Cosy Christmas

Hi, it’s time for a new sketch from the team at Freshly Made Sketches  and this week our sketch hostess is Judy Rozema. I made another Christmas card for my paltry stash and came up with this.

I used the Colour Cube for the colour combo and from there it was a matter of putting together the (fiddly) die-cut rocking chair and accessories and stamping the sentiment onto one of the panels.  Once I'd stamped the sentiment, I taped the four panels on the back and ran it through the Subtle embossing folder.

Thanks for visiting.  Please check out the fabulous cards made by the rest of the design team and I hope you'll find some time to join us.

Products used:

Stamps: Christmas Messages (Hero Arts)

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Scorched Timber, Black Soot, Ground Espresso, Aged Mahogany Distress Inks

Cardstock: White, Merlot, Dune (Spellbinders), Fine Linen (PTI), Dove (C+9), Gravel Gray, Milk Chocolate (MFT)

Dies:Christmas Rocking Chair (Spellbinders)

Accessories:  Pink Copic, Subtle EF (SU)

Cheers

Karren

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Delilah

You probably have to be of an age to get the meaning of this blog post title.  I hope you don't have an ear worm now but as soon as I found this "Hey There" die, I couldn't get the song out of my head 😄

Anyway, Amy O'Neill is our sketch hostess over at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  I looked through my NBUS and found this cassette tape die and the card came together pretty easily.  I stenciled the card base with a music stencil and white embossing paste.  

While that was drying, I put together the die-cut elements.  For the fishtail flag, I cut the top and bottom in two additional colours and adhered them to the vellum flag.  It's hard to tell in the photo, but the actual tape is cut from dark brown cardstock.

Thanks so much for visiting.  Head over and check out the fabulous cards made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Cardstock: White, Black, Vellum, Hot Fudge (MFT), Blue Spruce, Teal Topaz, Waterfall (Spellbinders), Silver Matte Foil

Dies: Mix Tape (Hero Arts), Stitched Fishtail Flag Stax, Hey There, Cupcake (MFT)

Accessories: Music Stencil (Newton's Nook), White Embossing Paste

Cheers

Karren

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Typewritten

Hi and welcome!  It's a very exciting week over at Freshly Made Sketches as we hit sketch #700!  That's 14 years of different sketches to inspire all you cardmakers out there! For such a special occasion, we went back into the archives and are, appropriately, using sketch #14 this week. And to make it more fun the design team are showing their first FMS card as well as their new #700 sketch card.

I started playing at sketch #20, which was also the first time I had ever entered a card challenge and I was thrilled to be named a Princess.  My poorly lit card is down below (and that was from back in the day when I used SU products).  I was thrilled to be asked the join the design team from sketch #118 in January 2014 and have been a proud DT member ever since.

Now onto my card for #700.  I wanted to do something a bit special so went into full layering mode and back to basics with stamping and embossing.  I white heat-embossed the You Matter background stamp onto some Oceanside cardstock and because it looked a bit stark, I stamped over it with the Chalk Background stamp and white ink.  I then cut the panel into four, matted it onto dark gray cardstock and then tried to adhere them evenly onto a Soft Stone panel, which was then layered onto a white card base (see what I mean about layering!)

I assembled the typewriter from MFT using peachy and gray tones.  The sentiment is from a Woodware stamp set.  I adhered that using foam tape and finished with a die-cut heart which I coated in Glossy Accents.  It wasn't until I was writing up this post that I realised I put my heart in the wrong place, but we're pretty forgiving like that over at FMS!

And here is my first entry from FMS20 which was back in 2012.  

And continuing with the trip down memory lane, here is my first card as a member of the design team - FMS118.  I remember being so scared it wasn't going to be good enough, but it must have been okay because they haven't fired me yet!

Thanks so much for visiting and getting through this long post.  Please check out the first and newest cards from the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Vintage Typewriter (Woodware), You Matter (SSS), Chalk Background (Hero Arts)

Ink: Versamark, Unicorn White (Hero Arts), Versafine Onyx Black, Sunkissed (Pink Fresh)

Cardstock:  White, Black, Soft Stone (PTI), Gravel Gray (MFT), Oceanside (Spellbinders), Nectar, Grapefruit (C&9)

Dies: Typewriter (MFT), Infinity Hearts (Hero Arts)

Accessories: Glossy Accents, White Embossing Powder

Cheers

Karren

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Beach Dub

 Hi and welcome!  I designed the board over at Tic-Tac-Toe this week and for my card, I went through the centre with Beach-Blue-Ink Blending.  

