CCMC228 Sparkly Butterflies

This week's challenge at Create with Connie & Mary is a color challenge and what cool colors!  Baja Breeze, Wisteria Wonder and Silver Glimmer Paper.

I'm not normally a fan of Wisteria Wonder, but it goes wonderfully with Baja Breeze and the sparkly Silver Glimmer paper.

I saw a photo of gifts given to some European demos at their recent convention and one of the gifts had these gorgeous little butterflies using the new Elegant Butterfly punch and silver glimmer paper.  So I just had to case the idea for my very CAS card.

The silver glimmer butterfly is stuck onto the card base while the Wisteria Wonder and Baja Breeze butterflies and just stuck in the center with their wings pulled away from the sparkly layer.  Here's a close-up of the butterflies.

Head on over to Create with Connie & Mary and give this color challenge a go.  You can see the variety of cards created by the design team using this color scheme.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Sweet Essentials
Cardstock:  Whisper White; Wisteria Wonder; Baja Breeze; Silver Glimmer Paper
Ink:  Wisteria Wonder
Accessories:  Elegant Butterfly Punch; Basic Rhinestones

Cheers
Karren

Grunge Birthday

This card covers three challenges:  the color challenge at ColorQ; the sketch challenge at Just Add Ink and the Friday Mashup challenge.

I saw a card on Kim Singdahlsen's blog where she used the Grunge Me set from PTI to make a very cool and retro-looking teenage birthday card.  When I saw the colors at ColorQ this week, I immediately thought of Grunge Me as a way to incorporate these 4 colors.  I used Kim's stamp layout as my inspiration.  Thanks, Kim!  This is one of my rare non-SU cards.

Here's the finished result:

The challenge at Friday Mashup was to make a holiday card using non-holiday images or make a messy card.  Obviously I didn't mash it up and instead focused on the messy aspect of the challenge, both using splatter stamps and the color spritzer tool to splatter both More Mustard and Concord Crush ink over the stamped images.  The card base is Confetti White which has a textured, blotchy look to start with.

I used Bermuda Bay and Concord Crush for the 2 panels, rounding one corner on each piece.

Thanks for looking.

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

Stamps:  Grunge Me; Rock On (both PTI)

Cardstock:  Confetti White; Bermuda Bay; Concord Crush

Ink:  Bermuda Bay; Cajun Craze; More Mustard; Concord Crush; Versamark

Accessories:  White EP; Corner Rounder

Cheers

Karren

Edited to add:  This card got an Honorable Mention at Just Add Ink this week.

Christmas Gift

This week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches is a goodie - very versatile.  My final card was not how I imagined it would be but I'm happy with it anyway.

My original intention was to put another layer on top of the white panel then wrap the tulle around the center, but when I started playing with the tulle, it looked like gift wrapping so I decided to leave it as it is.  The candy canes are from the Scentsational Season set and matching framelits - my first time using them after having them for nearly 2 months.  Thought I'd better use them before Christmas is over for another year LOL.

All the specks on the card base are not stray bits of embossing powder - I sprayed the base with shimmer spray so it's all sparkly IRL.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Scentsational Season; More Merry Messages

Cardstock:  Whisper White; Cherry Cobbler

Ink:  Cherry Cobbler; Versamark

Accessories:  Holiday Collection Framelits; Cherry Cobbler Tulle Ribbon; White EP; Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This was chosen as a Perfect Princess card.

Shabby Birthday

This card was intended for this week's challenge at Just Add Ink which is to add music.  But either my world clock is wrong or they've closed off the linky tool early, and I've missed out.  By my reckoning there is still 4 hours to go but never mind, here's my card anyway.

I went a bit shabby with this card, with lots of sponging; distressing and collage-stamping.  I took my colors from the Attic Boutique DSP and topped it off with a shabby bow in Pool Party Seam Binding.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Artistic Etchings; Established Elegance; Happiest Birthday Wishes

Cardstock:  Soft Suede; Very Vanilla; Attic Boutique DSP; First Edition DSP

Ink:  Poppy Parade; Pool Party; Soft Suede; Crumb Cake

Accessories:  Music Notes Wheel; Pool Party Seam Binding Ribbon

Cheers

Karren

Snowmen in Summer?

