Celebration Lily

 Hi and welcome!  I am in the middle of a couple of weeks off work and also in the middle of a DT break, so thought I would make a card for a couple of challenges.  This is the first time I've entered any challenges since losing my son 18 months ago.  Card-making became a chore not an enjoyment and I only stuck at it because I was on a couple of design teams and didn't want to let anyone down.  I also knew that if I stopped stamping I probably wouldn't ever start again and I want that joy to come back.

Anyway, enough maudlin chatter.  I set the intention of doing some colouring while I was off work and this lily was the second image I've coloured in the last week.  I put it onto a card that would fit with the Any Occasion theme at Krafty Chicks and the Sparkle and Shine challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

Apologies for the darkness of my photos.  I'm using my iPhone instead of a digital SLR camera and still haven't sorted out the appropriate settings.

This is a slimline card.  Onto a pierced panel in white, I added a silver foil pierced panel and then a navy blue pierced panel I ran through my hot foil machine with the Diamonetta BG and some silver foil.  

The image is a Power Poppy digi and I coloured it with Copics and Prismacolor pencils before cutting it out with my Scan n Cut.  I added it to the card front with foam tape.

I finished the card with a stacked die-cut sentiment using white cardstock and silver foil.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stanps:  Alluring Lily digi (Power Poppy)

Cardstock:  White, Silver Foil. In the Navy (GinaK Designs), X-Press It, Silver Hot Foil

Dies:  Slimline Pierced Nested (The Ton), Celebrate (MFT), Diamonetta BG (Spellbinders)

Accessories:  Copics, Prismacolor Pencils

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout our at Krafty Chicks.

Missed

 Hi and welcome to the last challenge of the year over at Freshly Made Sketches, where our hostess is Jennifer Timko.

Using Jennifer's sketch I made a card for my angel son, Matthew, who would be 23 today, NZ time.  This is a bit of an odd birthday card, but I can't really wish him a happy birthday and this sentiment sums it all up anyway.

Matthew loves sloths so I have bought several sloth stamps over the last 18 months.  I coloured this one with Copics (very rusty colouring!) and fussy-cut the images.  I adhered some patterned paper onto a black panel and then used foam tape to add the sloth pieces.  The card base is pale gray.

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you'll visit the challenge blog and see the cards made by the rest of the design team.  This challenge is open for a few weeks to give people time to join in over the Christmas period.

Products used:

Stamps:  Sloth Peeker (Impression Obsession), Greetings & Salutations (MFT)

Ink:  Amalgam (Gina K), Versamark

Cardstock:  Soft Stone (PTI), Black Licorice (MFT), X-Press It, Whatever the Weather (SugarPea Designs)

Accessories:  White EP, Copics

Cheers

Karren

S'Mores

 It's time for another sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, where our host this week is Jacquie Southas.  Jacquie has given us a fun tag to play with this week.

I used another new-to-me stamp set from The Greetery and created this S'More card.  The background was clear embossed onto Bristol Smooth cardstock and then blended various Distress Oxide inks over the panel.  Once that was done, I flicked both Gathered Twigs DOX and white gouache onto the panel and set it aside to dry.

The "S'More" word was stamped, cut with my Scan n Cut and then I added clear sparkle pen and Glossy Accents over it.  The Glossy Accents didn't stay where it was meant to so I might re-do that part of the sentiment before sending it out.

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you'll check out the rest of the DT cards - they're gorgeous!

Products used:

Stamps:  Crackle Background (SSS), S'More Holiday (The Greetery)

Ink:  Versamark, Versafine Onyx Black, Antique Linen, Gathered Twigs, Weathered Wood, Pumice Stone Distress Oxide Inks, Vanilla Cream, Hazelnut, Espresso, Mocha, Moss, Velvet (Altenew)

Cardstock:  White, Red Hot (MFT), Strathmore Bristol Smooth

Dies:  Christmas Tag (WP9), Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Gouache, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen, Glossy Accents, Clear EP

Cheers

Karren

Berries and Poinsettia

 Hi and welcome.  I made another Christmas card!  I think this might be about number 4 this year.  I am not forcing things and as they come, they come.  I still don't want to Copic colour which saddens me, but again I'm not going to force things.  Grief has to work its way through many twists and turns before life bears some semblance of the new normal.