I didn't have the challenge in mind when I made this card last weekend, but I was messaging with my daughter while I was making another card and she asked me to make her a card with a car.  I don't have many non-classic car stamps or dies so I found this VW and thought she'd like it.  I stenciled the background using a Hero Art stencil set and then put the van together, pretty much copying the Honey Bee Stamps example.  I personalised the plate by writing my daughter's name and adding a wee heart.

She's been going through a tough time lately, settling into a new town and new job teaching high-school age boys, so I wanted her to know I was thinking of her, hence the sentiment.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Bloom with Grace (Honey Bee Stamps)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Dew Drops, Aqualicious, Starlight, Almond Butter, Sand Dunes (Altenew)

Cardstock:  White, Fog, Alabaster, Dahlia (Spellbinders), Silver Matte Foil

Dies:  Lovely Layers: Beach Bound (Honey Bee Stamps), Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Beach Floor Stencils (Hero Arts), Copic Markers (for tyre shadow)

Cheers

Karren

Chalkboard Christmas

Hi and welcome.  I'm the sketch hostess over at Freshly Made Sketches and I decided to add to my meagre Christmas card stash with this card. 

Firstly, I inked up one side of an embossing folder with white pigment ink and ran it through with kraft cardstock.  I repeated this a few times to get a good layer of white ink then set it aside to dry.  Once dry, I lightly inked around the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink.  Then my plans came unstuck!  I had planned to use some patterned paper my mother gave me a piece of which had scripty Christmas words over a chalkboard-looking background, but I didn't have enough!  So I decided to make my own.  I used a chalk bg stamp first then stamped over that with a text Christmas stamp.  It's not the same but it's okay.

I added the two panels to my card base and included a thin strip of gold foil cardstock at the join.  The tag was hot-foiled and then die-cut and I also die-cut some holly leaves and berries which I added to the tag.  I finished with some twine tied in a bow onto the tag.

Thanks so much for visiting.  Please head over and check out what the rest of the DT have done with my sketch.

Products used:

Stamps:  Chalk Background (Hero Arts), Christmas Background (MFT)

Ink:  Cloud White (Altenew), Vintage Photo Distress Ink

Cardstock:  White, Black, Kraft, Amarena Cherry (MFT), Pinefeather (PTI), matte gold foil

Dies:  Seasonal Sketch (Tim Holtz, Tag Sale #5 (PTI), Christmas Mailbox Greetings Hot Foil (Spellbinders)

Accessories:  Gold hot foil, twine, Holly & Foliage EF (Spellbinders)

Cheers

Karren

Marble and Hexagon

 I’m here with my card for the new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches where our hostess this week is Jennifer Timko. 

I was inspired by a pin on Pinterest for my card and made use of my hexagon infinity dies and new C9 cardstock colours.  On the dark gray background I stamped a Judikins background stamp using Versamark ink. I then arranged the various hexagon die-cuts and frames.

I finished with a black hot-foiled sentiment. And looking at the photos, I now realise I forgot to trim the right hand side of the sentiment strip.  Oh well, I'll add an enamel heart and it'll balance out!

Thanks so much for visiting. Please check out the gorgeous cards made by the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Judikins 2207J

Ink: Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Steel Gray (MFT), Dove, Nectar, Grapefruit (C+9th)

Dies:  Hexagon Infinity Dies (Hero Arts), Modest Greetings 1 (Poppy Stamps)

Accessories:  Black Hot Foil

Cheers

Karren

Cosy Christmas

 This is my last week as Guest Designer over at Just Us Girls and I've had a great time!  Thanks so much to the team for making me feel so welcome.  For this challenge, we have a photo inspiration and what a cosy photo it is!

I was drawn to the couch, the Christmas tree and the general colours of the scene.  I was also really drawn to the stag picture and wanted to re-create it somewhere on my card, but couldn't find a good spot so left it out.

I went searching through my Christmas stamps and found the perfect set - My Monthly Hero from November 2019.  I stamped, coloured and die-cut the chair, tree and gift and set them aside to work on the card base. 

For the card base, I masked off a section using 2" Post-It Tape and ink-blended some Weathered Wood Distress Ink at the top to try and mimic the wall colour in the photo, and some Pumice Stone ink at the bottom for the carpet.  I then arranged my elements, making sure to overlap them for cohesion and adhered them.  I used liquid glue for the tree and foam tape for the gift and the chair.  I stamped a sentiment that tied everything together nicely and finished with some clear sparkle pen on the ornaments and star.

Thanks so much for visiting.  Please head over to the Just Us Girls site and check out the fabulous cards made by the team.  And have a go yourself - so much wonderful inspiration in this photo.

Products used:

Stamps:  My Monthly Hero Nov 2019, Christmas Messages (Hero Arts)

Ink:  Amalgam (Gina K.) Versafine Onyx Black, Weathered Wood, Pumice Stone Distress Inks

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It

Dies:  MMH Nov 2019 (Hero Arts)

Accessories:  Copics, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers

Karren

Beach Hut

Hi and welcome to another Fusion challenge.  This time I played with just the photo and came up with this card.

