Extreme Dirtbike

I need a birthday card for my nephew and thought the sketch at Just Add Ink would work well for a teenage boy's birthday card as it's not a fussy layout.  I had a slight issue trying to work out how old my nephew is going to be.  I *think* he's turning 14, but it's also possible he's actually turning 15, in which case, this card is a bit of a non-event LOL.

I got the color combo from the Color Coach, which is a fantastic tool!  For my background I inked up Off the Grid in Smoky Slate and stamped off before stamping onto my Very Vanilla cardstock.  I then stamped various images from Gorgeous Grunge in Coastal Cabana; Smoky Slate and Calypso Coral.

I clear embossed the dirtbike image in Coastal Cabana ink then stamped Off the Grid over the top before sponging the edges in Smoky Slate ink.  The '14' is also clear embossed in Calypso Coral and Versamark ink before over-stamping in Gorgeous Grunge images.

The Coastal Cabana die cut was stamped and sponged before attaching a Smoky Slate button on top.

I even stamped the inside of the card, which is a rare event for me!

Here's the sketch.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge; Off the Grid; Memorable Moments; Extreme Dirtbike
Cardstock:  Smoky Slate; Very Vanilla; Coastal Cabana
Ink:  Smoky Slate; Coastal Cabana; Calypso Coral; Versamark
Accessories:  Corner Rounder; Clear EP; Hearts a Flutter Framelits; Neutrals Button; Calypso Coral Baker's Twine

Edited to Add:  This card received an Honorable Mention at Just Add Ink.

Cheers
Karren

Watercolor Wish

Here's another CAS card which is for the sketch challenge at CAS(e) This Sketch and the color challenge at ColourQ.

I used another new-to-me PTI set called Watercolor Wonder which produces beautiful brush-stroke like images.  I stamped the images in Kiwi Kiss; Groovy Guava and Dusty Durango.  The sentiment is stamped in Crumb Cake.  The candy dots are from the Subtles pack and I think they're Calypso Coral but they're placed far enough away from the Dusty Durango ink to look the same.  The main image is then layered onto a Crumb Cake card base.

Products used:

Stamps:  Watercolor Wonder (PTI); Sweet Essentials
Cardstock:  Crumb Cake; Whisper White
Ink:  Dusty Durango; Kiwi Kiss; Groovy Guava; Crumb Cake
Accessories:  Subtles Candy Dots

Edited to Add:  This card was chosen for a ColourQ Courtier Award at ColourQ

Cheers
Karren

Coffee?

This is my second post today.  Scroll down to see my golden starfish card.

The sketch challenge at Create with Connie & Mary really appealed to me.  I love circle elements on cards, but ironically, I didn't go with a circle for this card!

I inked up the coffee cup from Perfect Blend and stamped it onto Shimmery White cardstock using Black Stazon ink.  I then colored the cup using Crumb Cake ink and the lid using Sahara Sand ink.  Some DSP from the Epic Day pack was used for the band around the middle.

For the circle element, I paper pierced an oval using the Occasions Paper Piercing Pack.  The Needlepoint EF was used down both sides of the Crumb Cake layer.  Some more of the Epic Day DSP and the large scallop framelit was used down the left side.

I stamped the sentiment onto Shimmery White cardstock and then punched with the oval punch.  Both the coffee cup and the sentiment are popped up on dimensionals.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Perfect Blend
Cardstock:  Basic Black; Crumb Cake; Shimmery White; Epic Day DSP
Ink:  Black Stazon; Crumb Cake; Sahara Sand
Accessories:  Occasions Paper Piercing Pack; Large Scallop Framelit; Needlepoint EF; Oval Punch

Cheers
Karren

Plate 199

I have quite a few cards to blog about so there might be a few blog posts from me over the next day of so, in order to meet challenge deadlines.  It's been great having a week off work, but unfortunately my 11-year old spent the last week and a half trying to cough up a lung or two!  He's had a bad cold so we ended up spending the week pretty close to home.  My oldest had his first holiday job, so he was gone all day, which meant no fights but also having to entertain my youngest more than I would normally.