But onto more positive things, this card uses the latest sketch at Freshly Made Sketches where our host this week is Judy Rozema.  I tried to stick to the sketch but sort of veered off a bit with the placement of the smaller square element.  

I had all these images stamped and either die-cut or cut with my Scan n Cut so it didn't take long to make up this arrangement.  I held it in place with Press n Seal until I was ready to adhere it to the card.

I used a square foiling die to add some copper foil to a white panel and then I masked off the square and stenciled over a mandala stencil with Speckled Egg DI.  I embossed the sentiment and adhered the panel to a Wild Cherry card base.

I then adhered my arrangement onto the card with liquid glue and finished off with some Stardust Stickles in the centre of the poinsettia.

Thanks so much for visiting.  I hope you'll check out the fabulous cards made by the rest of the DT.

Products used:

Stamps:  Poinsettia Wishes, Berry Branches (The Ton)

Ink:  Versamark, Speckled Egg Distress Ink, Mocha, Espresso, Crimson, Velvet, Rouge, Forest Glades, Evergreen, Honey Drizzle (Altenew)

Cardstock:  Wild Cherry (MFT), White

Dies:  Berry Branches (The Ton), Foiled Frames Square (MFT)

Accessories:  Copper Foil, Antique Gold EP, Stardust Stickles, Captivating Mandala Stencil (MFT)

Cheers

Karren

All the Hos

 It's the last Fusion challenge of the year and we're going out in cuteness!  I played with the sketch but did bring in elements from the photo as well.

I bought this adorable stamp set to hopefully inspire me to make some Christmas cards.  I stamped all four images in the set, colored them with Copics and fussy-cut them out.  

Onto a white card base, I added two strips of red cardstock top and bottom and in the middle the gold-embossed background stamp which was stamped onto cream cardstock.  In between the various pieces I added a thin strip of gold foil cardstock.

The sentiment was die-cut 9 times and each word was stacked three high before being adhered to the card front.  I added the little dog with foam tape and coloured all the red elements of the image with clear sparkle pen.  I finished the card with some Nuvo crystal drops.

Thanks for visiting.  I do hope you'll play along and go visit the challenge blog to see the wonderful cards made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Christmas Puppies (Gerda Steiner), Christmas Background (MFT)

Ink:  Amalgam (Gina K), Versamark

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Blu Raspberry, Wild Cherry (MFT), Gold Foil Cardstock

Dies:  Hos (SSS)

Accessories:  Copics, Antique Gold EP (SSS), Carribbean Ocean Nuvo Crystal Drops

Cheers

Karren

Glittery Thanks

 Hi!  This is a quick post showcasing a quick card made for the latest Freshly Made Sketch challenge, where our hostess is Amy O'Neill.  I took a few liberties with the sketch - adjusting the dimensions of the elements but I hope you can still see the sketch.

I had about 15 minutes to make a card this last weekend so turned to dies and glitter cardstock for impact.  An embossing folder adds interest without clutter.

Thanks so much for visiting!  I hope you'll check out the wonderful cards made by the rest of the DT.

Products used:

Cardstock:  White, Black, Copper Sparkle, Green Apple Sparkle (MFT)

Dies:  Layering Leaves (Concord & 9th), Bold Thanks (Altenew)

Accessories:  Weathered EF (Taylored Expressions), Copper Penny Nuvo Drops, Apple Green Nuvo Drops

Cheers

Karren

Christmas Cookies

 Thanks for stopping by!  It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches where our host this week is Narelle Farrugia.

I spent some time on the weekend playing with The Greetery's Hug in a Mug Sweet Treats die set (yes, more products from The Greetery!). I made some cookies using the dies, glitter cardstock and some elements from the embellishment kit.  It's hard to see in the photo, but I did sponge some Antique Linen distress ink around the edges of the cookies to make them look baked.

