Circle Congrats

Welcome to another challenge from the team at Freshly Made Sketches where Cecile Ribon is our sketch hostess this week.  I "sort of" stuck to the sketch to come up with this card.

I wasn't sure what to use for the circle element, then thought of a circle sentiment and it sort of grew from there.  I wanted a dark cardbase and found these floral images already stamped (score!) so this card came together pretty quickly.

The dark blue panel was embossed with a Linen cover plate to give it a bit of texture.  I finished with some enamel dots to match the sentiment.

Thanks for visiting!  The design team have some fabulous cards so I hope you'll check them out.

Products used:

Stamps: Grouped Fresh Dahlias (The Ton)

Ink: Grass Fields, Tea Party sets (Altenew)

Cardstock: White, Dune, Oceanside (Spellbinders)

Dies: Grouped Fresh Dahlias (The Ton), Congrats Circle Frame (MFT), Linen & Canvas plate (PTI)

Accessories: Warm & Cozy Enamel Dots (Altenew)

Cheers

Karren

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Thinking Trio

Hi and welcome!  We're up to sketch #701 over at Freshly Made Sketches and Jen Brum is our hostess this week.  I, of course, mis-remembered the sketch and put the sentiment in the wrong place, so I hope Jen forgives me!

I started by using a stencil on a white card base and ink-blending some orange and yellow inks.  Before removing the stencil, I spritzed on some shimmer spray.  Setting that aside to dry, I die-cut all the floral and foliage elements from Mini Fall Florals and set to work colouring them with multiple ink colours and blending tools.

Once that was done, I created an arrangment and adhered it to the card base.  I finished by adding the sentiment and some dark brown pearls.

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

Products used:

Stamps:  On the Line: Succulents (Honey Bee Stamps)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Maple Yellow, Orange Cream, Autumn Blaze (Altenew), Fossilized Amber Distress Ink (for stenciling), Puffy Heart, Rose Quartz, Purple Wine, Cosmic Berry, Canyon Clay, Pastel Sunrise, Vanilla Cream, Pumpkin Pie, Hazelnut, Mocha, Espresso, Plum, Grape Agate, Green Opal, Forest Glades, Maple Yellowm Red Jasper, Paper Bag, Caramel Toffee, Honey Drizzle, Mossy Meadow, Misty Sage, Swamp Green (Altenew), Fossilized Amber, Scorched Timber Distress Inks (for the flower

Cardstock:  White

Dies:  Lovely Layers: Mini Fall Florals (Honey Bee Stamps)

Accessories:  Rectangle Trio Stencil (MFT), Shimmer Spray, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers

Karren

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Typewritten

Hi and welcome!  It's a very exciting week over at Freshly Made Sketches as we hit sketch #700!  That's 14 years of different sketches to inspire all you cardmakers out there! For such a special occasion, we went back into the archives and are, appropriately, using sketch #14 this week. And to make it more fun the design team are showing their first FMS card as well as their new #700 sketch card.

I started playing at sketch #20, which was also the first time I had ever entered a card challenge and I was thrilled to be named a Princess.  My poorly lit card is down below (and that was from back in the day when I used SU products).  I was thrilled to be asked the join the design team from sketch #118 in January 2014 and have been a proud DT member ever since.

Now onto my card for #700.  I wanted to do something a bit special so went into full layering mode and back to basics with stamping and embossing.  I white heat-embossed the You Matter background stamp onto some Oceanside cardstock and because it looked a bit stark, I stamped over it with the Chalk Background stamp and white ink.  I then cut the panel into four, matted it onto dark gray cardstock and then tried to adhere them evenly onto a Soft Stone panel, which was then layered onto a white card base (see what I mean about layering!)

I assembled the typewriter from MFT using peachy and gray tones.  The sentiment is from a Woodware stamp set.  I adhered that using foam tape and finished with a die-cut heart which I coated in Glossy Accents.  It wasn't until I was writing up this post that I realised I put my heart in the wrong place, but we're pretty forgiving like that over at FMS!

And here is my first entry from FMS20 which was back in 2012.  

And continuing with the trip down memory lane, here is my first card as a member of the design team - FMS118.  I remember being so scared it wasn't going to be good enough, but it must have been okay because they haven't fired me yet!