This card I'm showing uses the cue word of "Gold" at CASology as well as the inspiration photo at Fusion Card Challenge.  My card started out using the sketch as well, but I couldn't think what to use for the oval shape that wouldn't cover up the gorgeous stamp, so left it out altogether.

It's pretty obvious but I chose the gold starfish on the white background as my inspiration.  When I was going through my non-SU stamps that I pulled out of storage earlier in the week, I came across this gorgeous Tin Can Mail by Inkadinkado stamp and because it was top of mind, the card came together quickly.  I love these botanical images and have quite a few unmounted plates of stamps along similar themes.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Inkadinkado
Cardstock:  Whisper White; Brushed Gold
Ink:  Versamark
Accessories: Gold EP

Cheers
Karren

Bermuda Tango

When I saw this week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches, for some reason my mind went immediately to Bermuda Bay - for me a very bright (but lovely) color.  I used the new Color Coach to see what went with Bermuda Bay and Tangerine Tango and Smoky Slate were the choices.  I had to keep lots of white space to satisfy my non-bright-loving eyes and this is the result:

I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to line up the images from Modern Mosaics and then stamped the sentiment in Smoky Slate.  The DSP comes from some old packs called Thoroughly Modern (Bermuda Bay) and Haiku (Tangerine Tango).

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Mosaic Madness; Made for You
Cardstock:  Whisper White; Thoroughly Modern DSP; Haiku DSP
Ink:  Smoky Slate; Bermuda Bay; Tangerine Tango
Accessories:  1/2" circle punch; Crop-a-dile; White Baker's Twine; Large Scallops Edgelit
  

With a Side of Butterflies...

This is my second post today.  Scroll down for my nautical card.  It's also my second card for this week's color challenge at Dynamic Duos, which is Calypso Coral and Basic Black, with a dessert option of butterflies.  When I thought of butterflies as a dessert option, the phrase "with a side of butterflies" popped into my head and now I can't get it out - hence the title of this post!

I used the sketch at Paper Players which is a lovely CAS sketch, using one of my favorite card elements - a circle.

I again used the delicious Modern Medley DSP and this time used it with a new-to-me stamp from Papertrey Ink.  I have to say, though, that it really, really bugs me that the panels on the newsprint DSP are not printed straight.  I checked both sheets in the pack and they are both the same. 

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Thing Big Favorites (PTI)

Cardstock:  Calypso Coral; Modern Medley DSP; Very Vanilla

Ink:  Calypso Coral

Accessories:  Calypso Coral Baker's Twine; Beautiful Wings Embosslit; Basic Rhinestones

Cheers

Karren

 

Near the Sea

As part of my organisation of my stamp room the other day, I also made some space to bring my non-SU stamps out of storage.  It was fun to take a glance through the drawers and when it came to the nautical theme at Curtain Call, I went to my "marine" drawer first and found a really old PSX stamp that I've probably had for 10 years and it's never seen ink! So I suppose this card qualifies for Darnell's NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff) ha ha.

I used the sketch from Friday Mashup but flipped it 90 degrees.  

I kept the beautiful stamp as the main feature of this card, stamping it on watercolor paper and then wetting the paper quite a bit before coloring with Crumb Cake and Pool Party ink.  The DSP is from Epic Day and the charm is another something I've had for at least 10 years.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  PSX
Cardstock:  Crumb Cake; Epic Day DSP; Watercolor Paper
Ink:  Black Stazon; Crumb Cake; Pool Party
Accessories:  Linen Thread; Lighthouse charm from stash

Cheers
Karren

Modern Birthday

This card is very similar to my last card in terms of layout and "CAS-ness".  I followed the sketch at Hand Stamped Sentiments, used new stamps and new DSP and came up with this card.

I just received the gorgeous Modern Medley DSP and wanted to showcase the beautiful graphic patterns.  I also used a new-to-me Papertrey Ink set called Wonderful Words: Birthday with matching die.  My new Big Shot magnetic platform arrived last week and today was my first chance to use it.  Can I just say - wow!  So worth the $NZ84!  

