Beach Babe

Hi and welcome!  It's a beautiful Spring day here today - the doors and windows are open and fresh air is flowing through the house.  Just glorious!

I must have had the approaching summer in my head when I made this card.  Friday Mashup are looking for a decades-themed card and when I was looking through my stamps, I came across a set from CTMH that had never seen ink.  I used the sketch from The Challenge and the colors from ColourQ to make this card:

When I first saw the colors at ColourQ, I decided to run as fast as I could in the other direction.  But then when I saw the images, I thought these colors were retro enough to work with these 50's inspired stamps.  I had to dig out my SU cardstock, which I haven't used in quite some time to get the right color matches.

I started by die-cutting three panels using the Horizontal Stitched Stripes dies.  I then used some tape to adhere them together before stamping the World Map background using Versamark.  The sentiment was stamped in Versafine Onyx Black ink.

The central image was stamped in black onto Island Indigo cardstock and again on Raspberry Ripple cardstock.  I used a stitched circle die to cut a spotlight and adhered that to the blue panel, which was then adhered to a notebook die-cut.  Three tiny banners were adhered to the side and the whole piece was mounted on foam tape.

This is definitely not my normal sort of card, but it was fun to make!  Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Bright Sunshiny Day (CTMH), World Map (SU)
Ink:  Versamark, Versafine Onyx Black
Cardstock:  White, Raspberry Ripple, Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, Island Indigo, Black
Dies:  Stitched Circles (Lil' Inkers), Horizontal Stitched Stripes (MFT), Blueprints 8 (MFT), Spiral Notebook Page (PTI)

Cheers
Karren

Chevron Coffee

Hi, I'm joining in with the Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop today, as well as the ColourQ challenge and The Paper Players sketch challenge.

When I first saw Claire's sketch, I had zero ideas, but then it slowly came together into this card - not sure that it 100% meets the sketch, but I think you can see the sketch :)

I started with a Slate card base and down the left hand side I stamped the script image and a leaf image from French Foliage - one of my favorite SU sets.  I then die cut a frame from Smoke cardstock and again stamped the script image down the left hand side.

The chevron and the band on the coffee cup are white panels sponged with distress ink then spritzed with water.  After die-cutting the coffee cup, I sponged the sides to give the impression of roundness.  A stacked die-cut sentiment and my card was finished.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  French Foliage (SU)

Ink:  Slate, Smoke (SSS), Rusty Hinge, Fossilized Amber (Distress), 

Cardstock:  Smoke, Slate (SSS), White

Accessories:  Painted Hello die (SSS), Pierced Rectangle Frame (MFT), Coffee Cup die (MFT), Triple Chevies die (Reverse Confetti), rhinestone

Cheers

Karren

Newsprint Christmas

It's time for another Christmas card, courtesy of Merry Monday.  This week, I am the hostess and I've chosen the theme of newsprint.

I love the look of newsprint on cards, so when I saw this photo on Pinterest, I knew it was going to become my challenge.

For my card, I again went CAS, which seems to be my go-to style lately as my card-making time gets condensed.

I die cut a circle mask and placed that over my card base.  I then stamped SU's Dictionary stamp inside the mask with Fog ink and lightly sponged from the outside in to define the circle more.

After that, it was a simple job to die cut a sentiment, color it with Wink of Stella and stick on a few enamel dots.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll find time to join in my challenge.  The rest of the design team have some wonderful and varied uses of the theme in their cards, so be sure to check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Dictionary (SU)

Ink:  Fog (SSS)

Cardstock:  White, Green Apple (SSS)

Accessories:  Wet Paint Holiday dies (PTI), Enamel Dots

Cheers

Karren

Believe Wreath

It's Merry Monday day and that means a new Christmas card challenge.  This week our hostess is Wendy and her challenge is to use greens, pinecones and the word "believe".

This was a real challenge for me as I don't tend to use the word "believe" in my stamping.  So I hunted through my sizeable collection and found one stamp that said "believe" - never inked, of course!