Thanks so much for visiting and getting through this long post.  Please check out the first and newest cards from the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Vintage Typewriter (Woodware), You Matter (SSS), Chalk Background (Hero Arts)

Ink: Versamark, Unicorn White (Hero Arts), Versafine Onyx Black, Sunkissed (Pink Fresh)

Cardstock:  White, Black, Soft Stone (PTI), Gravel Gray (MFT), Oceanside (Spellbinders), Nectar, Grapefruit (C&9)

Dies: Typewriter (MFT), Infinity Hearts (Hero Arts)

Accessories: Glossy Accents, White Embossing Powder

Cheers

Karren

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Letterboard Birthday

The new Tic-Tac-Toe challenge is a good one! I went left diagonal: letters-free-rectangle shape where my "free" is flowers.

I used MFT’s Letterboard and alphabet to make this birthday card. The flowers were pre-made so this card came together quickly.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Cardstock: White, Black, Rouge (Altenew)

Dies: Letterboard, Letterboard Letters (MFT), Garden Wreath Add-Ons (Spellbinders)

Accessories:  Pastel Pearl Stickers (Honey Bee)

Cheers

Karren

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Pokemon-Inspired

Welcome to Freshly Made Sketches' latest challenge, where our hostess this week is Verena Shapiro.  As soon as I saw Verena's sketch I saw a Pokeball and couldn't get the image out of my head.  I couldn't make it work as a card but I was inspired by the yellow colour and went a bit Mondrian-inspired in my colour scheme for this card.

This was very simple to make - 2 coloured circle dies cut in half, a black circle mat and a blue sentiment strip with a black mat.  The hardest part was finding a suitably long sentiment.

Thanks for visiting.  Please head over to the challenge blog and check out the fabulous cards made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Sentiment Strips (Altenew)

Ink:  Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Black, Beeswax, Pomegranate (Spellbinders)

Dies:  Infinity Circles (Hero Arts) Fishtail Flag Stax, Fishtail Flag Layers Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  White EP

Cheers

Karren

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Teacher

Hi and welcome.  After a couple of months of not being able to play along, I'm joining in with the Case It hop over on Instagram.  I was inspired by Joan Bardee (@dearpaperlicious) and her fabulous primary coloured teacher card to come up with this:

I kept with the teacher theme and the notebook paper die but I changed the orientation of my card and added in some aqua and yellow colours for my die-cut elements.  You can see Joan's card down the bottom of my post.  

Thanks so much for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Teach, Sleep, Repeat (MFT)

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black

Cardstock: White, Black, Kraft, Beeswax, Pomegranate, Seaside (Spellbinders), Silver Mirror Cardstock

Dies: A2 Ripped Notebook (Picket Fence), Back to School (MFT), Notebook Journal Card (SugarPea Designs)

Cheers

Karren

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Numbers

 

Hi and welcome!  Today's card uses the latest sketch from Freshly Made Sketches where Kim Singdahlsen

is our hostess.  I decided to get messy with Distress Spray Stains, Distress Spritz and an embossing folder for my card.

These panels started out as white watercolour paper and after lots of spraying and splattering, they became this.  I die-cut the panels and mounted them onto black cardstock before adhering to a kraft card base.  The sentiment is pre-foiled in gold.

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

Products used:

Ink: Black Soot Archival

Cardstock: Desert Storm (Kraft), Black, Distress Watercolour Cardstock

Dies:A2 Rectangle Stax 1 and 2 (MFT), Additional Square Die (Waffle Flower)

Accessories:  Numbers Embossing Folder (Tim Holtz), Crackling Campfire, Rusty Hinge, Tumbled Glass, Weathered Wood, Gathered Twigs Distress Spray Stain, Salvaged Patina Distress Oxide Spray Stain, Salvaged Patina, Hickory Smoke Distress Spritz

Cheers

Karren

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Air Mail

Today's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches was designed by the one-and-only Linda Callahan and leaves a wide open space for all sorts of different interpretations.  I went through my NBUS box and decided it was time I used some of the Spellbinders club kits from April this year.  I chose to work with the hot foil plate and co-ordinating stencils for the centre panel in my card.

