Happy Smooshing

Hi and welcome!  It's time for another challenge from The Paper Players and this week Laurie has a fun tic-tac-toe challenge for us.

I went with the top row, which was surprising as I never really got into washi tape and only have a few rolls.  I combined my card with both the inspiration pic and the sketch at Fusion Card Challenge.

I went with the fun technique of ink smooshing again - this time using Peacock Feathers and Squeezed Lemonade ink.  Once I was happy with the smooshed panel, I dried it with my heat tool then stamped the sentiment in Archival Black.

I adhered some light gray washi tape to represent the banners in the sketch and a couple of staples.  In keeping with the Paper Players challenge, I also used some blue sequins.

For the card base, I sponged Peacock Feathers ink around the edges of a white card to match the smooshing.

Thanks for visiting and head on over to The Paper Players to see which options the rest of the amazing design team have used.

Products used:

Stamps:  The Big, the Bold and the Happy (Winner & Walter)

Ink:  Archival Black, Peacock Feather, Squeezed Lemonade

Cardstock:  White, watercolor 

Accessories:  Washi Tape, sequins, Blueprints 21 (MFT)

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Fusion Card Challenge.

Coffee?

It's time for another fabulous challenge at Freshly Made Sketches and this week it's my turn to be hostess!  I came up with a simple sketch that is open to interpretation.  In fact, my own card doesn't completely match the sketch - but that's what makes the whole challenge game fun, right?

When I designed the sketch some weeks ago, I had planned on putting a row of flowers along the bottom.  Somewhere along the way, my flowers changed to a coffee cup...

I started with a white card base (as always, it seems!) and stamped the coffee circle stamp using Memento Toffee Crunch ink.  I die cut the coffee cup using Desert Storm, Very Vanilla and a watercolored piece I had on my desk from another card.  I shaped the coffee cup and lightly sponged the sides to give dimension.  The center of the cup is popped up on two layers of foam tape and the sides only one.  

I hunted for a sentiment that was small enough to fit on the panel along with the coffee cup and found this one from PTI.  However, the bottom looked bare so I carefully lined up the square panel with the coffee circle and over-stamped to get some of the coffee circle on the sentiment panel. 

No embellishments on this card as it's probably destined for a male.

I'm entering this into Seize the Birthday's Anything Goes Challenge.

Thanks for visiting.  Please check out the rest of the design team's fabulous inspiration and I hope you'll find time to have a go.

Products used:

Stamps:  Communique Curves (PTI), Inkadinkado 97100

Ink:  Memento Toffee Crunch,  Dark Chocolate (SSS)

Cardstock: White, black, Desert Storm, Very Vanilla, Watercolor

Accessories:  Coffee Cup die (MFT), Lil' Inkers Stitched Square dies, water color paints

Cheers

Karren

Newsprint Christmas

It's time for another Christmas card, courtesy of Merry Monday.  This week, I am the hostess and I've chosen the theme of newsprint.

I love the look of newsprint on cards, so when I saw this photo on Pinterest, I knew it was going to become my challenge.

For my card, I again went CAS, which seems to be my go-to style lately as my card-making time gets condensed.

I die cut a circle mask and placed that over my card base.  I then stamped SU's Dictionary stamp inside the mask with Fog ink and lightly sponged from the outside in to define the circle more.

After that, it was a simple job to die cut a sentiment, color it with Wink of Stella and stick on a few enamel dots.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll find time to join in my challenge.  The rest of the design team have some wonderful and varied uses of the theme in their cards, so be sure to check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Dictionary (SU)

Ink:  Fog (SSS)

Cardstock:  White, Green Apple (SSS)

Accessories:  Wet Paint Holiday dies (PTI), Enamel Dots

Cheers

Karren

More Than Ice Cream

It's time for The Paper Players weekly challenge and this week Anne Marie has a sketch for us.

