Interlocking CASE

Hi and welcome.  Today I'm playing along in a CASE It blog hop over on Instagram.  I thought I would post here too because this is where I keep the record of all my cards.  But I encourage you to head over to Instagram and check out the other cards in the hop.  The hop starts with Nancy and I am the last stop on the hop. For my case, I have had this card by JJ Bolton saved in my IG for a few years now. Originally I was going to do cardstock strip weaving but my cardstock strips were a little too wide for the cover die I chose, so I ended up doing inlaid die-cutting which took way longer, but I like the result. I also didn't use bright colours like the inspiration card but went with more muted tones.

I did stick with the circle element in the centre but added my die-cut flower to the bottom left rather than the top of the circle.

Here is JJ Bolton's card that inspired me.  I hope you can see the inspiration.  

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps: Poppy Wishes (The Ton)

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Pastel Sunrise, Limestone (Altenew)

Cardstock: White, Eiffel Tower (MFT), Pastel Sunrise (Altenew), Dove (C&9

Dies: Interlocking (Penny Black), Embossed Edge Circle (Kat Scrappiness), Lovely Layers: Mini Holiday Florals (Honey Bee Stamps)

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

 

Peachy Birthday

 Welcome to a new Fusion challenge.  This time I used the photo as inspiration to come up with this card.

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I've been drawn to coral/peach shades so my eye was immediately drawn to the peachy rainbow in the photo, as well as the birthday theme.  I also wanted to use the pattern in the background but as I don't have an A2 grid pattern die, I decided to use this interlocking circles die.  

I die-cut the rainbow from various coloured and ink-blended cardstock as well as patterned paper.  I then adhered them to a white card base and ran the front through the Subtle embossing folder for some texture.  I then adhered the coverplate over the top, added a stacked birthday sentiment and some black gems to finish off the card.

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

Products used:

Cardstock:  White, Black Licorice, Peach Bellini, Persimmon, Coral Crush (MFT), Berry Red Patterned Paper (Memory Box)

Ink:  Coral Reef, Passionfruit (Pink Fresh Studio)

Dies:  Block Happy Birthday (MFT), Cascading Rainbow (MFT), Interlocking (Penny Black)

Accessories:  Subtle Embossing Folder (SU), Black Gems

Cheers Big Ears

Hi!  I'm here with a card for the current challenge at Addicted to CAS.  I've been wanting to play along with their challenges for an age, but I keep running out of time.  So this weekend, I made sure to make some time to play along with their Bubbles challenge.

Bobby's adorable DT card reminded me I had some wood-mounted Penny Black stamps in my stash, so I went hunting to find one in particular and made this card:

This stamp is quite large so I went with a very simple card as the image is so big.  To not distract from the image but also to add a sentiment, I used the Camouflaged Die-Cut technique, backing the "cheers" die-cut with a stack of black die-cuts to make it pop.

Becuase of the sketchy look to the image, I decided to color it with watercolors - definitely not my strong suit!  The image was stamped with London Fog ink for more of a softer outline.  I die-cut the main panel with a stitched die and adhered it to a black card base.  Finally, I added some sparkling clear confetti to mimic bubbles (out of a closed champagne bottle???)  and painted the foil top with a clear sparkle pen.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Lovely Bubbly (Penny Black)

Ink:  Memento London Fog

Cardstock:  Bristol Smooth, Black

Dies:  Cheers, Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Zig markers, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen, PPP Sparkling Clear Confetti

Cheers

Karren

Stenciled Flower

Hi and welcome!  It's time for another challenge at The Flower Challenge and this month we are CASEing the Design Team.  That's right - choose any of the design team cards and CASE it.

For my card, I went with one of my favorite techniques - stenciling.

I took a panel of white cardstock and placed a NBUS Hero Arts stencil on the left hand side.  I then sponged over the top with Faded Jeans and Broken China Distress Oxide inks, keeping the darker color to the top.  Once that was done, I stamped the gorgeous Penny Black Dreamy stamp in Versafine Onyx Black ink and this beautiful sentiment from SugarPea Designs.

The panel was die-cut with a stitched die and adhered to a white card base with foam tape.

Thanks for visiting.  The Design Team have some wonderful designs to CASE so head on over and check them out.