After stenciling, I adhered the panel to a white card base and worked on the other sketch elements.  I cut two strips of white cardstock and adhered them with foam tape to the card base after stamping a sentiment on the top panel.  I then used Altenew inks in darker shades to the stenciled panel to create the airmail strip and the heart border, which are from SugarPea Designs.

Thanks for visiting!  Head over and check out the fabulous cards made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps: Send & Seal (Spellbinders)

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Pink Pearl, Coral Bliss, Heartbeat, Dew Drops, Aqualicious, Teal Cave (Altenew)

Cardstock: White

Dies: Airmail Set, Heart Border (SugarPea Designs, Scattered Letters Hot Foil (Spellbinders)

Accessories: Scattered Letters Stencils (Spellbinders), Black hot foil

Cheers

Karren

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Baby

Hi all and welcome!  Before I get to this week's card for Freshly Made Sketches I wanted to let my (previous) email subscribers know that my account was closed by MailChimp because I hadn't logged into it for 24 months.  Silly me ignored the emails thinking they related to the long-closed Fusion Card Challenge because emails for this blog were going to subscribers every time I posted, so of course my account was active 😒.  But no, because I hadn't logged into my MailChimp account, it was closed and there is no way to get it back.  So none of my subscribers have been receiving emails since May.  

Long story short, I created a new account at Follow It which was so much easier to set up so if you would like to receive emails when I post (about 1 card a week!), please sign up to the right 👉.

Now onto this week's card. Jen Mitchell came up with a fabulous sketch and I used some NBUS dies from Scrapbook.com to make a baby card - for who I have no idea 😁  

I die-cut everything from white cardstock and ink-blended using some soft pastel colours.  I arranged the images onto a vellum stitched tag and then onto a strip of gingham patterned paper.  The sentiment die is from SugarPea Designs and stacked three high for dimension.

Thanks so much for visiting!  The design team have some wonderful cards so I hope you'll check them out.

Products used:

Ink: Minty Mint, Sweet Leaf, Rose Quartz, Puffy Heart, Peachy Glow, Peach Perfect, Vanilla Cream, Hazelnut, Rocky Shore, Mocha (Altenew)

Cardstock: White, Vellum, Homespun Gingham patterned paper (MFT)

Dies: Welcome Baby (Scrapbook.com), Baby Diaper Pin (SugarPea Designs), Anytime Tags (Lil Inkers), Stitched Scalloped Borders (Lawn Fawn)

Accessories:  White twine

Cheers

Karren

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Beach Dub

 Hi and welcome!  I designed the board over at Tic-Tac-Toe this week and for my card, I went through the centre with Beach-Blue-Ink Blending.  

I didn't have the challenge in mind when I made this card last weekend, but I was messaging with my daughter while I was making another card and she asked me to make her a card with a car.  I don't have many non-classic car stamps or dies so I found this VW and thought she'd like it.  I stenciled the background using a Hero Art stencil set and then put the van together, pretty much copying the Honey Bee Stamps example.  I personalised the plate by writing my daughter's name and adding a wee heart.

She's been going through a tough time lately, settling into a new town and new job teaching high-school age boys, so I wanted her to know I was thinking of her, hence the sentiment.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Bloom with Grace (Honey Bee Stamps)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Dew Drops, Aqualicious, Starlight, Almond Butter, Sand Dunes (Altenew)

Cardstock:  White, Fog, Alabaster, Dahlia (Spellbinders), Silver Matte Foil

Dies:  Lovely Layers: Beach Bound (Honey Bee Stamps), Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Beach Floor Stencils (Hero Arts), Copic Markers (for tyre shadow)

Cheers

Karren

Pizza

 Hi and welcome!  Today's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches was designed by Jennifer Timko and I used some more MFT products to make my card.

I have had the sentiment stamp set for a year or two but the dies had been out of stock forever, so when it was announced that MFT was closing, I went on the hunt and found them at Frantic Stamper, along with a couple of other MFT products I wanted.  They arrived last week so I had to use them for this card!  I cut everything from white cardstock and ink-blended all the elements.  I then adhered it all together, deliberately being a bit haphazard with the toppings.  To make it look more pizza-ish I used a gingham stencil and red ink to create a "tablecloth".

