Pumpkin Hello

Welcome!  Today's card was made using the colors from Color Throwdown, the sketch from MFT and the Halloween inspiration board at Simon Say Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

It's pretty obvious I was inspired by the pumpkin image at SSS :)  I chose these pumpkins and the sentiment from Witch Way is the Candy set by MFT.  I stamped and colored them, coloring the stalks grey as green wasn't a challenge color.  I then created the background for them by cutting a piece of kraft patterned paper which I framed with Soft Navy cardstock top and bottom.  The circle frame is popped up on foam tape and also cut from Soft Navy cardstock.  I arranged the pumpkins then stamped the sentiment just to the right of them.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Witch Way is the Candy (MFT)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT), Soft Navy (SSS)

Cardstock:  Soft Navy, White, Homespun Gingham (MFT)

Dies:  Witch Way is the Candy, Pierced Circle Frames (MFT)

Accessories:  Copics

Cheers

Karren

Something Fishy

Hi and welcome to another fabulous Fusion!  Check out the new challenge we have for you:

This time I was mostly inspired by the sketch, but I also carried across the bright colors from the photo to come up with this card:

These fish just crack me up!  I have been eyeing up this set for ages now and finally bought it.  I stamped and colored the fish with Copics before die-cutting them and coloring them up with clear Wink of Stella.

For the background, I die-cut the Waves Cover Plate with Hawaiian Shores cardstock and adhered it horizontally across a white card base.  I then die-cut another one from scrap card and used it as a stencil, sponging on Peacock Feathers, Broken China and Cracked Pistachio inks onto a die-cut circle.  I then matched up the "waves" with the bottom layer and adhered the circle down.  The fish are popped up on foam tape.

Thanks for visiting.  Below are links to the rest of the design team - you really should check out their fabulous cards.

Becca Cruger
Betty J
Carol Mayne
Jeanne Jachna
Karren Johnson
Linda Callahan
Lyndal Higgins 
Michelle Leone

Michelle Lupton
Michelle Williams

Products used:

Stamps:  That Bites (Avery Elle)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Peacock Feathers, Cracked Pistachio, Broken China Distress Inks

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Hawaiian Shores (PTI)

Dies:  That Bites, Waves (PTI), Wonky Stitched Circles (MFT)

Accessories:  Copics, Wink of Stella

Cheers

Karren

Bouquet of Leaves

Welcome back!  This card came together over a couple of evenings after work.  I had some leaves left over from this card so I pulled them out to make a card using the sketch at Mojo Monday, the Nature theme at Cardz 4 Guyz, and the Leaves themes at The Male Room and Just Us Girls.

I used Antique Linen ink and my Scribble Script stencil to stencil on both the card base and the ivory panel.  With the already-prepared leaves I spritzed them with Antiqued Bronze Mica Spray and also flicked some on with a paint bruch.  I gave the same treatment to some die-cut foliage cut from brown cardstock.

I stamped the sentiment which is actually a speech bubble but I masked off the "speech" part and then arranged all the elements onto the card and adhered everything with glue.

Finally, I placed a black tag and a smaller leaf to mimic the banner and tag in the sketch and added some twine.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Leaf Prints (PTI), So to Speak (Clearly Besotted)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Peeled Paint, Fossilized Amber, Rusty Hinge, Bundles Sage, Scattered Straw, Festive Berries, Vintage Photo, Antique Linen Distress Inks

Cardstock:  Ivory, Black, Watercolor, Early Espresso (SU)

Dies:  Leaf Prints (PTI), Fall Foliage (Tim Holtz), Leaves (Impression Obsession), Basic Stitch Edges (MFT)

Accessories:  Scribble Script Stencil (Donna Downey), twine, Antiqued Bronze Mica Spray (Tim Holtz)

Cheers

Karren

You Matter

Hi and welcome to another fabulous sketch from the team at Freshly Made Sketches.  What do you think of our new look?  Is it not fresh and clean - just what this challenge is all about!  Thanks to the legendary Jennifer Timko for her hard work in creating the new look.  This week our sketch hostess is the fabulous Jen Mitchell and she has such a versatile sketch for us.

I flipped the sketch to fit the orientation of my sentiment and came up with this card:

I stamped the Slate card base with the You Matter background stamp using Versamark ink.  The ink-blended panel was sponged then I flicked water on to add some interest.  The sentiment stamp is more NBUS that I white-embossed onto black and fussy cut before popping up on foam tape.

