Berry Birthday

Hi and welcome!  I spent some time in my craft room yesterday making a couple of cards for some challenges and this is the first one.

When I saw the Addicted to CAS challenge pop up last week, I immediately thought of this NBUS stamp set from Sunny Studio.  It took me a week to get to it, but I finally put ink to paper and came up with this card.  I was also inspired by the current CAS(E) This Sketch challenge plus I'm linking up to Seize The Birthday.

I did some experimenting with colors for each of the layers for the berries, mixing my brands to get the best looks.

The strawberry was stamped directly onto the card base.  To get the achenes to show (the seeds), I stamped first with white pigment ink, then went over the top with Sunshine ink from SSS.  The other berries were stamped with purple inks and fussy cut.  One was popped up on foam tape and both were coated with Nuvo Crystal Glaze.

I wanted a big sentiment, but not too big, so went looking through my stash and found this one from PTI.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Berry Bliss (Sunny Studio), Signature Greetings (PTI)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Poppy, Red Hot, Electric Red (MFT), Olive, Moss (Altenew), Velvet Orchid, Hydrangea, Blue Ciolet (SSS), Unicorn White (Hero Art), Sunshine (SSS)
Cardstock:  White
Accessories:  Nuvo Crystal Glaze

Cheers
Karren

Golden Friend

Welcome!  Today's card comes with a video and was made using the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch, the colors at Color Throwdown and the Anything Goes challenge at 4 Crazy Chicks.

I blended some SSS inks onto a panel of Bristol Smooth cardstock adding the darker color (Merlot) to the bottom and the lighter color (Schoolhouse Red) to the top.  Once it was dry, I gold-embossed the Kaleidoscope background stamp from SSS onto the panel before die-cutting it with a rounded rectangle die.  

The sentiment was die-cut three times from After Midnight cardstock by MFT and stacked together, before being spritzed with Clear Shimmer Spray.  You can see in the photo below the subtle shimmer.

Finally, I added some sparkling crystal from Studio Katia.

Thanks so much for visiting.  To view the video, you can either head over to YouTube or watch below.

Products Used:

Stamps:  Kaleidoscope Background (SSS)

Ink:  Schoolhouse Red, Merlot (SSS), Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Bristol Smooth, After Midnight (MFT)

Dies:  Rounded Rectangles (Hero Arts), Friend (MFT)

Accessories:  Gold EP (SSS), Sparkling Crystals (Studio Katia), Corner Chomper

Cheers

Karren

Hello Friend

Hi!  Today's card was made using the inspiration photo from Inspired By All The Little Things and I'm also playing along with the Make Your Own Background challenge at Simon Says Stamp.  I was also inspired by the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch - flipping the sketch to a landscape orientation.

I created my own woodgrain background by scoring some white cardstock, then rubbing various distress inks over the panel.  Once it was dry, I die-cut it with a stitched die and adhered it to a white card base.

I glued some fun foam behind some gold foil cardstock and some Sno Cone cardstock then die-cut the sentiments.  The flowers were stamped with Altenew inks and die-cut.  The bottom flower was adhered directly to the woodgrain and the top flower was popped up on foam tape.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Painted Flowers (Altenew)

Ink:  Pink Diamond, Pinkalicious, Bamboo, Parror (Altenew), Antique Linen, Old Paper, Pumice Stone Distress Inks

Cardstock:  White, Gold Foil, Sno Cone (MFT)

Dies:  Thanks & Hello, Friend, Blueprints 25 (MFT), Painted Flowers (Altenew)

Accessories:  Craft Foam

Cheers

Karren

Skatin' by Christmas

Hi and welcome!  Today's card was made for four different challenges - CAS(E) This Sketch, Merry Monday, the Freestyle challenge at MFT's Creative Olympics and The Male Room.

On a panel of Bristol Smooth cardstock I blended a mix of Distress Inks and Distress Oxide inks in an ombre fashion.  Once that was done, I went over the panel again - this time with the Drifts & Hills stencil and the Mini Cloud Edges stencil.  I then spritzed some water over the panel and set it aside to dry.

The polar bear was stamped onto X-Press It cardstock and colored with Copics.  After die-cutting it, I arranged it with a white-embossed sentiment and adhered it with foam tape onto the sponged panel.  Both layers were then added to a white top-folding card base.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Polar Bear Pals, Snow Globe Sentiments (MFT)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Tumbled Glass, Chipped Sapphire, Broken China, Faded Jeans, Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Bristol Smooth, X-Press It, Black

Dies:  Polar Bear Pals, Slanted Sentiment Strips (MFT)

Accessories:  White EP, Copics, Drifts & Hills Stencil, Mini Cloud Edges Stencil

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at CAS(E) This Skeetch

Gray Celebration

Hi!  As promised yesterday, here is the other card I made.  It's my DH's birthday today (Christmas Eve) and I decided I'd better get to making him a birthday card!  As soon as I saw the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch I knew I wanted to do some ink blending.  I did consider the retiform technique but wanted to keep it as CAS as possible.  I also used lots of stars from different Blueprints sets to play along in the MFT Blueprints Challenge.  And finally, I'm entering this card into The Male Room challenge (Christmas/December celebrations).

I lightly ruled off the boxes using a pencil and ruler to match the sketch then chose a heap of gray inks and Post-It tape to mask off each box before blending ink into the opening.  I left a small white gap between each box (which was really so I could go back and erase my pencil marks, but I like the look nonetheless).

