Friday 30 March 2018

Bunny Wreath

I'm back with a card for the latest challenge at Fusion!  Check out this fun sketch and beautiful inspiration photo:

I decided to create a fusion this time and was inspired by the flowers, the wreath, the colors and, of course, the sketch.


A year or so back, I stamped a whole heap of these adorable flowers and leaves from SugarPea Designs in many different SSS inks.  I die-cut them all and tucked them in with the stamps.  I've now made three different cards using these and having them pre-stamped and cut makes the job so much quicker!  The gingham paper is from MFT and adhered to a white card base.  I then used foam tape to adhere the angled panels on top.  The wreath was adhered with a mixture of liquid glue and foam tape.  A thanks sentiment finishes the card.




Thanks for visiting!  The design team have created some gorgeous cards so I hope you'll check them out and come join us in the gallery.

I'm linking this card up to the Anything Goes challenges at Simon Says Stamp and Retro Rubber (I've had these SPD sets since mid-2016).

RRCB 83


Stamps:  Funky Wreath Spring Addition, Funky Wreath All Seasons (SPD)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Doll Pink, Dark Chocolate, Hollyhock, Hotlips, Jellybean, Twinkling Tutu, Willow, Beanstalk, Lemon Chiffon, Duckling, Apricot, Teeny Bikini
Cardstock:  White, Farm Fresh Gingham (MFT)
Dies:  Funky Wreath Spring Addition, Funky Wreath All Seasons (SPD)

Cheers
Karren

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

Thursday 29 March 2018

Hello Flowers

Hi and welcome!  It's time for another sketch from the team at Freshly Made Sketches and this week our hostess is Jen Brum and she has a fabulous sketch for us to play with:

I was a bit loose with the sketch and used elements rather than panels to define the layout.  I hope you can see the sketch in my card.



As soon as I saw Jen's sketch, I knew I wanted to use a die-cut word for the horizontal panel and then I decided to use my NBUS Painted Flowers set (which I didn't even want when it first came out but after seeing all the gorgeous cards using it, I had to have it!).

I chose to use the beautiful colors at the MFT Color Challenge, which also worked well for the current challenge at Just Us Girls.   From the photo at JUGS, I was inspired mostly by the right-hand photo with the pretty flowers and colors.

I used inks for the Peach, Coral and Gray colors and used some Blue Breeze cardstock for the Hello die-cut.  The flowers were positioned behind the word for the most part and the "friend" word was stamped in gray ink.  I finished the card with some confetti.




Thanks for visiting!  The FMS DT have some gorgeous cards using Jen's sketch so I hope you'll check them out.



Products used:

Stamps:  Painted Flowers, Label Maker Sentiments (MFT)
Ink:  PInk Pearl, Coral Bliss, Limestone, Silver Stone (Altenew)
Cardstock:  White, Blue Breeze (MFT)
Dies:  Big Hello
Accessories:  Sparkling Clear Confetti

Cheers
Karren

Thursday 22 March 2018

Mandala

Hi and welcome!  I'm back with another challenge from the team at Freshly Made Sketches and this week our hostess is Kim Singdahlsen.  Her sketch is a goodie - and I can't wait to see how everyone interprets it.


I decided to use some emboss resist and bright colors to define the circular shape on the sketch.


I've been wanting this Mandala stamp for ages and whenever I was placing an order at SSS, it was out of stock.  I finally managed to grab it last month and this is its first outing.  I white embossed it onto a panel of Neenah Solar White cardstock and then sponged Distress Oxide inks over the top, fading out towards the top right corner.

The sentiment is from another NBUS set and white embossed onto black.  The panel was die-cut with a stitched frame die and then added to a white card base with fun foam between the layers.  I finished the card with some Sparkling Clear Confetti.



Thanks for visiting!  The design team have come up with some fabulous cards so I hope you'll check them out.

I'm linking this up to the ink technique challenge at Work It Wednesday.




