The Dressmaker

I managed to sneak in a second card today while DH was cooking dinner (yep, he's a keeper!).

This card was inspired by my trip down memory lane a couple of days ago, going through my old stamping stuff.  I had hundreds of magazines that I went through to see if I wanted to keep any.  What I did see was a lot of cards made in the collage/vintage style which I really like but haven't managed to master.

So today, for the Shabby Tearoom color challenge and the sketch challenge at Pals Paper Arts, I made this:

For my card, I used an unmounted plate of stamps called The Dressmaker by Oxford Impressions.  I stamped several images onto a Very Vanilla panel then distressed and sponged the edges.  For the main panel, I stamped the row of numbers in Crumb Cake then over-stamped with the corset in black.  The twill behind the main image was dirtied up with Crumb Cake ink before being layered with black lace on either side.  The card base was embossed with the Alphabet EF before being sponged.

The final touch was 3 Vanilla Trim flowers in the bottom left corner.  I sort of feel as if there's something missing from this card.  It's too dirty to be clean and too clean to be vintage LOL.

My New Year's resolution is to finish the insides of my card when I make them, so here's the inside.  

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  The Dressmaker (Oxford Impressions)

Ink:  Crumb Cake; Versafine Onyx Black

Cardstock:  Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Basic Black

Accessories:  Twill Tape, Raven Lace Trim, sponge, vanilla flower trim

Another Critter Card

The current challenge at Merry Monday is staying open for another 5 days, so I thought I'd sneak in another critter card.

The stamps for this card were part of my Secret Santa package from a Merry Monday DT member.  I was so spoiled with the goodies I got and this stamp is so adorable, I had to use it.

This stamp was drawn by the oh-so-talented Mo Manning and sold by Stamping Bella.  I stamped it on Neenah Solar White cardstock and colored it with Copics.  I kept the layout pretty simple as the stamped image is pretty big and really, such a cute image doesn't need much embellishment!

Here's the challenge graphic as a reminder.

It's New Year's Eve here and the first sunny day we've had since before Christmas.  We've had a week of rain!  My exciting plans for the evening include taking the dog for a walk after dinner once it cools down a bit and if I'm lucky I might be able to convince DH to join me and Dexter.  Speaking of which, here's the cutest critter I know...

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Singin' So Beautiful (Stamping Bella)
Ink:  Brilliance Graphite Black
Cardstock:  Whisper White, Gumball Green
Accessories:  Gumball Green marker, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Copics

Cheers
Karren

Gold Leaf Time

I've had some fun the last couple of days sorting through my old, old stamping stuff.  This stuff goes back to the early 2000's and has been in storage under our stairs for the last several years.

I've pulled it all out and gone through it, either donating or dumping heaps of it.  What I did find though was all sorts of specialty papers, like Cold Laminate, Gold Leaf, Copper Shim etc.  I also had heaps and heaps of magazines, so I went through them all, ripping out the pages I wanted to keep and recycling the rest.  It's interesting that in the days before die-cutting and embossing and patterned paper, it was all about the techniques.  There are some cool techniques out there and I've used one of them today - gold leaf on cold laminate.

I'm using the inspiration photo at Just Us Girls and the sketch at Mojo Monday (flipped).

I stamped the image from Collections (an Australian company that make (made?) the most artistic collage-y type stamps) onto Cold Laminate using Black Stazon.  Once that was dry, I peeled off the backing then rubbed gold leaf flakes onto the back using a stiff paintbrush.  I mounted that piece onto Basic Black, then Brushed Copper cardstock.

The card base was clear-embossed on one side using an old HeroArts Manuscript Background stamp.  To finish the card, I wrapped some Linen Thread around the main image and topped that off with a silk vanilla rosette.  In the bottom right corner is a brass charm that I've also had forever, which came from a company called Fancifuls Inc.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Collections; Hero Arts Manuscript Background
Ink:  Black Stazon, Versamark
Cardstock:  Basic Black, Brushed Copper, Cold Laminate
Accessories:  Gold Leaf Flakes, Clear EP, Brass Charm (Fancifuls Inc), Linen Thread, Vanilla Rosette (SU)

Edited to Add:  This card was Chic of the Week at Just Us Girls!

