Just a Little Note

 Hi and welcome!  Today's card uses the latest sketch from the team at Freshly Made Sketches, where hostess Jennifer Timko has given us an oval to play with.

For some reason, I am not a fan of ovals - probably because I can never get them straight.  I decided to work with some products from The Greetery and create an almost one-layer card featuring a sort-of oval shape.  The original stencils create an arch design, so to make it look more like an oval, I stenciled and stamped the left-hand of the card then flipped the stencils to mirror image the right-hand side.

Once I was finished stenciling and stamping, I selectively stamped part of the arched sentiment and did some subtle ink-blending to define the shape more.  I finished with a die-cut and stacked sentiment.

Please be sure to check out the fabulous cards made by the design team.

I'm linking this up to Happy Little Stampers stencil challenge.

Products used:

Stamps:  Floral Arches, Arched Sentiments (The Greetery)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Matcha, Sage (Catherine Pooler), Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Aged Mahogany, Old Paper Distress Inks, Fossilized Amber, Brushed Corduroy, Ground Espresso Distress Oxide Inks

Cardstock:  White, Black

Dies:  Hello Poe Script (Poppy Stamps)

Accessories:  Floral Arches Stencils (The Greetery)

Cheers

Karren

Cowboy Birthday

 Hi!  I had some time today to make a card just for fun, which doesn't happen very often!  I was intrigued by the colours at Color Throwdown so that was my starting point.  From there I decided to use the cute Saddle Up and Celebrate set from MFT Stamps for my card:

I coloured up the images using the CTD colors and die-cut them with the co-ordinating dies.  When contemplating how to have them on a card, I thought the tag theme at CAS on Friday would work well.  So I die-cut a couple of tags and on one, I added some patterned paper to give the images some background.  

I stamped the sentiment on the tag, added some twine and adhered the tags to a cream card base.

I'm also linking this up the the All Occasions challenge at Krafty Chicks and the No Toppings option at Seize the Birthday.

Products used:

Stamps:  Saddle Up & Celebrate, The Whole Herd (MFT)

Ink:  Amalgam (Gina K.), Versafine Onyx Black

Cardstock:  Whip Cream (MFT), Enchanted Evening (PTI), X-Press It, Spooktacular, Grain & Grunge (Honey Bee Stamps)

Dies:  Saddle Up & Celebrate (MFT), Stitched Traditional Tag Stax (MFT), Tag Sale #3 (for the reinforcer) (PTI)

Accessories:  Copics, Bakers Twine, white gel pen

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Color Throwdown and Krafty Chicks

Butterfly Rings

 Hi!  It's time for another fun challenge from the Tic Tac Toe team where Jeanne came up with this week's board.  Here's the card I made using Gems/Sequins-Embossing-Butterfly for my prompt:

I have been on the lookout for this Tree Rings embossing folder for some time and when I saw it back in stock at a NZ online shop, I grabbed it.  I used it on a white card base after embossing it in Desert Storm cardstock.  On top of that I added a teal pierced frame and a butterfly left over from a previous crafty session.  

For the sentiment, I first stamped in Versamark then in Daydream ink to match the frame and clear-embossed before die-cutting with the matching die.  I finished off the card with some green/teal sequins.

Here's the fun board we have for you to play with this week:

Thanks so much for visiting!

Products used:  

Stamps:  Fall Foliage Frame (Honey Bee)

Ink:  Blue Suede Shoes, Dress Blues, Sea Glass, Uptown, All That Jazz, Daydream, Black Jack (Catherine Pooler), Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Adriatic (Hero Arts), Desert Storm (Neenah)

Dies:  Fall Foliage Frame (Honey Bee), Small Butterflies Hot Foil, Small Butterflies die (Pink Fresh), Pierced Rectangle Frame Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Gold Hot Foil, Clear EP, Tree Rings Embossing Folder (Tim Holtz), Sequins

Cheers

Karren

Sunflower Thanks

 Hi all!  Today's card is for the new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches, where Jacquie Southas came up with a very versatile and fun sketch.  Here's the card I made:

When I sat down to make a card for the sketch, I wasn't feeling very "stampy" so glanced over at my stamp storage and saw this Sunflower set which, coincidentally, has matching washi.  I already had this image die-cut so it was reasonably simple to come up with the rest of the card.  

I have been inspired lately by 3D embossing folder backgrounds on coloured cardstock - most notably this card by fellow teamie Jen Timko.  So I found some bright green cardstock and embossed it with a Spellbinders folder before adhering it to a white card base.  I hot-foiled the sentiment onto black, positioning it so it would be visible in the wreath and then added gold foil strips on either side of the black panel.  I have to say that the Pitch Black cardstock by Hero Arts hot-foiled beautifully as I haven't had great luck with hot-foiling on some other black cardstocks in the past.

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

Products used:  

Cardstock:  Prickly Pear (MFT), Pitch Black (Hero Arts)

Dies:  Sunflowers (Pink Fresh), Classic Frame (Waffle Flower)

Accessories:  Fall Sunflowers Washi Tape (Pink Fresh), Gold Hot Foil, Four Petal Floral Embossing Folder (Spellbinders)

Cheers

Karren

Singing Trio

 Hi and welcome to another sketch from the team at Freshly Made Sketches where this week our hostess is Judy Rozema.  Here's the card I made with her great sketch:

I am trying to take a leaf out of Jen, my fellow teamie's, book and keep up with making Christmas cards throughout the year.  January and February I have absolutely no interest in making another Christmas card, but come March I need to get back into it.  I thought the circles in the sketch would work for these cute carolling kittens so set to work Copic-colouring them and cutting them out with my Scan n Cut.

