Alcoholic Birthday

Hi and welcome!  Jen Brum is our lovely hostess this week over at Freshly Made Sketches and she has a way-cool sketch for us!

And I see now that I've put my sentiment on the wrong side - oops!  Hopefully Jen will forgive me 😄What a great sketch for highlighting patterned paper, color blocking or, as I've done, an alcohol-inked panel.

I took a sheet of Yupo paper and liberally spritzed it with Isopropyl Alcohol before dropping in alcohol inks in three colors.  I took my spritzer tool and blew the ink around before setting it aside for a minute or two for the bulk of it to dry.  Before it was completely dry, I laid a sheet of gold foil over the top and burnished it with my fingers.  When I lifted the foil, the wet bits had caught pieces of the foil and gave it a lovely metallic look (the bottom photo shows the gold better).

I cut the piece at an angle with a stitched border die and then behind it, I adhered a word edger die cut from Steel Gray cardstock.  Before adding it to the white top-folding card base, I die-cut a piece of Banana Split cardstock with the same stitched border die and added that to the right hand side of the card base.  Finally I added some foam tape to the alcohol inked panel and adhered that to the left hand side of the card base.  I added no embellishments because I thought there was enough interest in the alcohol ink pattern.

As mentioned above, this photo gives a slightly better look at the metallic elements.

Thanks so much for visiting.  The DT have done some amazing things with Jen's sketch, so I hope you'll check them out.

Products used:

Ink:  Alcohol Inks:  Dandelion, Sunset Orange, Butterscotch

Cardstock:  White, Yupo, Gold Foil, Steel Gray, Banana Split (MFT)

Dies:  Greetings Top word Edgers (Impression Obsession), Stitched Basic Edges 2 (MFT)

Birthday Chicks

Hi everyone!  Hope you're having a great weekend!  Who am I kidding - every weekend is great 😂

I'm here with a card and video using the adorable Birthday Chicks stamp set from MFT Stamps.  I've had this set for about a few weeks (after telling myself I didn't need it when it was first released) and finally got time to ink it up.  To help with my card design, I'm playing along with the current sketch at MFT Stamps.  As well, I'm linking up the Simon Says Stamp "Use More Than One Stamp" challenge and the linky party at Seize the Birthday.

I also have a video - see below.

These chicks are just too cute so I chose three images that would work with the scene I had in mind.  I stamped, colored and cut them out and then set them aside to work on my card base.  I took a panel of white cardstock and cut it with a stitched frame rectangle die and also a stitched circle die.  I then used that as a template to mark on the cardbase where my circle would be so I can do some ink-blending and make a wee sky/grass scene.

I used the Mini Cloud stencil and the Drifts and Hills stencil to create my landscape and then placed the die-cut panel on top so I could lay out my chicks and white-embossed sentiment.  I adhered the elements onto the die-cut panel and then used some foam tape to add the panel to the card base.

To finish off the card, I added some clear sparkle pen to the party hats and the cupcake icing.

Thanks so much for visiting!  To watch the video, head on over to YouTube or you can watch it below.

Products used:

Stamps:  Birthday Chicks (MFT)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Versamark, Tumbled Glass Distress Ink, Twisted Citron Distress Oxide

Cardstock:  White, Black, X-Press It

Dies:  Stitched Rectangle Stax, Inside/Out Stitched Circles (MFT)

Accessories:  Copics, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen, Mini Cloud Stencil, Drifts & Hills Stencil

Cheers

Karren

Coral Fusion

Welcome!  I'm here with another challenge from Fusion and we have a beautiful summery inspiration pic for those of you just coming into summer.  And for those of us just coming into winter, I hope the photo makes you feel a bit warmer 😃

I created a fusion again this challenge and got out one of my favorite big floral images and did some coloring.

I started with a 3-color blend for the flowers but couldn't get enough contrast so then brought in N2 to add to the shade areas.  Once I was finished coloring with Copics, I got out some Prismacolor pencils and deepened the areas of shade and also added a bit of white highlighting.

I fussy-cut around the bottom of the lowest flower and tucked a scalloped border behind the flower.  Both these panels were adhered to a matching card base.  The sentiment was white-embossed onto vellum and die-cut with a stitched die.  To make it stand out more, I added a black die-cut flag behind the flower then glued the vellum on top of the flower.  Unfortunately a bit of glue seeped out behind the letters, but by the time I noticed, it was dry and there was nothing I could do.  Hopefully the recipient doesn't notice, whoever that may be!  

I'm linking this card up to a few challenges:  Shopping Our Stash (April Showers bring May Flowers), The Paper Players (CAS Blooms), The Card Concept (Floral Centrepiece - I guess my card is clean and layered) and CAS on Friday (Birthday Card)

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Make a Wish, Say it in Style (Clearly Besotted)
Ink:  Memento London Fog, Versamark
Cardstock:  White, Coral Crush, X-Press It, Black, Vellum
Dies:  Stitched Scallop Edges, Blueprints 2, Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)
Accessories:  Copics, Prismacolors, White EP, White Gel Pen

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Paper Players.

