Monster Pyramid

Hi!  This is the end of my short 3-day break from work.  I've had some fun in the craft room as well as spending time with my boys.  This card was made for Lesley's monster/birthday themed Challenge and also the "M" challenge at Cardz for Guys.  My "M" words are monsters and masking.

I started my card by cutting masks of all six monsters using Eclipse masking paper.  I then arranged them in a pyramid on some X-Press It cardstock and carefully removing masks as needed, I stamped each monster.  Once that was complete, I colored with Copics in a semi-rainbow fashion.  To create a background, I masked the monsters again and sponged Mowed Lawn and Tumbled Glass distress inks.

For the sentiment banner, after I'd embossed and die-cut it, I carefully cut around the feet of the bottom three monsters and tucked the banner under their feet - giving them something to "stand on".  Blueprints dies came to the rescue with layering as did some Reverse Confetti banner dies to tie in with the inspiration picture.  I quite like this little card which I think would be suitable for a young boy.  My favorite monster has to be the teal one in the center bottom.  I wanted to color him red because I think he looks like the red M & M :)

Thanks for visiting.  I'm also linking this to Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday Challenge to use a stamp.

Products used:

Stamps:  Out of this World (Clearly Besotted), KIS Birthday (PTI)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Mowed Lawn, Tumbled Glass

Cardstock:  White, black, X-Press It

Accessories:  Copics, Pierced Fishtail Flag Stax (MFT), Blueprints 20 and 21 (MFT), Double Banner Garland (Reverse Confetti)

Cheers

Karren

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

Follow Your Dreams

This card was made for the challenge at Just Us Girls, as well as the Dream cue word at Addicted to CAS and the shiny theme at Less is More.

I started by stamping the Wide Stripes background stamp onto a white card base.  Using my Misti, I had to stamp it about 6 times to get good coverage!  I then stamped the floral stamp onto a white panel and colored it with Prismacolor pencils.  The sentiment was cut in half to make it fit and I then drew the dots with a multi-liner pen so it didn't look too offset.

A strip of gold foil card down each side and some gold sequins and my card was finished.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Delicate Florals (Penny Black), Dandelion Dreams (Clearly Besotted)  Wide Stripes (SSS)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Archival Black

Cardstock:  White, Black, Gold

Accessories:  Prismacolor pencils, gold sequins

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Addicted to CAS.

Chevron Coffee

Hi, I'm joining in with the Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop today, as well as the ColourQ challenge and The Paper Players sketch challenge.

When I first saw Claire's sketch, I had zero ideas, but then it slowly came together into this card - not sure that it 100% meets the sketch, but I think you can see the sketch :)

I started with a Slate card base and down the left hand side I stamped the script image and a leaf image from French Foliage - one of my favorite SU sets.  I then die cut a frame from Smoke cardstock and again stamped the script image down the left hand side.

The chevron and the band on the coffee cup are white panels sponged with distress ink then spritzed with water.  After die-cutting the coffee cup, I sponged the sides to give the impression of roundness.  A stacked die-cut sentiment and my card was finished.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  French Foliage (SU)

Ink:  Slate, Smoke (SSS), Rusty Hinge, Fossilized Amber (Distress), 

Cardstock:  Smoke, Slate (SSS), White

Accessories:  Painted Hello die (SSS), Pierced Rectangle Frame (MFT), Coffee Cup die (MFT), Triple Chevies die (Reverse Confetti), rhinestone

Cheers

Karren

Merry Everything

Hi and welcome!  Today I'm sad to report that this is my last post as a member of the Merry Monday Design Team.  I need a bit of a break from Christmas cards, so have decided to step down from the team.  And yes, I do appreciate the irony of my timing :)  This is a wonderful team of talented and friendly stampers and I'll be sorry to say goodbye.

This week's challenge comes to us from Kristie and she is wanting to see rainbow colors on our cards.

I was going to do something in ROYGBIV sequence, but I'd received the Jingle All The Way stamp set a week ago and really, really wanted to ink it up, so decided to use rainbow colors on my card.

I had a lot of fun coloring these adorable images and then spent a bit of time working out how to display them.  In the end, I went for some subtle grass/sky ink blending a la Laura Bassen to ground the figures and popped them up on dimensional tape.  The sentiment was white embossed and cut at an angle.

I painted the gifts and the little girl's dress with Wink of Stella so it has a subtle shimmer.

Thanks for visiting.  Be sure to check out the fabulous rainbow creations of the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Jingle All The Way (MFT)

Ink:  Green Apple, Sea Glass (SSS), Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Black, X-Press It

Accessories:  Jingle All The Way dies (MFT), Copics, Wink of Stella

Cheers

Karren

Halftone Bokeh

Hi, this is my second card post for today but I've got three days off work and couldn't think of anything better to do than stamp :)

This card was made for the current Muse challenge, the no patterned paper theme at Simon Says Stamp, the circle theme at CASology and the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch.  Now I'm not sure this card classifies as CAS as there's not a lot of white space going on, but it is clean so I'm entering it anyways.

