Embossed Leaves

Hi and welcome!  It's time for another Tic Tac Toe challenge, and this time I went with the centre column Foliage/Leaves - Free - Thank You to come up with this card.

I've been a bit obsessed lately with Distress Spray Stains so once again I pulled them out to have a play.  I white embossed the Hodge Podge stamp onto watercolour paper then went to town with multiple spray stains and spritzes.  Once I was happy with the result I let the paper dry then die-cut with various leaf shapes.  Before I adhered the black layer on top, I took each leaf and added some foundry wax with my finger before heat-setting.

I embossed a kraft panel with the Burlap embossing folder then added a black frame.  Within the frame I arranged the leaves and a gold foiled thanks sentiment and called it done.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll have time to play along with us.

Products used:

Ink: Versamark, various Distress Spray Stains and Distress Spritz

Cardstock: Neenah Desert Storm, Black, Distress Watercolor Paper (Tim Holtz)

Dies: Fall Leaves, Nesting Rectangle Frames (Waffle Flower), Hexi-Gem Sentiments Hot Foil (Spellbinders)

Accessories: Burlap Embossing Folder (Honey Bee Stamps), White Embossing Powder, Gold Hot Foil, Gilded Foundry Wax (Tim Holtz)

Cheers

Karren

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Newspaper Man

It's my turn to be sketch hostess this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  I actually made this card then created the sketch around it.  I was asked by my husband to make a card for one of his customers who was turning 80 and had been a newspaper man his whole adult life.  So this is the card I came up with:

I used this newsprint stamp from Tim Holtz and paired that with a strip of cardstock I'd made using the credit card technique and some distress paint.  I added a strip of black cardstock then went to work on the sentiment.  

I die-cut and stacked the 8 and 0 then rubbed some foundry wax along the bottom of the numbers.  The sentiment was silver-embossed and matted onto black.  As the finishing touch, I also added foundry wax along the edge of the blue panel.

Thanks for visiting!  Please check out the wonderful cards made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Steampunk (Tim Holtz), Essential Sentiments (MFT)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Black, pre-prepared credit card technique panel

Dies:  By the Numbers (PTI)

Accessories:  Silver EP, Sterling Foundry Wax

Cheers

Karren

 

Teal Roses

 Hi and welcome to the latest challenge from the team at Fusion.  I decided to just play with the inspiration photo this time and tried to recreate the look using dies and ink.

I made the flowers using Memory Box papers and gold foil.  Before I placed them onto the cardbase, I used a watercolor wash freeform stencil and sponged various Distress Inks through it.  I then flicked on some Faded Jeans ink and spritzed with mica spray.

I finished with a bold sentiment, but in hindsight I wish I'd centred it rather than positioning it to the right hand side, but it is what it is.

Thanks so much for visiting.  I hope you'll visit the challenge site and see the cards made by my fantastic teamies.

Products used:

Stamps:  Say It In A Starburst (MFT)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Peacock Feathers, Salvaged Patina, Evergreen Bough Distress Inks, Enchanted Gold, Nimbus (Altenew)

Cardstock:  White, Bristol Smooth, Matte Gold Foil, Hot Fudge, Milk Chocolate (MFT), Fresh Aqua (Memory Box)

Dies:  Bloom Colorize (Sizzix), Layered Leaves (MFT)

Accessories:  Watercolor Wash Free Form Stencil (MFT), Enamel Dots

Cheers

Karren

Miss You

 Welcome to a new Fusion challenge.  I decided to play with patterned papers for my card and came up with this.

I dry-embossed a Whip Cream card base with the Subtle embossing folder then added the patterned papers at the bottom.  The centre panel is matted onto another piece of patterned paper before being added to the card.  

I white-embossed the sentiment before adding the top panel and then found some alcohol-inked Yupo paper and die-cut it with a butterfly die.  I don't remember which alcohol inks I used for this piece, sorry, as it was done a long time ago.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll join in.  Please head on over and check out the wonderful cards made by the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Hashtags (Tim Holtz)

Ink:  Versamark

Cardstock:  Whip Cream, Black Licorice (MFT), Salvage District (Prima), Vellum

Dies:  Detailed Butterflies Mini (Tim Holtz)

Accessories:  White EP, Alcohol Inks, Subtle Embossing Folder (SU)

Bloom Note

Hi and welcome.  Jacquie Southas is our sketch hostess over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and I love her sketch.  Here's my card using it:

As soon as I saw the sketch I knew I wanted to use the negative space for those rectangles, so I took a rectangle die and after a bit of measurement, I cut it out three times across the front of a Soft Stone panel.  I then backed it with a black panel and added it to a white card base.

