Many Thanks

Today's card is my last post as guest designer at The Paper Players.  The last six months have been fun with a wide array of wonderful challenges and this card is to thank the team for making me feel so welcome.  This challenge comes to us from Nance and she has a sketch challenge that's right up my alley:

Is this not one fabulous sketch?  For my card, I used some new goodies that just arrived this week - new colors from Simon Says Stamp and a new set designed by WP9.

I started by cutting a stitched circle and white-embossing my sentiment.  I then placed it on the card base and drew a light pencil line around the circle so I knew where to stamp my flowers.

I only used the outline image from this builder set and stamped them in some of the new SSS colors - Duckling, Melon, Sunkist and Hollyhock.  I then stamped a few dots in Jellybean to tie the flowers together.

The banners were sponged in Jellybean and Melon inks before being die-cut.  Some silver thread was dropped behind the circle and some enamel dots added before calling my card done.

The design team have created some wonderful cards with this sketch so I hope you'll check them out and give this sketch a go.  Thanks for visiting and thanks again to the team of wonderful ladies at The Paper Players for inviting me to join you for the last six months.

I'm also entering this into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of Anything Goes.

Products used:

Stamps:  Many Thanks (SSS)
Ink:  Sunkist, Hollyhock, Melon, Jellybean, Duckling (SSS), Versamark
Cardstock:  White, Black
Accessories:  Silver Thread, White EP, Lil' Inkers Stitched Mats Rectangles and Circles, Blueprints 2 (MFT)

Cheers
Karren

Silent Scream

Hi there!  If you're looking for my Color Throwdown post, scroll down. 

Welcome to Freshly Made Sketch Challenge day!  Today, the wonderfully talented and expert-enabler Jen Mitchell is our hostess and she has an awesome sketch.

I just received an order from Verve the other day, so decided to use some of my NBUS on my card.

I stamped the coffee containers and colored them with Copics.  For the band, I stamped onto some foil patterned paper and did some paper piecing.  Whilst the center panel is perfect for patterned paper, I kept mine plain, just adding a sentiment from one of my new sets and a stacked die cut.  I went over the die cut with my clear Wink of Stella pen.

And that's it!  Thanks for visiting.  Be sure to check out how the rest of this amazing team have interpreted the sketch.

Products used:

Stamps:  Coffee, Better With You (Verve)
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock:  Desert Storm, Vanilla, Dark Chocolate, Rosie's Wedding Paper Pack
Accessories:  Copics, Coffee word die (Verve), Wink of Stella

Cheers
Karren

High Tops

Hi and welcome.  Today I have the privilege of being Guest Designer over at Color Throwdown.  My card was chosen last week as Featured Stamper and that means an invite to be GD.  No way was I going to say no to that!

Here's this week's challenge:

Aren't these such cool colors?  My mind immediately went to some NBUS I've had for a few months - the All-Star High Top die from MFT.  From there it was a short step to making a birthday card for my youngest son who turns 13 in a couple of weeks.

My son tends to be a bit obsessive about certain things - Apple products and Converse shoes take top spots in his obsessions, so this die was a no-brainer for me.

I started by cutting the shoes out of red, yellow and white cardstock then putting them together.  Putting all the little yellow circles on was a bit of a painful exercise but I'm so pleased with the finished product.  

The card base was sponged with Surf Blue ink over the Stripes stencil by MFT.  I die-cut the 13 from PTI's By the Numbers dies out of Surf Blue and black cardstock then stacked them together, slightly offsetting the black layer to make the numbers pop against the background.  I then went over the numbers with Glossy Accents, but clearly I didn't put enough on as it's not totally smooth.  But at least it doesn't have fingerprints in it.  Usually I'm so impatient, I touch it to check if it's dry - and it never is :)

Thanks so much to the DT for letting me guest this week.  Be sure to check out their cards - every week they produce the most wonderful cards!

I'm also entering this into this week's challenge at Friday Mashup to add a stencil.

Products used:

Ink:  Surf Blue (SSS)
Cardstock:  Schoolhouse Red, Lemon Chiffon, Surf Blue (SSS), white, black
Accessories:  All-Star High Top die (MFT), By the Numbers dies (PTI), Stripes Stencil (MFT)

Cheers
Karren

Snowman Hats

Welcome to Merry Monday's weekly challenge.  This week, Nina is our hostess and she has a very unique challenge for us - to create a Christmas card with a funky hat on it!