The "birthday" is popped up on tiny little slivers of dimensionals, as is the "happy" circle.  I quite like the simplicity of this card - it would make a great masculine card.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Wonderful Words:  Birthday
Cardstock:  Very Vanilla; Modern Medley DSP
Ink:  Basic Black; Coastal Cabana

Cheers
Karren

White on White Butterflies

Today is the first day of a week off work - yay!  I spent the morning doing a bit of re-organising in my stamp room and this afternoon I stamped a couple of cards.

Here's the first one, which uses the sketch from CAS(e) This Sketch, the theme challenge of Get Well from SUO Challenges and the color challenge at Dynamic Duos.

It's quite hard to see in the photo, but I punched 4 white butterflies, curled their wings and adhered them to a white card base using a glue dot in the center.  I then stamped another butterfly in Calypso Coral and punched that out for the focal point.  Three pearls down the body of the stamped butterfly, a stamped sentiment and this very CAS card was done.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Papillon Potpourri; Delightful Dozen
Cardstock:  Whisper White
Ink:  Calypso Coral; Basic Black
Accessories:  Butterfly Punch; Basic Pearls

Edited to Add:  This card was a Top 3 pick at SUO Challenges.

Cheers
Karren

Ampersand Day

Today's card is a hybrid card, using elements from MDS as well as traditional card-making and my Silhouette.

As soon as the Ampersand kit was released in MDS, I had to have it.  I love ampersands and the patterns and colors in the kit are gorgeous.

I combined the sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches with the color challenge at Just Add Ink to come up with this card:

I used the technique Pam Morgan showed on the live streaming of the opening session at Convention to use my Alphabet Press EF as a stamp and I really like the effect.  Of course I had to watch it well after the fact as it was live right in the middle of my work day.

The Coastal Cabana layer is DSP printed from MDS.  The main layer is a combination of MDS and text cut out on my Silhouette.  The flag was also printed from MDS and it's hard to see in the photo but the background of the flag is another ampersand DSP.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Cardstock:  Very Vanilla; Coastal Cabana; Baked Brown Sugar
Ink:  Baked Brown Sugar
Accessories:  MDS; Silhouette Cameo; Corner Rounder; Alphabet Press EF; Neutrals Button; Baker's Twine

Edited to Add:  This card was chosen for the Queen of Clean Award at Freshly Made Sketches and the winner at Just Add Ink this week.

Cheers
Karren 

Coast to Coast

The challenge at Just Add Ink this week is Just Add Water.  I combined that with the sketch at Paper Craft Crew Challenges to come up with this card:

The main image was stamped onto watercolor paper and very loosely colored.  I then cut a window out of a Sahara Sand card base and framed it in black.  I stamped the row of birds from Wetlands onto Sahara Sand and cut it out with the Designer Label Punch, the layered that onto a Cameo-cut frame.

I flipped the sketch so as not to cover too much of the image and I also didn't put the three embellishments on, letting the baker's twine act as the embellishment.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Coast to Coast; Wetlands
Cardstock:  Sahara Sand; Basic Black; Watercolor
Ink:  Black Stazon; Basic Black; Sahara Sand; Soft Suede; Soft Sky
Accessories:  Island Indigo Baker's Twine; Designer Label Punch; Rectangle Nesties

Edited to Add:  This card received an Honorable Mention at Just Add Ink.

Cheers
Karren

Hello, Embroidered Blooms

I got a rather nice order from Papertrey Ink this week and it was hard working all week knowing they were sitting waiting to be used LOL.

Finally this afternoon, their time came!  I pulled out Embroidered Blooms and Side by Side Sentiments to make a card for both Freshly Made Sketches and Friday Mashup.

I stamped the 3-step flowers using Crisp Cantaloupe (stamped off); Calypso Coral and Smoky Slate, which was subsequently covered up with Candy Dots.  The sentiment was stamped using Pool Party.

I used the Dotted Scallop Punch for a very delicate border for the main panel.

1. Create a project using the colors "Pool Party, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral & (Smoky Slate or Soft Suede) ".
2. Create a project with a "Nature Theme".
3. Or Mash it Up and create a "Nature Themed project using the Challenge Colors".

