Falling Leaves

Hi and welcome!  I'm thrilled to be Guest Designer at Addicted to CAS today.  The team have chosen a fabulous code word, which opens up so many opportunities:

For my card, I wanted to use a panel of alcohol inked Yupo paper from my play session last week.  For this panel, I used oranges and yellows along with some gold mixative.

I die-cut the panel with several leaves dies and set them aside while I worked on the rest of my card.  I die-cut a white panel with the Striped Sentiment Strip die and then gold-embossed this gorgeous sentiment onto the wide panel.  This panel was added to a Hot Fudge card base with foam tape. Then I spent an age arranging the leaves!  I finished the card with some clear Nuvo Crystal Drops.  Here are a couple of different views of the leaves:

Thanks so much for visiting and thanks to the Addicted to CAS team for inviting me to join them!  Head on over and check out their challenge.

I'm linking this up to a few challenges:

Inskpirational have a gorgeous autumn photo inspiration, as do The Card Concept where I'm entering in the Clean and Layered category and Muse card challenge, where I was inspired by Stephanie's leaves, colors and gold embossing.

Products used:

Stamps:  Lots to Say (Reverse Confetti)
Ink:  Versamark, various Alcohol Inks
Cardstock:  Hot Fudge (MFT), White, Yupo
Dies:  Leaves (Impression Obsession), Striped Sentiment Strip (MFT)
Accessories:  Gold EP, Nuvo Crystal Drops

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Card Concept, Muse and Inkspirational.

Blue Leaves

Welcome!  I'm here with a card for the newest Fusion Challenge.  Check out this graphic!

I love both options so much I decided to create a fusion and after playing around with some alcohol inks, I came up with this card:

That tag is so gorgeous in real life.  The blues are so rich and the silver mixative adds such a beautiful metallic look.  I've had alcohol inks since I first began stamping but watching Jennifer McGuire's video a couple of weeks ago inspired me to get them out and get inky and this was one of the panels that resulted.

The leaves were die-cut from patterned and solid paper using some beautiful Impression Obsession die sets.  I sponged around the edges of the leaves to add a bit of dimension and added a tiny twine bow.  The sentiment is silver-embossed onto black and I finished the card with some black Nuvo Crystal Drops - although one of them was a bit bigger than I planned 😄

Thanks so much for visiting!  Head on over and check out what the rest of the DT have done - you'll see a few more fusions and some all-round gorgeous cards!

Products used:

Stamps:  KIS:  Just for You (PTI)
Ink:  Versamark, Ripe Persimmon, Wild Honey Distress Inks.  Denim, Stonewashed, Turquoise, Sailboat Blue, Silver Mixative Alcohol Inks
Cardstock:  Yupo, White, Perfectly Plaid (Lawn Fawn), Wood & Notebook Basics (Sn@p), Burnt Orange (SSS)
Dies:  Leaves (Impression Obsession), Tag You're It (MFT)
Accessories:  Silver EP, Corner Chomper

Cheers
Karren

Holly Wreath

I'm back with yet another Christmas card today.  Yes, I'm feeling the pressure of Christmas crafting - it took me most of the year until I felt in the mood to make Christmas cards and now time is running out!  To help the task along, we have a fabulous layered sketch at Freshly Made Sketches, designed by Kim Singdahlsen.

I decided to use a wreath for the topmost layer and stamped and colored this wreath from Hero Arts.  What is hard to see in the photo is that the wreath is layered and has extra holly leaves and berries popped up on foam tape.

I put little dots of Nuvo Crystal Drops on top of the berries on the popped up leaves to add some dimension and colored the ribbon with clear sparkle pen.  The sentiment comes from another Hero Arts set and was gold-embossed onto vellum.  The card base is Desert Storm and I chose the patterned paper to resemble a wooden door.

A short and sweet post today - so much to do at work and so little time.  Two days and counting before the big move!  Head on over and check out how the rest of the DT interpreted the sketch - you'll be glad you did.


Products used:

Stamps:  Santa's Door Accessories, Winter Hearth (Hero Arts)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Versamark
Cardstock:  Desert Storm, Vellum, X-Press It, Wood & Notebook Basics (Sn@p)
Dies:  Santa's Door Accessories (Hero Arts), Stitched Rectangle Stax, Blueprints 24 (MFT)
Accessories:  Copics, Gold EP, Nuvo Crystal Drops, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers
Karren

Autumn Flowers

Hi and welcome!  It's been a long weekend here in New Zealand - the first in nearly five long winter months!  I spent a chunk of it making cards for upcoming DT challenges, as it's unlikely I'll get to stamp next weekend as the big office move is on!  Anyways, after finishing my DT cards, I took some time to make a card for a few challenges out there at the moment:  Paper Players' sketch, CAS on Friday's flower challenge, CASology's Sorry cue word and Card Concept's autumn love inspiration photo (clean and layered category).

