafting is that there are NO rules!

We get started on this card with a base of Pretty Peacock cardstock. I chose the fish pattern from the Otterly Adorable paper pack as the focal panel backdrop and cut it out using the largest Textured Notes die. For the focal image, I chose the baby otter swimming with its parents because it seemed to work perfectly for the chosen sentiment of “you can do this.” I cut out the otters using the Spotlight on Nature dies. I wanted the focal image to stand out against the backdrop, so I matted it with some Pretty Peacock glimmer paper cut out with a slightly larger circle from the Spotlight on Nature die set. To add a bit more color and visual interest around the otters, I cut the smaller fish from Flirty Flamingo cardstock using the Otterly Amazing dies and then used my glue pen to adhere them. The otters are adhered to the sparkly mat with dimensionals and then adhered directly to the fishy backdrop. The sentiment from Saying Hey (currently on the Last Chance list!) is stamped in Pretty Peacock on a panel of the water paper from the Otterly Amazing paper pack that has been diecut using the Something Fancy banner die. I adhered this over a twist of some gold thread with two layers of dimensionals to be sure the sentiment really stands out. The full focal panel is adhered to the card base with dimensionals and we finish things off with a few Lost Lagoon faceted gems and riverside irregular pearls.

Next week, we’re going to look at some of my favorites that are on the Last Chance list. I hope you’ll follow along!

Product List
Pretty Peacock 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [ 150880 ]
[150880]
$11.50
Three Color Glimmer 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper [ 162813 ]
[162813]
$10.50
Flirty Flamingo 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [ 141416 ]
[141416]
$11.50
Otterly Adorable Suite Collection (English) [ 164939 ]
[164939]
$75.25
Spotlight On Nature Dies [ 163580 ]
[163580]
$35.00
Textured Notes Dies [ 165555 ]
[165555]
$31.00
Something Fancy Dies [ 160424 ]
[160424]
$28.00
Pretty Peacock Classic Stampin’ Pad [ 150083 ]
[150083]
$9.00
Gold Twisted Thread [ 164603 ]
[164603]
$7.50
Faceted Gems Trio Pack [ 162148 ]
[162148]
$7.50
Riverside Irregular Pearls [ 164937 ]
[164937]
$9.00
Stampin' Dimensionals [ 104430 ]
[104430]
$4.25
Fine-Tip Glue Pen [ 138309 ]
[138309]
$7.25
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