I turned it into this CAS card.

I stamped the wreath in Olive ink, then stamped and die-cut the pinecones in Sparrow and the berries in Schoolhouse Red, which were then popped up on the cardbase.

I gold-embossed the word Believe and fussy-cut it before adhering to the cardbase using some foam tape.  And that's it!

Thanks for visiting.  The design team have some wonderful samples to delight you so be sure to check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Autumn Blessings (SSS), Snowflake Soiree (SU)
Ink:  Versamark, Olive, Sparrow, Schoolhouse Red (SSS)
Cardstock:  White
Accessories:  Autumn Blessings dies, gold EP

Cheers
Karren

Long Thank You

I'm back with another card for Freshly Made Sketches!  This week our hostess is Cindy Hall, who makes the most beautiful cards!

Cindy has a fantastic sketch for us this week - a long card!  Love it!

I decided to take a stamp-free approach to this sketch and came up with this card:

I used the Little Letters dies by Stampin' Up to cut out the word Thank You from white cardstock.  I then discarded the die-cut letters and used the negative.  After cutting the scalloped edge, I popped that layer up with foam tape onto a card base that had some striped paper adhered to it.  A bit of matching twine and the card was done!  Quick and easy!

Thanks for visiting.  The rest of the design team have some fabulous cards made using this sketch so be sure to check them out.

Products used:

Cardstock:  White, Just Add Cake paper

Accessories:  Little Letters dies (SU), Large Scallop die (SU), Yellow Twine

Cheers

Karren

Peeking Thru the Window

Hi and welcome to Merry Monday!  Today's challenge comes to us from Sue and she wants us to feature Santa on our cards.  Simple, right?

I made this card last year when I first received the cute set Cozy Christmas by Mama Elephant.

Because I made this card so long ago, I think I sponged Tumbled Glass ink onto white cardstock then stamped SU's Hardwood stamp in Broken China distress ink for my "wall".  The tree and Santa were stamped and colored with Copics before being die-cut with the matching dies.  The sentiment comes from Papertrey Ink's Signature Christmas set.  The "windows" were cut with Mama Elephant's Peek-a-Frames die.

Thanks for visiting.  Check out the Santa cards produced by the rest of the team - they're all amazing!

Products used:

Stamps:  Cozy Christmas (ME), Hardwood (SU), Signature Christmas (PTI)
Ink:  Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Memento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock:  white
Accessories:  Copics, Cozy Christmas dies, Peek-a-Frames (ME)

Cheers
Karren

Flowers for Mum

It's my mum's birthday next week and I'm heading out to visit her today so I'll take her birthday present and card.  Hopefully she won't see this post before I get there :)

I used the colors from this week's ColourQ challenge and the sketch from Fusion to come up with this card that I hope she'll like.

I took some Very Vanilla cardstock and finger-walked the Dictionary stamp over it to create the diagonal panel as well as the horizontal panel.  For the circular piece, I first stamped the peonies then lightly over-stamped the Dictionary stamp with Fog ink to give a very light newsprint background.

All the panels were layered onto black cardstock.  The sentiment is a die-cut by Spellbinders and I stuck the Real Red piece to some double-sided sticky paper before die-cutting to make it easier to stick down.  I wasn't sure about the embellishments, but decided to go with some matte sequins in a dark gray color.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Dictionary (SU), Pretty Peonies (WP9)
Ink:  Real Red, Versafine Onyx Black, Fog (SSS)
Cardstock:  Black, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  circle nestabilities, Spellbinders Celebration die, CTMH sequins

Cheers
Karren

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

Candy Cane Christmas

It's Merry Monday Challenge time and this week our hostess is Wendy and her challenge is to use candy canes on our cards.

I again went CAS with my card:

I started with a red card base and stamped a diagonal stripe down each side.  The white panel was stamped with the candy cane then over-stamped with the sentiment.  I layered that panel onto a black panel and adhered it to the card base with foam tape.

