October at The Sketch File

I am working like a crazy woman trying to get my Christmas cards done. I think I have about 55 out of 85 complete which isn't too bad at this point. This card is inspired by our October sketch at The Sketch File. Kathy and I hope you will join us and share a card or two.  As always the sketch will be up for the entire month.  I have folded this card a bit differently. I started with a 5"x7" card base and folded the front panel at 2.5". I attached the holly patterned paper to the front fold and added the details. I like this fold and will be revisiting it again and again. I hope you can still see the sketch in this card and I must apologize for the dark photo. I am always challenged when it comes to photographing a card that has a lot of white on it!

Introducing the OCTOBER SKETCH

It's time to introduce the newest sketch at The Sketch File. The October sketch will be available all month and we hope you will find time to create something based on the sketch. Kathy has provided a few versions of the sketch to encourage you to resize, rotate, flip, shrink, enlarge and generally have fun with the sketch.  

I have decided to focus on Christmas cards and I'm sharing this one with candy canes. I've used dry embossing for the snowflake background and used  a punch to create the boughs. The candy canes are handcut from red cardstock. I used paint to add the white stripes. After I had finished adhering all the bits and pieces, I regretted that I didn't make the candy canes larger and more of a focal point. 

Last Week in September

As we head into the last week in September, I have one more card to share with you. Once again I have used the September sketch from The Sketch File. It has been an interesting and inspiring sketch to work with and I am happy that it lent itself so well to yet another Christmas card. I am seriously behind on my Christmas cards and hope that I have the time, energy and creative inspiration to finish about another 30 or so before Christmas is upon us. The sketch has multiple layers to play with and Kathy and I want to encourage you to use the sketch and share your creation with us at The Sketch File. Here are a few versions of the sketch:

September Sketch @ The Sketch File

 I'm sharing another card inspired by our current sketch at The Sketch File. The September sketch has multiple layers. Initially I found it a bit challenging but the more I've worked with it, the more creative I felt. My favorite part of this card is the layer under the flower. I started with a circle, cut around the outside edge toward the center and then trimmed off the edges at an angle. I think it gave the flower more of a focus.  Unfortunately, the photo didn't come out well. It's hard to tell that the lighter areas are light green. They look gray on my computer. Sorry for the poor quality. If I had a lot more energy, I would make another attempt at getting a better photo but the day has already been too long. Here's the sketch: enlarge it, shrink it, rotate it and have fun!

Catching Up

Tonight I realized that I hadn't posted the SEPTEMBER sketch for the The Sketch File.  I had written the post, but just never posted. So the previous card is one that should have been posted last Tuesday. Of course, that means I'm running a week behind. It doesn't surprise me. I have been so busy with work that I am having a hard time remembering things. After spending 12 or more hours a day at work, it is hard to come home and think of anything else except resting.  I hope you enjoy Kathy's sketch and feel inspired by our cards. Please post your creation with us at The Sketch File.

September Sketch @ The Sketch File

I made this card for my niece. She has recently headed off for her first year at a university and I thought she'd like to hear from family. The layout for the card was inspired by the newest sketch at The Sketch File.  The September sketch is one of Kathy's multi-layer sketches. I hope you are feeling inspired and will join us this month. We'd love to see what you do with the sketch. Feel free to enlarge bits and pieces of it, shrink them or rotate or flip the sketch. HAVE FUN!

Feeling Inspired Yet?

Please join us over at The Sketch File. We have a fun sketch to create with and we hope you will feel inspired to use it. Both Kathy and I have been using the sketch to create cards to further inspire you. This week my card has a Christmas theme. Normally, I have all my Christmas cards created by now, but I am really behind this year. My job is just taking too much time these days. I am putting in 11 hour days (5 or 6 days a week) and come home feeling quite fatigued. I look forward to the weekends, especially the ones when I am not expected to work on Saturday.  HERE ARE THE SKETCHES WE'VE BEEN USING ALL MONTH LONG....I hope you feel inspired.

Stamped Cattails

Won't you join us at The Sketch File? We're keeping our sketch up all month long and both Kathy and I are sharing cards to offer inspiration. I created this card with a male recipient in mind. I used various shades of brown and stamped the image of the cattails with a brown ink as well.

August @ The Sketch File

Thank goodness I have had an opportunity to get some crafting done. Work lately has been stressful and it is good to get away from it all with a bit of crafting. I have been enjoying the challenge that our current sketch offers, It's one of those sketches that allows for simple, clean cards. As you can see I have kept my card simple and decided to use  a Christmas theme.  I used two different snowflake punches and added the twine and decorative edge to pull it all together.  I hope you find the time to craft this week and will be inspired by our current sketch at The Sketch File. I will be looking forward to seeing what you create with it.