As soon as I thought of funky hats, I thought of the adorable Snowy Trio stamp by Purple Onion, so I went to work and came up with a variation on the stamp.  Check it out:

Instead of stamping all three snowmen, I stamped one plus several of their hats.  If you want to see what the stamp looks like before my cutting and re-arranging, then check out this card.  I then cut out all the pieces and colored them with Copics.  After carefully arranging the hats on top of the snowman I stuck it on to the card base with foam tape.  The sentiment was deliberately kept very plain so as not to detract from the colorful snowman hats.

Thanks for visiting.  The rest of the design team have some very funky hats on their cards, so be sure to check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Snowy Trio (Purple Onion), Christmas (SSS)
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock:  White, X-Press It
Accessories:  Copics

Cheers
Karren

Enjoy

Hi and welcome to my Paper Players post.  This week, Claire has a fun challenge for us - a CAS "Summer Treats" card.

My card is a little bit similar to last week's DT card, but it wasn't intentional.  It was just the idea that came into my head and nothing was going to make it budge.

I used the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch as well as the inspiration pic at Curtain Call for my card.  

I sponged a panel of white cardstock using some distress inks to produce a soft and subtle beach scene.  Once I had finished sponging, I added some waves using my white gel pen, which you can see better in the close-up picture below.  The drink was stamped then colored with Copics before being cut out.  I die-cut the sentiment three times in white and once in black and stacked them all together.  Both the drink and the sentiment are colored with a clear Wink of Stella pen.

Given that I'm in the middle of winter where I live, this card makes me feel warm and that's got to be a good thing :)

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll have time to check out the inspiration from the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Free Spirits (Paper Smooches)

Ink:  Tumbled Glass, Old Paper, Scattered Straw Distress Inks, Memento Tuxedo Black

Cardstock:  White, Black

Accessories:  Copics, White Gel Pen, Wink of Stella

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card won top honors at Curtain Call.

Shades of Grey

Hi!  It's Saturday afternoon here and I've had a fun and productive day in my craft room.  This card I'm about to show you uses the sketch from Cardabilities - a challenge I've never played along with before - and the neutrals theme at Seize the Birthday.

This card was a real challenge for me!  If you visit my blog regularly, you'll know I don't use patterned paper very often.  This card not only has patterned paper, but four different patterns to boot!  I cut the papers from a pack of paper I bought at the local department store.  

The flowers were stamped using Fog, Smoke and Memento Tuxedo Black inks before being cut out by hand.  The scalloped edge comes from Blueprints 14 and the sentiment is from some NBUS I received yesterday from Papertrey Ink.  The ends of the banners have been curled up slightly for some added interest.

I love this sketch and I'm pretty sure I'll be using it again sometime.  And, wouldn't you know it, I've only now just realised that the banners are meant to go above the scalloped panel.  Doh!  Sorry, Cardabilities team!

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Painted Flowers (Altenew), Keep It Simple Birthday (PTI)
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Fog, Smoke (SSS)
Cardstock:  White, Rosie's Wedding Paper Pack
Accessories:  Pretty Pink Posh Marshmallow sequins, Blueprints 14 (MFT), Fishtail Flag Stax (MFT)

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Seize the Birthday!

Papillon Hello

And we've rolled around to another wonderful Freshly Made Sketch Challenge!  Love these sketches and love this team!  This week, Jennifer Timko, who makes such classy, CAS cards, has come up with a superb sketch.

Look at the freedom this sketch allows for!  I did some Iron Off Embossing and lots of sponging on my card and I'm really happy with how it came out.

I clear embossed the script image from Tim Holtz' Papillon set onto some watercolor paper before sponging on various yellow and orange distress inks.  I used watercolor paper because my original intention was to smoosh inks into my craft mat but I decided I wanted more control, so went with sponging.  Once I was happy with the panel, I ironed off the clear embossing.  I didn't want to cut the panel down to suit the sketch, so I interpreted the sketch slightly differently by adding strips of black cardstock to a piece of vellum paper.

I then stamped the sentiment using Stazon ink.  I placed some orange enamel dots on the vellum as a finishing touch.

I am linking this to this week's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to use your favorite technique.  I love everything to do with color - sponging is one of my favorites was to mix color.

 

Thanks for visiting.  The design team have some wonderful inspiration to tempt you to try this sketch, so please check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Papillon (Stampers Anonymous), Painted Butterflies (Altenew)

Ink:  Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks, Black Stazon, Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Black, Watercolor, Vellum

Accessories:  Clear EP, Enamel Dots

Cheers

Karren