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Embroidered Blooms; Side by Side Sentiments (PTI)
Cardstock:  Whisper White; Smoky Slate
Ink:  Crisp Cantaloupe; Calypso Coral; Smoky Slate; Pool Party
Accessories:  Dotted Scallop Border Punch; Neutrals Candy Dots

Cheers
Karren

Cantaloupe Thanks

This card is for the DSP/Color Focus challenge at Creative Crew this month.  

CCREW0713DF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM -- DSP/Color Focus: 
Birthday Basics. If you don't have this DSP, use the colors: Basic Gray, Bermuda Bay, Crisp Cantaloupe, Gumball Green, Raspberry Ripple, Summer Starfruit, Very Vanilla. 

As the new catty doesn't go live here in New Zealand until 1 July, I had to go with the color option rather than the DSP option.

I used a new hostess set called Simply Sketched and colored it with Crisp Cantaloupe and Gumball Green markers.  I cut it out using an oval framelit.  The background piece is emboss resist, sponged with Crisp Cantaloupe and layered onto a Basic Gray layer.  A button made with the new clay and molds plus a double bow finishes the card.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Simply Sketched; En Francais
Cardstock:  Crisp Cantaloupe; Very Vanilla; Basic Gray; Watercolor Paper
Ink:  Black Stazon; Basic Gray; Versamark; Crisp Cantaloupe
Accessories:  Gumball Green marker; clay and molds; oval framelits; clear EP; sponge; Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon

Cheers
Karren

Vanilla Slush

I combined the sketch challenge at Create with Connie & Mary with the tic-tac-toe challenge at Friday Mashup to come up with this card:

I chose Flowers, Butterflies, Lace for my card.  Although I have to confess that my butterflies are unfortunately singular as I couldn't work out how to fit more than one on my card without looking contrived.

The lace is from the Artisan Embellishments Kit, which I cut down to make narrower.  Lots of little pearls were used on the flower centers and it was great to use up some of the smallest pearls as they tend to sit unused on the sheets.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Secret Garden; Morning Meadow
Cardstock:  Strawberry Slush; Very Vanilla
Ink:  Strawberry Slush; Old Olive
Accessories:  Delicate Doilies Sizzlet; Secret Garden Framelits; Artisan Embellishment Kit; Basic Pearls; Beautiful Wings Embosslits

Cheers
Karren

Glitter Circles

My second card this weekend didn't turn out quite how I imagined it, but I went with it anyway.  The absolute best thing about this card is the Strawberry Slush layer for the Apothecary Accents diecut.  I cut that layer using my Silhouette Cameo and was so excited when it worked!  I don't like the wide layers on the nesting framelits and now I can cut layers as wide or as narrow as I like.  I tell you, this machine is way cool!

(For anyone who is interested, I die cut the frame in Basic Black cardstock, then scanned it into my PC.  Once I had it in the Silhouette software, I just used the trace and offset functions to make it the size I wanted before I cut it.  This blog helped immensely with the process.)

The inspiration for this card came from the sketch at CAS(e) This Sketch and the inspiration challenge at Just Add Ink, which is the cover of the new SU Annual Catalogue.  I chose the glimmer paper circle banner and the dress color as my inspiration for this card.

I punched a whole lot of gold and silver glimmer paper circles using the 1/2" circle punch and the Itty Bitty circle punch.  I then laid some cotton on the card base and stuck the circles randomly onto the cotton.  A thin sliver of Strawberry Slush and the Apothecary Accents sentiment finish off this CAS card.

Products used:

Stamps:  More Merry Messages
Cardstock:  Whisper White; Silver Glimmer; Gold Glimmer; Strawberry Slush
Ink:  Strawberry Slush
Accessories:  1/2" circle punch; Itty Bitty Circle Punch; cotton; Apothecary Accents framelit; Silhouette Cameo

Cheers
Karren

Grunge Birthday

Well, it's been a couple of dry weeks in terms of my stamping mojo!  Last week, I tried to make my card for the Freshly Made Sketch challenge and after two hours, I realised it just wasn't going to happen so I walked out of the room and didn't go back into it until today.  