I sort of went a little bit off-track when it came to following the sketch but I think you can see the elements there :)

This is nothing like my original plan, but I kinda like it!  And I do realise that is not an ice-cream so doesn't really match the sentiment, but I'm claiming artistic license here :)  I colored my ice block (not sure what it's called in the US) with Copics then cut it out.  I used my new Blueprints 25 to cut the curve and inlaid a So Saffron panel cut with the same die.  I then used a stitched die on the outside before splattering some aqua watercolor paint onto the card base.

Once that was dry I stamped my sentiment on a curve and adhered the ice block using foam tape.

I hope you like this interpretation.  Be sure to check out the beautiful cards created by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Ice Cream Dream (SSS)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Cardstock:  White, So Saffron, X-Press It

Accessories:  Blueprints 25 (MFT), Copics, watercolor paints, Lil' Inkers Stitched Rectangle Mats

Cheers

Karren

Gnome Time

It's early Sunday evening here and I'm sneaking in a blog post a few hours before my Paper Players Challenge post goes live.  

While I was waiting for dinner to cook, I decided to color up one of the gnomes from my new set from MFT.  I had it in mind to create a tag for the current Tag You're It challenge, but I had no idea what I was going to do once I'd stamped and colored my gnome.  

I was inspired by the shaped bottom of Lynn's tag; the thanks sentiment, as well as the red/green nature theme.  This is what I came up with:

After I colored my gnome I die-cut him with a Reverse Confetti tag die, keeping him to the left of the tag to allow room for the sentiment.  I used a double-tag approach like Lynn and for the added layer on the bottom, I went with some die-cut grass.  I finished off the tag with some red and green baker's twine.

It was fun playing with this little fella and a nice way to round out the weekend, ready for another week at work.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  You Gnome Me (MFT), Happy Hello (Verve)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Cardstock:  X-Press It, Lucky Limeade (SU), Schoolhouse Red (SSS)

Accessories:  Copics, Tag Me Too die (Reverse Confetti), Grassy Edges die (MFT)

Cheers

Karren

You Rock

It's time for another fabulous sketch challenge from Freshly Made Sketches and this week our hostess is the creative and talented Cindy Lovell.  

I decided to pull out the Blueprints dies again for my card and came up with this.

This is a very simple card, only using dies.  I used both Blueprints 11 and Blueprints 20.  Black, white and Island Blue were the colors.  The "You Rock" is inlaid as is the single star in the white panel, but there was no way I was going to inlay all those little circles in the zig zag die cut :)

Thanks for visiting.  As always, the rest of the design team have created some wonderful cards so be sure to check them out.

Products used:

Cardstock:  Black, white, Island Blue (SSS)

Accessories:  Blueprints 11, Blueprints 20

Cheers

Karren

Joyful Wishes

Hi and welcome to Merry Monday - where you get to make your Christmas cards one week at a time :)  This week Debbie is our hostess and her challenge is to use a non-evergreen tree on your card.

I have been wanting the Joy to the Woods set from Lawn Fawn since I first saw it and I finally got it a couple of months ago, so I had to use it for my card.

I stamped and cut the birch trees before lightly coloring with Copics.  I also colored the ornament and the little squirrel.  I die cut a snowy slope before sponging and lightly coloring with a paintbrush and water.  I then arranged my pieces on my card and stamped the sentiment.

Be sure to check out the fabulous cards created by the design team and give this fun challenge a go.

Products used:

Stamps:  Joy to the Woods (Lawn Fawn)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Balck, Archival Black, Tumbled Glass

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It

Accessories:  Joy to the Woods dies, Copics, Wink of Stella, Stitched Slopes and Hills dies (SSS)

Cheers

Karren

Thanks So Much

And it's Paper Players Challenge Day!  This week Jaydee has a very cool challenge theme for us - CAS Girly Thanks.  

For my card, I combined the sketch at Verve with the colors at Just Add Ink to come up with this card.

I ended up not using any Verve stamps on my card but did use a brand new-to-me set from a company I've never bought from before - Stamplorations.  I started my card by sponging some Pear Pizzazz ink onto a white cardbase using the Diagonal Stripes stencil by MFT.    I embossed the "thanks so much" stamps onto a piece of vellum using Pool Party EP then cut it with a stitched rectangle die.  Behind that panel, I second-generation stamped the Tiny Alphabet Background from SSS using Crumb Cake ink. 