Living in the Southern Hemisphere, Christmas is in the middle of summer.  For all that, I love using winter/snow themes for my Christmas cards.  Summer-themed Christmas cards are just not right LOL.

Anyway, the sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches and the color challenge at Dynamic Duos came together in my card this week.

This card is definitely not one of my best, but for some reason I really struggled to either find time to stamp or create something decent this past weekend.  I stamped the Frosty Friends stamp onto Whisper White and then using a marker and blender pen, I highlighted the snowmen and snow with Marina Mist.  The Marina Mist strip was dry embossed before being die cut with the Finishing Touches edgelit.  The greeting is white-embossed.  Marina Mist satin ribbon finishes off the card.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Frosty Friends; More Merry Messages

Cardstock:  Basic Black; Whisper White; Marina Mist

Ink:  Basic Black; Versamark

Accessories:  White EP; Marina Mist marker; blender pen; Finishing Touches Edgelit; Marina Mist satin ribbon.

Cheers

Karren

CCMC227 Shaped Card

Well, this is quite an exciting post for me!  I was invited to join the design team at Create with Connie & Mary for the next 4 1/2 months.  After the initial gulp, there was no way I was going to turn down the invitation and here is my first challenge - a shaped card.

And here is my interpretation of it.

I used the gorgeous Bells & Boughs set along with the Labels Collection Framelits to make this vintage-y Christmas card.

I stamped the bells image in Crumb Cake ink then over-stamped the sentiment in Early Espresso ink.  After I cut out the image and before I removed the framelit, I sponged some Crumb Cake ink around the edges, leaving the center lighter.

The card base is stamped using the gorgeous Illuminate Glimmer ink which is so much nicer in real life.

For the inside I stamped the poinsettia image randomly in Crumb Cake and again sponged around the edges before removing the framelit.

Here is a close-up of the Illuminate Glimmer ink.

I finished the card off with a shabby bow using Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon.

Head on over to Create with Connie & Mary and try your own shaped card.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Bells & Boughs, More Merry Messages
Cardstock:  Cherry Cobbler; Very Vanilla
Ink:  Illuminate Glimmer; Crumb Cake; Early Espresso
Accessories:  Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon; Labels Collection Framelits; sponge

Cheers
Karren

Sahara Doily

The color challenge this week at Dynamic Duos is Sahara Sand and Cherry Cobbler.  Now, I think Sahara Sand is one of the most under-rated colors in the SU family, so I was quite happy to pair it up with one of my fave Regals colors - Cherry Cobbler.

Here's my card:

I sort of feel like I've cheated a bit here, because I cased this card I made months ago, but that's where my mind went when I saw the challenge and nothing was gonna budge it LOL.

I used a brayer to ink up the Hello, Doily stamp to give even coverage.  The sentiment is stamped with Cherry Cobbler ink and the card was finished off with a Cherry Cobbler button and white Baker's Twine.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Hello, Doily; Petite Pairs

Cardstock:  Whisper White

Ink:  Sahara Sand; Cherry Cobbler

Accessories:  Regals button; white Baker's Twine; brayer

Cheers

Karren

Tu-Tu Terrific

It is my niece's 7th birthday next week, so I thought I'd better get on to making her a card.  Like a lot of little girls, she's into ballet so I pulled out an old, retired set called Tu-Tu Terrific.

I used last week's sketch from Retro Sketches and went with the traditional girly pinks in my color scheme.

Here's the sketch I worked from.  Love this layout and can see me using it again.

Thanks for looking.

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

Stamps:  Tu-tu Terrific; Made for You

Cardstock:  Very Vanilla; Pink Pirouette; Brights DSP; Watercolor Paper

Ink:  Black Stazon; Regal Rose

Accessories:  Regal Rose; Pink Pirouette; Going Grey; Chocolate Chip; Blush Blossom markers; blender pen; circle nesties; Quickutz doily die; Labels Collection Framelits; MFT Fishtail Flags; Basic Rhinestones; Regal Rose ribbon; Corner Rounder

Cheers

Karren

Masculine 60th

I need a 60th birthday card for next weekend.  We've been invited to our neighbour's 60th birthday party and what a party it'll be!  I used this week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches and the color challenge from Color Throwdown to create this card:

I kept the card reasonably plain as the recipient is a very down-to-earth guy - a true Kiwi bloke LOL.  I love Lucky Limeade and Basic Black together - so stunning - so I made that the foundation of my card with a few accents of blue and white.  The background is the Netting background stamp which I also stamped onto the banner.  The numerals were made from thick DSP backing board and DSP.  The circles are popped up on dimensionals.