Products used:

Stamps:  Mandala (SugarPea Designs), Yay for You (MFT)
Ink:  Versamark, Abandoned Coral, Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey Distress Oxide
Cardstock:  White, Black
Dies:  Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)
Accessories:  White EP, Sparkling Clear Confetti

Cheers
Karren

Saturday 17 March 2018

Easter Baby

Hi and welcome!  This morning I made this card using the sketch at MFT Stamps, the inspiration photo at Just Add Ink and the Easter-Inspired challenge at Simon Says Stamp.



From the JAI photo (congrats on 400 challenges, by the way!), I was inspired by the pastel colours of the eggs and the speckles so I tried to replcate that in my alcohol ink panel.  I chose my lightest colours of alcohol ink as well as Copper Mixative and went to town on a panel of Alcohol Ink cardstock.  When it was dry, I spritzed it with some Distress Resist Spray and once that was dry, I lightly went over the whole panel with Micro Glaze.


I die-cut the sentiment with copper foil cardstock as well as the strip down the left hand side.  And because the photo (and Spring in general) puts me in mind of babies and new life, I decided to add a new baby sentiment, white-embossed on black.

Here's a close-up of the texture created by the Distress Resist Spray.  This stuff is really cool!


Thanks for visiting!




Products used:

Stamps:  Yay for You (MFT)
Ink:  Versamark, Alcohol Inks
Cardstock:  White, Black, Copper, Alcohol Ink Cardstock
Dies:  So Many Yays (MFT)
Accessories:  Nuvo Jewel Drops, Distress Resist Spray

Cheers
Karren

Friday 16 March 2018

Rainy Day

Hi and welcome!  I'm here with another challenge for Fusion and this time we have an adorable photo inspiration and/or an interesting sketch.

I went with the photo for my card and created a rainy day scene that involves critters rather than people.



I used the Drifts and Hills stencil to lightly sponge a sky and ground and then stamped the raindrop background stamp with Barely Blue ink.  The critters were stamped colored and die-cut and the sentiment is white-embossed onto a strip of black cardstock.  The wee dog is popped up on foam tape and slightly lower than the rest of the animals so he looks to be closer.  That way, the fact he is so big compared to the bear and elephant doesn't look too out of place 😃


Thanks for visiting!  The design team have some fabulous cards so head on over and check them out.  I'm linking this up to the challenge at Shopping Our Stash to "put a bird on it" and the Pets theme challenge at Cupcake Inspirations.  I'm also entering this into A Blog Named Hero because this set is without a doubt my favorite Hero Arts set.



Grab Our Badge!



Products used:
Stamps:  Fun in the Rain (Hero Arts), Falling Rain (SSS), Sweet Sentiments (Clearly Besotted), Distressed Patterns (MFT)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Barely Blue (SSS), Antique Linen, Tumbled Glass Distress Inks
Cardstock:  White, Black, X-Press It
Dies:  Fun in the Rain (Hero Arts), Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)
Accessories:  Copics, White EP

Cheers
Karren

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

Thursday 15 March 2018

New Adventure

 Welcome to my blog!  I'm here with a card for the latest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches, where our hostess this week is Linda Callahan.  I'm also playing along with the MFT Color Challenge.  Check out Linda's sketch!

I was influenced by Linda's own card when I sat down to make my card.  While it's hard to see in the photo, I created a scene with the diamond shape, fading out the colors towards the edges.


I then stamped, colored and die-cut the sweet little girl image and adhered her with foam tape to the sponged and die-cut panel.  I added a sentiment and then glued that down to a white card base.  Finally, I finished the card by adding a yellow Nuvo Jewel Drop to the flower on her hat.


Thanks for visiting!  Head on over and check out what the rest of the DT have done with this fun sketch.

Edited to add:  Thanks to Barb for reminding me this fit with the challenge at Addicted to CAS.  I never gave a thought to the fact it had "luck" in the sentiment! 