I die cut a butterfly with Calypso Coral cardstock and also cut a solid butterfly shape out of vellum.  I dropped some silver thread behind the butterfly and arranged a few enamel dots and my card was done.

Thanks for visiting.  The rest of the design team have some wonderful thank you cards for your viewing pleasure so be sure to check them out.

 Products used:

Stamps:  Sentiment Builders Thanks (Stamplorations), Tiny Alphabet Background (SSS)

Ink:  Pear Pizzazz, Crumb Cake, Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Vellum, Calypso Coral, Black

Accessories:  Effera Butterfly Wings, Rhone Butterfly Wings (Memory Box), Pool Party EP, Silver Thread, Enamel Dots, Diagonal Strips Stencil (MFT)

Cheers

Karren

Belated Mother's Day

I am late getting my Mother's Day card made for my mum.  I tried last weekend, but it just wasn't working so I walked away.  I'm seeing my parents tomorrow, so I had to make it today.  No pressure!

After a couple of hours with no success, I decided to use a Close to My Heart set as my mum is a consultant for them.  This is what I came up with.

I used the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch and the inspiration pic from Fusion Card Challenge.

I used the Mother's Day set from CTMH and stamped and cut the 50's housewife with the cake.  BTW, this is definitely not my mother - she doesn't do the cooking in their house - she's too busy volunteering her time and being on numerous committees.  Anyway, back to the card.  The center panel was stamped with the Tiny Alphabet Background stamp in Fog ink on Fog cardstock.  I then stamped the sentiment.  That panel was layered onto some Chiffon cardstock.  

I thought the Fog card base looked a bit plain so I dug through my Blueprints dies and came up with this row of circle cut-outs, so used that on the top and bottom of the center panel.  

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:  

Stamps:  Mother's Day (CTMH), Tiny Alphabet Background (SSS)

Ink:  Archival Black (Ranger), Fog (SSS)

Cardstock:  Fog, Chiffon, White

Accessories:  Blueprints 21

Cheers

Karren

Hey There

It's time for my favorite sketch challenge - Freshly Made Sketches!  This week, our hostess is the wonderful and clever Jen Brum.

And here's Jen's sketch:

I received the Bird Crazy set some weeks ago and was a bit too intimidated to break it open and color one of those adorable birds.  On the weekend, though, I finally colored up a bird in a very simplistic way and put him on my card.

I really just had a bit of fun with this card and stenciled some brickwork on the bottom panel and stamped the Script Stripes stamp on the top panel.  I then went looking for a sentiment to fit between the lines and came up with Sentiment Sampler.

The bird is popped up on foam tape to give a bit of dimension.

Thanks for visiting.  The rest of the design team have done some amazing things with this sketch so be sure to check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Bird Crazy (Stampers Anonymous), Script Stripes (SSS), Sentiment Sampler (Paper Smooches)

Ink:  Green Apple (SSS), Gathered Twigs (Distress), Memento Tuxedo Black

Cardstock:  White, Vanilla, X-press It

Accessories:  Copics, Mini Brick Stencil (Crafters Workshop), Blueprints 18 (MFT)

Cheers

Karren

Sponged Snowflakes

Hi and welcome to Merry Monday challenge day!  This week, our hostess is Deanne and her challenge is to use a stencil.  What a cool challenge - I love my stencils!

 

 

For my card, I used a Memory Box stencil and some distress inks:

I first sponged Tumbled Glass over the whole stencil and card front, then went around the sides with Peacock Feathers to create a bit of dimension.  Then I flicked some water over it to add more interest. 

The sentiment is white embossed and I finished off the card with a few sequins.

Thanks for visiting.  Be sure to check out the rest of the design team's fabulous cards.