As is pretty obvious from my card, I didn't go with an autumn theme, but instead was inspired by the rich orange-y hues in the photo and the white of the cake.  I stamped these gorgeous layering flowers using Altenew inks and cut them with my Scan n Cut.  The fishtail frame was extended using partial die-cutting to fit the sketch and was cut from Persimmon cardstock.  I used Rose Gold embossing powder on the gorgeous sentiment by Reverse Confetti and die-cut the panel with a stitched rectangle frame.

The flowers, leaf and sentiment panel are all popped up on foam tape.  To finish the card, I added a Copper Penny Nuvo Crystal Drop into the center of each flower.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  My Best Friend (Clearly Besotted/SSS), Lots to Say (Reverse Confetti)
Ink:  Versamark, Bamboo, Parrot, Olive, Sunkissed, Orange Cream, Fire Brick (Altenew)
Cardstock:  White, Black, Persimmon (MFT)
Dies:  Stitched Fishtail frames, A2 Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)
Accessories:  Rose Gold EP, Copper Penny Nuvo Crystal Drops

Cheers
Karren

Santa Paws

Hi and welcome!  I'm here with a card using the latest sketch from Freshly Made Sketches, where our hostess this week is the delightfully funny and super-talented Linda Callahan.  And here is Linda's sketch:

I saw a shaker circle in the sketch and couldn't shake it (get it! 😁) so that's the direction I took.  I'm definitely into Christmas card mode now, helped in no small part by all the fabulous releases out there!

I created my shaker window with Mama Elephant dies, including the box die and then went to work on my stamped elements.  This dog from Happy Pawlidays is just adorable and after I colored and cut him out, I added Glossy Accents to the lights and a Snow Marker to the fur around his hat.  BUT, I forgot to shake it before using it so it came out all thin and didn't fluff up properly.  Doh!

The sentiments were gold embossed - the first one onto heat-resistant acetate and the second onto a strip of Poppy cardstock.  The box and puppy are popped up on foam tape.

Thanks so much for visiting!  The Design Team have some gorgeous cards to inspire you to play along so I hope you'll head on over and check them out.

I'm sneaking in under the wire to add this to the gallery at Just Add Ink who have  Just Add Two challenge - I've used colouring and sequins.  I'm also playing along at Addicted to Stamps and More in their CAS challenge.

Products used:

Stamps:  Happy Pawlidays (MFT)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Desert Storm (Neenah), Poppy (MFT), X-Press It

Dies:  All Prettied Up (Mama Elephant)

Accessories:  Copics, Glossy Accents, Snow Marker, Gold EP, Sequins

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Just Add Ink.

Red, Red Roses

Welcome!  I'm back with another card for the reminder post at The Flower Challenge, who are celebrating their 1st Anniversary!  This month I am one of the Guest Designers (and in very good company, I might add!)

For my favorite flower, I again chose the rose and this time pulled out a very, very old PSX botanical stamp called Hybrid Rose.

I stamped it onto X-Press It cardstock and colored it with Copic markers.  Once I'd finished coloring, I lightly shaded around the image with a pale blue Copic.  As it is quite a formal image, I added a bit of levity to the card by using a higgledy-piggledy sentiment.  The dark gray frame was cut with the Park Avenue die and I fussy-cut around one of the roses so it overhangs the frame slightly.

The sentiment was popped up on foam tape, but the rest of the card is pretty flat, so easy for mailing.

I'm linking this up to Seize the Birthday, who have an Anything Goes challenge as well as Inspired By All The Little Things, where the deep red flowers, green foliage and dark gray (navy?) dress all look so beautiful together.

Products used:

Stamps:  K-1636 (PSX), Label Sentiments (MFT)

Ink:  Intense Black, Versafine Onyx Black

Cardstock:  Whtie, X-Press It, Slate (SSS)

Dies:  Park Avenue (Mama Elephant), Label Sentiments (MFT)

Accessories:  Copics

Cheers

Karren

Eek-a-Boo

Hi and welcome to my blog.  Today I have a card for the new Fusion Challenge.  Don't you just love that photo?  There's something about black and white stripes and lime that I just love!

I decided to play with only the photo this week and chose to use the sketch from SugarPea Designs for my card.

This adorable little ghost is from Eek-a-Boo and I stamped and colored him very lightly before cutting him out with my Scan n Cut.  His bow-tie and the banner were painted with clear sparkle pen. I used some Limelight cardstock for my popped-up front panel and die-cut a stitched circle from the front.  Behind the circle cut-out, I added some striped patterned paper.