I wanted to keep the soft, muted tones of Anita's muse card, so chose my palest Simon Says Stamp inks and covered a piece of white cardstock with the halftone image from So 80's.  I then softened the colors more by sponging over the panel, bokeh style using white ink and a home-made bokeh stencil.  As you couldn't see the sponged circles, I then white-embossed a whole heap of circles down the right hand side of the panel.  In keeping with Anita's black frame and black die-cut sentiment, I die-cut the "wishing" sentiment and white embossed one of the smaller sentiments in the set before cutting it out, angling both edges.  I tucked the embossed sentiment into the tail of the 'g' in Wishing for some added interest.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  So 80's (WP9), Sending and Wishing (SSS), Lots of Dots (SSS)
Ink:  Melon, Lake Shores, Duckling, Twirling Tutu, Mint (SSS), Unicorn White (HA), Versamark
Cardstock:  White, black
Accessories:  White EP, Lil' Inkers Stitched Rectangle Die, Wishing Die (SSS)

Cheers
Karren

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

New York Skyline

Welcome to my blog!  Today's card uses the colors at Color Throwdown and has a graphic feel to it.

I started my card by white embossing the Graph Background stamp onto some watercolor paper, before sponging on Squeezed Lemonade and Twisted Citron ink.

I then die-cut the New York Skyline out of black cardstock and some fun foam and white embossed the sentiment onto the black cardstock before sticking it down to the watercolor panel and finally onto a white card base.

A pretty simple card!

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  KIS Birthday (PTI) Graph Background (Hero Arts)

Ink:  Versamark, Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron

Cardstock:  White, black, watercolor

Accessories:  White EP, New York Skyline die (MFT)

Cheers

Karren

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

Leaves

Hi!  I wanted to make a card featuring leaves to meet a few current challenges, but I didn't know what sort of card to make, so I pondered on it for a while today.  Unfortunately, I got a phone call from a former workmate advising of the sudden death of another workmate's young wife, so I needed a sympathy card.  Because of the nature of this card, I spent quite some time trying to make it the best I could.  Consequently, there were a lot of steps that aren't immediately apparent.

I am playing along in the autumn colors challenge at AAA Cards, the autumn splendors challenge at Simply Create Too and the current Tag You're It Challenge.  Admittedly, I didn't take too many elements from the gorgeous inspiration tag, but I was trying to produce a more muted and somber card.  I did use the leaves, autumn colors and I used white paint splatter instead of sequins.

I started with a manila tag and sponged on various Distress Ink colors in a random fashion.  I then over-stamped the tag with a blueprint-type image in Stone and Cobblestone inks.  The Layered Leaves dies were used to cut some leaves and I sponged the edges in Vintage Photo ink before adhering the open layer to the bottom layer at the stem only.

I white-embossed a sympathy sentiment onto a die-cut tag and then I careful cut around the reinforcing circle from the manila tag and adhered that to the black tag.  Another tag in Desert Storm was arranged behind the black one.  Finally I splattered some Picket Fence Distress Paint onto the tag using a paintbrush before adhering the tag to the card base.

So, that's my card, that'll be mailed out on Monday.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Deepest Sympathy (Verve), Steampunk (Stampers Anonymous)

Ink:  Peeled Paint, Rusty Hinge, Spiced Marmalade, Fossilized Amber, Squeezed Lemonade, Wild Honey, Vintage Photo (Distress), Stone, Cobblestone (SSS), Versamark, White Picket Fence Paint 

Cardstock:  White, Black, Desert Storm, Dots & Stripes patterned paper (MFT), manila tag

Accessories:  White EP, Layered Leaves dies (MFT), Pierced Traditional Tag Stax (MFT), twine

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Simply Create Too.

Java

Hi and welcome to Freshly Made Sketch Challenge Day!  Today's sketch comes to us from Rita and she has a fun sketch featuring banners.

My card didn't come out quite how I envisaged it but that's okay!  I wanted an ombre base and for some reason I chose to use purple shades.  I was initially inspired by this card of Julee Tilman's I found on Pinterest.  So, after white embossing the java image from Verve, I sponged on Lavender, Wisteria and Hydrangea inks.  I sponged and I sponged and I sponged and didn't get the sort of contrast I was hoping for, so it is what it is.

The rest of the card is fairly self-explanatory.  I copic-colored the coffee cup and paper-pieced with some MFT patterned paper.  The banner was die-cut with the same paper and the whole lot was popped up on foam tape.  A few sequins in the upper left and my card was finished.