I had just received these Colorize dies and wanted to put them together, so using the packaging as a guide, I chose multiple colours of cardstock and did some fiddly die-cutting and placing.  I had fun doing this and when I was finished, I decided to add some texture by running all the elements through the Subtle embossing folder.  This flattened the layers as well as adding the texture.  To give the big rose some dimension, I lightly sponged around the edge with Victorian Velvet distress ink.  I then added them to the card with foam tape.

 

The sentiment was stamped and die-cut and added with foam tape.

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you'll check out the wonderful cards made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Opposites Attract (The Greetery)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Victorian Velvet Distress Ink

Cardstock:  Soft Stone, Ocean Tide, Autumn Rose (PTI), Sage Leaf (Lawn Fawn), Chocolate Brown, Cactus, Factory Green, Paver Red, Olive, Black Licorice, Hot Fudge, Kraft, Cranberry Cocktail, Pink Lemonade, Bubblegum, Banana Spklitm Lemon Chiffon (MFT)

Dies:  Colorize Bloom (Tim Holtz), Opposites Attract (The Greetery), Inside/Out Stitched Rectangles (MFT)

Accessories:  Subtle Embossing Folder (SU)

Cheers

Karren

#breathe

Hi and welcome to the latest Freshly Made Sketch challenge where I am the hostess this week.  For my card, I went with an old technique called Faux Tearing.

I tore up a sheet of copy paper and using both pieces of the torn strip, I masked off areas on a white panel and sponged ink before stenciling in a similar color.  I accidentally ended up with 4 strips instead of the 3 in the sketch, because I thought the colors weren't dark enough so went over them again, not realising that one of the masks had moved.  

The leaves were made using Distress Oxide ink on alcohol ink paper then apply Distress Micro Glaze over the top to bring up the shine.  I then die-cut the panel with some skeleton leaf dies.  They were arranged onto a dark gray mod square die-cut and I finished with a simple sentiment - also from Tim Holtz.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll visit the challenge blog and see what the DT did with my sketch and maybe even have a go yourself.

Products used:

Stamps:  #hashtags (Tim Holtz)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Salty Ocean, Stormy Sky, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire, Forest Moss, Twisted Citron, Crushed Olive, Lucky Clover (Distress Oxide), Winter Sky, Sea Glass, Sea Foam, Cloudy Sky (SSS)

Cardstock:  White, Alcohol Ink Cardstock, Steel Gray (MFT)

Dies:  Stitched Rectangle Stax, Stitched Mod Square Stax (MFT), Skeleton Leaves (Tim Holtz)

Accessories:  Distress Micro Glaze, Various Tim Holtz Stencils, Enamel Dots

Cheers

Karren

Strength Butterfly

Hi and welcome to another challenge from the Freshly Made Sketches team.  Our hostess this week is Linda Callahan and here is her sketch:

And here is my card using Linda's sketch.

This was not the card I had in mind when I sat down to create but this is how it ended up.  I didn't make it for anyone, but in looking at it, I think maybe I made it for me.  Losing my son has brought me to my knees and I'm struggling to get back up.  I haven't made any Christmas cards and I won't be sending any this year.  I have no desire to celebrate Christmas.  Matthew's birthday is one week before Christmas and I'm already dreading December.

I used my favourite background stamp to white emboss onto a panel and then sponge with Fog ink.  I also splattered some Fog ink onto the panel.  Onto the background I used Fog ink to stamp multiple butterflies.  The orange butterfly is popped up on foam tape.

Thanks for visiting.  Please check out the wonderful cards made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Papillon (Tim Holtz), Essential Sentiments (MFT), Dream Big (Altenew)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Sunkissed, Orange Cream (Altenew), Fog (SSS)
Cardstock:  White, Black
Dies:  Inside/Out Stitched Squares (MFT)

Cheers
Karren

Blended Thanks

Hi and welcome to week 3 of our month-long 400th sketch celebration over at Freshly Made Sketches.  And make sure you check out the challenge blog next week - just sayin'

This week's sketch was originally designed for Sketch 300, which doesn't seem that long ago.  This time around, I decided to do some emboss resist and used the sketch elements for a Triple Time Stamping card.

