Friday, 23 May 2025

Best Dad

 Hi and welcome!  I'm here with my card for the latest challenge at Tic-Tac-Toe where I went in two directions:  Die-cuts - Ribbon/Twine - Embossing Folder and Masculine - Ribbon/Twine - Plaid.

Onto a panel of Desert Storm cardstock, I embossed with the Woven embossing folder and then adhered to a white card base.  I added a panel of plaid patterned paper and then a sliver of gold embossed cardstock (in hindsight, I regret that strip but it was too late to rip it off).  The sentiment was die-cut from black and I also added a couple of gold-embossed hearts.


Finally, I used my new-to-me twine die-cut which I cut from dark red cardstock and added to the card.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Cardstock:  Neenah Desert Strom, Black Licorice (MFT), Vineyard Berry (Altenew), Black & White Plaid (MFT)
Dies:  Best Dad Ever (MFT), Field Notes Twine, Parcel & Post Heart Decorations (Spellbinders)
Accessories:  Woven EF (Spellbinders, Gold EP

Cheers
Karren



Thursday, 22 May 2025

Semi Wreath

 
Hi! Today’s sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches was designed by Verena Shapiro @simple_stamper on Instagram.


I immediately saw a half wreath so went that route with some die-cut and ink-blended florals.  Once I had them arranged nicely, I worked on the background. I added an extra layer to the original sketch with an embossed brick background. 


I finished with a die-cut sentiment and some pearls. 

Thanks for visiting. Please check out how the rest of the design team have interpreted the sketch.

Products used:

Stamps:  Bloom With Grace (Honey Bee Stamps)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, various Altenew inks
Cardstock:  White, Pastel Sunrise (Altenew)
Dies:  Bloom With Grace (Honey Bee Stamps), Garden Wreath Add-Ons (Spellbinders)
Accessories:  Salvaged Brick Embossing Folder (Honey Bee Stamps), Pastel Pearls (Honey Bee Stamps)

Cheers
Karren


Thursday, 15 May 2025

New Home

Hi and welcome!  I'm here today with my card for the latest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches where our sketch hostess this week is Kim Singdahlsen.  Her sketch was perfect for a card I needed to make for my daughter.


Some of you will know that our daughter has moved to Blenheim (about 4 1/2 hours drive from us at the top of the South Island of New Zealand).  She is in her first year of teaching high school in Design and Visual Communications as well as Automotive.  She finally moved into her new home up there a couple of weeks ago and this was the card I made for her to celebrate that.


I created a panel of pink stripes onto a gray card base and onto that I adhered a little house and trees I made using Honey Bee Stamps dies.  I had to do a bit of swapping out between their various house die sets to get windows that more closely resemble hers. I also snipped off some pieces around the roofline. I then took a white panel, die-cut a heart from the centre and stamped a sentiment, before using foam tape to adhere over the die-cut image.

Thanks so much for visiting!  The design team have some gorgeous cards using the sketch so I hope you'll check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  New Home (WP9)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Cloudy Night, Charcoal Suit, Espresso, Volcano Lake, Mountain Mist, Lagoon (Altenew)
Cardstock:  White, Cement Gray (MFT), Cream (SSS), Sweet Pea, Carnation (C&9), Blush, Tutu, Chiffon (Spellbinders)
Dies:  Spring Cottages, Summer Cabin (Honey Bee Stamps), Infinity Hearts (Hero Arts) 

Sunday, 11 May 2025

Tea Party

 Hi!  I'm here with my card for the CASE It Instagram hop where we choose a card that inspires us on Insta and create our version of it.  I was inspired by Debra James' card which I've added below and came up with this card using similar elements:


I bought the stamp set especially for this challenge because I just loved Debra's card so much but didn't want to copy it too slavishly.  I went with a different colour combo and stencils but kept a lot of Debra's original ideas.


Here is Debra's card that inspired me.  Isn't it fabulous?



Thanks for visiting!  The whole hop list is over on Instagram.  The link to my IG is in the sidebar.

