Tweet Greetings

Hi and welcome!  We have rolled around to another Wednesday (Thursday for me!) which means it's time for another fab challenge from Freshly Made Sketches and this week our hostess is the wonderful Linda Callahan.

As soon as I saw Linda's sketch, I saw the circle as negative space and immediately thought "shaker".  But, as has happened in the past, I'm way too lazy to make a shaker, so I came up with something much simpler.

I actually have a video for this card (first video in ages!), so I hope you'll check it out by scrolling down or over on YouTube.

I started with a piece of Watercolor Wash Brights patterned paper and die-cut the Stitched Dot Circles die, which just cuts little dots in a circle.  I adhered that to a white top-fold card base and then added the frame which was popped up on foam tape.

For the central image, I stamped and colored these adorable birds with Copic markers before adding some white gel pen detail to the hats and scarf.  I also added clear sparkle pen to the white parts on the hats.  I popped the birds and the branch up on foam tape and added it to the card base.  The sentiment comes from the same stamp set.

Thanks for visiting.  The DT have some wonderful cards using the sketch, so I hope you'll check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Tweet Holidays (MFT Stamps)

Ink:  Extreme Black (MFT)

Cardstock:  Smooth White, Watercolor Wash (Brights), X-Press It

Dies:  Stitched Dot Circles (MFT), Park Avenue (Mama Elephant)

Accessories:  Copics, Clear Confetti, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers

Karren

Thankful Leaves

Hi all and thanks for dropping by!  I'm here with a card for the latest sketch at Freshly Made Sketches, where our hostess is our other camp mum, Jen Mitchell.  And check out Jen's fabulous sketch:

I love square cards but don't often think to make them, so this was a perfect opportunity!  I also filmed the making of this card (link below), which is the first video I've made in weeks.  Between a lack of mojo and being sick, it's only now that I'm starting to feel normal again.

My card uses a new-to-me stamp set by Gina K called Stitched Leaves.  Onto a distress inked background, I added the leaves, which were sponged with distress ink before gold-embossing the top layer.  The "thanks" is stacked three high and colored with clear sparkle pen.  The rest of the sentiment is from the same stamp set and embossed with the same Antique Gold embossing powder.

Here are a couple of photos where you can hopefully see the beautiful stitching detail in the stamps.

Thanks for visiting!  The DT have, as always, made some gorgeous cards using the sketch so I hope you'll check them out.

If you want to see the video showing how I made this card, you can click here to go to my YouTube channel or watch below.

Products used:

Stamps:  Stitched Leaves (Gina K)

Ink:  Versamark, Shabby Shutters, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Abandoned Coral, Bundled Sage, Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks

Cardstock:  White, Black, Bristol Smooth

Dies:  Thanks and Hello (MFT), Stitched Mats Square (Lil Inkers)

Accessories:  Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen, Antique Gold EP (SSS), Morning Dew Nuvo Drops

Cheers

Karren

Peaceful Palm Tree with Video

Hi everyone and welcome!  I'm back with a card using the latest sketch from Freshly Made Sketches and this week our hostess is the wonderful Jen Brum.  Check out her sketch - it's very cool!

So, I sort of enlarged the squares on Jen's sketch because I wanted to create a scene on my card - like looking through a window.

I used a stitched square die to die-cut four windows from a white panel and then set to work on my scene.

I used Distress Inks to create my beach scene onto a panel of Bristol Smooth cardstock and once I was done ink-blending, I added some "sand" with a stamp from Distressed Patterns, then added foam and waves with a white gel pen.  I stamped, colored and die-cut the palm tree and set that aside.

I stamped a sentiment and some birds before adding both panels onto the card base.  Finally I adhered the palm tree and called it done.  I have a video of how I made this card and also how I worked out where to cut the "window panes" if you're interested.  You can watch below or over on YouTube.

I'm entering this into Addicted to CAS's Summertime challenge (hope it's CAS enough!)

Thanks for visiting!  Head on over and check out how the rest of the DT have used this sketch - I hope you'll give it a go, too!