This Tim Holtz stamp would have to be one of my favourites - especially when combined with Emboss Resist.  I white-embossed the stamp onto a panel of Bristol Smooth cardstock and then ink blended with Festive Berries, Worn Lipstick and Scattered Straw Distress Oxide inks (one of Kristina Werner's combos).

Once that was dry, I die-cut the various shapes, starting with the topmost shape and working down to the bottom.  I then die-cut white mats and pieced it all back together, using foam tape for the circle layer.  The sentiment was stacked three high and adhered with liquid glue.  I finished with some sparkling clear confetti.

Thanks for visiting.  Be sure to check out the fabulous creations made by the rest of the design team.  We hope you'll join in the fun.

Products used:

Stamps:  Papillon (Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous)

Ink:  Versamark, Festive Berries, Worn Lipstick and Scattered Straw Distress Oxide inks

Cardstock:  White, Black, Bristol Smooth

Dies:  Infinity Circle and Rectangle Dies (Hero Arts), Fancy Words (Reverse Confetti)

Accessories:  White EP, Sparkling Clear Confetti (PPP)

Karren

Dogs in the Window

Hi and welcome!  I made this card for my son's girlfriend, who was 20 yesterday.  She loves animals and she has a great sense of humour, so I thought she'd appreciate some crazy dogs 😀

I sort of had it in my head that I wanted the dogs to be looking through a window and then I saw the current challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch and I knew I could use the big rectangle for the window and for the circle I could use one of the dogs - who is either trying to get in the window or who has escaped out of the window.

I stamped and colored all the dogs in the Crazy Cats & Dogs set and then die-cut them with the matching dies.  I do have a window die but it was too small for what I wanted so I hunted through my dies and found this from Blueprints 29 which would work as a window.  I die-cut it from a white top-fold card base, then adhered the frame back into the card base.

After I'd arranged the dogs in the window, I adhered them to the back of the open frame then created by background which was made with Distress Oxide inks onto Bristol Smooth cardstock then spritzed with Glitter Dust.

I finished the card with an embossed sentiment popped up on foam tape and the last little dog.

Here are a few other photos.

Thanks for visiting!  I'm also entering this into Seize the Birthday and Work It Wednesday where we are asked to use our favorite stamps.  I have so many favorites, it's hard to choose, but these definitely make me laugh so they're right up there 😊

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Crazy Cats & Dogs, #Hashtags (Tim Holtz)

Ink:  Intense Black, Versamark, Peacock Feathers, Twisted Citron, Cracked Pistachio Distress Inks

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Bristol Smooth

Dies:  Crazy Cats & Dogs (TH), Blueprints 29, Slanted Sentiment Strips (MFT)

Accessories:  Copics, Glitter Dust

Cheers

Karren

Paris Background

Thanks for popping by!  It's time for another fun Fusion challenge and this time I've gone for a simple, yet versatile sketch and a focus on navy and white and patterns in the inspiration photo.

I had great fun making my card which mainly uses the sketch but also brings in the navy and white color scheme from the photo.

My background panel was made using a technique that I first learned over 10 years ago.  I made up some panels using the technique and found them a few months ago.  But I couldn't remember how I made them.  I could only remember I found the technique in one of my mother's stamping magazines.  So off to mum's I went and her and I searched and searched until I found the article.  I decided to work with materials I had on hand and came up with this panel which I over-stamped with the Papillon stamp set by Tim Holtz.

This started out as a piece of plan black cardstock and I layered over it using metallic and various blue Distress Paints.  With the aid of water and a credit card, I ended up with this look.  I did film the process which you can see below or over on YouTube.  Apologies for the squeaky chair at the beginning - I narrated as I created, so no voiceovers. 

Thanks for visiting!  The rest of the design team have done some wonderful things with this challenge, so I hope you check them out.

I'm linking this up to Addicted to Stamps and More who have an Anything Goes challenge this week.

Products used:

Stamps:  Papillon, Hashtags (Tim Holtz)
Ink:  Black Soot Archival
Cardstock:  White, Black
Dies:  Blueprints 21, Stitched Dot Circles (MFT)
Accessories:  Brushed Pewter, Broken China, Faded Jeans, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire Distress Paints.

Cheers
Karren

Yappy Birthday

It's time for another fabulous challenge from the team at Freshly Made Sketches and this week my friend, Linda, is the hostess.  And this is the versatile sketch she has come up with.

