Watercolored Poppy

Welcome!  I'm trying to complete all the challenges at Camp Create, so I'll apologise in advance because there are going to be a few posts from me over the next couple of days :)

This card is for the first day - Wonderful Watercolor.

Watercolor is not my forte, so I did as little actual watercoloring as possible, instead creating a smooshed background, with a small watercolored image.

I smooshed some Broken China Distress Ink onto a panel of white cardstock and set it aside to dry.  I then "tried" to watercolor a poppy and leaves.  Once the smooshed panel was dry, I stamped the sentiment and added some craft foam behind it before adhering it to a white card base.  The poppy and leaves were added last and I very carefully added some Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle pen to the centre of the poppy, but a tiny little bit escaped and made the black ink run :(

I'm also adding this card to Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge and their Watercolour Challenge.

Products used:

Stamps:  Delicate Pretty Poppies (MFT)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT), Broken China Distress Ink

Cardtock:  White, Bristol Smooth

Dies:  Delicate Pretty Poppies (MFT)

Accessories:  Akashiya Sai Watercolor Brush Pens, Zigs

Cheers

Karren

Cone Head

I just love the humorous sets at Art Impressions and this one is no exception!  I used Doggy Kisses to make a one-layer card and I'm entering it into CAS(E) This Sketch, Art Impressions white space challenge and Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge.

I stamped the very unamused looking dog onto X-Press It cardstock and colored him with Copics.  I then die-cut it with a stitched frame.  I stamped the sentiment as if he's resting his head on it and added in some ground.  In case it's not immediately obvious, I flipped the CTS sketch and used images to represent each of the elements.

Oh man, this dog just cracks me up.  I remember when our dog Dexter had his manhood removed when he was a puppy and we had to put a cone on him.  As soon as we put it on, he turned into a statue and wouldn't move until we took it off again.  He was obviously terrified but it was pretty funny at the same time.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Doggy Kisses (Art Impressions)
Ink:  Intense Black (SSS)
Cardstock:  X-Press It
Dies:  Blueprints 25 (MFT)
Accessories:  Copics

Cheers
Karren

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

Sick Bear

This is just a quick post as I want to get my card posted for CASology.  I also used the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch but not the optional extra of a pet-themed card as bears don't tend to make good pets :)

This is another NBUS set and I'm pleased to report the contents of my NBUS box is going down quicker than I can fill it up!  I colored up this little bear and his hot water bottle and die-cut them.  The white card base was scored three times as per the sketch.  I stamped the sentiment from the same set and then positioned the bear and hot water bottle and called it done!

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Under the Weather (Clearly Besotted)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It

Dies:  Under the Weather (CB)

Accessories:  Copics, Scoreboard

Cheers

Karren

This card got a shout out at CASology.

Feel Better Flowers

Hi and welcome to Freshly Made Sketches!  Today our sketch comes to you from the talented Kim Singdahlsen and she has a fabulous layered sketch for us.

Sometimes when I see a sketch I see the different panels  in weird ways, and this time I saw the dark horizontal panel as a cutout in the card front, so that's the direction I took.  Because of that, I had to swap the width of the two horizontal panels to provide something for the sentiment panel to adhere to.  You'll see what I mean when you see my card.

It's hard to tell in the photo the but card base was cut and a sponged Hickory Smoke panel was adhered in the gap.  The floral panel was watercolored with my Zig markers and then I went over the whole background with a light wash of Hickory Smoke.  When coloring the images, I deliberately went for a looser feel and didn't go right to the edges on all the images.

Once I was happy with the panel I cut it down and adhered it to the card base.  Then I stamped the sentiment onto a vellum panel and folded it around the card front and glued it to the inside.

Thanks for visiting.  The design team have created some wonderful cards with this sketch so please check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Sketch Ranunculus (SSS), KIS:  Get Well (PTI)

Ink:  Versamark, Black Stazon, Hickory Smoke

Cardstock:  White, watercolor, vellum

Accessories:  Zig markers, white EP

Cheers

Karren

Pretty Poppies

Hi!  Today's card was made using the current sketch at MFT as well as the gingham theme at Cardz for Galz and the colors from Color Throwdown, who are celebrating their 400th challenge!  What an amazing achievement - congrats to the team!