Unfortunately the scale is a bit off, but I'm sure you get the idea 😄  The beach house was put together with cardstocks matching the inspiration photo and then I created the background with an older MMH monthly kit and a sentiment from MFT.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll check out the wonderful creations made by my team-mates.

Products used:

Stamps:  MMH Jun 2018 (Hero Arts), Itty Bitty Summer, Distressed Patterns (MFT)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Morning Frost (Altenew), Sand Castle, Sea Glass, Bay Breeze (Catherine Pooler)

Cardstock:  White, Fresh Aqua, Stormy Blue (Memory Box)

Dies:  MMH Jun 2018 (Hero Arts), Stitched Rectangle Stax, Beach Bungalow, Beach Bungalow Accessories (MFT) 

 

Bee-utiful

Hi!  I'm here with my card for the latest Freshly Made Sketch Challenge, where our hostess this week is Jacquie Southas.  Here's what I did with her sketch:

I ink-blended distress inks onto a white card base then die-cut the vertical panels out of a sheet of white cardstock.  Once that was done, I dry-embossed the panel and adhered it onto the card base with foam tape.

The sentiment is white-embossed on black and the bumble-bee was already stamped and coloured from a previous stamping session.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll check out the wonderful cards by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  MMH Jan 2021 (Hero Arts)

Ink:  Versamark, Amalgam (Gina K)

Cardstock:  White, Black, X-Press It

Dies:  MMH Jan 2021 (Hero Arts), Blueprints 8 (MFT)

Accessories:  Honeycomb Frenzy EF (Sizzix)

Cheers

Karren

 

Dad's Birthday

 Hi and welcome!  I'm here today with a card for the latest sketch at Freshly Made Sketches, where our hostess is Judy Rozema.  I flipped Judy's sketch to come up with this card for my Dad who will be 89 next month.

I had just got some new hot foil plates and couldn't wait to try them out.  So I took a panel of white cardstock and using Platinum foil, I foiled the frame and the splatters.  I then stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment with black ink.

The word "Dad" was die-cut three times from black cardstock and once from some alcohol-inked Yupo paper I had in my stash.  I stacked them together and adhered them to mimic the sketch.

Thanks so much for visiting.  I hope you'll head over and check out the wonderful cards made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Many Everyday Messages (Hero Arts)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, various Alcohol Inks

Cardstock:  White, Black, Yupo, Pewter Hot Foil (Spellbinders)

Dies:  Splatter Sentiments (Spellbinders), Dad (MFT)

Cheers

Karren

Playing Cards

Hi and welcome!  I'm thrilled to be playing cards today with my friend from across the world, Michele Ferguson.  Michele invited me to play cards with her and the guideline for this challenge was to celebrate National OLD Stuff Day! and play with stamps older than 5 years.  I immediately thought of my poor, neglected wood-mounted stamps that I started collecting back in circa 2001 when I first started stamping.  And what fun it was to go through those drawers and decide what I was going to use.  I ended up using three wood-mounted stamps to make this card.

So my first challenge in making this card was finding my Stamp-a-majig because the Misti wasn't going to work 😆  Once I found it, I stamped the background stamp multiple times on a panel of X-Press It cardstock using London Fog Memento ink (Copic-friendly).  I then stamped the bucket of tulips over the top and coloured with my Copics.

The final stamp was the Penny Black sentiment.  I die-cut the panel with a postage frame die and foam-mounted it onto a Fog cardbase that I'd run through my die-cutting machine with the Subtle embossing folder.  I finished with some soft gray enamel dots.

Thanks so much for visiting and a huge thanks to Michele for inviting me to play cards with her.  I'm heading over to her blog now to check out her card.  And you never know, Michele, one day we might be able to play cards in person!

Products used:

Stamps:  Bucket of Tulips K-1695 (PSX from 2001), Manuscript Background H2141 (Hero Arts from 2001), Thank You 2421F (Penny Black from 2002)

Ink:  London Fog (Memento), Amalgam (Gina K), Versafine Onyx Black

Cardstock:  Fog (SSS), X-Press It

Dies:  Postal Frames (The Greetery)

Accessories:  Copics, Enamel Dots, Subtle EF (SU)

Cheers

Karren

 

Stacked Hexies

 Hi again!  I've been a more frequent blogger these last few weeks and I'm back today with my first post of two.  This post is some more homework from the Crushing on Cardstock class that I joined.  I made a card using one of Kristina Werner's classes as inspiration and came up with this card:

The hexagons were die-cut and outlined with a Fantastix applicator and Enchanted Gold pigment ink.  I then stacked them using glue dots between the layers to keep the total depth down.  Onto the bottom layer I added a black panel with some hexagons stamped in the same gold pigment ink.