Products used:

Stamps:  Par-tea (SSS)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Amalgam (Gina K), Volcano Lake, Lagoon (Altenew
Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Volcano Lake, Lagoon (Altenew), B&W Stripes (MFT)
Dies:  Par-tea (SSS), Stitched Fishtail Flag Stax (MFT)
Accessories:  Copics, Letter & Number Stencil (Stamperia)

Cheers
Karren


Thursday, 8 May 2025

Bird Branch

 It's time for another challenge from the team at Freshly Made Sketches and this week our hostess is Linda Callahan.  I went a bit rogue with my card this week - distorting some of the elements on the sketch to fit my card.


I had all these elements apart from the birds already made so I pulled them out and tried to make them work with the sketch.  Apart from the bird and the grass and cloud stencils, these are all from an Altenew Craft Your Life kit.  I arranged the elements to sort of look like the sketch then found a sentiment for the top right corner.



I added some soft stenciling onto the card base for grass and clouds then adhered the images down.

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


Products used:

Stamps:  Rustic Charm (Altenew)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Razzleberry, Bamboo, Grass Field, Mountain Pine, Green Onyx, Hazelnut, Milk Chocolate, Almond Butter, Mossy Meadow, Rocky Shore, Mocha, Velvet (Altenew), Speckled Egg Distress Ink
Cardstock:  White
Dies:  Rustic Charm (Altenew), Layered Bird Branch (SSS)
Accessories:  Rustic Charm Embossing Folder (Altenew), Micro Cloud Edges Stencil, Grassy Edges Stencil (MFT)

Cheers
Karren




Thursday, 1 May 2025

Clipboard

Hi and welcome to Freshly Made Sketches weekly challenge. This week our sketch hostess is Jen Mitchell and I love her sketch!


Now, I think this might also apply to a lot of card-makers but I absolutely cannot resist stationery supplies and/or miniatures so when I saw this miniature clipboard in a Tim Holtz vault die set, I had to have it!  I decided to make a teacher card for my daughter who is in her first year of teaching high school boys (brave, brave girl!).  Of course, for her the sentiment should read "Energy Drink, Teach, Sleep, Repeat" 😄

I did some background stamping and inked up the edges of the panels to give everything a vintage-y look.  The little clipboard is so adorable and the top "clip" is popped up on two layers of foam tape to give it a realistic look.  The notebook paper was stamped in a pale blue ink, then I went over the vertical line with a pink Sharpie for realism.


And, by total luck, the stamped sentiment fits perfectly on the lines of the notebook!

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

Products used:

Stamps:  Steampunk (Tim Holtz), Teach Sleep Repeat (MFT), Smarty Pants (Your Next Stamp)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Rocky Shore, Mocha, Sea Glass (Altenew), Antique Linen Distress Ink
Cardstock:  White, Whip Cream (MFT), Desert Storm, Silver Mirror Foil
Dies:  Torn Paper Edges (MFT), A2 Ripped Notebook (Picket Fence), Vault Noteworthy (Tim Holtz)
Accessories:  pink Sharpie

Cheers
Karren

Friday, 25 April 2025

Flower Bunch

It's time for another Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge and this time I chose the top right diagonal - Flowers/Patterned Paper/Stripes to come up with this card.



I already had the flower stenciled so I only needed to fussy-cut it out.  Onto a white card base I embossed with the Subtle embossing folder and added some patterned paper strips in varying widths.  I then stamped a Mother's Day sentiment, added the flower popped up on foam tape and finished with some pearls.


Thanks for visiting!




Products used:

Stamps:  Bountiful Leaves (The Ton)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Forest Glades, Frayed Leaf, Evergreen, Pastel Sunrise, Canyon Clay, Burn Red, Moon Rock, Lava Rock, Nimbus, Dark Night (Altenew)
Cardstock:  White, Watercolor Wash Brights (MFT)
Accessories:  Pastel Pearl Stickers (Honey Bee Stamps), Subtle EF (SU), Flower Bunch Stencils (Altenew)

Cheers
Karren