Pretty Amazing

 Hi and welcome to a new sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, where our hostess this week is Amy O'Neill.  I have to admit I was a bit stumped by Amy's sketch at first, not sure what to use for the horizontal strip which needs to cover both panels.  I then decided to use colour and a stencil and this is the result.

I just got this stencil this week and was keen to put it to use.  I took two panels of Bristol Smooth cardstock to match the sketch and placed the stencil over the larger panel and masked off the centre strip with purple tape before ink-blending with Silver Lake Ink on the top and bottom of the panel.  

I then removed the purple tape and applied it over where I'd just inked.  Then I used Fresh Lemon ink in the centre of the panel.  Before removing the tape, I added the smaller panel to the centre of the larger one, using repositionable tape to hold it in place.  I then went over the centre area with a darker yellow ink - Maple Yellow.  Moving the tape again, I went over the top and bottom with darker gray ink - Gray Denim and the stenciling was done.

Originally I wasn't going to add a mat around the smaller panel but it just didn't stand out enough, so I cut a Cement Gray mat just slightly bigger than the inked panel.  I then decided to add the background stamping with Fog ink so put both inked panels into my Misti and stamped the background text over them.

The rest of the card was pretty simple - a stacked die-cut sentiment with a white-embossed sub-sentiment and I finished with some shimmery hearts left over from a previous project.

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

I'm playing along with the Anything Goes challenge at Happy Little Stampers Stencil Challenge and the cards for teens/kids challenge at Sweet Stampin' as I intend to give this card to my 18-year old daughter when she starts back at university in a few weeks.

Products used:

Stamps:  You Matter, You Matter BG (SSS)

Ink:  Versamark, Fog (SSS), Silver Lake, Gray Denim, Fresh Lemon, Maple Yellow (Altenew)

Cardstock:  Cement Gray, Black Licorice (MFT), Bristol Smooth

Dies:  You (SSS), Blueprints 11 (MFT)

Accessories:  Geo Leaves Stencil (SSS), Shimmer Spray, White EP

Cheers

Karren

Hello Happy

 It's time for another sketch from the team at Freshly Made Sketches and this week our hostess is Narelle Farrugia and she has a beautifully CAS sketch.  Here's my card:

The card base is Blueberry and I used Versamark ink and the Dots & Boxes background stamp to add some interest to the background.  The die-cut sentiment is stacked four high and has a fun retro look.  The rainbow stripes were made using various colours of cardstock and the Slimline Stripes dies. 

Finally I added a simple sentiment to go with the die-cut word.  I might give this to my DH for Valentine's Day.

Thanks for visiting!  The DT have created some gorgeous cards so I hope you'll check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Dots & Boxes (Altenew), More Essential Sentiments (MFT)

Ink:  Versamark, Versafine Onyx Black

Cardstock:  White, Wild Cherry, Coral Crush, Banana Split, Limelight, Blueberry, Lavender Fields (MFT) Paradise (Hero Arts), Black

Dies:  Bold Greetings (Altenew), Slimline Stripes (PinkFresh Studio)

Cheers

Karren

Block Work

 Hi and welcome!  There's a bit of a back story to today's card.  I play a word game in the evenings on my tablet and it features different backdrops.  The latest backdrop really piqued my creative interest and I would ponder how I could re-create it in a card.  Here is a screen shot of the backdrop.

I figured stenciling would be the best way and using white ink to get the lighter tones would be easiest.  So yesterday, which was the last day of a long weekend, I sat down and came up with this card.

I am so happy with how this came out and it was so easy!  I started by looking for square masking stencils but the only ones I had were too big, so I made my own stencil with acetate and three square dies.  I then cut a panel of Bristol Smooth cardstock and selected some Distress Oxide inks.  I ink-blended over the background - sort of mimicking the inspiration photo, but adding more blues and less pink.  Once I was finished, I took my acetate stencil and stenciled over the panel with the Distress Oxide inks, creating the squares you can see in the photo below.

Then, to add the lighter tones, I went over it again with the same stencil and Unicorn White pigment ink and this was the result.

The white faded back a bit as it dried but it still had enough variation to satisfy me.  Once it was dry, I die-cut it into a smaller panel with a stitched rectangle die.  So now onto the card!

I didn't want to cover up that background so I went for an inlaid die-cut sentiment.  I cut the Big Hugs die three times from black and once from the ink-blended panel.  I then adhered the ink-blended panel onto a white card base and stacked the black die-cuts back into the gap.  Now for the Doh! moment.  I decided to add some sparkle to the letters, so grabbed my clear sparkle pen, not for a minute thinking the liquid would react with the oxide inks (as I said earlier - DOH!). I couldn't start again so decided to make a feature of it and liberally sprayed all the letters with shimmer spray. I then added the top layer to the card but very slightly offset each letter so a hint of black would show through.

