Macarons

Hi!  I'm here with a card for the latest Fusion challenge.  I focused on the sketch this time and came up with this card.

I did some ink-blending with Distress Oxide inks to create my background, which was meant to mimic the pastel colors of the photo, but didn't quite get there.  A spritz of Perfect Pearls mist gives it a nice shimmer thought.  I then stamped and cut the macarons and arranged them on top of each other.

The white die-cut worked perfectly for the sketch and was popped up on foam tape.

Thanks for visiting.

The DT have some gorgeous cards so I hope you'll check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Macarons (The Ton)

Ink:  Summer Afternoon set, Green Meadows set (Altenew), Extreme Black (MFT), Versamark, Scattered Straw, Bundled Sage, Milled Lavender, Tattered Rose Distress Oxide Inks

Cardstock:  White, Bristol Smooth, Black

Dies:  Square Grid Cover Up (MFT)

Accessories:  White EP, Perfect Pearls shimmer spray

Cheers

Karren

Tulips

Today's Freshly Made Sketch is brought to us by Lee Ann Barrett and she has a graphic design for us this week.  I decided to define the sketch elements using masking and ink blending.

I started out by masking off a triangle in top half of the card and sponged Hickory Smoke ink in the gap.  I then moved the masking tape and re-positioned it in the bottom half and repeated the process.  Once that was finished, I removed the tape and lightly sponged ink over the whole panel before placing the stencil down and inking through that.  After the panel was dry, I die-cut it with a stitched rectangle die, stamped the sentiment and then some splatters from the stamp set using Hickory Smoke ink.  I kept the splatters to the left hand side of the card so they would tie in the flowers with the background and sentiment.

The tulips come from a new-to-me stamp set by Close To My Heart.  Originally I was going to color them with Copics but I thought the sketchy look more suited watercolor, so I pulled out a couple of Zig markers and did some very basic coloring.  Once they were dry, I fussy-cut them and created an arrangement.  The flowers are adhered with foam tape.

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

Products used:

Stamps:  A Million Little Things (CTMH)

Ink:  Obsidian (Altenew), Hickory Smoke Distress Oxide

Cardstock:  White, Bristol Smooth

Dies:  Stitched Rectangles (Lil Inkers)

Accessories:  Zig Markers, Scribble Script stencil (Donna Downey)

Cheers

Karren

Gillfriend

Our sketch hostess for this week's challenge at Freshly Made Sketches is Jacquie Southas and here's what I did with her fun sketch.

I created the background with Distress Oxide inks and Honey Bee Stamps stencils.  I followed a tutorial by Nichol Spohr for the colors.  Once it was dry, I die-cut it with a stitched rectangle die and set it aside.  The images were stamped and colored with Coics and cut with my Scan n Cut.  I arranged them to mimic the sketch, then white embossed the sentiment onto a black strip to finish.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll check out the wonderful cards created by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Mermazing, Gill Friends (MFT)

Ink:  Extreme Black (MFT), Versamark, Black Soot, Faded Jeans, Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide Inks, Unicorn White (Hero Arts)

Cardstock:  White, Black, Bristol Smooth, X-Press It

Dies:  Mermazing, Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Copics, White EP, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen, Ocean Scene Builder Stencils (Honey Bee Stamps)

Cheers

Karren

Flower Shop

Hi.  It's time for another challenge from the team at Fusion and we've gone with a summery theme for our inspiration this time.  Here's my card:

I decided to play with the summery colors in the photo to come up with my flower shop card.  This is an older My Monthly Hero Kit and the first time I've used it.  I stamped and colored a lot of the images before die-cutting and arranging onto the shop front.

From there, I adhered them onto a Desert Storm card base and added the sentiment in the middle.  Very simple card.

Thanks for visiting.  The design team have created wonderful cards as always so I hope you'll check then out.

Products used:

Stamps:  MMH Jan 2019 (Hero Arts), Happy Birds (WPlus9)

Ink:  Extreme Black (MFT)

Cardstock:  Desert Storm, X-Press It

Dies:  MMH Jan 2019 (Hero Arts)

Accessories:  Copics

Cheers

Karren

Woodgrain Florals

Today's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches is courtesy of Judy Rozema.  I took the opportunity to try out some new-to-me stamps from The Ton to come up with this card.

The flowers and leaves are from Floral Bits and Floral Bits 2 and the woodgrain is from Buildable Woodgrain.  I stamped using Altenew inks and made a floral arrangement on a stitched die-cut circle cut from Cement cardstock.

The sentiment is from one of the Floral Bits stamp sets and I finished the card with some Nuvo Jewel Drops.  These flowers are so easy to line up to stamp.

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

Products used:

Stamps:  Floral Bits, Floral Bits 2, Buildable Woodgrain (The Ton)

Ink:  Green Fields set, Golden Sunset set, Gentleman's Gray set, Pocketful of Sunshine set (Altenew) Obsidian

Cardstock:  White, Black, Cement (MFT)

Dies:  Floral Bits, Floral Bits 2 (The Ton), Stitched Circles (Lil Inkers)

Accessories:  Nuvo Jewel Drops

Cheers

Karren

Floral Hugs

Hi, I'm here with my card for the latest Freshly Made Sketch challenge where our hostess this week is Amy O'Neill.  Here is her wonderful sketch:

I decided to do some Copic coloring and over the last few weeks I've decided to just enjoy the coloring process and not worry about trying to make my coloring perfect.  So here is my card using some floral images I spent some time just playing with my markers.

I used a new-to-me die for the background and then arranged the colored and cut flowers to match the sketch.  For the sentiment, I wanted something bold and black to stand out so found this Hugs die from PTI and stacked it three high for dimension.

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

Products used:

Stamps:  In Bloom:  Julie's Roses, In Bloom:  Elsa's Flora, In Bloom:  Addie's Garden (Winnie & Walter)

Ink:  Amalgam (Gina K)

Cardstock:  White, Black, X-Press It

Dies:  In Bloom:  Addie's Garden (W&W), Big Hugs (PTI), Window Sphere (Altenew)

Accessories:  Copics, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers

Karren

Card for Matthew

Hi and welcome to our newest challenge at Fusion.  For my card I mainly used the photo but did incorporate a lot of the sketch elements as well.

I made this card for my son, Matthew.  Next Tuesday, it will be a year since he passed and that is a huge thing and will be a hard day to get through.  In so many ways, the last year has dragged as we've had to adapt to deal with this massive loss, but it still feels like yesterday and the shock and horror is still as fresh as it was then.  I have found ways to cope and get through each day, but things will never be the same.  

Onto my card.  I left some elements overhanging the edges because, of course, this card will not be posted.  The butterflies were stamped and colored with Copics and then die-cut.  On the card base, I first stamped and embossed the dot pattern and then as I was assembling the card, I wanted more dots and splatters to mimic the inspiration photo, so I got out some gouache and distress paints and splattered away.

The sentiment was die-cut three times and stacked and adhered to a strip of woodgrain patterned paper matted onto black.  All the butterflies are popped up on foam tape and I didn't add any embellishments.

This card is for you, Matthew.  Love you always, son 💔

Products used:

Stamps:  Butterflies (Avery Elle), Perspective (Tim Holtz)

Ink:  Intense Black (SSS), Versamark

Cardstock:  Soft Stone (PTI), Black Licorice (MFT), X-Press It, Wood & Notebook Basics (Snap)

Dies:  Butterflies (Avery Elle), Missing You (Kat Scrappiness)

Accessories:  Copics, White EP, Brusher Pewter Distress Paint, Chipped Sapphire Distress Paint, White Gouache