I finished off the card with some sequins and that is that!

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

Products used:

Stamps:  Scentsational Season, Border Banter (SU), Candyland Holiday (CTMH)

Ink:  Jet Black Archival, Real Red

Cardstock:  Real Red, black, white

Accessories:  Sequins

Cheers

Karren

HB2U

And it's Freshly Made Sketch day again where I join up with my amazing teamies and we show you cards made using the latest sketch - which this week comes from the super-funny and oh-so-very talented Linda Callahan.

And here's my card:

I went for a card suitable for an adolescent boy's birthday.  After stamping the iPhone onto some white cardstock, I cut it out by hand because I haven't bought the dies for this set yet.  I stamped the greeting in Green Apple on the "screen" and then decided to emboss the HB2U in Wild Wasabi EP.  Luckily they look a close-enough match!  The gray panels are popped up on foam tape leaving the strip in the center where the embossed greening is.  

I used some stamps from Gorgeous Grunge to mimic the shape in the top right corner, then also added some to the bottom left for interest, using Versamark ink for a tone-on-tone look.

Thanks for visiting.  As always, my team-mates have some amazing and varied cards so be sure to check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Text Me (Clearly Besotted), Gorgeous Grunge (SU)
Ink:  Versamark, Archival Black, Green Apple (SSS)
Cardstock:  Black, Basic Gray, White
Accessories:  Wild Wasabi EP

Cheers
Karren

One Layer

Hi and welcome to Merry Monday.  Today's challenge comes to us from Kristie and she is asking us to use a house or houses in our card.

For my card, I went very, very CAS, creating a one layer card with just two stamps and a tiny bit of Copic coloring.

I first stamped the sentiment in the bottom left corner and then I stamped the image.  I colored it with my Copics very quickly, using little to no shading.  And that is it!  Totally flat for mailing.

Thanks so much for visiting.  Be sure to check out the fabulous examples from the rest of the the Design Team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Frosty Fun (CTMH), Holidy Home (SU)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Cardstock:  White

Accessories:  Copics

Cheers

Karren

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

Celebrate!

I had to join in the 200th challenge at Less Is More which is "Celebrations".  I paired that with the inspiration pic from Just Add Ink to come up with a very, very CAS card.  I used the blue, white and yellow colors from the inspiration pic.

I stamped the word "celebrate" using Sunshine ink onto a white card base and under that I stamped "your day" using Audrey Blue ink.  

The word "celebrate" looks almost like an inlaid die-cut, don't you think?  That's what happens when you don't clean your stamps properly after stamping in black ink - you get a very slight outline around the word!  I quite liked the effect so decided to leave it.  I colored over the word with Wink of Stella which gives it a nice shimmer.  Some blue enamel dots finish off the card.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Celebrate Everything (SU)

Ink:  Sunshine, Audrey Blue (SSS)

Cardstock:  White

Accessories:  Enamel dots

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Just Add Ink and Less is More.

Botanicals

Today's card uses the sketch from The Paper Players and the colors from a new-to-me challenge called Retro Rubber Challenge, where as well as normal challenges, we also need to use older stamps.

I started stamping back in about 2001 and have quite the collection of single stamps from the likes of PSX, Hero Arts, Penny Black as well as several unmounted plates.  Then in about 2004, I discovered Stampin' Up and spent the next several years collecting as many sets as I could.  In 2007, Stampin' Up came to New Zealand and I signed up to be a demonstrator.  I let my demoship drop in October, but my favorite Stampin' Up set is still the first one I bought - Botanicals - and I've used it today.

I started out with an Old Olive card base and stamped the text stamp down the left hand side.  The central panel started out as a manila tag.  I smooshed several distress inks onto my craft mat and spritzed with water before running the tag through it to pick up the ink.  Once that was dry, I stamped various images using Archival ink and cut it down to size before sponging the edges with Vintage Photo ink.  

