Thursday 27 January 2022

Cherry Shores

Hi!  Our sketch hostess this week over at Freshly Made Sketches is Jen Mitchell and she has a square sketch for us.  Here's what I did with it:



I have had these flowers from Dainty Bouquet stamped out for months (using the colours from the stamping guide) so I thought it was time to put them onto a card.  I matched the red colour to some cardstock, which I die-cut with a circle die and matted onto a gold foil cardstock circle.  The cardbase is Grout Gray and both the red circle and card base are embossed with the Subtle embossing folder.



The aqua strip is washi tape adhered to a cardstock stirp and the card was finished with a white-embossed sentiment.

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


Products used:

Stamps:  Dainty Bouquet (Altenew), KIS:  Just for You (PTI)
Ink:  Versamark, Morning Frost, Coral Berry, Ruby Red, Volcano Lake, Emerald (Altenew)
Cardstock:  Grout Gray, Amarena Cherry (MFT), White, Gold Foil
Dies:  Dainty Bouquet (Altenew), Infinity Circles (Hero Arts)
Accessories:  Sea Shore Wash Tape, White EP, Subtle EF

Cheers
Karren



 




Friday 21 January 2022

Coffee Time

 
It's time for another challenge from the Fusion team and I took inspiration from both the sketch and photo this time to create a chalkboard-themed card.


The sentiments and images for the background came from multiple stamp sets and after I laid them out in my Misti, I white-embossed them onto black cardstock.  I rubbed on a bit of white pigment ink to give the impression of a chalkbaord and then went to work on the rest of the card.



The cup was already coloured and tucked into my stamp pocket, so that made the job quicker!  I stamped the sentiment with black ink onto a white strip and tucked a piece of vellum behind in line with the sketch.


Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll check out the rest of the DT cards and play along with us.

I'm playing along with the coffee/tea theme at Cupcake Inspirations Challenge




Products used:

Stamps:  Espresso Yourself, Caffeine Addict (SugarPea Designs), Oh Frappe (Essentials By Ellen), Perfect Blend (Gina K.) Newton Loves Coffee (Newton's Nook), Coffee, Better With You (Verve) Coffee Hour (SSS), Coffee Break (MFT)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark, Unicorn White (Hero Arts), Brown Sugar (Mama Elephant)
Cardstock:  Black, White, Vellum, X-Press It
Accessories:  White EP, Copics (RV66, R59, R56)

Cheers
Karren

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

Thursday 20 January 2022

Tulip Window

 Hi!  I'm here with my card for the latest Freshly Made Sketch Challenge where our hostess this week is Jennifer Timko.  I sort of went a touch rogue with the sketch but I hope you can see the intent!


I had just received this stamp and die set and wanted to do some Copic colouring.  Once I was finished I figured I could use it for the sketch and so went about making my card.  The bricks were stamped directly onto the card base as was the sentiment.  The window and window box were die-cut and I added some patterned paper behind the window for interest.  The whole image was popped up on foam tape and adhered to the card base.


Finally, I coloured the tulips with clear sparkle pen.


Thanks so much for visiting.  I hope you'll check out the wonderful cards made by the rest of the design team.
I'm linking this up to a new-to-me challenge called Perfectly CAS who are looking for flowers.  Hopefully I've squeaked in with the 1/3 requirement.  I'm also joining in at Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge who have an Anything Goes theme this month.







Products used:

Stamps:  Window Box Blooms (SSS), Fresh Air (The Greetery)
Ink:  Amalgam (Gina K.), Obsidian (Altnew), Almond Butter, Milk Chocolate (Altenew)
Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Ink Drops - Earth (Craft Consortium)
Dies:  Window Box Blooms (SSS)
Accessories:  Copics, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers
Karren

Sunday 16 January 2022

Sweater Scene

Hi and welcome!  I made this card while I was off work over the Christmas break and it is inspired by the adorable critter scene cards made by Nichol Spohr.  


I coloured the critters in browns and their clothing in blues and greens before fussy cutting out.  For the background, I took a panel of Brisol Smooth cardstock and ink-blended various shades, finishing with a bit of black on the edges.  Once it was dry, I white-embossed the Snowfall BG stamp.  I gave a touch of colour to the tree die-cuts before arranging them behind the "snow bank".  Once the background was completed I added the critters - each holding a to-go coffee cup.


I went hunting for a smallish Christmas sentiment that mentioned warmth and found this in a Your Next Stamp set, which worked perfectly!


