Sketch #107 with Amber Inks

Welcome to Sweet Sketch Wednesday! This is Sharon from the design team posting this week from Michigan, the Great Lakes State. If you're a new visitor here at Sweet Sketch Wednesday, we extend to you a warm welcome and our open arms of online friendship. If you are a returning friend, we greet you with a hearty smile and hugs - pull up a chair and spend some time with us!

Now before we get to the sketch this week, I'm going to continue the little tradition that our wonderful Kathie began about a month ago. That is telling and showing you a little about where I live and the beautiful things I love about the State of Michigan.

Michigan is also called the peninsula state because it's made of two land masses completely surrounded by the Great Lakes. Our motto is "If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look around you".

The name Michigan is from a native Indian word called Michigana, meaning "great or large lake".  There are five Great Lakes - Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior - and they are what make our state so beautiful. There are 3,288 miles of Great Lakes shoreline and if the Great Lakes weren't enough, we have more than 10,000 inland lakes around the state.  The picture above is Lake Michigan from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park.

Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world, covering 31,820 square miles (82,414 sq km). These are the famous Pictured Rocks on Lake Superior - absolutely breaktaking.

Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state in the U.S. - a total of 116.  This one is on the shore of Lake Michigan called Big Sable Point.

Michigan's two peninsulas are connected by one of the largest suspension bridges in the U.S. called the Mackinaw Bridge.  It spans across the junction of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

And although they are large bodies of water, when you get that far north the water freezes.  Ice breakers are used to keep the lakes open for shipping.

This is one of my favorite photos of the ice flows on Lake Michigan - looks like glass doesn't it? Gorgeous.

Michigan is probably best known for it's automotive history and dominance - it is home to the global headquarters of Chrysler, Ford and my company, General Motors.

But it's also the home of the legendary Motown Records and many of the music legends as well as some other noted people including Rosa Parks, Bob Seger, Tim Allen, Charles Lindbergh, Francis Ford Coppola, Madonna, etc.

Detroit is our largest city, Lansing is our capital city and Copper Harbor pictured here is our most northern town!  Thanks for endulging me as I've bragged long enough about my state! But maybe I've just enticed you enough that you're interested in visiting :)

Now on with the regular post.  It's time to announce the Grand Prize winner and Top Three for last week's sketch challenge #106.  Drumroll please..... 

The Grand Prize Winner is:

# 19 JENNY L

Congratulations!  Please contact Arlana at sweetberrydesigns@hotmail.com to claim your prize!  Be sure to grab your Grand Prize Banner along the sidebar to proudly display on your blog!

And the Top Three are:

#1: LUCIANNA DILSAVER

#2: HAZEL P

#3: MARIANNE CRAFTROOM

Be sure to grab your Top Three Banner on the sidebar! Congratulations to you too!

We have a terrific sketch this week for SSW107 and a fun new sponsor too.  Take a look....

Here's that super sketch, created by our own Arlana Patten - it a great one to show off papers and embellishments. 

And our wonderful sponsor this week is Amber Ink!  The Grand Prize Winner of the challenge will receive a generous $15 Gift Certificate to the Amber Ink Shop!

Now hang onto your hats - it's time to see the creations of the design team using the fun digi stamps from Amber Ink. Prepare to be inspired....

Arlana

Patti

Nancy

Judi

Sharon

Genevieve

Jackie

Linda

Kathie

Jeannie

To play along this week is really simple:

1. Create a card using the sketch of the week.  You may use any stamp or element you have to create your card, however if you have any Amber Ink images, we'd love to see what you can do with them.

2.  If posting to an online gallery, please use Sweet Sketch 107.

3.  Add a link on your blog to Sweet Sketch Wednesday.

4.  Post your card along with the link.

5.  Sign into Inlinkz and add a direct link back to your card on your site.

6.  Be sure to leave a comment here as we love hearing from you.  You must do this to be considered for the Grand Prize.

And most important:  Have Fun!!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by and good luck!

Sharon