The maple leaf at the bottom was cut from the excess tag and covered with Glossy Accents before being adhered to the card base.  

The sentiment is from Verve and stamped in Walnut Stain ink on top of a second-generation stamp of the olive branch.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Botanicals (SU), Happy Hello (Verve)

Ink:  Mowed Lawn, Forest Moss, Bundled Sage, Peeled Paint, Frayed Burlap, Brushed Corduroy, Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo (Distress), Archival Jet Black

Cardstock:  Old Olive, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, manila tag

Accessories:  Glossy Accents, button, twine, 1" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card won at Retro Rubber Challenge and got a shout out at Paper Players.

New Baby

Today I made a card I don't often make - a baby card!  I'm entering it into both Just Add Ink to Just Add Baby and Addicted to CAS who have a key word of "Cuddly".

I've been taking the Copic Markers for Cardmakers course and this card features a lot of coloring.

This card is a United Nations of stamp manufacturers LOL.  The teddy is from SU, the balloons are from Mama Elephant and the sentiment is from PTI.

I colored the teddy with copics then added texture with colorless blending solution before cutting him out.  The balloons were stamped onto the white panel and colored in rainbow colors. The panel was cut out with some of the balloons outside the rectangle.  Everything was mounted with dimensional tape and the top left corner was rounded because there just seemed to be too much white!

Because I'm also linking this up to the Online Card Class gallery, I'll list the copics I used:

Teddy:  E25, E27, E29, E57, E59, YG21, YG23, YG25
Balloons:  R27, R29, YR65, YR68, YG23, YG25, V15, V17, BG05, BG07, Y15, Y18

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Teddy & Train (SU), Up and Away (ME), Boutique Borders Baby (PTI)
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock:  Lucky Limeade, Xpress-it
Accessories:  Copics, Wink of Stella, Corner Chomper, Stitched Rectangle Die

Fall Leaves

Hi and welcome back to my blog.  Today I have a card I made using the colors from Color Throwdown and the sketch from Fab Friday.  

I hope the leaves are orange enough to meet the criteria at Color Throwdown.  They started out orange but I toned them down using some brown inks.

The card base was stamped with the text stamp from the Papillon set using Crumb Cake ink, then I sponged Smoky Slate ink over a notebook stencil before sponging the edges of the card with Crumb Cake ink.

The leaves were watercolored using various orange-y distress inks before sponging with brown inks.  I popped them up on the card base using dimensional tape then glued on a bow with long tails (for the banner elements in the sketch).

So, in summary, a little bit of a departure from both challenges :)

I used the same stencil on the inside.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Papillon (Stampers Anonymous), Fantastic Foliage (SU)
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Smoky Slate, various distress inks
Cardstock:  Crumb Cake, watercolor
Accessories:  Hemptique black twine, American Crafts stencil

Cheers
Karren

Autumn Leaves

I got the urge yesterday to make another autumn card - even though it was a glorious spring day!  This time I sponged a manila tag with various distress inks then over-stamped some realistic leaf images.

The tag is quite big and even though I cut some off the length, it still takes over the card.  The sentiment is white-embossed over a patch of sponged Fired Brick ink.  Once all the stamping was done, I flicked some water onto the tag.

The card base had some subtle embossing folder inking on it to break up the Crumb Cake a bit.  Then I adhered thin strips of black down each side.

I'm entering this into Curtain Call and Paper Players who both have fall challenges.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  With Gratitude (SU), French Foliage (SU), The Big, the Bold and the Happy (W&W)
Ink:  Distress Inks - Crushed Olive, Peeled Paint, Mustard Seed, Fired Brick, Gathered Twigs, Frayed Burlap, Vintage Photo; Stazon, Versamark
Cardstock:  Crumb Cake,Basic Black, Manila Tag
Accessories:  Picket Fence Distress Stain, Dot Matrix EF (Tim Holtz), White EP

Cheers
Karren

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