I'm entering this in a few challenges - the brand new Caffeinated Christmas Card challenge (I hope these snowflakes are defined enough), Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge and Tic Tac Toe, where I went with Blue, Animal and Free.






Thanks so much for visiting!


Products used:

Stamps:  Sweater Weather in the Woods (MFT), Merry Mouse Eve (Your Next Stamp), Snowfall Background (MFT)
Ink:  Versamark, Amalgam (Gina K), Obsidian (Altenew), Tumbled Glass, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire, Wilted Violet, Black Soot Distress Oxide
Cardstock:  Bristol Smooth, White, X-Press It
Dies:  Birch Trees (MFT), Snow Drifts (Paper Smooches)
Accessories:  Copics, White EP

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout-out at Tic-Tac-Toe and Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenge

Thursday 13 January 2022

Ice Cream Sundae

Welcome to another challenge from the team at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our hostess this week is Judy Rozema and her sketch is so versatile!


I had just received this new stamp set from Altenew and wanted to try it out, so I created an ice cream sundae using various Altenew inks and then decided it was close enough to fit the sketch components.  

I wanted to make my sundae with mint choc chip and chocolate flavours so went looking for a chocolate chip stamp rather than try and create these tiny little chips with a Copic marker.  I found a stamp in the Sprinkled with Joy set and used that.  To finish the image, I went over the chocolate sauce and cherry with Glossy Accents.

To add a bit of interest, I used a dotted coverplate on the card vase after I stamped the sentiment.  


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


Products used:

Stamps:  All Things Sweet (Altenew), Lots to Say (Reverse Confetti), Sprinkled with Joy (Lawn Fawn)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Coffee Break Set, Delectable Delights set, Mint Chocolate, Mountain Mist, Crimson, Velvet (Altenew)
Cardstock:  White
Dies:  All Things Sweet, Dotted Starburst (Altenew)
Accessories:  Glossy Accents, Bubble Blow Out Dots (Trinity Stamps)

Cheers
Karren


 

Saturday 8 January 2022

Butterfly Birthday

Hi and welcome.  Today's card is one I put together for a few challenges.  The blue and gray theme at Seize the Birthday, the "New" theme at both Simon Says Stamp and Time Out and the Stamp Act challenge at Krafty Chicks.




My "new" is crafty goodies (of course!).  On this card the NBUS is the Brilliant Butterflies set and the Splatter hot foil plate.  Funny story about the hot foiling.  I put my plate upside down on my Foil Press in error with the result that it debossed the cardstock as well as putting foil where it wasn't meant to go.  I was using an almost transparent gray foil so the effect was really pretty, in my opinion.  Here's the piece before I adhered it to the card base.


I decided it would make a cool background for these fun butterflies that I stamped in blue/teal inks and then coloured the blue parts with a clear sparkle pen.


I finished the card with some strips of patterned paper and solid-colour cardstock down the left hand side and some sentiment strips white-embossed onto gray cardstock.

Thanks for visiting!




Products used:

Stamps:  Brilliant Butterflies, Itty Bitty Birthday Wishes (MFT)
Ink:  Dew Drops, Aqualicious (Altenew), Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark
Cardstock:  White, Gravel Gray, Black Licorice (MFT), Adriatic (Hero Arts), Modern Neutrals (Waffle Flower), Gray Foil
Dies:  Brilliant Butterflies (MFT), Splatter Hot Foil Plate (Altenew)
Accessories:  Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen, White EP

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout-out at Seize the Birthday.

 

Friday 7 January 2022

Bubbles

 Welcome back to a new year of challenges at Fusion Card Challenge.  We're starting off with a festive photo inspiration, which is what I focused on for my card.




I wanted to try and recreate the gold background in the inspiration photo, so I took a piece of Bristol Smooth cardstock and blended Antique Linen Distress Oxide ink all over it.  Around the edges I inked Tea Dye.  I then took the Bokeh stencil set from Taylored Expressions and went over it with Scattered Straw Distress Oxide, Enchanted Gold ink and Unicorn White.  It's a shame you can't see how the gold ink looks from the photo, but it adds a lovely shine.


The champagne glass was a die-cut which I coloured with my Copics.  I then added some "bubbles" with a white gel pen and covered the "liquid" with clear sparkle pen.  The sentiment is stacked three high for dimension.

After all that, there was something missing, so I added a black frame to draw the eye and break up the background a bit.