I went with the rather obvious floral theme using the Color Throwdown colors and colored up a new-to-me set by MFT called Delicate Pretty Poppies.  I've seen beautiful cards made with these flowers and finally broke down and bought the set and dies and this is their first outing.  I colored the flowers with Copics, going for a dark and dramatic look.  I placed them onto a die-cut rounded corner rectangle die, taken from Blueprints 14.  The uppermost poppy is popped up on foam tape.  I brought in the gingham for the Cardz for Galz challenge by stamping a gingham background stamp using Candied Apple distress ink - the brightest red ink I have.  I then cut it out with a fishtail flag and layered that with a slightly smaller black flag.

What you can't see in the photo is that the card base has been embossed with a new embossing folder called Weathered by Taylored Expressions.  It provides a wonderful texture but still keeps the CAS look.  As a finishing touch, I colored the bud and the black flower center with Wink of Stella.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Delicate Pretty Poppies (MFT), Gingham Background (SSS)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Candied Apple Distress Ink

Cardstock:  White, black, X-Press It

Dies:  Delicate Pretty Poppies, Blueprints 14, Fishtail Flag Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Copics, Wink of Stella, Weathered Embossing Folder (Taylored Expressions)

Cheers

Karren

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

Feel Better

It's time for another Fusion Card Challenge and this week, we have a gorgeous and delicate inspiration pic as well as a fun sketch.

For my card, I stuck with the floral theme and the pink and teal colors.  I sort of used the sketch, but not totally:

I used the gorgeous Beautiful Friend set by Clearly Besotted as well as the versatile Say it in Style sentiment set.  I colored the flowers with Copics and die-cut the image.  I took a wide strip of black and white-embossed the sentiment.  The sentiment panel is adhered to a white cardstock and the flower is popped up on foam tape.

Thanks for visiting.  Be sure to check out the fabulous inspiration by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Beautiful Friend, Say it in Style (Clearly Besotted)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT), Versamark
Cardstock:  White, Black, X-Press It
Dies:  Beautiful Friend
Accessories:  Copic Markers, white gel pen, Wink of Stella

Cheers
Karren

Off the Edge

Hi and welcome to Freshly Made Sketches Challenge Day!  Today, Kim, who makes the most beautiful CAS cards, has a very fun and interesting sketch for us.  This sketch calls for an element to be off the edge of the card.  How cool is that?

For my card, I decided to play along with the challenge at Friday Mashup, to use either umbrellas or polka dots.  I went with both.  I'm also linking to The Challenge where polka dots are the theme.

On my white cardbase, I stamped the polka dot strip in Audrey Blue down the left side of the card.  I then stamped the sentiment in black.  Then I used my Misti to stamp my umbrella and its components onto the die-cut before popping it up with foam tape on the card base.

The umbrella was painted with clear Wink of Stella, which you can't see in the photo.  Some blue sequins and I was all done.  In hindsight, I possibly should have made the polka dot strip wider, but it's done and I ain't doing it again!

Thanks for visiting.  Be sure to check out the gorgeous creations from the rest of the amazing DT.  And as a special treat, we have the genius who created Freshly Made Sketches as a guest.  Be sure to check out Lesley's blog - she does amazing work!

Products used:

Stamps:  April Showers (Clearly Besotted), Basic Borders (Mama Elephant)
Ink:  Green Apply, Audrey Blue (SSS), Daffodil Delight (SU), Memento Grey Flannel, Memento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock:  White
Accessories:  Wink of Stella, sequins, April Showers die

Cheers
Karren

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

Pop of Black

Hi and welcome to Freshly Made Sketch Challenge Day.  Our lovely hostess this week is the very talented Queen of Layers - Narelle Farrugia.  And, speaking of layers - check out her sketch:

I have to admit, I struggled a bit with this sketch - so many layers for this CAS girl :)  So I fell back on the old stand-by when a card isn't working - black layers.  I find layering with black really helps bring everything together for a more cohesive end result.

As you can see, I flipped the sketch on its side.  I used Lost Lagoon as my base color, along with white, black and vellum.  The horizontal and vertical panels were embossed with the Tiny Triangles embossing folder to add some interest.