Products used:

Stamps:  Peace on Earth (SSS)
Ink:  Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers (Distress), Versamark
Cardstock:  White
Accessories:  Memory Box stencil, white EP, sequins

Cheers
Karren

The Elephant Returns

It's time for another challenge from The Paper Players and this week it's LeAnne's turn.  She has given us a color challenge.  Check it out:

When I first saw Pistachio Pudding in the lineup, I gulped.  I really, really don't like that color.  As you can see from my card, I used it very sparingly!

I decided to pull out the adorable Unforgettable set again and color another elephant.  This one didn't get any pink inside his ears because pink isn't a challenge color :)  

On the card base I masked off a section using torn copy paper.  I then mixed up some embossing paste with some Mint ink and used my Tiny Dots stencil to create one of the two "banners" on the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch.

The elephant was colored with Copics and his hat was stamped using Mint ink from Simon Says Stamp, because my Pistachio Pudding ink and cardstock has been put into a very deep, dark corner so I don't have to look at it :)

I white embossed the sentiment onto some Lost Lagoon cardstock and rounded one corner.  That and the elephant are popped up on foam tape.

Thanks for visiting.  The design team have used these colors in wonderful ways, so be sure to check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Unforgettable (WP9)

Ink:  Mint (SSS), Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark

Cardstock:  Sahara Sand, Lost Lagoon, X-Press it

Accessories:  Copics, Unforgettable dies, Tiny Dots Stencil (SSS), embossing paste, white EP

Cheers

Karren

Just Because

It's Freshly Made Sketch day and that means it's time for a fantastic new sketch!  This week, Cindy Hall is our very talented and clever hostess.  Cindy has a wonderfully timeless and versatile sketch for us.  Check it out!

And here's my card:

I went with a very simple card, mainly because I wanted to try out my new Painted Flowers set from Altenew!  I stamped the flower using double and triple stamping of Audrey Blue ink (thank goodness for my Misti!).  I colored the flower using my Wink of Stella and you can see a bit of the shimmer in the photo below.  

After stamping the sentiment, I die-cut the panel.  The flags behind the panel were cut using one of the dies in Blueprints 8.

Thanks for visiting.  Be sure to check out the beautiful cards made by the Design Team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Painted Flowers (Altenew), Say it in Style (Clearly Besotted)
Ink:  Audrey Blue (SSS), Memento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock:  White, Audrey Blue, Soft Navy
Accessories:  Lil' Inkers Stitched Rectangle dies, Wink of Stella, Blueprints 8 (MFT)

In Shape

Hi and welcome!  I'm so excited because today I get to be a Guest Designer at CASology!  The cue word for this week is:

I actually made two cards for this challenge.  The first one involved die-cutting different shapes but in the end I wasn't happy with it and decided to go in a totally different direction.

Now who on earth would I send this to???  I don't know, but it was great fun to make!  The stamps are from Inky Antics and I stamped the lady and very quickly colored her with Copics.  Disclaimer:  This lady is totally fictitious and is definitely not based on anyone I know or see in the mirror ;)

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll have time to check out the gorgeous cards made by the Design Team and have a go at this challenge yourself.  There are so many directions this cue word can take you!

Products used:

Stamps:  Ageless Worldly Women (Inky Antics)
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock:  White
Accessories:  Copics

Cheers
Karren

Sleigh Bells

It's Merry Monday and that means it's time for another Christmas card challenge.  This week Bonnie is our hostess and she is challenging us to use wet or dry embossing on our cards.

I went with some heat embossing and came up with this card, that also uses the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch.

I white embossed the Santa's sleigh image onto a white card base then carefully sponged Tumbled Glass ink over the top.  I sponged some Broken China ink inside the circle and at the top of the houses and tree to define them a bit more.

The sentiment comes from Winter Wonderland by Mama Elephant and worked well with the image.  I finished off with some Moonshine sequins from SSS.

Thanks for visiting.  Be sure to check out the amazing creations by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Holiday Silhouette (Inkadinkado), Winter Wonderland (Mama Elephant)

Ink:  Versamark, Archival Black, Tumbled Glass, Broken China

Cardstock:  White

Accessories:  Sequins, White EP

Cheers

Karren