Once I was finished, I arranged them onto a red cardstock panel to match the sketch and then added an embossed sentiment.  This was then layered onto a Desert Storm card base.  This is definitely going to have to be delivered by hand as it's quite dimensional as you can see in the photo below,

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

Products used:

Stamps:  Sweet Holiday Penguins (MFT)

Ink:  Versamark, Antique Linen, Ground Espresso Distress Inks

Cardstock:  Neenah Desert Storm; Wild Cherry, Biscotti, Hot Fudge, Red Glitter Cardstock (MFT), white

Dies:  Hug in a Mug Sweet Treats (The Greetery), Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Hug in a Mug Embellishment Kit (The Greetery)

Cheers

Karren

Hydrangea Can

 I'm back with a new card for the latest Fusion challenge and we have a beautiful photo to inspire you.  I played solely with the photo this time.

I decided to try and replicate the centrepiece in the photo using the stamps I had to hand, which were all NBUS products from The Greetery.  I stamped all the elements then when I finished with the watering can, I over-stamped with Versamark ink and dusted on some bronze Perfect Pearls to give a lovely metallic sheen which you can see in the last photo.

I arranged the images and adhered them to a cream card base.  I then went about the sentiment.  I decided to keep it tone-one-tone and stacked three cream die-cut "thanks" words together before adhering them to the card.

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

Products used:

Stamps:  Petite Eucalyptus, Budding Beauties:  Summer; Sprinkled with Kindness (The Greetery)

Ink:  Grass Fields, Fall Harves, Warm Gray sets (Altenew), Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Cream

Dies:  Petite Eucalyptus, Budding Beauties:  Summer; Sprinkled with Kindness (The Greetery), Thanks (SSS)

Accessories:  Perfect Bronze Perfect Pearls (Ranger)

Cheers

Karren

Bunch of Lemons

 Hi and welcome to my blog!  It's my turn to host over at Freshly Made Sketches and as is my way, I came up with a very simple sketch.  Here's the card I made using it:

I didn't actually intend for the bunch of fruit and flowers to be quite so big but I like how it looked so left it as it was.  The black & white washi tape was added to a small white panel and I then added a thin sliver of gold foil cardstock.  I popped the whole panel up on a white card base using foam tape and went to work on my arrangement.

All these elements are from various sets from The Greetery and are multi-step sets, so they were easy to stamp and arrange.  I finished the card with a gold-embossed sentiment.  This card went to my older sister for her birthday a few weeks ago.

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you'll check out the rest of the DT cards and have a go yourself.

Products used:

Stamps:  Autumn Sketches, Simple Things, Signed & Sealed With a Kiss, Lemon Blossom (The Greetery), Essential Sentiments (MFT)

Ink:  Spring Bouquet 1, Grass Fields, Pocketful of Sunshine, Four Scoops, Tranquility (Altenew), Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Gold Foil

Dies:  Autumn Sketches, Simple Things, Signed & Sealed With a Kiss (The Greetery)

Accessories:  Antique Gold EP, Gradient Lines Washi Tape (Altenew)

Cheers

Karren

Pinwheel Celebrations

 Hi all and welcome to the newest sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our hostess this week is Judy Rozema and here is what I did with her sketch:

I had just received the Pinwheel Party stencils and dies so decided to take them for a spin on this card.  I used a couple of different aqua and lime inks with the stencils and stenciled over a full white panel as well as the fishtail flag die-cut.  Once I was finished I adhered the full panel to a white card base and the flag die-cut on top using foam tape - matching the stenciling.  

I added some die-cut pinwheels as well and finished with a die-cut sentiment (which is a bit lower down than the sketch but I thought the top of my card was busy enough).

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

Products used:

Ink:  Tropical Forest, Sweet Dreams sets (Altenew)

Cardstock:  White, Black

Dies:  Pinwheel Party (The Greetery), Jumbo Fishtail Flag Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Pinwheel Party Stencils (The Greetery), Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers

Karren

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

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

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

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

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

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