Cheers
Karren

Nice Day for a White Wedding

Well, now that Billy Idol is running through my head, a workmate is getting married on January 4.  I've blogged about her before here.  To cut a long story short, Anthea lost the use of her legs in a horse-riding accident about 7 years ago.  Last year, she represented New Zealand at the Paralympics as an equestrian.  She really is amazing and won't let her disability stop her from doing pretty much anything.  Here's a card I made to send her. I'm also entering this card into the Less is More challenge which is to choose a past challenge.  I chose Week 87  Love & Marriage.

This card is heavily influenced by the beautiful card made by Sandy Mathis for a recent Paper Players challenge.  I stamped the wedding dress from Love & Laughter in Versamark and white-embossed it before cutting it out.  I also white-embossed the sentiment from Border Banter.  The heart was stamped in Strawberry Slush then punched out using the owl punch.

The lattice die and window frame framelit look is not new as I've seen it around before and I really like the look.

This is a really simple but elegant card and I hope Anthea and Aaron like it.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:  

Stamps:  Love & Laughter, Border Banter
Ink:  Versamark, Strawberry Slush
Cardstock:  Whisper White
Accessories:  Lattice Die, Window Frames Framelit, Basic Pearls, Owl Punch

Cheers
Karren

51 and Grungy...

Just kidding!  My DH celebrates a birthday today (yes, Christmas Eve!).  I used this week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches for his card.  Apologies to Amy because I didn't stick 100% to the sketch but the concept is there.

Now it wouldn't be polite to tell you his age, but let's just say he's getting up there :)

For his card, I white-embossed the sentiment from Afterthoughts onto Whisper White cardstock.  Around the sentiment, I white-embossed images from Gorgeous Grunge.  Once they were embossed, I sponged Smoky Slate ink over the entire panel.

I die-cut the "51" from  Basic Black cardstock and after gluing it down, I paper-pierced a line then hand-stitched with some grey thread, leaving the tails dangling.

Here's a look at the inside:

An appropriate sentiment, given the years are piling up LOL!  Rest assured, there will be a suitably touching hand-written note in there before I give him the card.  (In case you were wondering, he doesn't read my blog ha ha).

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge, Afterthoughts, It's Your Birthday
Ink:  Versamark, Smoky Slate
Cardstock:  Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories:  White EP, sponge, By the Numbers dies (PTI), Paper Piercing template, grey thread and needle

Tulip Thanks

This is my second post today, so if you receive notifications by email, scroll down for my money holder.

For this card, I combined the colors from Stampin' Royalty with the sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch.

I stamped the tulip from Backyard Basics three times onto Whisper White cardstock and colored them very lightly with Stampin' Write markers.  I then cut them using the matching framelits and tied them together with white baker's twine.  I stamped one of the Thank You's from Another Thank You onto the card base and adhered the tulips and called it done.

Thanks for looking.

Products used: 

Stamps:  Backyard Basics, Another Thank You
Ink:  Basic Black
Cardstock:  Whisper White
Accessories:  Gumball Green, Real Red markers, Backyard Basics Framelits, White Baker's Twine

Cheers
Karren

Santa Money Holder

My boys are at the age where all they want for birthdays and Christmas is cash - preferably high denomination cash!  So I thought I'd better whip up something a bit Christmas-y to hold the cash.  This idea tied in quite nicely with both the Just Add Ink challenge to Just Add Your Christmas Project and the color challenge at Dynamic Duos which is Black, Cherry Cobbler with a dessert option of sparkle.

Now this idea is not the least bit original as I've seen this sort of thing around blogland before, but I worked from memory and imagination and came up with this.

