Friday 30 October 2020

Copper Thoughts

Hi and welcome!  It's time for a new challenge at Fusion and this time I've focussed mainly on the sketch although I have brought in some elements from the photo. 


I spent a bit of time creating a couple of alcohol ink panels - one in coffee tones and one in grays.  I was planning on using the grays on this card to more match the photo, but decided I liked the warmth of the coffee tones and I'm imagining that's coffee in that cup.

Once the panel was dry, I cut it down and added strips of chocolate cardstock each side.  I then adhered it to a cream panel which I'd dry embossed with a knitting pattern folder.  I added that to a white card base and then worked on the typewriter.



I wanted the typewriter to tone in with the alcohol ink so went with a dark chocolate base with cream keys and a copper foil for the top layer.  I finished with a stamped sentiment.  Here's a side shot of the alcohol ink which is so pretty in real life.


Thanks for visiting.  Please check out the fabulous cards made by the DT.




Products used:

Stamps:  You're My Type (SugarPea Designs)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
Cardstock:  Cream, Dark Chocolate (SSS), Bronze foil
Dies:  You're My Type (SugarPea Designs)
Accessories:  Knitted Pattern Embossing Folder (Richard Garay), Alcohol Inks (Teakwood, Espresso, Sepia, Ginger, Latte, Caramel, Copper Metallic Mixative)

Cheers
Karren


Thursday 29 October 2020

Bronze Wish

 Hi all and thanks for dropping by.  I'm here with my card for our latest challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches, where our host this week is Jen Brum.



For my card, I went back to an old technique I haven't used in years, but saw on Jennifer McGuire's blog - Perfect Pearls and Versamark.  I stamped the Kaleidoscope background onto both navy and white cardstock and painted over the ink with bronze Perfect Pearls powder.  Once I was finished, I lightly spritzed it with water to set it, but it didn't fully set so I really do need a fixative of some sort.



After I positioned the pieces to match the sketch, I used thin slivers of bronze foil cardstock to separate each element.  

For the sentiment, I stamped part of the sentiment from a set by The Greetery and die-cut the big "wish" from bronze foil cardstock.  I finished with some pearls I coloured with Copic markers to try and match the bronze and navy colours in my card.

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

Products used:

Stamps:  Kaleidoscope BG (SSS), Birthday Blooms (The Greetery)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark
Cardstock:  White, In the Navy (Gina K), Bronze Foil 
Dies:  Wish (MFT)
Accessories:  Perfect Bronze Perfect Pearls, Pearls, Copics

Cheers
Karren

Thursday 22 October 2020

Rainbow Tags

 Welcome!  Here is my card for the latest sketch at Freshly Made Sketches where our hostess this week is Kim Singdahlsen.


When I first saw Kim's sketch, I was a bit unsure how I was going to incorporate that row of rectangles.  At first I thought of doing banners, then I decided on tags.  I sponged some white cardstock pieces in rainbow colors and die-cut each piece with a small tag die.  Originally, the tags were going to be all lined up straight, then I decided to make them a bit whimsical and threaded some linen thread through them and made them a bit higgledy-piggledy.


The sentiment and flowers came from a NBUS set by The Greetery and I just love the font on that big "birthday".  I arranged some of the flowers from the set around the right hand side.  All these elements were adhered to a scalloped die-cut which was then added to a white card base with foam tape to add more dimension to the white-on-white look.


Thanks for visiting!  I hope you'll check out the wonderful cards made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Birthday Blooms (The Greetery)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark, Bamboo, Olive, Sunray, Heart Beat, Volcano Lake, Lavender Fields, Deep Iris (Altenew)
Cardstock:  White, Black
Dies:  Birthday Blooms (The Greetery), Blueprints 1, Stitched Tag Stax (MFT)
Accessories:  White EP, Linen Thread, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers
Karren



Friday 16 October 2020

Purple Hugs

 I'm here with my card for the latest Fusion challenge and this time I've created a fusion of sketch and photo.