I white-embossed a sub-sentiment and added that across the die-cut word and then added some black hearts which I also sprayed with shimmer spray.

Thanks for visiting!  I'm entering this card into the following challenges:  

Inkspirational - Hearts

The Paper Players - Hearts and/or Stars

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Love is in the Air

Just Us Girls - Valentine

Products used:

Stamps:  Essential Sentiments (MFT)

Ink:  Versamark, Unicorn White (Hero Arts), Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade, Picked Raspberry, Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers, Blueprint Sketch Distress Oxide Inks

Cardstock:  White, Bristol Smooth, Black

Dies:  Stitched Rectangle Stax, Blueprints 11, Band Aids, Big Hugs (MFT), Classic Squares (Spellbinders)

Accessories:  White EP, Acetate, Shimmer Spray

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Paper Players.

Day Filled With Love

 Hi!  I'm here with my card for the latest Fusion challenge.  I played with both the sketch and the photo, but I concentrated on the patterns and colours in the photo and left the gnomes alone :)

This was a very simple card to make.  I used a background plaid stamp and then die-cut two hearts from it.  I used washi tape for the stripes across the middle and a bold sentiment.  The rest is all die-cuts, patterned paper and enamel dots!

Thanks for visiting!  The DT have created gorgeous cards as usual so I hope you'll check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Plaid BG (Concord & 9th), Special Delivery (SugarPea Designs)

Ink:  Amalgam (Gina K)

Cardstock:  White, Watercolor Wash (MFT)

Dies:  Stitched Rectangle Stax, Stitched Fishtail Flag Stax, Blueprints 32 (MFT)

Accessories:  Delicate Stripes Washi (Altenew), Enamel Dots, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers

Karren

Hello Wreath

 Hi and welcome!  I have the pleasure of being the sketch hostess over at Freshly Made Sketches this week so I hope you like my sketch.  Here's the card I made:

This card uses a whole lot of products from The Greetery.  I made this over Christmas so can't fully remember all the details but I'll do my best.  The card base was white-embossed with the Rustic Linen background stamp by Altenew.  From there I die-cut the centre elements and backed them with some pearlescent vellum.  The flowers and foliage were stamped and arranged along the left hand curve of the circular element.

The Hello was stamped and die-cut with the matching die and finally I gave the flowers and sentiment a liberal coating of clear sparkle pen.

Please head over to the challenge blog and see what the rest of the DT have done with my sketch.  They're amazing!

Products used:

Stamps:  Hoop Wreath, Opposites Attract (The Greetery), Rustic Linen (Altenew)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Martian Terrain set, Green Fields set, Enchanted Garden set, Moon Rock, Espresso (Altenew)

Cardstock:  White, Pearlescent Vellum (Lawn Fawn)

Dies:  Hoop Wreath, Opposites Attract, Hoop & Fringe, Catching Snowflakes (The Greetery)

Accessories:  Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen, White EP

Cheers

Karren

Speckled Note

 Welcome to a new sketch from the team at Freshly Made Sketches where our hostess this week is Jen Brum.  Jen has a wonderful sketch and this is the card I made.

My main focus on this card is the gorgeous CTMH patterned paper.  I die-cut a frame using two rectangle dies and adhered it to a white card base.  I then stamped the sentiment in the negative space.

The flowers were already stamped and left over from an earlier project so this card was pretty quick to put together.

Thanks for visiting!  The DT have created gorgeous cards, as usual, so I hope you'll check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Life is Awesome (Altenew), Opposites Attract (The Greetery)

Ink:  Summer Afternoon, Tropical Forest sets (Altenew), Versafine Onyx Black

Cardstock:  White, Serenity patterned paper (CTMH)

Dies:  Life is Awesome (Altenew), Stitched Rectangle Stax, Inside/Out Rectangle Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen, Enamel Dots

Cheers

Karren

Peach Bouquet

 Hi!  It's time for another Fusion challenge and this time I played solely with the photo, focusing on the flowers and the wooden elements.

All the products in this card are from The Greetery.  I stamped the postmark and text images over a cream card base and then used Distress Oxide inks to ink the die-cut wood slice.  The floral images come from multiple sets and were arranged into a bouquet.  I finished with a simple sentiment stamped in gold ink and then added a few peach enamel dots.

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

Products used:

Stamps:  Pretty Postmarks, Signed & Sealed, Mimosa Musings, Petite Eucalyptus, Signed & Sealed with a Kiss (The Greetery)

Ink:  Enchanted Gold, Morning Frost, Grass Fields, Martian Terrain, Tranquility sets (Altenew), Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Gathered Twigs, Walnut Stain, Ground Espresso Distress Oxide Inks

Cardstock:  Whip Cream (MFT), White

Dies:  Mimosa Musings, Petite Eucalyptus, Signed & Sealed with a Kiss, Wood Slices (The Greetery)

Accessories:  Enamel Dots

Cheers

Karren