The bees were already stamped, coloured and die-cut so it was a simple thing to add them with foam tape.

The sentiment was gold-embossed and I finished with some white pearls.

The bonus day was about organisation, so here is a photo of my coloured cardstock.

I have all my cardstock in file drawers.  Most colours have one shade per file but I'm running out of room so newer acquisitions are put two to a file.  Inside each folder is the cardstock in its original packaging and a L-shaped plastic folder for cut cardstock and scraps.  I put a punched out sample of each colour onto the tag so I can see the shades at a glance.  I have one drawer for coloured cardstock, a second drawer for neutrals and assortment packs of coloured card and a third drawer for patterned paper and specialty cardstock.  The tabs without a manufacturer are my MFT cardstocks because they form the bulk of my collection.

I'm linking this card to the Take Flight theme at Cupcake Inspirations Challenge and the Nature theme at Addicted to CAS because bees are critical to nature and our very survival (even though these are bumblebees but I'm using a bit of artistic licence, here 😄)

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  My Monthly Hero January 2021 (Hero Arts), Assorted Greetings (Gina K Designs)

Ink:  Amalgam (Gina K), Versamark, Enchanted Gold (Altenew)

Cardstock:  Black, X-Press It, Harvest Gold (PTI), Lemon Tart (PTI), Banana Split (MFT), Lemon Chiffon (MFT)

Dies:  My Monthly Hero (Hero Arts), Hexagon Infinity Dies (Hero Arts)

Accessories:  Copics, Antique Gold EP (SSS), Pearls, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers

Karren

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

Sandy Hello

Welcome to a new challenge from the team at Freshly Made Sketches, where our hostess this week is Amy O'Neill.

I took a few liberties with this week's sketch - most notably the angled panel not being angled at the top, but the horizon needs to be straight 😄My card uses masking, ink-blending, stamping, Copic colouring and embossing.  The sand was ink-blended after being masked off and then I stamped a splotchy stamp over it to mimic sand.  The sea was also masked off and stamped with a My Monthly Hero kit.  I added some white "foam" with a gel pen and stamped the sun from another kit. 

I very lightly blended some ink for the sky.

To finish the card I stamped the chair and stamped and Copic-coloured the tree.  I added some shading under both before popping up on foam tape.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll check out the fabulous cards made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  My Monthly Hero Jun 18 and Dec 20 (Hero Arts), Penguins in Paradise (MFT), Distressed Patterns (MFT)

Ink:  Extreme Black (MFT), Mocha, Espresso (Altenew), Tumbled Glass, Faded Jeans, Mermaid Lagoon, Antique Linen Distress Inks, Gathered Twigs, Scattered Straw, Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide ink

Cardstock:  Bristol Smooth, X-Press It

Dies:  Penguins in Paradise (MFT), My Monthly Hero Jun 18 (Hero Arts)

Accessories:  Copics, White Sharpie, White Gel Pen

Cheers

Karren

 

Poppy Frames

It's time for a new challenge at Fusion and this time I created a fusion to come up with this card:

The poppies were already stamped and I didn't keep a record of which inks I used, but it would have been Altenew inks.  I adhered the flowers to a white card base with foam tape and added a few leaves.

I thought the sketch looked like a film strip so pulled out all my film strip dies, but they were too small to run together so I decided to cut each film strip apart and arrange them haphazardly over the flowers with a bit of liquid glue.  I finished with a sentiment from another poppy stamp set.

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you'll check out the wonderful cards made by the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Poppy Wishes (The Ton), Delicate Pretty Poppies (MFT)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Altenew inks

Cardstock:  White, Black

Dies:  Poppy Wishes (The Ton), Film Pair (Hero Arts)

Cheers

Karren

 

Kinder

Hi!  I'm late posting my card for the latest challenge at   Fusion.  Doh!  I run the challenge and set up and schedule the challenge posts but forgot about my own!  So I'll be short and sweet here.

This card uses a recent My Monthly Hero kit and a sentiment from SugarPea Designs.  I did some ink-smooshing on the white embossed background, coloured the flowers with Zigs and the bees with Copics.

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you'll check out the fabulous cards made by the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  MMH January 2021, Abstract Honeycomb Background (Hero Arts), Kindness Matters (Sugar Pea Design)

Ink:  Versamark, Amalgam (Gina K), Obsidian (Altenew), Speckled Egg Distress Ink

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Bristol Smooth, Surf Blue (SSS)

Dies:  MMH January 2021 (Hero Arts)

Accessories:  Copics, Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen, White EP

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout-out at Sugar Pea Designs.