I measured a $100 note and cut my cardstock to fit.  I sponged the edges in Cherry Cobbler to give a bit of dimension and added some Flower Soft to the top and bottom of the front.  The belt has a Silver Glimmer Paper buckle made from some Nestabilities Labels dies.  The buttons are from the retired Buttons #5 sizzlet.

Pretty simple, but my boys aren't big on appreciating the aesthetics of anything unless it's a car LOL.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Ink:  Cherry Cobbler
Cardstock:  Basic Black; Cherry Cobbler; Silver Glimmer Paper
Accessories:  Buttons #5 Sizzlet; Nestabilities Labels Two dies; Polar White Flower Soft

Admit One

I'm now on my Christmas break and don't have to go back to work until January 3rd - yahoo!  So what's a girl to do but stamp?  

I made a card that is a bit of a departure from my usual style - it's glittery and colorful!

This card is for the sketch challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments and the Friday Mashup challenge.  I mashed it up this week and used both the colors (Gumball Green, Bermuda Bay, Real Red and Crumb Cake) as well as blinging it up.  Here's a close-up of the bling:

The Crumb Cake card base was scored using my diagonal scoring plate then dots of Dazzling Details were added at each scored intersection.  The stamps come from the Free Spirits set by Paper Smooches and the inside of the glass was painted with Dazzling Details as well.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Free Spirits (Paper Smooches)
Ink:  Basic Black, Bermuda Bay, Gumball Green, Real Red
Cardstock:  Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Thoroughly Modern DSP, Brights DSP Stack
Accessories:  Free Spirits dies, Dazzling Details, Ticket Duo Punch, Simply Scored

Edited to Add:  This card was an Artist Pick at Hand Stamped Sentiments and a Glamette Award at Friday Mashup.

Cheers
Karren

Happy Mouse

Welcome back to another Merry Monday challenge.  This week's challenge is a fun one - create a Christmas card with an animal of some sort on it.

For my card, I chose to go with a mouse.  Now I know that mice are more rodents than animals, but I'm taking some artistic license because this image is just too cute not to use :)

This is a Penny Black transparent stamp from a set called Jolly Follies.  I stamped it onto Whisper White cardstock and colored it using Copics.  The sentiment comes from the retired set Contempo Christmas.

I have to confess that this is the first time I have voluntarily used Gumball Green, but it matched the scarf best, so I used it.  It doesn't actually look too bad so maybe, like Lucky Limeade, I'll end up loving this color - right around the time it's retired!

Have a check for animal stamps in your stash and go make a Christmas card.  You've still got time to get it in the mail... LOL.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Jolly Follies (Penny Black); Contempo Christmas
Cardstock:  Gumball Green; Whisper White
Ink:  Brilliance Graphite Black
Accessories:  Copic Markers; Soft Sky marker (for the snow)

Cheers
Karren

Hello Winter

I did some re-arranging of furniture in my craft room this morning and as I was shifting the contents of shelves, I came across a pack of Doodlebug Designs buttons.  As soon as I saw them, I thought of the current colors at Color Throwdown.  The images on the buttons also put me in mind of the Friday Mashup challenge to create a non-Christmas winter card.  Throw in the sketch at CAS(e) This Sketch and it's a three-fer LOL.

Now bear in mind that it's Summer where I am, so I had to imagine cold, wintry temperatures.  Here's a close-up of the cute buttons, which I hope are close enough to the challenge colors to pass muster :)

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Four You
Ink:  Smoky Slate
Cardstock:  Whisper White
Accessories:  Doodlebug Designs Buttons, white baker's twine

Cheers
Karren

Celebration

Ina break from Christmas cards, I decided to go light and summery today.  And the colors at Just Add Ink were the perfect choice!  I combined them with Narelle's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and came up with this card, using some Close To My Heart NBUS.

