28

Welcome to our last challenge of 2025 over at Freshly Made Sketches. Our hostess this week is Narelle Farrugia and I used her sketch to make a birthday card for my son, who would have been 28 on 17 December (yesterday for me as this post goes live).  I still make him a birthday card to celebrate each birthday and this year, I made a card to resemble his car, which was his pride and joy.  He painted it himself and wanted to be a car painter.  

To make the card, I first stamped the Papillon stamp onto the black panel with Versamark for a subtle watermark effect, but it didn't even show up in the final card or the photos.  I applied some gilding flakes to a white panel and then ripped it diagonally to match Matthew's car.  I then die-cut the rectangle frame from the panel and mounted it onto another slightly larger black rectangle before putting it onto a card base.

I used the same technique for the numbers but put the gilding flakes at the top, added a smaller black panel and the stamped sentiment.

Here is a photo of Matthew's car after he had painted it and then at his funeral where we invited everyone to write a message in Sharpie over the gold paint.  That car is treasured as are the messages.

Thanks for visiting and please check out the fabulous cards made by the design team.  This challenge will be open for longer and we'll be back in January with a new year of sketch challenges.

Products used:

Stamps: #Hashtag, Papillon (Tim Holtz)

Ink: Obsidian (Altenew), Versamark

Cardstock: Black, White

Dies: A2 Rectangle Stax (MFT), By The Numbers (PTI)

Accessories: Gilding Flakes (Nuvo)

Cheers

Karren

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Poinsettia

Hi and welcome to our second-to-last challenge of the year over at Freshly Made Sketches where our hostess this week is Michele Ferguson.

I went with a Christmas card because I couldn't think of anything other than a big flower for the circle image (my creativity is on hiatus at the moment).

The flower was stamped, stenciled and die-cut before being layered onto a dark green background.  For the banner, I went with vellum and really wanted to actually stitch it onto the card but was just too lazy to pull out the sewing machine! Hence the stitched dies - so much easier!

I finished with some gold gems in the centre of the flower and on the banner to hide some little dots of glue.

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

Products used:

Stamps: Festive Poinsettia (Alex Syberia Design)

Ink: Amalgam (Gina K.), Versamark, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, Lumberjack Plaid, Aged Mahogany, Saltwater Taffy, Worn Lipstick Distress Inks

Cardstock: White, Vellum, Forest (Spellbinders)

Dies: Festive Poinsettia (Alex Syberia Design), Stitched Fishtail Flag Stax, Blueprints 25 (MFT)

Accessories: Gilded Embossing Powder (Brutus Monroe), Back to Basics Gem Stickers (Honey Bee Stamps)

Cheers

Karren

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Snowy Plaid

Hi and welcome!  I'm here with a card for the latest Tic Tac Toe Challenge where I've gone down the left column with Texture/White/Plaid.

I added the Altenew Layered Plaid cover plate to a blue background and then added some hand-cut snow drifts on top.  The snowman was assembled using various colours of cardstock and the Honey Bee Stamps Build a Snowman die set.

Finally, I added the sentiment and called it done.  Thanks so much for visiting.  Head on over to the challenge blog and have a go yourself!

Products used:

Stamps: An Arctic Christmas (SSS)

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Salvaged Patina Distress Ink

Cardstock: White, Black, Sno Cone, Summer Splash, Blu Raspberry, Hot Fudge (MFT)

Dies: Layered Plaid A & B (Altenew), Build a Snowman (Honey Bee Stamps)

Accessories: Orange Copic Marker

Cheers

Karren

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Skating Christmas

Welcome to the new challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches where this week I am the sketch hostess.  I had no idea what I would make when I came up with the sketch and it took a while to figure something out but finally came up with this card.

The sled and floral arrangement were made using coloured cardstock and ink-blending.  After I put the pieces together, I set it aside and worked on the background.  The patterned paper was a little bit too dark for the softer look I was going for so I painted over the panel with some diluted white gesso to soften it.  The top of the panel was die-cut using the linen side of the PTI cover plate.  I stamped the sentiment and added a thin mint strip to separate the two panels.

After adding the die-cut elements, I finished with some pearls to match the coral tones of the poinsettia.

Thanks for visiting.  Please check out the fabulous cards made by our design team and meet our super-talented two new design team members.

Products used:

Stamps: Star Snowflake Sentiments (Waffle Flower)

Ink: Obsidian (Altenew), Brushed Corduroy, Abandoned Coral, Lost Shadow, Bundled Sage, Fossilized Amber Distress Inks

Cardstock: White, Kraft, Coral Crush (MFT), Fog (SSS), Rouge (Altenew), Mint (Spellbinders), Silver Matte Foil, Christmas 2025 Backdrops (Tim Holtz)

Dies: Winter Welcome Sled (Spellbinders), Linen & Canvas (PTI)

Accessories: Pastel Pearls (Honey Bee Stamps), white Gesso

Cheers

Karren

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