Thanks for visiting.  Be sure to pop over to the challenge blog to check it out and while you're there enjoy the inspiration provided by the rest of the Design Team.

Products used:

Stamps:  You Matter BG (SSS), Beautiful Juliet (Heartfelt Creations)
Ink:  Brushed Pewter Distress Paint, Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade Distress, Versamark
Cardstock:  Slate (SSS), watercolor, black
Accessories:  White EP

Cheers
Karren

Purple Peony

Hi and welcome to the very first monthly challenge at The Flower Challenge.

As the name suggests, this challenge was set up to celebrate floral images.  This challenge is the brain child of Aileen Ryan and the gorgeous graphics and watermarks were created by DT member Viv Hodge.  Our first challenge is Anything Goes and this is the card I made:

I used the beautiful Altenew set, Peony Bouquet and stamped it using their purple inks.  I also stamped a couple of leaves from green inks.  On the card base I sponged over a swirls stencil using Scattered Straw ink, focusing the color in the bottom left corner.  I also stenciled over a frame that I then popped up on foam tape.

The sentiment was foiled using my Mini Minc machine.  

Thanks for visiting.  Please take the time to check out the challenge and also the gorgeous floral beauties created by the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Peony Bouquet (Altenew)

Ink:  Soft Lilac, Lavender Fields, Deep Iris, Frayed Leaf, Forest Glades, Evergreen (Altenew), Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT), Scattered Straw Distress

Cardstock:  White, Toner Paper, Gold Foil

Dies:  Peony Bouquet, Pierced Rectangle Frames (MFT), Celebratory Greetings (MFT)

Accessories:  Swirls Stencil (Hero Arts), Mini Minc Machine

Cheers

Karren

Floral Birthday

Hi and welcome!  I took some time today to make a card for the current Muse challenge, as my friend Aileen is the Guest Muse and she created a gorgeous floral card.  I'm also linking up to Winnie & Walter's Precious Metals Challenge, Simon Says Anything Goes, 4 Crafty Chicks Anything Goes and The Card Concept where I'm calling my card Clean and Layered Challenge because of the arrangement of flowers.

I didn't go with the fruity theme at Card Concept, but I was inspired by the colors and came up with an orange, yellow and green bouquet of flowers.  From Aileen's gorgeous card, I stuck with the floral arrangement in the bottom left corner and the big bold sentiment in the top right quadrant.

I stamped, colored and die-cut the flowers before arranging them into a bouquet.  On the card base, I added some splatters with a toner pen before foiling them with Rose Gold foil.  The die-cut sentiment is also foiled with Rose Gold and the "birthday" sentiment was stamped with black ink.

Thanks for visiting.  Before I go, I want to let you know about a new challenge blog starting up on Tuesday.  It's called The Flower Challenge and it's all about, you guessed it, flowers!  It's a month-long challenge so there's plenty of time to play along.  Hope to see you there!

Products used:

Stamps:  In Bloom:  Addie's Garden, The Big, the Bold and the Happy (Winnie & Walter)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Toner Pen

Cardstock:  White, Toner Paper, Rose Gold Foil

Dies:  In Bloom:  Addie's Garden, The Big, the Bold and the Happy (W&W)

Accessories:  Copics, Mini Minc machine

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Muse and Card Concept.

Selfie

Hi and welcome!  I'm on a mission to use up my NBUS stamps and I have a few of them!  This card uses two Clearly Besotted sets I've had since their release and only using them now.  I created this card using the sketch from MFT, the selfie theme at City Crafter and the Cute cue word at CASology.

I stamped, colored and die-cut various images from Caped Cuties and Hooray for Heroes sets and then set about making a polaroid frame using a square and rectangle die.  I positioned the images and adhered them, with the polaroid frame to a Soft Stone card base.

The sentiment is the Big Hello die from MFT, using Soft Navy cardstock and popped up on dimensionals.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Caped Cuties, Hooray for Heroes (Clearly Besotted)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid
Cardstock:  Soft Stone (PTI), Soft Navy (SSS), White
Dies:  Big Hello (MFT), Square and Rectangle Nestabilities, Capied Cuties, Hooray for Heroes
Accessories:  Copics

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at City Crafter