Thanks for visiting today.  Be sure to check out the wonderful cards made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Better With You (Verve)

Ink:  Lavender, Wisteria, Hydrangea (SSS), Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black

Cardstock:  White, Black, X-Press It, MFT Dots & Stripes

Accessories:  White EP, Copics, Stitched Fishtail Flag Stax (MFT), Stitched Scalloped Borders (Lawn Fawn), sequins

Cheers

Karren

North Pole

Hi and welcome!  Today's challenge at Merry Monday is to use watercoloring on your card.  Don't be daunted - watercoloring can be as simple as swiping an inkpad onto an acrylic block and picking up the color with a brush to make a background on your card.

For my card, I decided to color up a new-to-me set from MFT Stamps called Cool Day.  I just love these polar bears :)

I stamped and colored the bear and his accessories with my Zig watercolor pens and then die-cut the images.  I cut a tag using Sea Glass cardstock and stamped the sentiment from Clearly Besotted along the bottom.  I did a bit of stenciling on both the tag and the card base and finished off the tag with some lime twine to match his scarf and hat.

Thanks for visiting.  Be sure to check out the watercolored beauties created by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Cool Day (MFT Stamps) Sweet Little Sentiments (Clearly Besotted)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Cardstock:  White, Sea Glass (SSS), watercolor

Accessories:  Zig watercolor pens, Diagonal Stripes Stencil (MFT), Falling Snow stencil (SSS), embossing paste, twine

Cheers

Karren

Inlaid Hello

Hi!  Today's card came to me during the night when I was meant to be sleeping!  I'm sure that happens to other people, too :)

So as soon as the first load of laundry was in the machine this morning, I dashed into my craft room to put it together.

I used the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch, the colors from ColourQ and the inlaid die-cutting technique at Friday Mashup.  And because this card is pretty much all die-cutting, it works for Simon Says Stamp Die Crazy Challenge.

I started by sponging over a Silhouette-cut stencil using Tumbled Glass and Faded Jeans ink.  I tried to stay in a loose pattern to resemble the sketch elements.  I then temporarily stuck two square dies together to create a frame and cut a frame from both the card base and a piece of PTI Stone cardstock.  The Hello die is from PTI and was cut using Kiwi Kiss cardstock and also in the cardbase/frame.

The word was painted with Wink of Stella to give it a lovely shimmer.  Once I had all the pieces die-cut, I inlaid it all back into the cardbase.  I finished the card with some black enamel dots to loosely mimic the banner in the sketch.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Ink:  Tumbled Glass, Faded Jeans (Distress)

Cardstock:  White, Kiwi Kiss (SU), Stone (PTI)

Accessories:  Noted die (PTI), Nesting Rounded Squares (Lifestyle Crafts), Silhouette-cut stencil, Enamel Dots

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Friday Mashup.

Bluebirds of Happiness

Hi and welcome!  Today is a great day - as it's my first challenge as a member of the fabulous design team at Fusion Card Challenge.  How cool is that?

This challenge is just gorgeous - a wonderful inspiration picture full of bright, beautiful colors and patterns and a fabulous and versatile sketch.

And here's my card:

I stuck with the colors and the bird theme and I also incorporated the sketch.  I loosely painted some Squeezed Lemonade and Fossilized Amber distress inks onto a panel of watercolor paper, leaving it to dry between colors.  Lastly, I flicked on some ink with my paintbrush.

Once I was happy with that, I stamped the row of birds onto a piece of X-Press It cardstock and colored with Copics, before fussy cutting it out and liberally coating it with Wink of Stella.  The sentiment was white embossed onto a stitched circle die and both pieces were popped up on foam tape.  Some enamel dots and my card was done.

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

Products used:

Stamps:  Enjoy Life (Penny Black), Big Scripty Greetings (SSS)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Squeezed Lemonade, Fossilized Amber (Distress)

Cardstock:  White, Black, X-Press It, Watercolor

Accessories:  White EP, Lil Inkers Stitched Circle Dies, Vertical Stitched Strips (MFT), Wink of Stella, Enamel Dots

Cheers

Karren

Thanks

It's time for another fabulous sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and this week our hostess is Jennifer Timko.  Jennifer has come up with a wonderful sketch, so check it out:

For my card, I went with some ink blending and die-cutting to come up with this.

I used my Dot Fade stencil to stencil some white embossing paste onto the center panel of a white card base.  While that was drying, I blended some Squeezed Lemonade, Fossilized Amber and Spiced Marmalade inks onto a panel of watercolor paper, keeping the center light.  

I white embossed the "for everything" onto a strip of black cardstock and die-cut three black "thanks" and one white one before stacking them together, letting the white one sit a bit off-center to create a shadow effect.  That was stuck on top of a thread nest and the whole panel was popped up on foam tape onto the card base.

Thanks for visiting.  The design team have some wonderful cards showcasing this sketch, so be sure to check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Wet Paint (PTI)

Ink:  Squeezed Lemonade, Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade (Distress), Versamark

Cardstock:  White, black, watercolor

Accessories:  Wet Paint dies (PTI), White EP, Dot Fade Stencil (Tim Holtz), white embossing paste, metallic thread

Cheers

Karren