Here are the challenge details:

Thanks for looking.

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

Stamps:  Netting

Cardstock:  Lucky Limeade; Basic Black; Whisper White; Well-Worn DSP

Ink:  Lucky Limeade

Accessories:  Typeset Alphabet Bigz; Big Shot; Neutrals Brads; Circle Nesties

Cheers

Karren

Autumn in Spring

Here in the Southern Hemisphere it's the middle of spring, but recent weather would make one think we're in Autumn again!  Here's a card I made for several challenges - the color challenge at Create with Connie & Mary; the Elegant Autumn challenge at SUO Challenges; and the Paper Players Challenge to give thanks.

Jen Timko's gorgeous DT card on the SUO Challenges blog inspired me to use French Foliage for my card.  I used Crumb Cake for my card base and stamped layer and Midnight Muse between the two.  I stamped the script and splatter images onto both the card base and stamped layer on the left hand sides.  Using my stamp-a-majig I stamped the leaf image in Cajun Craze alternated with More Mustard.  For the cut out leaves, I stamped in More Mustard then edged with my Cajun Craze marker.  The sentiment was stamped in Midnight Muse.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  French Foliage; Made for You

Cardstock:  Crumb Cake; Midnight Muse

Ink:  Cajun Craze; More Mustard; Midnight Muse; Crumb Cake

Accessories:  Midnight Muse ribbon; Cajun Craze marker

Cheers

Karren

Tags in Triplicate

I had a bit of a struggle finding a small enough image for the challenge this week at Create with Connie & Mary.  Of course I had to make it harder on myself by combining with the color challenge at Dynamic Duos which steered me towards a Christmas card.  But I ended up finding this gorgeous little image in the Tags Till Christmas set.  I have to confess I'd never even noticed this little stamp before (hangs head in shame...).

Anyway, onto the card:

I colored the image using Early Espresso; Gumball Green and Raspberry Ripple markers then stamped onto Very Vanilla cardstock before punching out with the Small Oval punch.

It wasn't until I was putting the card together that I realized I didn't have any Christmass-y DSP in either Raspberry Ripple or Gumball Green, so I used the Big Shot to add some texture to the Raspberry Ripple panel.  I also centered the largest snowflake on the EF onto the Gumball Green framelit piece.  Considering I'm still on the fence about Gumball Green, I'm quite happy with how this card turned out.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Tags till Christmas; More Merry Messages
Cardstock:  Very Vanilla; Gumball Green; Raspberry Ripple
Ink:  Early Espresso
Accessories:  Labels Collection Framelits; Northern Flurry EF; Small Oval Punch; Early Espresso, Gumball Green, Raspberry Ripple markers; Gumball Green ribbon

Cheers
Karren

By the Seashore in Neutrals

This card is for the sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches and the color challenge at Colour Me Beautiful.  Combining these challenges immediately sent me down the path of a masculine card.  I pulled out the By the Seashore set and went to work.  The only color I didn't use from the challenge was Basic Gray.

After I stamped the various images, I ran over the top of the images with my Aqua Painter, which blended the ink color.  The fourth image was cut out and popped up on dimensionals.  (Can you tell by my vague descriptions I don't know the names of shells and sealife-y things?  I am so not a nature person LOL).

I finished off the card with linen thread, one of the gorgeous bronze buttons and a couple of little tags.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  By the Seashore; Tiny Tags

Cardstock:  Sahara Sand; Early Espresso; River Rock; Neutrals DSP

Ink:  Soft Suede

Accessories:  Linen Thread; Bronze Button; Jewellery Tag Punch

Cheers

Karren