  

August @ The Sketch File

August has arrived which means it's time to share our newest sketch. Each month at The Sketch File we introduce a new sketch. We keep the sketch up throughout the month and hope you will have time to visit us and play along. As with all of our sketches, feel free to modify it by shrinking parts, enlarging, rotating or flipping it. We'd love to see what you create.

My card was inspired by the sketch and the dark green Christmas ribbon with kittens. I didn't add a lot of other detail. I wanted to keep the card clean and simple.

JULY @ The Sketch File: Floral Card

As we wind down the month of July, I am sharing one more card inspired by our July Sketch. Kathy and I have enjoyed creating cards to inspire you and hope you will take a few moments to craft a card and share it with us at The Sketch File. As with all the sketches we share, you can make adjustments to the sketch by shrinking, enlarging, rotating, flipping parts of it and generally making it work for your project. We're looking forward to seeing your clever creation! By the way, Kathy also provides a few different versions of the sketch.

Better Late Than Never

I am so far behind on so many levels! I was planning to post this card last Tuesday. My only real excuse is that I have been putting in far too many hours at work and when I get home at night, looking at the computer is the last thing I feel like doing. I have promised myself to leave work on time this week (4:30 instead of 7:00). I hope I can swing it! 

This card is based on the July sketch at The Sketch File. We are using the same layout all month long and hope that you will find time to be creative and use the sketch in some way. See you at The Sketch File!

Let is Snow...July @ the Sketch File

Here is my second card based on our JULY sketch at The Sketch File. I love how simple this card is and that's the beauty of the sketch. You can make a card based on it with loads of detail or keep it very simple. If you hop on over to The Sketch File, you can see how Kathy used the same sketch but added lots of detail to her project. Either way, we hope you will feel inspired and will join us this month. We look forward to seeing what you create with the sketch.

July Sketch @ The Sketch File

Welcome to a new month! We are happy to introduce our July sketch at the The Sketch File, This sketch will be available all month and Kathy and I are looking forward to seeing how it inspires you to create. You always have the option of shrinking, enlarging, rotating,or flipping it....whatever it takes to inspire you! We eagerly look forward to seeing what you create with it. You'll notice that there are two versions of the sketch....use either one.

I decided to use it to create a birthday card. I hand cut the balloons from scrap pieces of paper (my ever growing stash). I tied embroidery thread to each balloon and added a bit of highlight with a gel pen.  I printed the sentiment in Word and layered it on rectangular pieces of paper.

See you at The Sketch File!

Birthday Gift Card Holder

As we head into the last week in June, I'm sharing one last card based on our June sketch at the The Sketch File. I created this card to hold a gift card. The pocket on the front is slightly raised with dimensional adhesive to allow space for a gift card.  I loved the patterned paper. It is perfect for the recipient who does a lot of traveling for his job.

So, please hop on over to the The Sketch File to see the lovely card Kathy has created and then link your card or craft with us. As always Kathy shares a couple of versions of the sketch to help get the creative juices flowing:

June Sketch @ The Sketch File

I'm sharing a Christmas card today. This one is inspired by Kathy's sketch at The Sketch File. Kathy and I hope you will feel inspired to use the sketch and create a card, scrapbook page or project. Please post your crafty creation with us at The Sketch File!

Layered Rings

I am still challenging myself to create a few masculine cards and decided to use our June sketch at the The Sketch File as the inspiration for this "masculine" card. Kathy's sketch worked well for this card and I was lucky enough to have scrap pieces of patterned and solid cardstock that worked well together. Now it's your turn. We hope you will use the sketch to join us this month. You can link up your creation with us here and while you're there you can take a peek at the fabulous card Kathy created this week!

June Sketch at The Sketch File

I'm a day behind in getting this card posted. It's inspired by our June sketch at The Sketch File. I didn't stray too far from the layout design and kept the card monochromatic, with the exception of the white sentiment layer. We post a new sketch each month and keep the sketch up all month long so you have plenty of time to play along and create something based on the sketch. Kathy usually creates more than one version of the sketch to offer up a bit more inspiration. As with all our sketches, the sketch can be enlarged, shrunk, rotated and flipped....basically just use your imagination and have fun. We're looking forward to seeing your creations! Happy Crafting!

Pocket Birthday Card

Since I've been asked to create cards for co-workers and the bosses generally give a gift card, I decided to create a card with a pocket to store the gift card. I ended up using a bit of dimensional adhesive behind the pocket so that the gift card would slip in nicely. I'm hoping to use this card for one of the male employees. Since part of the co-worker's job entails driving from here to there, I figured the patterned paper with the signage would work well.