I had so many ideas running around my head with this card, but in the end I couldn't help but make a dog card, knowing that Linda is a dog-person :)  These dogs just crack me up!

I've had this set for a while but this is its first outing.  I stamped, colored and die-cut the dog, as well as the popped up eyes/eyebrows and nose which I coated in Glossy Accents.  For the horizontal panels, I sponged in to resemble a wall and floor with the skirting board in between.  To be honest, that wasn't my intention - it was meant to be sky and ground but I wanted to stay true to the sketch so left a gap between.  Then it just looked like a wall and floor so that's what I'm going with :)

The sentiment is from Playful Pups by Mama Elephant.

Thanks for visiting!  The DT have some gorgeous cards to inspire you so please check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Mini Crazy Cats & Dogs (Tim Holtz), Playful Pups (Mama Elephant)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT), Versafine Onyx Black, Broken China, Antique Linen Distress Inks

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It

Dies:  Mini Crazy Cats & Dogs (Tim Holtz)

Accessories:  Copic Markers, Glossy Accents

Cheers

Karren

Ghost Car

Hi!  I'm back with a fun sketch by the fabulous Jen Brum for Freshly Made Sketches.

Told you it was fun, didn't I?  For my card, I went with a masculine card as I needed another card for Father's Day which was last Sunday here in New Zealand.

I had fun playing with some Yupo paper and alcohol ink and created two different backgrounds using the same piece of Yupo and the same main colors - Pesto and Espresso Alcohol Inks.  I really wanted to try the Alcohol Ink Resist technique that Tim shared in Creative Chemistry 103 but the darkest inks I had were Pesto and Espress.  I created a background using just those two inks.  However, I re-used a felt square and it had previously had blending solution on it, so my background wasn't as "smooth" as it should be.  I carried on regardless, because, well it's fun to experiment :)

After that was dry, I cut the piece of Yupo into two and put one aside.  On the other piece, I stamped the car using Jet Black Archival and then removed the ink as per the technique.  I didn't use a solid enough stamp and the resist image was indistinguishable, so I went and stamped the car again, this time slightly offsetting the image - creating the ghost image.  I really like the effect!  It looks 3D to me.

With the second panel, I added some Copper Mixative and then ran it through my Big Shot with a clock embosssing folder.  I then lightly sponged some Viridian archival ink over the raised bits and then rubbed off with a paper towel - again creating a resist.

I used pierced circle and rectangle frame dies to frame the two panels and used a Desert Storm card base to keep with the vintage-y look.

Thanks for visiting.  The FMS DT have some beautiful cards to inspire you, as they do every week, so be sure to check them out.

I'm linking this card up to the current challenge at Just Us Girls which has a  Travel theme.

Products used:

Stamps:  Travel Way (Tim Holtz), KIS:  Father (PTI)

Ink:  Versamark, Jet Black Archival, Viridian Archival, Pesto, Espress Alcohol Inks, Copper Mixative

Cardstock:  Desert Storm, Black, Yupo

Dies:  Circle Pierced Frames, Rectangle Perced Frames, Blueprints 6 (MFT)

Accessories:  White EP, Renaissance EF (Couture Creations)

Cheers

Karren

Fabulous Coral

Hi and welcome to another fabulous Freshly Made Sketch!  This week our hostess is Linda Callahan - amazing card artist and oh so funny!

I love this sketch and had fun making my card.

My background was inspired by this tag by Tammy Tutterow.  I stamped the speckles stamp from Cracks & Specks onto watercolor paper using Picket Fence Distress Paint, which created a resist.  Once that was dry, I rubbed on some Abandoned Coral Distress Stain and then sponged Abandoned Coral Distress Ink around the edges to darken them.  A tiny strip of gold foil cardstock was adhered down the right hand side.  

The stamped part of the sentiment was white embossed onto black and cut at an angle and the die-cut word was painted with clear Wink of Stella then clear embossed several times to give it a raised, shiny look.

Thanks for visiting.  The rest of the design team have some fabulous inspiration for you as always.

Products used:

Stamps:  Cracks & Specks (Tim Holtz), Amazing (MFT)

Ink:  Versamark, Abandoned Coral Distress Ink, Abandoned Coral Distress Stain, Picket Fence Distress Paint

Cardstock:  White, Black, Watercolor, Gold Foil

Dies:  Absolutely Fabulous (MFT)

Cheers

Karren