Products used:

Stamps:  Penguins in Paradise, Distressed Patterns (MFT), My Monthly Hero June 2018 (Hero Arts), Special Delivery (SugarPea Designs)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Extreme Black, Grout Gray (MFT), Unicorn White (Hero Arts), Antique Linen, Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean Distress Inks

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Bristol Smooth

Dies:  Penguins in Paradise, Inside/Out Stitched Squares (MFT)

Accessories:  Copics, White Gel Pen 

Hello Peony

Hi all!  Thanks for visiting!  It's time for another Fusion Challenge and I'm particularly partial to both the sketch and the photo, and I really like my card, which doesn't happen all the time 😄

I created a fusion this week, pulling in the wood and the pinks and greens from the photos.

I stamped and colored this beautiful peony image (yes, it is from the same set I used in yesterday's FMS card!) and cut it with my Scan n Cut.  The rest of the card was really simple - just some die-cut patterned paper and a sweet scripty sentiment.  I did film the making of this card which you can see below or over on YouTube.

To watch the making of this card, head over to YouTube or watch below.

I'm linking this up to the latest Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge to use a die or punch.  I used dies for the gingham papers.

Products used:

Stamps:  Peony Blooms (Newton's Nook)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Versafine Onyx Black
Cardstock:  White, Homespun Gingham (MFT), Wood & Notebook Basics (Sn@p Basics)
Dies:  Lil Inkers Anytime Tags, Stitched Circles
Accessories:  Copics, Prismacolor Pencils

Cheers
Karren

Plaid Birthday

Hello!  Thanks for popping by!  Today's card is for the current challenge at Freshly Made Sketches - designed by none-other than our co-Camp Mum Jen Mitchell.  Jen has got a very interesting sketch for us with lots of room for interpretation.

I decided that those angled panels would be good for a die-cut sentiment, so I went hunting through my dies to find two big dies that say "happy birthday". 

I also wanted to do some stenciling with embossing paste in the background.  I love my stencils but I mostly use them with ink-blending so I wanted to get out the embossing paste and add a touch of color to it.  I filmed the making of this card if you're interested - link down below.

So I colored my embossing paste with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and then appied it over the Plaid #1 stencil from Carta Bella to a panel of white cardstock cut with a stitched die down one side.  Once that was dry, I added the die-cut sentiment and popped the whole panel up on craft foam for some added dimension.  No embellishments as this is a masculine card.  

All in all, a very quick card (for me!) . You can watch the video over on YouTube or below.

Products used:

Ink:  Hickory Smoke Distress Ink

Cardstock:  White, Black, Cement Gray (MFT)

Dies:  Happy Trio, Happy Birthday (WPlus9) Basic Stitch Lines  (MFT)

Accessories:  Embossing Paste

Balloon Bear

Hi and welcome!  This is my last card for MFT's Summer School and this card uses Primary Colors.  I also used the sketch from MFT and I'm joining in with the 400th challenge at Paper Players.  Congrats, ladies, what a wonderful achievement!

This card was made for my great-nephew's 2nd birthday.  These images are adorable and the primary color scheme is perfect for a toddler.  I stamped and colored the images with Copics and also sponged the angled panel with the Mini Cloud Edges stencil and some Tumbled Glass distress ink.

The sentiment is white-embossed onto black and die-cut with the larger of the two Slanted Sentiment Strips.

I filmed the making of this card and, by request from a viewer, have not sped up the video as much as I usually do.  Hopefully, it's not too long - I know I prefer watching shorter videos and would love if I could make them like Laura Bassen - her videos are amazing and so full of information (and stories!), yet still quite short.

Anyways, if you want to watch the video, head on over to YouTube or watch below.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Up in the Air (MFT)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Tumbled Glass Distress Ink

Cardstock:  White, Black, X-Press It

Dies:  Up in the Air, Slanted Sentiment Strips, Stitched Basic Edges (MFT)

Accessories:  Copics, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers

Karren

Prickly Cactus

Hey and welcome!  It's time for another Fusion challenge and here is what we're playing with this time.


I just love that photo and knew I had to try and create a fusion this challenge!  I also filmed the making of this card so if you want you can check out the video below.  In it, I show how I go about random stamping a background, plus I do a wee bit of Copic coloring.  Now onto my card:

Obviously, I kept the cactus theme but I also pulled in the pale blue from the photo as well as sticking to the sketch.  I randomly stamped various cacti in pots onto a white panel using Fog ink to give a very pale image.  Once that was finished, I adhered some pale blue gingham paper to a cardfront-sized vellum piece and then adhered that to the stamped background and added a thin strip of black cardstock to separate the layers.