I love the font on this sentiment, and while I don't currently need a get well card, I'm sure the need will come around soon enough.  This card was designed along masculine lines to suit a male.

Thanks for visiting.  The design team have a wonderful array of gorgeous cards to tempt you for this, our last challenge of the year.

Products used:

Stamps:  Delightful Dozen (SU)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Cardstock:  Lost Lagoon, black, white, vellum

Accessories:  Circle and Rectangle Stitched Mats dies (Lil Inkers), Circle Nestabilities, Tiny Triangles EF (SU), black twine, enamel dots

Cheers

Karren

Guiding Light

It's Freshly Made Sketches time - one of my favorite days of the week!  Today, the very talented Cindy Hall has a fabulous sketch, which offers so many opportunities to make it your own.

I kept my card low-key and unfussy as it's destined for a male ex work colleague who is having cancer surgery next week.  

For the background panel on the sketch, I chose to use embossing paste and the Rays stencil.  I colored the paste with some Goldenlocks ink to match the reeds I stamped along the bottom of the smaller panel.

I stamped the lighthouse and fussy cut it and that represents the top vertical panel on the sketch.  The sentiment comes from what is fast becoming my favorite sentiment set - Say it in Style by Clearly Besotted.

No frills or embellishments on this card because (a) it's for a man and (b) it's going through the mail.

Thanks for visiting.  The rest of the design team have some knock-out cards to inspire you so check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Guiding Light (WPlus9), Say It In Style (Clearly Besotted)

Ink:  Goldenlocks, Schoolhouse Red (SSS), Versafine

Cardstock:  White, Early Espresso

Accessories:  Rays Stencil (Tim Holtz), Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste, Corner Chomper

Cheers

Karren

Jug of Flowers

Hi and welcome!  Today's card uses the sketch from Lesley's "The Challenge".  I flipped the sketch and came up with this card:

I used Mama Elephant's Sweet Havana set to stamp this card for a friend, going through a tough time at the moment.  I stamped the jug with Cobblestone ink, then used some gray Copics to give some depth and roundness to the jug.  I stamped the flowers in Lavender and Blue Violet ink, leaving a couple of them without the dotty bits to make it look like they are different flowers.  In hindsight, it just looks like I forgot to stamp the dotty bits!  The leaves were stamped in Beanstalk Green and Green Leaf inks.  

The banner is from the Tags a Lot die set and is bigger than the banner that comes with Sweet Havana, so I could fit the flower as well as the sentiment.  I used Wink of Stella to paint over all the flowers.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Sweet Havana (Mama Elephant)

Ink:  Blue Violet, Lavender, Green Leaf, Beanstalk Green, Cobblestone (SSS)

Cardstock:  White, Fog (SSS)

Accessories:  Copics, Lil Inkers Circle and Rectangle Stitched Mats dies, Sweet Havana dies (ME), Tags a Lot (ME), Wink of Stella

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got top honors at The Challenge.

Framed Flower

Here's a card I made yesterday, specifically with the following challenges in mind:  Friday Mashup to use vellum and/or stitching; the colors from Color Throwdown, the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch and the get well challenge at Catered Crop (my first time playing there).

Phew!

So here's my card:

If you want a laugh, check out the bottom left of the sentiment strip - see the pencil mark that I forgot to erase before taking the photo?  Doh!

Anyway, onto the card.  I white embossed the flower image onto vellum and colored from the back using Crisp Cantaloupe and Pistachio Pudding ink refills and a paintbrush.  The frames were cut from a SSS frame die cut set and the bottom right corner of the rectangular frame was completely cut away so that only the curved frame showed.

The sentiment was stamped in black Stazon and then stitched onto the card base using my sewing machine.  I just had to buy a new sewing machine because my old Janome up and died.  I bought that baby back in the late 80's, so I can't complain.  

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Fresh Flowers (Clearly Besotted), Sweet Little Sentiments (CB)
Ink:  Versamark, Black Stazon, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding
Cardstock:  Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Vellum
Accessories:  White EP, Frames Dies (SSS), sewing machine, enamel dots

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout-out at Friday Mashup.