Products used:

Stamps:  Adventure is Calling (MFT)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Tumbled Glass, Twisted Citron Distress Inks, Versafine Onyx Black
Cardstock:  White, X-Press It
Dies:  Adventure is Calling, Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)
Accessories:  Copics, Nuvo Jewel Drops

Sunday 11 March 2018

Alcohol Leaves

Hi!  While I was making some DT cards yesterday, I also took the time to make this card for a few current challenges.  This uses the sketch at MFT Stamps, the celebration with sequins challenges at CAS on Friday, the monochromatic green challenge at Card Concept and the Green challenge at Work It Wednesday.


I started by creating the alcohol ink panel on Yupo paper.  Various greens and blue inks were used as well as silver mixative.  Once I was happy with the result, I stamped on the panel with archival ink and the leaves from Geometric Greenery, then wiped off the ink to create a resist look.  The panel was die-cut with a die from Blueprints 30, which I extended with some partial die-cutting.


The circles were die-cut with Tropical Teal ink and positioned onto a white card base to match the sketch.  I then added the Yupo panel and the black die-cut sentiment.  Finally, some crystal clear confetti and this clean and layered card was done.  In the photo aboe, you can see hints of the silver mixative.

Thanks for visiting!



For your blog

Work it Wednesday

Products used:

Stamps:  Geometric Greenery (MFT)
Ink:  Archival Veridian, Ranger Alcohol Inks
Cardstock:  White, Black, Yupo, Tropical Teal (MFT)
Dies:  Blueprints 30, Inside/Out Stitched Circles, Celebratory Greetings (MFT)
Accessories:  Pretty Pink Posh Confetti

Cheers
Karren


Thursday 8 March 2018

Life is an Adventure

Hi and welcome!  I'm here with a card for the new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  This week our hostess is Jen Mitchell and she has a great sketch for us.

My card ended up very simple, but it didn't start out that way!



I decided that the sand dunes from the December My Monthly Hero Kit worked perfectly for the angled panel and the people on the flying carpet worked for the star element.  Those pieces were easy to pull together, even though both people and the mat are all separate images that required some masking, fussy cutting and partial die-cutting.  That's where the easy part ended!  I had originally created a sponged sunset scene for the background and flicked on white acrylic paint and let it dry.  I put the card together and what a hot mess!  I ended up cutting it all apart and walking away from it for a couple of days.



Then two days before the challenge was due to go live and I still didn't have a card, so I decided to revert to type and added the rescued pieces from the original card to a white card base and called it done!  What is hard to see in the photos is that I added three layers of foam tape behind both people to create a curved mat to look like it was flying. 



So for all that, my card is done!  I hope you'll check out the rest of the design team because their cards certainly don't look like they struggled 😄

Products used:

Stamps:  My Monthly Hero (Hero Arts)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid
Cardstock:  White, X-Press It
Dies:  MMH (Hero Arts)
Accessories:  Copic Markers

Cheers
Karren



Friday 2 March 2018

Magnolia Wish

Hi!  I'm back!  It's time for another challenge at Fusion.
While I took some elements from the sketch, I mostly focused on the photo for my card, taking the white and green floral theme to come up with this card:



The flower was stamped in the upper-right corner of a piece of X-Press It cardstock and colored with Copics.  I stuck to the BVs and Ns for the petals, which made them look whitish with a hint of purple.  I went over various parts of the image with Prismacolors to deepen the shaded areas or add more purple tones.  The sentiment was white-embossed and comes from an old PTI set "Mum's the Word".  I specifically wanted a big, multi-word sentiment to balance out the big flowers.



Thanks for visiting!  Head on over and check out the fabulous cards made by the rest of the design team.  You'll be glad you did!

I'm linking this up to the PaperCraft Crew Tic Tac Toe challenge (Emboss-Elements of Sprintime-Birthday) and the Anything Goes challenges at Addicted to Stamps and More and Simon Says Stamp.






Products used:

Stamps:  Make a Wish (Clearly Besotted), Mum's The Word (PTI)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Versamark
Cardstock:  Black, X-Press It
Dies:  Stitched Rectangle Stax , Slanted Sentiment Strips (MFT)
Accessories:  Copics, Prismacolors, White EP

Cheers
Karren