Freshly Made Sketches #27 v2.0

Here is the first card I made for FMS#27.  As I said in my earlier post, I knew how I wanted to do the circles, but couldn't decide what to put on the top!  After arranging and re-arranging more times than I care to count, this is the final result:

I started out with a monochromatic card, but then decided to add a bit of Marina Mist.  In hindsight, I think I should have only had one Marina Mist element, but oh well, it's not called a challenge for nothing!

Products used (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise stated):

Stamps:  The Open Sea; Precious Butterflies
Cardstock:  Soft Suede; Very Vanilla; Mocha Morning DSP
Ink:  Soft Suede; Marina Mist
Accessories:  Circle Nestabilities; Hemp Twine

Cheers
Karren

MDS - School Camp

Here is my take on Jan & Wendy's March Sketch #1.  My 9-year old, William, went on his first school camp last week and took his camera with him.  As well as the typical 9-year old boy shots of things like cow poo and an up-close-and-personal shot up a pig's snout, he also took some amazing scenery shots.  I'm going to put those in another layout, but I did use one sunrise shot as one of the backgrounds in this layout.

It certainly sounded like they had a lot of fun - a bit different to my school camps, where we slept in tents and cooked over an open fire.  This was in a lodge with full catering, an indoor pool and its own farm.

Products used:

MDS

Cheers
Karren

CCMC194 - The Open Sea

Another sketch with my favorite element - a circle!  Here is the sketch for this week's Create with Connie & Mary challenge.

 I already had the cardstock and stampset on my desk so decided to go with what I had, which made this card come together quickly.  Usually I spend more time deciding what colors, stamps, etc than I do actually making the card LOL.

Here is my card this week:

I started with a 4 1/4" square card base in Crumb Cake.  I stamped the ledger image down the left of the card base, then adhered some Island Indigo DSP.  For the main image, I stamped the ship from The Open Sea after coloring it with markers.  I placed a mask over the top and stamped the world image.

All the layers were sponged with Crumb Cake ink and the seam binding ribbon was gathered by pulling a center thread.  The brads came from the Neutrals collection.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!)

Stamps:  The Open Sea
Cardstock:  Crumb Cake; Very Vanilla; Island Indigo DSP
Ink:  Crumb Cake
Accessories:  Early Espresso and Island Indigo markers; sponge; circle scissor; Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon; Neutrals brads.

Edited to Add:  This card was one of Connie & Mary's top picks this week.  Thanks!

Cheers
Karren

Freshly Made Sketches #27

This week's sketch on Freshly Made Sketches really appealed to me.  I love circles on cards.  As I only get to stamp on a Saturday because of that danged full-time job and parenthood combo, I had a few days to think about my card.  I decided I wanted to cut-out the circles from the base card and put a DSP background behind the cutouts.

Well, that part was easy.  What wasn't easy was what to do next!  After a few different options, I decided to stick pretty literally to the sketch and go CAS.

Here's the sketch:

And here is my final card.  I have another one that I may post later, but this is my favorite of the two I did.

I eyeballed where I was going to cut my circles and used my circle nesties.  I then cut out smaller circles out of Very Vanilla and layered them behind the base.  I then put some DSP behind the whole card front.

Products used (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise stated):

Stamps:  Precious Butterflies

Cardstock:  Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla; Island Indigo DSP

Ink:  Island Indigo

Accessories:  Circle Nestabilities; 1 1/4" circle punch

Cheers

Karren

CCMC #193 Color Challenge

Peach Parfait, Lucky Limeade and Pool Party are the colors in this week's challenge at Create With Connie & Mary

Here is my card - which I now see is very similar to Deb Currier's on the DT.  It wasn't intentional - I don't look at any of the DT or challenge cards until I've finished mine, but I suppose these colors do scream SAB!

This was a Freshly Made Sketch from a few weeks ago.  I used 1" squares of DSP on a Very Vanilla layer.  The stamp and sentiment were inked with markers.  The ribbon treatment is Peach Parfait Grosgrain tied together with 3 lengths of the Lucky Limeade SAB ribbon.

Products used:  (all Stampin' Up!)

Stamps:  Fresh Vintage; A Little Birthday Cheer
Cardstock:  Lucky Limeade, Pool Party; Very Vanilla; Everyday Enchantment DSP
Accessories:  Lucky Limeade; Peach Parfait; Pool Party markers; Peach Parfait ribbon; Lucky Limeade ribbon; Pearl.

Cheers
Karren

Freshly Made Sketches #26

This card for Freshly Made Sketches #26 almost didn't make it.  It took an inordinate amount of time to make and I changed things up so many times, I was ready to pack it in.  But here's a funny story about this card.  I finished the whole thing (the first version) and decided it needed a sentiment embossed in white on the DSP panel.  So I pulled out A Word For You and embossed the "For You From Me!" stamp on the DSP.  Unfortunately, as sometimes happens with embossing powder, some of the detail was lost and it ended up looking like "For You From Mel".  I don't know anyone called Mel, otherwise I would have given her the card LOL.

In the end I started all over again and this is the end result (after nearly 2 hours!)

Here is the original sketch:

Products Used (all Stampin' Up!)