I'm linking this up to the Always Fun Challenge, who are looking for flowers this week.

Products used:

Stamps:  Dreamy (Penny Black), Kindness Matters (SPD)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Faded Jeans, Broken China Distress Oxide Inks
Cardstock:  White
Dies:  Inside/Out Stitched Rectangles (MFT)
Accessories:  Diamond Stencil (Hero Arts)

Cheers
Karren

A Blog Hop for Lesley

Hi and welcome to this very special blog post.  We are having a blog hop for Lesley Croghan!  Now I'm sure most of you know Lesley - creator of gorgeous cards and fabulous challenges.  Lesley offered me a spot on my first ever design team, Merry Monday, then a spot on the SugarPea Designs Challenge Team, then a spot on Fusion and a spot on Inspired by all the Little Things.  So I have a lot to thank Lesley for.

Lesley and Corey, along with Rolley and Penney (their furbabies) are having a baby girl and we want to show them how happy we are for them.  A group of us each made a card and sent it to the wonderful Lori Turner and she collated everything and sent it on to Lesley.

Here is the card I made:

I was looking through my stamps for a suitable image for a baby card when I saw this wood-mounted Penny Black stamp I have had for years.  It just seemed perfect to me, so I stamped and colored it with Copics.

Once that was finished, I worked on the card base.  I adhered some watercolor wash patterned paper down the right hand side of the card base and then a scalloped border die-cut.  The die-cut sentiment is from Paper Smooches and foiled in gold.  Here are a couple of photos from different angles.

I even decorated the inside of this card, which is unheard of for me 😊

Thanks so much for visiting.  Please head on over to Lori's blog and see all the other cards created for this special occasion.  And don't forget to leave Lesley some love and good wishes on her blog, too.

Huge thanks to Lori for organising this and to Nance for the fabulous blog badge.

Cheers

Karren

Purple Hydrangea

I'm back with another card for the reminder post at The Flower Challenge where this month, we have an Anything Goes theme.

I must have been in a purple mood because my last card was also purple and I rarely use purples!

I was going for a quick and simple card, and I usually head down the ink-blended/silhouette stamp road when that happens.  I blended various purple distress inks onto a masked panel and then spritzed with Perfect Pearls mist.  After removing the masks, I stamped the hydrangea image from Penny Black and the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp.

I made a quick video showing how I made my card, which you can watch here or over on YouTube.

Thanks for visiting!  Please head on over to The Flower Challenge blog and see what my talented teamies have come up with.

Hugs

Hi, I'm back with a card for the reminder post at The Flower Challenge and, if you recall, this month we are caseing the fabulous Therese Calvird and here is her card:

When I first saw Therese's card, my jaw dropped and I wondered how on earth I could do justice to it - not once, but twice.  Once for the initial challenge post and once for the reminder post.  Well, here's my second card where I was once again inspired by the pinks, the layout and this time I also added some ombre.

I stamped the NBUS floral image onto watercolor card and white embossed it.  I then colored it with Zigs.  I actually completely ruined the first attempt by putting a grey wash all around the image, so I salvaged the flowers and buds by fussy-cutting them and then re-stamped and embossed the image onto another panel.  The flowers and buds were then adhered over the top.  This time I used a couple of grey Copic markers to provide a bit of subtle shading.

The sentiment was cut from a panel that I'd loosely colored some pink Zigs onto and adhered to the card base.

Thanks for visiting!  Head on over to the challenge blog and check out what the rest of the DT have come up with and huge thanks to Therese for joining us this month.

Products used:

Stamps:  Divine (Penny Black)

Ink:  Versamark

Cardstock:  White, watercolor

Dies:  Big Hugs (MFT)

Accessories:  Copic Cool Greys, Zig Clean Color Markers

Cheers

Karren

Ancient Poinsettia

Welcome to the reminder post at The Flower Challenge where this month we're looking for you to use your older floral stamps, dies or stencils.

Once again I went back into my wood-mounted stamps drawers and came up with another really old PSX stamp.

I stamped the poinsettia in Versamark ink and gold-embossed it before coloring it with my Zigs.  I lightly stenciled onto a white card base with Antique Linen ink and then chose another really old Penny Black stamp for the sentiment.  Once the flower was dry, I fussy-cut it and adhered it to the card base.