I had better luck today, which was fortunate because I had to make a card for my youngest son's 11th birthday which is on Monday.

I used this week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches and I'm also linking this up to the challenge at SUO Challenges, which is to showcase your favorite accessories.  Well, my favorite accessory is embossing powder.  I love all the different techniques available with embossing powder and this one I've featured is probably my favorite - emboss resist.

I clear-embossed the card base with Sanded background stamp and then stamped several images from Grunge Rock; Clockworks and French Foliage onto Whisper White and embossed them with clear EP.  I sponged over the embossing with different colored inks. The strip under the main image is an off-cut which worked quite nicely for the sketch.  The guitar is embossed in black onto Whisper White and cut out.  Even the sentiment is black-embossed.

Here's a close-up of the embossed card base, which adds some lovely texture to the card:

Here's the sketch I worked from:

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Grunge Rock; Clockworks; French Foliage; Sanded
Cardstock:  Basic Black; Whisper White; Lucky Limeade
Ink:  Versamark; Lucky Limeade; Daffodil Delight; Island Indigo
Accessories:  Clear EP; Black EP; Lucky Limeade Baker's Twine; Everyday Enchantment Brad

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card was chosen for a Perfect Princess Award at Freshly Made Sketches and a Top 3 Pick at SUO Challenges.

#Merry

I ended up making two different cards, both using the same two challenges this month for Creative Crew.

I liked my first card enough to try again with another non-Christmas stamp set and this is what I came up with:

Here are the challenge details for both challenges:

CCREW0713CF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM -- Catalog Focus: Washi tape! I love the new washi tape on P171 of the catalog. Make a holiday card or gift that shows off washi tape!

CCREW0713HF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM -- Holiday Focus: Obviously, it's Christmas! Show your holiday creativity by making a Christmas card using non-Christmas stamps. Use the card sketch on P23 of Celebrando Creatividad.

I'm not as fussed with this one as the last one, but it's okay.  I used the photopolymer set Typeset Alphabet that someone very kindly sent me.  My teenage son was in the room while I was stamping the letters and suggested I go all modern and social-media-like and use a hashtag in front of the Merry LOL.  

Anyway, seeing as I did that, I thought that using the washi tape again would suit the look I was going for.  I had to search hard to find a "Christmas" stamp that wasn't too small - wish I could have found a bigger one, but the challenge was to use non-Christmas sets and to me that includes Christmas sentiment sets.

The apothecary accents framelits were used to create the little side pieces to match the sketch.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Typset Alphabet; Sweet Essentials
Cardstock:  Whisper White; Calypso Coral; Baked Brown Sugar
Ink:  Calypso Coral; Baked Brown Sugar; Basic Gray
Accessories:  Apothecary Accents Framelits; Basic Rhinestones; Epic Day Washi Tape; Calypso Coral Baker's Twine

Cheers
Karren

Washi Joy

My first card for this month's Creative Crew challenges combines two of the challenges:

CCREW0713CF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM -- Catalog Focus: Washi tape! I love the new washi tape on P171 of the catalog. Make a holiday card or gift that shows off washi tape!

CCREW0713HF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM -- Holiday Focus: Obviously, it's Christmas! Show your holiday creativity by making a Christmas card using non-Christmas stamps. Use the card sketch on P23 of Celebrando Creatividad.

I used the sentiment from the just-retired Word Play set and colored it with Basic Gray and Calypso Coral markers.  I then cut it out using a 1 3/4" circle punch.  The Window Framelits piece is Whisper White cardstock covered in washi tape then cut with the framelit.  The sentiment is popped up on dimensionals.

A strip of the striped washi tape is run down the card base and then the smaller Whisper White piece is raised up on dimensionals.  A Calypso Coral Baker's Twine bow finishes this CAS card.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Word Play

Cardstock:  Whisper White

Accessories:  Basic Gray, Calypso Coral markers; Epic Day Washi Tape; Calypso Coral Baker's Twine; Window Framelits

Cheers

Karren