Done Adulting

Hi and welcome!  I'm here with a card and video for the latest sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and this week our hostess is Kim Singdahlsen.

I decided to treat the three vertical elements as negative die-cuts and from there my card came together reasonably easily. 

In the video, I show how I spaced the die-cuts to ensure they were all even - that was the hardest part.  The rest of the card came together quickly.  I ink-blended three strips onto the card base and used foam tape to pop the die-cut panel up over the sponged strips.  A white-embossed sentiment was added and I finished the card with quite a few (for me, anyway!) crystals.

Thanks for visiting!  The design team have gone all out with this sketch, so head on over and check out their fabulous cards.

You can watch the making of this card below or over on YouTube.

Products used:

Stamps:  Crafty Life (Altenew)

Ink:  Versanark, Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide

Cardstock:  White, Black

Dies:  Blueprints 24, A2 Rectangle Stax Set 2 (MFT)

Accessories:  Sparkling Crystals (Studio Katia), White EP

Cheers

Karren

You're the Best

Hi and welcome!  Today's card comes with a video!  Normally when I make a video I have to do it well in advance of when my post goes live to allow time for editing, voiceover, etc.  But today, I decided to film as I made this card for the latest sketch challenge at MFT, as well as the color challenge at Color Throwdown and the stencil challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

The sketch put me in mind of a color-blocked card so that pretty much the direction I took - or at least I started in!  I took a piece of Berrylicious cardstock and the Geometric Grid stencil and sponged over it with Audrey Blue ink.  Once that was finished, it still looked flat to me, so I moved the stencil slightly and added some Apple Green ink over the top.  Much better!

The white panel is a woodgrain cardstock that I die-cut with a Stitched Scallop Edge die.  I stamped the sentiment several times to get a good impression and then adhered the panel along with the stenciled piece to a white top-fold card base.  After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing about what to put down the right hand side (I started with lime gingham paper, then went to black cardstock, then to Berrylicious and finally to the black & white striped paper) I added the stacked "because" and at last finished the card!

No embellishments because this card would suit a male or female equally.

Thanks so much for visiting.  You can watch the video below or over at YouTube.

Products used:

Stamps:  Because You (MFT)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Audrey Blue, Apple Green (SSS)

Cardstock:  White, Black, Woodgrain White (SSS), Berrylicious, B&W Striped (MFT)

Dies:  Stitched Scallop Edges (MFT)

Accessories:  Geometric Grid Stencil (MFT)

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

Floral Sympathy

Hi and welcome!  It's time for another challenge from the team at Freshly Made Sketches and this week our hostess is the inimitable Linda Callahan.  And has she got a great sketch for us!

When I first saw Linda's sketch, it immediately put me in mind of a fancy-fold card, but as I've said before, I'm too lazy for that sort of nonsense 😆so I decided to keep it pretty simple and use vellum for the top layer.

The photos do not do this card justice - so just pretend, okay?  I used the new Stitched Blooms card kit from MFT and die-cut some of the images in both Bubblegum and Pink Lemonade cardstocks, as well as cutting the leaves from Sour Apple.  I wanted the look of shadows, so cut black versions of everything I'd previously cut from colored cardstock.  I layered the black by slightly offsetting it and then created the bouquet arrangement.  I wanted a curved design and once I was happy with how it was laid out, I used some Press 'n' Seal to hold it all in place while I worked on the rest of the card.

I die-cut a Desert Storm panel and a vellum panel from a stitched rectangle die and also the sympathy words from silver foil cardstock.  So I could add some glue to various parts of the vellum, I first added some Nuvo Jewel Drops to the vellum and set it aside to dry.  Once it was dry, I added glue behind the Nuvo drops and also the word die cuts and that held the vellum down nicely.

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

I'm playing along with The Flower Challenge who are looking for acetate/vellum on floral cards this month.

Products used:

Cardstock:  Pink Lemonade, Bubblegum, Sour Apple (MFT), Desert Storm, White, Black, Vellum

Dies:  Stitched Blooms (MFT), With Sympathy (Avery Elle), Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Nuvo Jewel Drops (Rosewater and Key Lime)

Cheers

Karren

Minty Leaves

Hi!  I'm here with a card for a couple of challenges!  I haven't had much time recently to make non-DT cards, so it was nice to just spend a bit of time in the old craft room this afternoon creating just for the pleasure of it.  I made this card using both the sketch and colors from MFT Stamps Challenges.

Onto a Sour Apple card base I embossed the Burlap BG stamp with Silver Pearl embossing powder.  This gave it a lovely sheen with a touch of silver in different lights.  I die-cut a white panel with a stitched die and adhered that to the card base with foam tape.  On top of that, I added some Painted Flowers stamped in a soft purple shade and a deep purple shade - as close to the challenge colors as I could find.  The leaves were stamped in a mint color.

I arranged them to the left of the card and added a white-embossed sentiment and a black and white patterned paper strip.  To finish the card (and in keeping with the sketch), I added sdome Sparkling Crystals across the card front.  Finally, I colored the flowers and leaves with clear sparkle pen.