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

I'm linking this up to the Beverages theme at Just Us Girls, the colour challenge at Colour Throwdown and the Make 2022 Sparkle theme at Paper Players challenge 








Products used:

Ink:  Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Scattered Straw Distress Oxide, Enchanted Gold (Altenew), Unicorn White (Hero Arts)
Cardstock:  White, Black, Bristol Smooth
Dies:  A2 Thin Frames (SSS), Celebrate (SugarPea Designs) Layered Champagne Glass (MFT)
Accessories:  Bokeh Stencil (Taylored Expressions), Copics, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers
Karren

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


Thursday 6 January 2022

Pastel Birthday

 
Hi!  The Freshly Made Sketch Challenge is back for another year and our hostess this week is Amy O'Neill. As soon as I saw her sketch, I had to make this card:


I die-cut the little pierced squares from various pastel coloured cardstock and then die-cut the letters inside each square.  I backed each piece with acetate so I could adhere the inner of the "a" and "p" letters.  I then arranged them to fit across an A2 card in a manner to match the sketch.  

The "birthday" word was stamped with black ink and then I went all bold and hand-drew some lines and zig-zags which is something I had seen on Natasha Foote's You Tube channel.


And that's it!  Thanks for visiting.  Please head over and check out the fabulous cards made by the DT.



Products used:

Stamps:  Biggest Wish (SU)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
Cardstock:  White, Pink Lemonade, Peach Bellini, Lemon Chiffon, Cool As A Cucumber, Sno Cone (MFT), Acetate
Dies:  Little Letters, MFT
Accessories:  Black Copic Multi-Liner

Saturday 1 January 2022

Leafy Wishes

 Hi!  Here I am for the second time today!  I have been wanting to make a card for the Altenew Year in Review challenge and in doing so, I also created a card for Time Out Challenge, who are looking for "New".  The dies and stamps on this card are all brand new - arrived earlier this week - and this is their first outing.



I have wanted this leaf die set since it was released and finally got it!  I also got the new sentiment stamp set and this is the first time I've used the Fine Frames cover die - even though I've had it since it was released.

I chose cardstock colours that most closely matched the August 2021 inspiration photo and did some die-cutting.  I then put the elements together, offsetting the top layer slightly to add a touch of whimsy.

I did some stamp surgery on the sentiment as it had the word "sweet" in it and I didn't want that for this particular card.



The card was looking a bit bare so I went hunting through my dies and die-cut a frame out of black cardstock and adhered it with liquid glue.  I finished with some matching enamel dots.

Thanks for visiting.





Products used:

Stamps:  Sentiment Strips (Altenew)
Ink:  Obsidian (Altenew)
Cardstock:  White, Black, Bubblegum (MFT), Guava (Lawn Fawn), Paradise (Hero Arts)
Dies:  Leaf Mix, Fine Frames Cover (Altenew)
Accessories:  Cherry Blossom, Red Cosmos, Sea Shore Enamel Dots (Altenew)

Cheers
Karren

Bokeh Joy

 Hi!  I've made another card during my time off work!  This time I made it for the current sketch at MFT and the colour challenge at Sunday Stamps.



I thought I was over making Christmas cards for a long while, but apparently not... 😄

When I first saw the challenge graphic at Sunday Stamps, I had intended to make my own bokeh background using the challenge colours, but then I remembered my favourite patterned paper - Blurry Flurries - so found a couple of pieces that suited and went to work.

This card has way more layers than I'm used to!  I started with a Whip Cream card base, then added a stitched Dark Indigo layer, then the patterned paper.  Onto that I added the stitched flags in Autumn Rose and the black-stamped sentiment across those.  The central image was backed with another Dark Indigo stitched panel then patterned paper in a pinky tone.  The word "Joy" was die-cut from gold foil cardstock (I took a bit of creative licence and assumed the mustardy shade in the challenge would stretch to gold).  The snowflakes on top were cut from pale pink and Autumn Rose cardstock and stacked slightly off-set.



I finished with a pearl that I coloured dark blue with a Copic marker.

Thanks for visiting!



Products used:

Stamps:  Filled With Joy (MFT)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
Cardstock:  Whip Cream, Pink Lemonade (MFT), Autumn Rose, Dark Indigo (PTI), Blurry Flurries (Whimsy Stamps), gold foil
Dies:  Stitched Rectangle Stax, Stitched Fishtail Flag Stax, Filled With Joy (MFT)
Accessories:  Pearl

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Sunday Stamps.