The sentiment is white-embossed onto a black stitched panel and I finished the card with some Glitter Drops.

I don't send Halloween cards but this ghost is just too cute not to use!

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

Products used:

Stamps:  Eek-a-Boo (SugarPea Designs)
Ink:  Intense Black
Cardstock:  White, Black, X-Press It, Limelight (MFT), Dots & Stripes Neutrals (MFT)
Dies:  Inside/Out Stitched Circles, Blueprints 20, 25 (MFT)
Accessories:  Copics, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen, White Blizzard Nuvo Gitter Drops, White EP

Cheers
Karren

Snowpals

Edited to Add:  This card has been added to Ksenija's Chasing Holiday Mojo event.

Hi and welcome to a new sketch from the team at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our hostess this week is the very-talented Rita Wright.

And here is my card.  The observant among you will notice it's missing an element of the sketch...

Yep, don't do what I did!  I had every intention of using a polaroid die for the centre element in the sketch, but my polaroid dies were all too small, so I put it aside and kept on creating - completely forgetting it was a key part of the sketch.  Doh!  If I want to fool myself, I can say the stitched lines both inside and outside the rectangular panel would work for the extra rectangle.  Does that sound convincing? 😄

Anyway, I used the snow drifts for the horizontal panel and painted the edges with a snow marker after lightly sponging some Salty Ocea ink onto the edges.  I then heat-set the snow marker so it fluffed up a bit.  The images were stamped, colored and die-cut and the background was stenciled over after being ink-blended with Distress Oxide inks.  

So despite missing a layer on the sketch, I think this turned out okay - those little snowmen are adorable - they are part of a Stamptember set designed by Gina K Designs. 

Thanks for visiting!  Head on over and check out the rest of the design team's work - it's fabulous as always.  

I'm linking this up to The Merry Christmas Challenge, Addicted to Stamps and More and Muse:  Christmas Visions where I was inspired by the blue background, falling snow and little pops of color.

Products used:

Stamps:  Warmer With You (SSS), Christmas Essentials (SSS)

Ink:  Intense Black, Versamark, Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean, Faded Jeans Distress Oxide

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Bristol Smooth, Summer Splash (MFT)

Dies:  Inside/Out Stitched Rectangles, Landscape Trio, Basic Stitch Lines (MFT)

Accessories:  Copics, White EP, Embossing Paste, Falling Snow Stencil (SSS), Snow Marker

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Muse Christmas Visions

Bunch of Flowers

I'm back with my fourth and last card of the day!  This is for the final challenge at MFT's World Card-making Day Challenge - to make and mail a card.  I know, right?  Actually mailing a card that I make is pretty unheard of.  I have great intentions but then time slips away and it ceases to be timely so I just don't send it.  So dumb!

But this one is going to be mailed - all the way to the US!  I used the colors from Cupcake Inspirations Challenge - yellow, orange and black.  I used two oranges and two yellows along with black for my card.  The flowers and leaves were cut from the Stitched Flowers die set and the hello was die-cut from a piece I had clear-embossed with Roses All Over so it has a subtle but pretty pattern over it.  

The card base was ink blended with Fossilized Amber and Wild Honey Distress Oxide inks over the Geometric Grid stencil.

I finished with some Nuvo Crystal Drops.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Roses All Over (MFT)

Ink:  Versamark, Fossilized Amber, Wild Honey Distress Oxide

Cardstock:  White, Black, Pineapple, Persimmon, Lemon Chiffon, Tangy Orange (MFT)

Dies:  Stitched Flowers, Thanks & Hello (MFT)

Accessories:  Geometric Grid Stencil, Nuvo Crystal Drops, Clear EP

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Cupcake Inspirations.

Twenty

Sorry to bombard you with posts today, but I'm playing along with MFT's World Card-making Day challenges and the deadline is before I get home from work tomorrow, because we're several hours ahead of the US.  So it's now or never!

This challenge is to feature numbers on your card.  My son's 20th birthday is coming up in a few months so I thought this was a good time to make him a card.

I used the Pop Up Numbers and cut the "20" several times across a panel of soft grey cardstock.  I then added foam tape on the back and adhered it to some Limelight cardstock.  I finished with a white-embossed sentiment cut with the Slanted Sentiment Strips die.  Pretty easy!

I'm linking this up to Seize The Birthday who are looking for text/script background.  Not sure if numbers count, but if not, I'll join in with the Linky Party.

Products used:

Stamps:  Adorable Elephants (MFT)

Ink:  Versamark

Cardstock:  Soft Stone, Black, Limelight (MFT)

Dies:  Pop Up Numbers, Slanted Sentiment Strips

Cheers

Karren