I hot-foiled a sentiment with gold foil and went to work on setting the scene.  I wanted to keep my card CAS, so only stamped some pavement for them to "stand" on - which also worked fabulously with the sketch.  Finally, I added my kittens with some foam tape and called it done.

Thanks so much for visiting!  Please check out the fabulous cards made by the design team.

I'm linking this up to the Christmas challenge at Krafty Chicks and the Anything Goes Christmas Challenge at Happy Little Stampers.

Products used:

Stamps:  Carol Kitten (Gerda Steiner), On The Ground (SSS)

Ink:  Amalgam (Gina K), Twilight (Catherine Pooler)

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It

Dies:  Holiday Florals Background Hot Foil (Spellbinders)

Accessories:  Copics, Gold hot foil, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout-out at Krafty Chicks and Happy Little Stampers

Rainbow Bokeh

 Welcome to another challenge from the Freshly Made Sketches team where this week our hostess is Amy O'Neill and she has a fun sketch for us.

I went a big rogue but I hope you can still somewhat see the sketch in my card.

On a white panel, I masked off the edges then ink-blended Distress Oxide inks in a rainbow pattern.  Once that was dry, I used bokeh stencils and white pigment ink to create the circles.  I heat set the pigment ink and adhered it to a white card base then set it aside while I worked on the sentiment.

This is the negative of a black foil on white cardstock hot-foiled sentiment.  I stacked it three high and added it to the rainbow pattern.  I finished with a few white gems and called it done.

Thanks for visiting.  Please check out the many wonderful ways the DT have interpreted this sketch.

Products used:

Ink:  Picked Raspberry, Candied Apple, Carved Pumpkin, Mustard Seed, Twisted Citron, Broken China, Wilted Violet Distress Oxide Inks, Unicorn White (Hero Arts)

Cardstock:  White

Dies:  Wonderful Sentiments Hot Foil and Dies (Pink Fresh)

Accessories:  Bokeh Stencils (Taylored Expressions), white gems (Honey Bee)

Cheers

Karren

Gilded Leaves

 Hi and welcome!  Today's card was made especially for a few challenges and is the first card I've made that wasn't for a DT commitment for quite some weeks!

I was inspired by the sketch at Just Add Ink, the photo at Inspired By, the colours from Color Hues and the Elegant theme at Time Out Challenges.  (As an aside green and gold were my high school colours so not my favourite combination 😄)

I started with a white card base and then added the white embossed square die-cuts as well as the strip of white which was dry embossed with the Subtle embossing folder.  

For the leaves, I die-cut them from two different shades of green and then added Gilded Foundry Wax to the ends before heat-setting.  I arranged those on the card base and then added a stacked black hot-foiled sentiment.  

It was at this point I thought it looked a bit stark, so added two thin slivers of gold foil on either side of the vertical panel.  Finally, I finished with some green enamel dots and a heart.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Cardstock:  White, Gold Foil, Prickly Pear, Jellybean Green (MFT)

Dies:  Leaf Mix (Altenew), Wonderful Sentiments (Pink Fresh), Embossed Squares (Kat Scrappiness)

Accessories:  Black hot foil, Subtle Embossing Folder (SU), Gilded Foundry Wax (Tim Holtz), Enamel Dots (Altenew and WPlus9)

Cheers

Karren

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

Hey There

I'm here with my card for the latest challenge at Tic Tac Toe where this time I've chosen the far right column of Ribbon/Twine - Layers - Patterned Papers.

 Adding layers is not easy for me so I tried to add layers without adding layers.  Firstly, I used a stencil and embossing paste on the card base.  While that was drying, I cut a panel of patterned paper and added a strip of black then a strip of copper metallic cardstock down the side before adding some black and white bakers twine.  I then adhered it to the card base.

I added more layers to the hot-foiled sentiment by stacking it with black layers which I slightly offset so as to be visible.

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

Products used:

Cardstock:  White, Black, Copper Metallic, Patina patterned paper (Craft Consortium)

Dies:  Hey There Combo (Waffle Flower)

Accessories:  Postcard stencil (Stamperia), Snowfall texture paste (Tim Holtz), Bakers Twine, copper hot foil

Cheers

Karren

Newspaper Man

It's my turn to be sketch hostess this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  I actually made this card then created the sketch around it.  I was asked by my husband to make a card for one of his customers who was turning 80 and had been a newspaper man his whole adult life.  So this is the card I came up with:

I used this newsprint stamp from Tim Holtz and paired that with a strip of cardstock I'd made using the credit card technique and some distress paint.  I added a strip of black cardstock then went to work on the sentiment.  

I die-cut and stacked the 8 and 0 then rubbed some foundry wax along the bottom of the numbers.  The sentiment was silver-embossed and matted onto black.  As the finishing touch, I also added foundry wax along the edge of the blue panel.

Thanks for visiting!  Please check out the wonderful cards made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Steampunk (Tim Holtz), Essential Sentiments (MFT)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Black, pre-prepared credit card technique panel

Dies:  By the Numbers (PTI)

Accessories:  Silver EP, Sterling Foundry Wax

Cheers

Karren