I went digging through my patterned paper to find some purples and came up with these.  I would have preferred a darker purple but this was all I had.  I cut them to match the sketch and adhered them to a white card base.  From there, I added thin strips of black cardstock to separate the patterns.

The sentiment die was die-cut three times - twice from purple and once from black.  I off-set the black die-cut slightly to create a shadow.  The secondary sentiment was stamped with black ink and comes from a set by The Ton.


Finally, I finished with some black enamel dots.  Thanks for visiting.  Please head over to the challenge blog and check out the fabulous cards made by the DT.








Products used:

Stamps:  Rose Patch (The Ton)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
Cardstock:  White, Black Licorice, Lavender Fields, Proper Pinstripes, Itsy Bitsy Polka Dots, Watercolor Wash (MFT)
Dies:  Big Hugs (PTI)
Accessories:  Black Enamel Dots

Cheers
Karren




Thursday 15 October 2020

Poinsettia Greetings

 Our Freshly Made Sketch this week was designed by Linda Callahan and I love its symmetry.  And, I made a Christmas card!


You may have noticed a Christmas card on my blog last week.  I was invited to play along with my blogging friend Michelle's annual Christmas card challenge.  That was the first Christmas card I have made since June 2019.  In fact the post that went live just a day before my son suddenly passed was a Christmas card.  Naturally enough, I wasn't into celebrating Christmas last year and to be honest, I'm not this year either, but I might make a few cards as I feel like it, but I won't put any pressure on myself.

So back to the card.  In order to try and be a bit more inspired to make Christmas cards, I went shopping.  This card used a couple of sets from The Ton, which I stamped and cut with my Scan n Cut.  I used a piece of pale yellow watercolor wash patterned paper and added some black & white striped strips on either side to match the sketch.  I then arranged my foliage and poinsettia and finished with a white-embossed greeting.



To add a bit of interest, I colored some white pearls with a Copic marker and placed them in the centre of my poinsettia.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll check out the fabulous DT cards over on the challenge blog.

Products used:

Stamps:  Poinsettia Wishes, Bountiful Leaves (The Ton), Snow Globe Sentiments (MFT)
Ink:  Red Sunset, Grass Fields, Pocketful of Sunshine sets (Altenew), Versamark
Cardstock:  White, Black, B&W Stripes, Watercolor Wash Brights (MFT)
Dies:  Basic Stitch Lines (MFT)
Accessories:  Pearls, Copic Marker, White EP

Cheers
Karren






Thursday 8 October 2020

Sage Joy - Case Me a Christmas Card

 Hi, I'm excited to be here today as my stamping friend Michelle Lupton invited me to play along with her annual Christmas card challenge.  This year she has gone with the theme "Case Me a Christmas Card" where we each choose a card from the other and create our own version.  

I had great fun looking through Michelle's blog and couldn't decide between two cards so decided to do a combination of both.  Firstly, here's my card:



I was most inspired by this card of Michelle's for the layout and style and this card for the sentiment wording and style.

To make my card, I white heat-embossed the background stamp onto Bristol Smooth cardstock.  I then smooshed some distress inks onto my glass mat and spritzed with a bit of water.  After putting on a latex glove I picked up ink on my fingers and rubbed it over the embossing.  I focussed the darker colours at the bottom and faded out towards the top right.  Once I was finished, I flicked some of the ink over the whole panel and set it aside to dry.

I added a strip of sage green cardstock onto a white card base and a strip of black onto the embossed panel.  I then popped the embossed panel up on foam tape before working on my sentiment.

The die-cut "joy" was cut three times and adhered together.  I embossed the rest of the sentiment onto a strip of sage green and tucked it into the "joy" word.



Thanks so much for visiting and thanks to Michelle for inviting me to play along.  I encourage you to head over to Michelle's blog and check out her card.  I'm intrigued to see which of my cards she has chosen to case but regardless her card is sure to be gorgeous - they all are!  Here's a link to Michelle's card:

Michelle's card

And here's a sneaky-peak of the two cards of Michelle's that inspired my card, but I strongly recommend clicking the links above and heading over to see both her cards.