I used two CTMH sets for this card - Charming Chevrons and Banner Wishes.  I stamped the chevrons in Soft Sky, Blushing Bride and So Saffron directly onto the card base.  I then stamped the banner in Basic Black onto Whisper White.  I curved the sentiment slightly to look more natural and stamped that in Calypso Coral before cutting the banner out.

My lovely CTMH consultant (aka my Mum!) gave me the chevron rhinestone shapes with my last order so I highlighted the middle column of chevrons with them.  They are so easy to use!  To finish off the card, I randomly placed a few Candy Dots.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Banner Wishes, Charming Chevrons (CTMH)
Ink:  Blushing Bride, Soft Sky, So Saffron, Calypso Coral, Basic Black
Cardstock:  Whisper White
Accessories:  Sparkle Chevron Shapes (CTMH), Candy Dots

Edited to Add:  This card was chosen as the winner at Just Add Ink.

Cheers
Karren

Scandinavian Mitten

It's Merry Monday time again and this week the challenge is to make a card using mittens.

I didn't think I had any mitten stamps and wasn't feeling up to making a shaped card, so I looked through my stamp inventory and actually found several stamps featuring mittens.  I chose to go with Scandinavian Season, which is NBUS (hangs head in shame as it retired a few years ago)

This is a very clean and simple card.  The mitten and the greeting are stamped in Midnight Muse and embossed in Clear EP.  There is a very fine Midnight Muse frame around the Whisper White and that is all layered onto a Whisper White card base.

I really like the simplicity and white space on this card.

Head on over to Lesley's blog to see what other mitten creations the DT have come up with.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Scandinavian Season; Christmas Greetings
Cardstock:  Whisper White; Midnight Muse
Ink:  Midnight Muse
Accessories:  Clear EP

Cheers
Karren

Sweet 16???

My oldest son turns 16 next week so I thought I'd better make him a birthday card.  I used the sketch from Fusion (so glad that is back!) and the acetate challenge at Friday Mashup.  My son is a typical teenager - surly, uncommunicative and always knows best LOL.  My younger son saw this card and thought it was "over the top" so yeah, I have two adorable sons :)

I stamped various words from several Paper Smooches sets in Coastal Cabana, Island Indigo, Bermuda Bay and Real Red.  I had to take a few liberties with the sketch to avoid covering up any of the words with the flags in the sketch.  

Apologies to the Friday Mashup team because there's not much acetate on this card.  I had great intentions of using a window sheet overlay with circle cut-outs and arrows pointing to certain words on the card, but for the life of me, I couldn't get the arrow thinlits to cut the acetate.  So I ended up using my arrow punch and a circle nestie.  Here's a close-up of the acetate:

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Slang Gang, Super, Sentiment Sampler (Paper Smooches)
Ink:  Coastal Cabana, Island Indigo, Bermuda Bay, Real Red, Daffodil Delight
Cardstock:  Bermuda Bay, Whisper White, Real Red, Window Sheet, In Color DSP, Celebrations DSP
Accessories:  Arrow Punch, Timeless Type Alphabet Dies, Circle Nesties

Cheers
Karren

Bermuda Christmas

Today was the first time I've stamped in two weeks!  (My Merry Monday DT cards were made a while ago).  It's bizarre but even though stamping relaxes me, it's the first thing I walk away from when things get stressful.  The stress is nothing major just the usual Christmas stress combined with insurance/earthquake repair stresses.  Working for a courier company means that the lead-up to Christmas is never peaceful and even though I don't work in the day-to-day operational areas, it's still a cray-cray time LOL.

Anyway, enough about my life.  It took a few attempts to get a card I was sort of happy with but here it is.

I went all multi-challenge with this card - combining the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches with the fun colors at ColourQ plus the snowflake challenge at Stampin' Royalty and the non-traditional Christmas challenge at SUO Challenges.  Phew!