Thanks for visiting.  Apologies for the poor quality of the photos.  I just bought a MacBook Pro and am having to find new ways of editing photos.  The photos look fine in the folder but as soon as I bring them into Blogger, they look like they've been taken under fluorescent lighting!  So frustrating!  If anyone knows of a really good app that will edit  and resize photos, as well as add a watermark, please let me know.

Products used:

Stamps:  Painted Flowers, Burlap, Yay for You (MFT)

Ink:  Versamark, Soft Lilac, Deep Iris (Altenew)

Cardstock:  Sour Apple, B&W Stripes (MFT), White

Dies:  Painted Flowers, Slanted Sentiment Strips, Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)

Accessoire;  White EP, Silver Pearl EP, Sparkling Crystals (Studio Katia), Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers

Karren

Dad's Birthday Card

Hi and welcome!  It's time for another challenge at Fusion and this week we've chosen a simple sketch and a dark and moody photo.  When I first saw the photo, I saw lots of inpsiration - the deep colors, the nautical theme, the rings, so many things.

I decided to create a fusion, focusing on the colors from the photo as well as the masculine look.  I created this card for my Dad's 85th birthday, which was a few weeks ago.  And I have a video showing how I made this card which you can see below or over on YouTube.

In keeping with the dark and moody look of the photo, I went with a deep red alcohol inked panel and a gray stenciled panel - separating the two with a thin strip of black cardstock.  The sentiment was die-cut from black cardstock and adhered to the card using the negative die-cut for placement.  As you will see in the video, I had some glue issues in the making of this card, one of which was getting thin enough strips of foam tape for the "y" in birthday 😃What a mission!

Thanks for visiting.  Head on over and check out what the rest of the design team have done with this challenge - you'll be glad you did!

I'm linking this card up to the For the Boys challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

Products used:

Ink:  Limestone, Silver Stone, Industrial Diamond (Altenew), Alcohol Inks - Slate, Cranberry, Watermelon, Crimson, Poppyfield, Red Pepper

Cardstock:  White, Black, Yupo

Dies:  Happy Birthday to You (MFT)

Accessories:  Cube Builder Stencil (Altenew)

Cheers

Karren

Triangle Birthday

Hi and welcome!  It's time for another fun sketch from the team at Freshly Made Sketches and this week our hostess is the talented Jen Mitchell.

These last couple of challenges have tested me - ovals last week and angled panels this week - whatever next 😄I have to say, though, that I am getting used to angled panels and they don't freak me out like they used to.  For my card, I decided to go with a masculine birthday card for my son who will be 16 in a month or so.  He is studying design and visual communications at school so I thought the graphic style of this card would suit him.

I used a triangle stencil and Distress Oxide inks to create these triangles.  When I was finished, I wasn't happy with how the triangles weren't distinguishable from each other, so I put the stencil back on and traced around each triangle with a black pen.  The panel was die-cut with a wonky stitched rectangle die, as was the black panel underneath.  Both panels were layered onto a white card base with foam tape.

To keep with the graphic look, I stamped and die-cut some label sentiment stamps and added them at an angle.

Thanks so much for visiting.  Please head on over and check out what the rest of the DT have done with Jen's sketch - they are always amazing!

Products used:

Stamps:  Label Maker Sentiments (MFT)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Twisted Citron, Cracked Pistachio, Lucky Clover, Broken China, Peacock Feathers, Blueprint Sketch, Faded Jeans Distress Oxide Inks

Cardstock:  White, Black, Desert Storm

Dies:  Label Maker Sentiments, Wonky Stitched Rectangles (MFT)

Cheers

Karren

Winner from ANZAC Day Video Hop

Hi everyone

Just popping in to say I collated all the comments from both this blog post and the YouTube video and used random.org to pick a winner of my giveaway.

That winner is:

Julie-Anne Hoffman

I've reached out to Julie-Anne via YouTube requesting she contact me to discuss the logistics.  If I don't hear back from Julie-Anne in a week, I'll draw another name.

Thanks to everyone who visited my blog post, watched my video, liked, commented and subscribed.

 

Hugs
Karren

Coral Flowers

I'm back with a card using our latest sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and this week our hostess is the wonderful Jennifer Timko.  Her sketch freaked me out a bit, because me and ovals are not great mates!

So I took a sneaky route and tried to use the oval in the most unobscure way possible 😄

I dry embossed a stitched oval onto a white card base (sketch met!)  Then I colored and arranged some flowers around one side of the oval.  I was totally inspired by the colors in Debbie Olson's card here.

I finished the card with a simple sentiment and a few Jewel Drops.

Thanks so much for visiting.  The DT have put Jennifer's oval to great use so please check them out.

I'm linking this up to Cupcake Inspirations Challenge who have a floral theme.

Products used:

Stamps:  Funky Flowers, Aim for the Clouds (MFT)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT) Slate (SSS)

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It

Dies:  Stitched Oval (Lil Inkers)

Accessories:  Copics, Orange Marmalade Nuvo Jewel Drops, White Gel Pen, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers

Karren