Thursday 7 December 2023

Pinecones

 Hi and welcome!  It's my turn to design the sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches and I came up with this one in about 30 seconds - then wondered what on earth I was going to make with it!  In the end, some NBUS dies came to the rescue.


I die-cut the pinecones and needles from white cardstock and used ink to colour them up.  Onto the pinecones, I flicked some Black Soot distress ink followed by gold ink and onto the needles just the gold ink.  I then assembled the pieces and adhered it all together.  

The patterned paper is from some my mother gave me and is from CTMH.  The Desert Sorm card based was embossed with the Burlap embossing folder.



Finally, the sentiment is a BetterPress plate that was hot-foiled with gold foil.

Thanks so much for visiting.  The design team have made some fabulous cards so I hope you'll check them out.



Products used:

Ink:  Evergreen, Green Onyx, Enchanted Gold (Altenew), S'Mores (Catherine Pooler), Ground Espresso, Black Soot Distress Ink
Cardstock:  Neenah Desert Storm, White, Home for Christmas patterned paper (CTMH)
Dies:  Lovely Layers: Winter Greenery (Honey Bee Stamps), Fishtail Flag Stax (MFT), Fancy Sentiment Strips (Spellbinders)
Accessories:  Burlap EF (Honey Bee Stamps), Gold Hot Foil

Cheers
Karren

Tuesday 5 December 2023

Poinsettia

Hi!  I'm late with my post for the newest challenge over at The Flower Challenge where this month we are asking players to use gold.  Here's my card which features gold embossing and gold pearls. 



I actually made this card some weeks ago and then realised last week it would work for this challenge - so win!  I stamped, stenciled and die-cut the flower and added a die-cut cover plate to a white card base.  The sentiment was gold heat-embossed then I went around the edged with darker ink to make it stand out more,


Finally, I finished with some gold pearls.


Thanks so much for visiting!  Please check out the fabulous cards made by the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Festive Poinsettia (Alex Syberia Designs)
Ink:  Amalgam (Gina K), Versamark, Sage, Spruce, Rose Petals, Rouge, Peppermint Scrub, Merlot (Catherine Pooler)
Cardstock:  White, Cranberry Cocktail (MFT)
Dies:  Festive Poinsettia (Alex Syberia Designs), Rock Glass (Catherine Pooler)
Accessories:  Festive Poinsettia Stencils (Alex Syberia Designs), Gold EP, Gold Pearls

Cheers
Karren


Friday 1 December 2023

Guava Thanks

 Welcome to a new Tic-Tac-Toe challenge.  This week I went with Pearls - Two-Step Stamping - Embossing for my card.


I already had these flowers and leaves stamped and die-cut so this card came together pretty quickly.  I dry-embossed the Tufted folder onto Fog cardstock, edged it with some Guava cardstock and added it to a white card base.  The sentiment was die-cute from Guava and Gravel Gray cardstock and I finished with some pearls to match.


Thanks so much for visiting!





Products used:

Stamps:  Beautiful Day (Altenew)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Pink Pearl, Coral Bliss, Morning Frost, Evening Gray (Altenew)
Cardstock:  White, Guava (Lawn Fawn), Fog (SSS), Gravel Gray (MFT)
Dies:  Beautiful Day (Altenew), Yana's Layered Script Sentiments (Spellbinders)
Accessories:  Autumn Pearls (Honey Bee Stamps), Tufted Embossing Folder (Spellbinders)

Cheers
Karren


Thursday 30 November 2023

Starry Birthday

Hi!  Our sketch hostess this week over at Freshly Made Sketches is Jen Brum and I knew exactly what die I would use when I saw her sketch. 



This die was given to me by my mother who accidentally ordered two of the same (haven't we all done that??)  I die-cut it from white three times and from a gold-speckled patterned paper and pieced it together.  The sentiment looks really garish in the photo but in real life the gold is matte and much more subdued and works with the gold speckles beautifully.


I finsihed the card with some enamel dots and called it done.  Thanks for visiting.  The design team have some fabulous interpretations of the sketch so please head over and check them out.




Products used:

Stamps:  Bitty Birthday Wishes (MFT)
Ink:  Versamark
Cardstock:  White, Black, Gold Matte Foil, Spiffier Speckles (Lawn Fawn)
Dies:  Star Cluster (Close to My Heart_, Outline Hello (Waffle Flower)
Accessories:  White EP, Red Cosmos Enamel Dots (Altenew)

Cheers
Karren

Thursday 23 November 2023

Snowy Porch

Hi and welcome to my blog!  I'm here with a card for the latest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches, where Kim Singhdahlsen is our sketch hostess.  I had to play with some NBUS dies so designed my card around this gorgeous Front Porch die and the add-on Christmas set. 



This is a big die so to fit the sketch, I made a 5x7 card.  All the elements were die-cut from white cardstock apart from the door and sidelights which were cut from red.  I coloured the various elements with distress ink and assembled it all.  For the background I adhered Dark Indigo to the card base then added a panel behind the front porch which I edged with matte silver cardstock and popped up with foam tape.  The horizontal element in the sketch is the snowdrift and I added a reverse foiled sentiment along the bottom.



This is such a cool die and I am hoping Honey Bee come out with more add-on sets.  Thanks for visiting - please check out the wonderful cards made by the rest of the design team.




Products used:

Ink:  Peacock Feathers, Ground Espresso, Walnut Stain, Pumice Stone, Rustic Wilderness, Antique Linen, Black Soot Distress Inks, Versamark
Cardstock:  White, Dark Indigo (PTI), Amarena Cherry (MFT) Silver Matte Foil
Dies:  Lovely Layers: Front Porch, Front Porch Holiday Add-On (Honey Bee Stamps), Holiday Sentiments Series 2 (Spellbinders)
Accessories:  Copics, White EP, Silver Hot Foil

Cheers
Karren


Friday 17 November 2023

Striped Wreath

 It's my turn this week to design the board over at Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge. For my card, I went two ways: Stripes-Free-Flowers and Sparkle-Flowers-Celebration.



This card was pretty simple to put together.  The wreath was all cut from white cardstock and coloured with ink-blending.  The black cover plate was added to a white card base and then I arrange the wreath and a negative hot-foiled sentiment.  All of the flowers were spritzed with shimmer spray before being added to the wreath.


Thanks so much for visiting!





Products used:

Cardstock:  White, Black
Dies:  Build-a-Wreath, Hexi-Gem Sentiments Hot Foil and Die (Spellbinders), Bold Stripes Cover-Up (MFT)
Accessories:  Gold hot foil, Sparkling Clear Sequins, Shimmer Spray

Cheers
Karren

Thursday 16 November 2023

Yellow Day

 Hi all!  I'm back with my reminder card for the current challenge over at The Flower Challenge where we are looking for yellow, black and white cards featuring flowers.


I have to admit to really liking this card!  The yellow panel was created with mica stain sprays and adhered to a black panel before adding to my white card base.  The Beautiful Day image was stamped in yellows and light grays before being die-cut with the co-ordinating dies.  Finally the sentiment was stamped, die-cut and stacked.


Thanks for visiting!  Please check out what the rest of the design team have created with this colour challenge.



Products used:

Stamps:  Beautiful Day (Altenew), Love Thanks (Waffle Flower)
Ink:  Amalgam (Gina K.), Versafine Onyx Black, Fresh Lemon, Honey Drizzle (Altenew)
Cardstock:  White, Black
Dies:  Beautiful Day (Altenew), Love Thanks (Waffle Flower)
Accessories:  Mica Stain Sprays:  Harvest Moon, Flickering Candle, Frozen Fog

Cheers
Karren