Rain or Shine

It's Freshly Made Sketch Challenge day and today's hostess is the lovely and talented Rita Wright.  Check out her fabulous sketch:

Love that beautiful big circle in the middle!

For my card, I decided to go with some bright colors and a bit of Copic coloring.

I started with a white card base then added a layer of Fog cardstock.  The circle was cut from some Slate cardstock then stenciled with some translucent embossing paste to add a bit of interest.

The umbrella was colored with Copics and then fussy cut.  I originally used the matching die to cut it out but it slipped a bit in my Big Shot and the white edges weren't even, so out came the snips!  The umbrella is popped up on foam tape.

The sentiment is white embossed and the flags were cut using cardstock which matched the Copics as close as possible.

Thanks for visiting.  My fellow teamies have some wonderful inspiration to entice you to give this fun sketch a try so be sure to check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  April Showers (Clearly Besotted)

Ink:  Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black

Cardstock:  White, Fog, Sunshine, Audrey Blue, Green Apple (SSS)

Accessories:  Circle Nestabilities, MFT Fishtail Flag Stax, White Embossing Powder, Translucent Embossing Paste, Tiny Dots Stencil (SSS), Copics

Cheers

Karren

Singin' Snowmen

Today's Merry Monday challenge comes to us from Lori and she is asking us to use carolers or music on our cards.

I've had the Snowy Trio stamp from Purple Onion for nearly a year and hadn't used it, so this was the perfect opportunity to get it out and spend some relaxing time coloring.

I just adore this image!  The snowmen look so joyful and happy!  I stamped the image onto some X-Press It cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black, then spend a good amount of time coloring with my Copics.  The sentiment comes from a cute little Simon Says Stamp set I got from my Merry Monday Secret Santa (Sue) and was stamped using Jet Black Archival ink.

The panel was mounted onto a Coastal Cabana top-folding cardbase and at the last minute, I colored the hats and trees with clear Wink of Stella.  You can see a bit of the shimmer in this next photo:

Here is a photo of the various Copic markers I used in this card.

Thanks for visiting.  The Design Team have some adorable musical cards to entertain you, so be sure to check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Snowy Trio (Purple Onion), Christmas (SSS)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Archival Jet Black

Cardstock:  Coastal Cabana, X-Press It

Accessories:  Copic Markers, Wink of Stella

Cheers

Karren

Fresh Foliage

It sketch challenge time at The Paper Players this week and Jaydee has come up with a wonderful sketch that can go in so many different directions.  Check it out:

Once again I went CAS with my card.

I just got a wee pile of new Memory Box dies so I went through the pile and chose the Surely Stitched Circle die and the Fresh Foliage dies and my card came together in about 10 minutes!

I used the circle die to cut the panel from the white card base and then adhered some Slate cardstock behind the card front.

The sentiment was stamped with Slate ink and then the foliage was added to the top.  Easy!

Thanks for visiting.  The rest of the design team have some wonderful interpretations of this fun sketch so be sure to check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Friendship Messages (SSS)

Ink:  Slate (SSS)

Cardstock:  White, Slate (SSS)

Accessories:  Fresh Foliage die, Surely Stitched Circle dies (Memory Box), Enamel Dots

Cheers

Karren

Friend Tag

My first full week of work after 5 months off has gone by and it's the weekend - yahoo!  After doing laundry this morning, I escaped into my craft room and cranked out five cards.  Four of them are for upcoming DT challenges so you'll see those in due course, but the fifth one was just for fun and to enter a few challenges.

I used the colors from Color Throwdown, the cue word from CASology and the sketch and theme from Just Add Ink to come up with this card.

I know that the friend sentiment isn't necessarily romantic love but I hope it still qualifies at Just Add Ink.

To make my card, I first stenciled some embossing paste over the Tim Holtz Measured Stencil onto both my card base and the blue tag.  I stamped the flower using Rose Red ink stamped off and full strength.  The leaves were stamped using Lucky Limeade.  The friend sentiment was made with a Dymo labeller.

And that's it!  Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Pretty Peonies (WPlus9)

Ink:  Lucky Limeade, Rose Red (SU)

Cardstock:  White, Audrey Blue (SSS)

Accessories:  Pretty Peonies dies, Dymo labeller, Lil Inkers Stitched Rectangles, MFT Stitched Tags, Lil Inkers Anytime Tags, Tim Holtz Measured Stencil, Embossing Paste, twine

Cheers

Karren

Bunny Baby

Hi and welcome to Freshly Made Sketch Challenge Day!  Today, our sketch comes to you courtesy of Jen Mitchell, who has an amazing ability of taking grunge stamps and making the most beautiful clean cards!  

For my card, I decided to make a baby card as one of our neighbors is due to give birth to her first baby in February.  They don't know whether it's a boy or a girl, so I kept to neutral tones for my card.

I stamped and white embossed this cute little bunny onto two patterns of paper and fussy cut them out.  I used the second pattern for the ears, arm and tail as well as the balloon.

I white embossed the sentiment on a piece of Fog cardstock and adhered that plus a larger piece to my white card base.  Some randomly arranged silver thread and sequins finished off this CAS card.

Thanks for visiting.  I'm linking this up to Avery Elle's challenge this month which is all about paper piecing.  The rest of the FMS design team have some fabulous cards to encourage you to give our challenge a go, so be sure to check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Storybook (Avery Elle)
Ink:  Versamark
Cardstock:  White, Fog (SSS), Sweet Slumber (SU)
Accessories:  Silver Thread, White EP, Sequins

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

Papillon Thanks

Hi and welcome to week 3 of my stint at The Paper Players.  This week, LeAnne is challenging us to create a CAS card where the sentiment is the main focal point.

And this is what I came up with:

I started with a white card base and masked off the top part by using some torn paper.  I then sponged various Distress Inks onto the bottom of the card.  To tie the colors in together a bit more, I went over the whole lot with Vintage Photo then went back over with the original colors.  I think that gave it a more cohesive look, considering I used everything from pink to green to rust to blue.

Once I was happy with that, I inked up the Papillon stamp with Picket Fence Distress Stain then stamped it over the masked piece.  I let it dry naturally to give it more transparency.  

The sentiment comes from two sets:  The Big, the Bold and You for the "thanks" and Wet Paint for the smaller words.

Thanks for visiting.  Be sure to check out the wonderful cards made by the rest of this talented design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  The Big, the Bold & You (Winnie & Walter), Wet Paint (PTI), Papillon (Tim Holtz)
Ink:  Jet Black Archival, Vintage Photo, Picked Raspberry, Crushed Olive, Peeled Paint, Broken China, Rusty Hinge Distress Inks, Picket Fence Distress Stain
Cardstock:  White

Cheers
Karren