Stamps:  A Word for You

Cardstock:  Daffodil Delight, Whisper White; Regals DSP Stack

Ink:  Night of Navy

Accessories:  Sizzix Daisies #2 Die; Whisper White Satin Ribbon; Regals Buttons, Bakers Twine; Adorning Accents Edgelits and Folder

Edited to Add:  This card was chosen for a Perfect Princess Award at Freshly Made Sketches this week.

Cheers

Karren

Enhanced Sketch 4

Here is my version of Jan & Wendy's MDS Club 4th enhanced sketch.  I have to admit the subject matter of this layout is pretty boring - I went to Queenstown last week for work and we stayed at the Hotel Kawarau, which is managed by Hilton Hotels, so you can imagine the quality.

Being a work trip, there wasn't any time for sightseeing - the meeting was held across the road at the Hilton Hotel and as soon as that was over, we took a water taxi into Queenstown proper.  After a couple of hours in a local bar then a restaurant, it was time to go back to the hotel to bed.  The next day was the second half of the meeting then straight to the airport.  So, getting a few quick shots of the hotel room was the extent of my photo op.

Cheers
Karren

 

CCMC192 - Word Play

I love circles on cards so completing the sketch challenge at Create with Connie and Mary was a no-brainer for me and this card came together quite quickly, which is always nice as I'm a slow designer who always second-guesses myself!

Here is the sketch:

And here is my card:

I used Textured Cardstock for the base and paper pierced a circle on it which you can see better in this next picture.

I used my circle scissor to cut 3 different sized circles - one out of DSP, one out of Peach Parfait cardstock and one out of Whisper White Textured Cardstock.  I used markers to ink up the stamp from Word Play, which is a great set and I'm so glad I got it.  I quite like the effect of the stamping on textured cardstock.  The stamped images are popped up on dimensionals.

Products used:  (all Stampin' Up!)

Stamps:  Word Play, Little Friends

Cardstock:  Basic Black Textured; Whisper White Textured; Peach Parfait; Just Add Cake DSP

Ink:  Early Espresso

Accessories:  Early Espresso, Wild Wasabi, Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade markers; Circle Scissor; Paper Piercing Tool.

Cheers

Karren

FMS25 and ColorQ127 - Little Friends

Today I made a card which covers both Freshly Made Sketches #25 and ColorQ #127.  Here are the pics of the sketch and color challenge:

My niece, Quin, is having her 5th birthday party tomorrow, so I needed a card.  I hope she likes it, but let's face it, all kids gravitate to the presents not the cards LOL.

I used a set that was given to me for Christmas, Little Friends.  I colored it on Watercolor Paper using markers and a blender pen.  Coloring isn't my strong suit, so it is what it is...

Products used:  (all Stampin' Up!)

Stamps:  Little Friends

Cardstock:  Chocolate Chip, Calypso Coral, Watercolor Paper; Everyday Enchantment DSP

Ink:  Brown Stazon

Accessories:  Certainly Celery; Blushing Bride; Chocolate Chip; Calypso Coral; Blush Blossom and Sahara Sand Markers; Blender Pen; Calypso Coral Ribbon; Timeless Type Big Shot Die; 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches; Pearl

Cheers

Karren

PPA130 CAS Card

I decided to join in Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge which was to use Lucky Limeade, Always Artichoke and a color of our choice.

Given that Lucky Limeade is not my favorite color, this was a real challenge for me and as you will see, I used the smallest amount of Lucky Limeade I could get away with LOL.

I added Riding Hood Red as my color of choice as it seemed to go well with the greens.

Again, apologies for the grainy photo.  Maybe I need to upgrade my camera.  I've got a Canon Powershot G9 which I love, but I've been eyeing the G11, so this might be the excuse I need...

This is a really simple card.  I used 5 layers of the Blossom Party Bigz Die, which I sprayed with Stampin' Mist to make it easier to screw up the flowers and break the fibers.  I then offset them and secured them with a Lucky Limeade brad and 3/4" punch of Lucky Limeade cardstock.

My sentiment layer is vellum cardstock which I stamped with Black Stazon.  To break up all the Artichoke card base, I scored above and below the vellum.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Curly Cute

Cardstock:  Lucky Limeade, Always Artichoke; Riding Hood Red; Vellum Cardstock

Ink:  Black Stazon

Accessories:  Blossom Party Bigz Die; 3/4" circle punch; In Color Brads; Stampin' Mist

Cheers

Karren

FMS24 and CCMC191 Precious Butterflies

I've got one card that covers two challenges this week.  Freshly Made Sketches #24 and Create With Connie & Mary #191.  Here is a pic of the sketch and color challenge

And here's my card.

Apologies for the graininess of the photo.  I don't know what's changed with my camera but everything seems all grainy.  Maybe I'd better drag out the instruction manual...

Anyway, onto the card.  I wanted to try the awesome VersaShadow Technique I saw on Erin Gonzales' blog.  This is EASY!  The technique is quite forgiving as the Whisper White Craft Ink acts as a resist if you accidentally color over it with the VersaMarker.

Products Used (all Stampin' Up!)

Stamps:  Precious Butterflies
Paper:  Island Indigo, So Saffron, Wild Wasabi
Ink:  Whisper White Craft
Accessories:  VersaMarker; Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die; Scallop Trim Border Punch; Pearls

Edited to Add:  This card was picked by both Connie & Mary and Freshly Made Sketches this week.

Cheers
Karren