Thanks for visiting!  The Design Team have some more gorgeous floral cards to inspire you and I hope you get time to play.

Products used:

Stamps:  G3341 Poinsettia (PSX),Celebrate the Season (Penny Black)

Ink:  Antique Linen Distress, Black Licorice Hybrid, Versamark

Cardstock:  White, watercolor

Accessories:  Scribble Script stencil (Donna Downey) Gold EP, Zig markers

Cheers

Karren

Thankful Leaves

Hi and welcome!  I'm thrilled to be back as GD with the Time Out Challenge team for our mid-challenge reminder post.

And we are inspired with words for this challenge.

'Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart'

For my card, I used some more NBUS (the Calli Letters sets).  Although in 90% of cases, my NBUS becomes OBUS (Once Before Used Schtuff), these letter sets were so easy to use and I love the font, so I'm sure to use them again.

I masked off a panel across my card and sponged on Distress Inks.  After removing the masks, I stamped an image from the Penny Black Lush and Lavish set - overstamping several times to get a good, rich impression.  Then I stamped the letters and by the way, I only practiced once on a scrap of paper - these really are easy if you look straight down on them as you're stamping.

I finished off the panel with some rainstones and a die-cut frame before popping it up on a white card base with some foam tape.

Thanks for visiting and thanks also to the Time Out team who have made me feel so welcome.  Be sure to check out their cards.

Products used:

Stamps:  Lush and Lavish (Penny Black), Calli Letters, Calli Letters Upper (Mama Elephant)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Mustard Seed, Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon 

Cardstock:  White

Dies:  Wonky Stitched Rectangles (MFT)

Accessories:  Rainstones (PTI)

Cheers

Karren

Iris

Today's card was made in about 10 minutes last night, and 10 minute cards just don't happen for me, so I was pleased at the end result in so short a time.

I used Anita's beautiful Muse card as my inspiration, focusing on the ombre shading, the colors and the silhouette flowers.  I am also linking up to Just Us Girls sponging challenge and Addicted to Stamps and More who have an Anything Goes challenge this week.

I have used this layout in the past and I love creating it and I love the effect.  I masked off a panel on a white card base and sponged several distress inks in an ombre fashion.  Once I was happy with the sponging, I stamped the iris image from Penny Black in Archival Black ink.  The sentiment is from SugarPea Designs and the font and sentiment fitted the simplicity of the card.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Allegro (Penny Black), Gift Greetings (SugarPea Designs)

Ink:  Squeezed Lemonade, Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge, Archival Black

Cardstock:  White

Cheers

Karren

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

Critter Love

Hi and welcome back for my second card today!  I'm rushing to get this posted as I just realised the linky at Mojo Monday closes in two hours!

This card was made for the following challenges:  Mojo Monday; Just Us Girls and Sweet Stampin' Challenge.

I'll be quick with my explanation :)  I stamped and Copic-colored the adorable little dog holding his rose, then die-cut both the image panel and a Smoke panel using pierced square dies.  I cut a Slate layer and die-cut the top and bottom with a Basic Stitch Lines die.  The image panel is popped up with foam tape.  The Smoke panel was lightly sponged with Smoke ink and a grid stencil to add interest.  Finally, I colored the rose with Wink of Stella.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Critter Party (Penny Black), KIS Valentine (PTI)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black, Smoke

Cardstock:  White, Smoke, Slate, X-Press it

Dies:  Pierced Square Stax dies, Basic Stitch Lines (MFT)

Accessories:  Copics, Wink of Stella, Large Grid Stencil (MFT)

Cheers

Karren

Three Flowers

Hi and welcome!  Today's card uses the inspiration at Muse and the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch.

I stamped the Demure image onto white cardstock and colored with copics using similar colors to Tracey's card.  I die-cut the panel using a zig zag die and layered it onto Green Apple cardstock.  It was then layered onto the card base using foam tape.

The sentiment was stacked four high before being adhered to the card.  The sentiment and all three flowers were painted in Wink of Stella for some shimmer.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Demure (Penny Black)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Cardstock:  White, Green Apple

Dies:  Thanks, Zig Zag Stitched Rectangles (SugarPea Designs)

Accessories:  Copics, Wink of Stella

Cheers

Karren

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