I was inspired by the ColourQ DT - many of whom made Christmas cards with these colors, so I dug out some snowflake sets and my inkpads and stamped away.  I stamped snowflakes from both Snowflake Soiree and Serene Snowflakes onto a Whisper White panel using Lucky Limeade, Real Red and Pool Party ink.  I layered that onto a Real Red panel and then onto the Bermuda Bay card base, which I'd embossed with Northern Flurries EF.  

Not my best card, but not the worst either.  Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Snowflake Soiree, Serene Snowflakes, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink:  Lucky Limeade, Real Red, Pool Party, Bermuda Bay

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Real Red, Bermuda Bay

Accessories:  Frosted Finishes Embellishments, Northern Flurry EF

Cheers

Karren

Chalkboard Joy

And I'm back with another Merry Monday card.  This week we are using one of my favorite techniques - chalkboard!

I wanted to use a large sentiment on my card, so turned to my Joy to the World set.  Love the size of the sentiments in this set!  

When I was looking through my sets for something to complement the sentiment, I found the perfect image - a globe ornament from the old hostess set Peaceful Season.

Check out the other chalkboard projects made by the rest of the DT.  If you don't know how to do the Chalkboard Technique, here's a quick step-by-step:

1.  White emboss images onto black cardstock
2.  Once the embossing dries, gently sponge white ink over the black cardstock to give the impression of chalkboard dust
3.  Use a chalk marker or white pencil to add additional details if desired.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Joy to the World; Peaceful Season
Cardstock:  Whisper White; Cherry Cobbler; Basic Black; Season of Style DSP
Ink:  Versamark; White
Accessories:  White EP; Chalk Marker; sponge; Designer Builder Brads; Large Scallop Framelit; Lacy Brocade EF

Cheers
Karren 

White Christmas

This week's challenge at Merry Monday is to create an all-white or all-ivory Christmas card.  How can that not be classy and elegant???

Just look at the beautiful inspiration photo that Lesley chose:

As soon as I saw the challenge details, I knew I wanted to do some white-on-white embossing and produce a very CAS but elegant card.  This doesn't show up in the photo quite as nicely as in real life but I hope you get the idea.

I white-embossed the tree from Christmas Lodge onto a panel of Whisper White cardstock.  I then stamped the sentiment from Contempo Christmas in Crumb Cake ink.  I rounded one corner and added some white Baker's Twine before adhering to the card base using dimensionals.  Here's a close up of the embossing.

You'll just have to trust me when I say this looks better IRL :)

Check out the other DT cards and have a go at the challenge.

Products used:

Stamps:  Christmas Lodge; Contempo Christmas
Cardstock:  Whisper White
Ink:  Versamark; Crumb Cake
Accessories:  White EP; White Baker's Twine; Basic Pearls

Cheers
Karren

Hello Friend

I have spent much of today cleaning our house - a job I don't enjoy!  We are having our first scoping meeting with the company who will be doing our earthquake repairs and they will be looking in every nook and cranny of our house to identify the damage, so it has to be spotless.  Can I just say I hate washing skirting boards (baseboards) LOL! 

I did take some time out to make a card though.  Today's card is for the color challenge at Color Throwdown and the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.

I love these colors - Dusty Durango is such a deep color and goes so well with the other colors in the challenge.  I decided to make Dusty Durango my main color and used a whole half sheet of my very limited supply of this color :)

I used Stippled Blossoms for this card and stamped the rose in Peach Parfait and Dusty Durango.  The sentiment was stamped in Soft Suede and Dusty Durango onto Very Vanilla.  I added a bit of interest to the plain card base by scoring a frame using the cool technique shown by Brenda Quintana.  My frame isn't 100% but it's a heck of a lot closer than previous attempts LOL.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Stippled Blossoms, Embroidered Blooms (PTI)
Ink:  Soft Suede, Peach Parfait, Dusty Durango, Pear Pizzazz
Cardstock:  Dusty Durango, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede
Accessories:  Simply Scored

Edited to Add:  This card got a mention at Color Throwdown.

Cheers
Karren