 



Products used:

Stamps:  Outline Winter Floral (SSS) Wet Paint Holiday (PTI)
Ink:  Versamark, Cracked Pistachio, Broken China, Blueprint Sketch Distress Inks
Cardstock:  White, Black Licorice (MFT), Sage Leaf (Lawn Fawn), Bristol Smooth
Dies:  Joy (MFT)
Accessories:  White EP

Cheers
Karren


Rosy Thanks

 Hi all and welcome!  Today's Freshly Made Sketch is brought to us by Jennifer Timko and here is what I made with it:


I have mentioned in the recent past that I don't really feel like colouring at the moment, but I do like colour, so I have been drawn to layering stamps.  The easiest ones out there are the new group-layering sets by The Ton.  So, so easy to line up.  This is a new-to-me set that I was playing around with and stamped up various images using Altenew inks.  I then die-cut them with the co-ordinating die which die-cuts all images at the same time.  I don't normally buy matching dies as I have a Scan n Cut, but this is just so easy, I couldn't say no 😀


The background panel was stenciled with Hickory Smoke ink onto Grout Gray cardstock fading it off into the corner.  The sentiment die was coloured with clear sparkle pen then I added Crystal Glaze to give it a raised look.




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

Products used:

Stamps:  Rose Patch (The Ton)
Ink:  Warm & Cozy set, Tropical Forest set, Sweet Dreams set (Altenew), Hickory Smoke Distress Ink
Cardstock:  White, Black, Slate (SSS), Grout Gray (MFT)
Dies:  Rose Patch (The Ton), Fancy Words (Reverse Confetti)
Accessories:  Geometric Grid Stencil (SSS), Crystal Glaze (Nuvo), Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers
Karren






Friday 2 October 2020

Birthday Herd

 It's time for another Fusion challenge and this time we've gone with a farm theme.  And here's the card I made using the photo for inspiration.



I used the Barn dies from MFT to create the barn and hay bales and The Whole Herd stamp set for the horse, milk can and bird.  I sponged some clouds in the background and some grass onto the green panel, although it's hard to see in the photo.  


I tucked a fence behind the barn and added a heat-embossed sentiment onto Hot Fudge cardstock.


This card was fun to make - although way more involved that I initially envisioned!  I hope you'll check out the DT cards and have a go yourself.


Products used:

Stamps:  The Whole Herd (MFT)
Ink:  Extreme Black (MFT), Versamark, Tumbled Glass, Forest Moss, Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo, Pine Needles Distress Oxide inks
Cardstock:  White, Hot Fudge, Pineapple, Jellybean Green, Cherry Crisp (MFT), X-Press It
Dies:  Barn, The Whole Herd, Grass Edge (MFT)
Accessories:  White EP, Copics, Mini Cloud Edges Stencil (MFT), Grassy Edges Stencil (MFT), Grassy 



Thursday 1 October 2020

Say Cheese

 Hi!  I'm here with a card using the latest sketch from Freshly Made Sketches, where our hostess this week is Jen Mitchell.  And Jen has given us a square sketch with some fun elements.


I have had this image colored up for over a year and decided to use it on today's card.  Originally I was going to do a gray background, but then decided a rainbow was in order so out came the patterned paper, which was adhered directly to the card base.  I then cut two panels to match the sketch and adhered them with foam tape on top of the rainbow panel.  

The polaroid image was added with more foam tape and I finished with a die-cut sentiment.



I can't tell you which Copics I used as it was too long ago.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll head over to the challenge blog and check out the wonderful cards made by the design team.



Products used:

Stamps: Picture Perfect (MFT)
Ink:  Extreme Black (MFT)
Cardstock:  White, Black, Party Patterns (MFT), X-Press It
Dies:  Precious Polaroids, #Captions (MFT)
Accessories:  Copics

Cheers
Karren