I white-embossed the sentiment onto a banner of Cactus cardstock and behind that I added a black banner, cut thicker and angled the opposite direction.  I wasn't planning on adding the cactus, but the card looked too plain, so I pulled out a cactus image and pot from the same stamp set and after stamping with London Fog ink onto X-Press It cardstock, I colored them with Copics and added them to the card.

As I mentioned earlier, I would love it you would take a few minutes to watch the video over on YouTube or by clicking below.

Thanks for visiting!  Head on over to the challenge blog and see how the rest of the DT were inspired.  You'll be glad you did.

I'm adding this card to the repetition challenge at MFT Stamps Summer School and the Anything Goes challenge at Just Us Girls

Products used:

Stamps:  Sweet Succulents (MFT)
Ink:  Versamark, London Fog, Fog
Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Black, Cactus, Homespun Gingham (MFT), Vellum
Dies:  Sweet Succulents, Slanted Sentiment Strips (MFT)

Sympathy Bouquet

Hi and welcome!  Today's card is for the sketch challenge at MFT Stamps as well as the Color Throwdown challenge and Just Add Ink's "add a window/frame".  I hope the colors are close enough to the challenge.

Once again, I used Painted Prints.  I love that set (and go on about how much I love it in the video!) . It is so easy to use.  This is my third card using it and I've only had the set for a few weeks.  

I stamped the images using Altenew inks and then die-cut them with the matching dies.  I also die-cut two scalloped square frames from Cement Gray cardstock and then arranged my bouquets within the frames.  I kept the bouquets the same so as not to be distracting, but reversed the flower colors.

I used Press 'n' Seal to keep the bouquets in place and adhered them to a white top-folding card base before using my Misti to stamp the sentiment.  I then added the frames with thin strips of foam tape and finished off the card with some Nuvo Jewel Drops.

Thanks for visiting!  As I said earlier, I filmed this card.  You can watch below or over on YouTube.  

Products used:

Stamps:  Painted Prints, Essential Sentiments (MFT)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Minty int, Sweet Leaf, Pink Pearl, Coral Bliss, Pink Diamondm, Pinkalicious (Altenew)

Cardstock:  White, Cement Gray

Dies:  Painted Prints, Stitched Square Scallop Frames (MFT)

Accessories:  Nuvo Jewel Drops

Cheers

Karren

Best Wishes Bouquet

Hi and welcome to my blog!  I'm here today with a sketch by Narelle for the latest Freshly Made Sketches challenge.

Now, being a Narelle-sketch, how could I not use flowers? 😄

I created a couple of bouquets of flowers using MFTs Painted Prints stamp set and dies.  I stamped the images with Altenew inks and positioned them onto a white panel stenciled with a brick wall stencil and Grit Paste.  It's hard to see in the photo, but it has a lovely bumpy, grainy texture - just like a brick wall!  You can see a close-up down below.

The sentiment was white embossed onto black and I have to confess to cutting apart the sentiment as it was all one stamp, but I wanted a white "congratulations" and a black-framed "and best wishes" so I cut apart the stamp.  It was a really tight fit and I actually nicked the bottom part at one point, so had to fix the stamped image with a black marker.  You can't tell in the finished product, so it's all good!

I filmed the making of this card so you can watch the video below, or over on YouTube.

Thanks for visiting.  The design team have a beautiful selection of cards so I hope you'll check them out.

I'm linking this up to The Flower Challenge and chose the previous challenge from November 2016 for an Occasion card, as well as Work It Wednesday's Summer theme.

Products used:

Stamps:  Painted Prints (MFT), Loads of Wishes (Avery Elle)

Ink:  Versamark, Versafine Onyx Black, Pink Pearl, Coral Bliss, Heart Beat, Rose Quartz, Puffy Heart, Purple Wine, Bamboo, Parrot, Olive, Moss (Altenew)

Cardstock:  Coral Crush, Black Licorice (MFT), White

Dies:  Painted Prints, Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  White EP, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen, English Brick Wall Stencil (MFT), Distress Grit Paste (Ranger)

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