The sentiment is stacked three high for dimension and stability.  The stars come from various MFT Blueprints sets and were cut from SSS cardstock to match the inks.  I did add a tiny bit of shimmer pen to some of the stars to lift the card a bit but other than that, there was no other embellishing.

Thanks for visiting today and every other time you've visited me here.  Have a wonderful Christmas.  I'll be back in a couple of days hopefully with another card.

Products used:

Ink:  Slate, Smoke, Stone, Fossil, Fog (SSS)

Cardstock:  White, Slate Smoke, Stone, Fog (SSS)

Dies:  Blueprints 15, 18, 19. 25, Celebrate (MFT)

Accessories:  Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at CAS(E) This Sketch and The Male Room

Cool Penguin

Hi and welcome!  I made this card on the weekend, but I've been so busy at work the last couple of days I haven't had the energy to post it until now.  We are moving premises at work at the end of this month and there is a lot to do!  But if I don't take the time to get this post up now, I'll never do it, so here goes.

This card was made using the current sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch, the colors from MFT's current challenge and Addicted to CAS are looking for our favourite stamp.  This stamp set would have to be one of my favourites and most-used.  I just adore these little penguins!

I started with a white card base and then added an After Midnight layer and another white layer.  The sentiment was embossed with Rouge EP by Zing and angled to suit the sketch.  I framed it on either side with a thin strip of After Midnight cardstock.  The penguin was stamped and colored with Copics, matching the rest of the challenge colors as best I could (Daffodil for the flower and Lemon Chiffon for the drink).  He was then die-cut and popped up onto the card with foam tape.  Finally, I colored the drink and the flower with clear sparkle pen.

Thanks for visiting!  

Products used:

Stamps:  Penguins in Paradise (MFT)
Ink:  Intense Black, Versamark
Cardstock:  White, After Midnight, X-Press It
Dies:  Penguins in Paradise, Rectangle Stax 1 and 2 (MFT)
Accessories:  Copics, Rouge EP (Zing), Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at MFT Stamps and Addicted to CAS

Big Hello

Hi, this is a quick post because I need to get my entry into CASology before the challenge closes.  It's been an age since I played there and I didnt want to let another week go by.

Pretty obviously, the "big" in this card is the Hello, which is actually called Big Hello.  It was inked with distress inks and spritzed with Perfect Pearls mist before being stacked on top of 3 white layers.  The stripes are my NBUS and are gold-embossed.  A pretty simple card.

I'm also entering over at Darnell's NBUS challenge, Inkspirational's Hello challenge and CAS(E) This Sketch.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  You & Me (SSS)

Ink:  Versamark, Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers

Cardstock:  White, Bristol Smooth

Dies:  Big Hello (MFT)

Accessories:  Gold EP, Perfect Pearls

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at CASology.

Dogs in the Window

Hi and welcome!  I made this card for my son's girlfriend, who was 20 yesterday.  She loves animals and she has a great sense of humour, so I thought she'd appreciate some crazy dogs 😀

I sort of had it in my head that I wanted the dogs to be looking through a window and then I saw the current challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch and I knew I could use the big rectangle for the window and for the circle I could use one of the dogs - who is either trying to get in the window or who has escaped out of the window.

I stamped and colored all the dogs in the Crazy Cats & Dogs set and then die-cut them with the matching dies.  I do have a window die but it was too small for what I wanted so I hunted through my dies and found this from Blueprints 29 which would work as a window.  I die-cut it from a white top-fold card base, then adhered the frame back into the card base.

After I'd arranged the dogs in the window, I adhered them to the back of the open frame then created by background which was made with Distress Oxide inks onto Bristol Smooth cardstock then spritzed with Glitter Dust.

I finished the card with an embossed sentiment popped up on foam tape and the last little dog.

Here are a few other photos.

Thanks for visiting!  I'm also entering this into Seize the Birthday and Work It Wednesday where we are asked to use our favorite stamps.  I have so many favorites, it's hard to choose, but these definitely make me laugh so they're right up there 😊

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Crazy Cats & Dogs, #Hashtags (Tim Holtz)

Ink:  Intense Black, Versamark, Peacock Feathers, Twisted Citron, Cracked Pistachio Distress Inks

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Bristol Smooth

Dies:  Crazy Cats & Dogs (TH), Blueprints 29, Slanted Sentiment Strips (MFT)

Accessories:  Copics, Glitter Dust

Cheers

Karren

Birthday Guy

Hi and welcome!  I took a bit of time over the weekend to make a card for a few challenges.  I used the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch; I'm playing along with the Masculine theme at 4 Crafty Chicks and I'm also linking up to Seize the Birthday.

I grabbed this NBUS set and colored up this gentleman with his gift then fussy-cut him out.  I created a simple scene behind him using a curved die for the grass and a cloud stencil for the sky.  The sentiment was stamped onto the card base and the "you" was die-cut from black cardstock.  I got a couple of blotches of ink where I didn't want them when I was stenciling so I added the balloons to cover them up 😄

I'm not so sure this is CAS as there is no white space left, but I'll enter it anyway.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps: Birthday Wishes (Art Impressions), Birthday Wishes (SSS)

Ink:  Intense Black, Tumbled Glass

Cardstock:  White, Black, X-Press It

Dies:  You (SSS)

Accessories:  Copics, Mini Cloud Edges Stencil (MFT)

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at 4 Crafty Chicks and CAS(E) This Sketch