The sentiment was stamped onto a rectangle panel and adhered with foam tape, as was the pizza.  I've added the Perfect Picker and reverse tweezers to the photos because they were definitely needed in the making of this card!

I've listed out in the products below which colours I used for which elements, if you are interested. And also, future me will thank past me for doing this next time I want to use these dies 😁

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

Products used:

Stamps:  Pizza My Heart (MFT)

Ink:  Obsidian (Altenew)

  Pizza Base:  Vanilla Cream, Hazelnut, Almond Butter (Altenew)

  Sauce:  Heartbeat, Vineyard Berry (Altenew)

  Cheese:  Butternut, Golden Honeycomb (Altenew)

  Salami:  Mahogany Bark (Altenew), Pumice Stone Distress Ink

  Capsicum:  Reindeer Moss, Crimson (Altenew)

  Mushroom:  Pumice Stone Distress Ink, Vanilla Cream (Altenew

  Pineapple:  Warm Sunshine (Altenew

  Olives:  Pure Graphite (Altenew)

  Onion:  Purple Wine (Altenew)

Cardstock:  White

Dies:  Pizza Maker (MFT), Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Gingham Stencil (SSS)

Cheers

Karren

Balloons

Hi and welcome!  Today's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches was designed by Judy Rozema.  I originally was going to put flowers in the corners but then I remembered this hot foil plate, die and stencil set and decided to use it for my card.

The hot foiled images were stenciled using Distress Inks and then die-cut.  It's hard to see in the photos, but there is a larger bunch of balloons in each corner and a smaller bunch popped up with foam tape closest to the centre circle.

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

Products used:

Ink:  Saltwater Taffy, Abandoned Coral, Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon, Scattered Straw, Fossilized Amber Distress Inks

Cardstock:  White

Dies:  Balloon Arch Hot Foil and Dies (Honey Bee Stamps) Stylish Script Thank You and Happy Birthday (Spellbinders)

Accessories:  Balloon Arch Stencils (Honey Bee Stamps) Copper hot foil

Cheers

Karren

 

Mermazing

Hi and welcome.  Today's sketch artist over at Freshly Made Sketches is Amy O'Neill and this card was made as a tribute to MFT Stamps who announced last week they are closing down after almost 20 years in business.  

My stock of MFT stamps, dies, cardstock, stencils and patterned papers is more than any other single company.  Back when I was doing a lot more card-making and Copic colouring, I couldn't get enough of MFT - especially Birdie Brown images.  It also helped that their international shipping was probably the cheapest and the fastest, so it was a given that every new release and new kit, I was there waiting with bated breath to place an order.  I am sorry that MFT is closing its doors, but I can understand the reasons and wish nothing but the best for Kim - the owner.

My card was made using mostly MFT products.  I started by ink-blending some Distress Inks onto a panel of white cardstock, then using the Ray of Light stencil to create the ocean light effect.  Over top of the ink, I added some Sparkle Texture Paste to give a shimmery finish.  While that was drying, I stamped and Copic coloured the mermaid and fish.  

 

The porthole was die-cut and stacked three high.  I also added some acetate to the back to give the impression of a window.  I added the fish and mermaid and set it aside to work on the card base.  

As soon as the stenciling was dry, I die-cut with a rectangle die to allow room to stamp the sentiment on the bottom right of a white card base.  After adhering the stenciled panel, I added the porthole and mermaid and called it done.  

It's not totally in keeping with the sketch, but I sort of figure the "rays" can be the cardstock strips on the sketch - maybe, perhaps....

Thanks for visiting.  The design team have some fabulous cards so I hope you'll check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Mermazing, Gill Friends (MFT)

Ink:  Amalgam (Gina K), Versafine Onyx Black, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Stormy Sky, Chipped Sapphire, Black Soot Distress Inks

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It

Dies:  Mermazing, Ocean View Porthole (MFT)

Accessories:  Copics, Sparkle Texture Paste, Ray of Light Stencil (MFT), white gel pen, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers

Karren

Letters

Hi and welcome!  Today's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches was designed by Narelle Farrugia and I went with a postage theme.

I die-cut some envelopes and ink-blended with distress inks.  On the background panel I did some partial die-cutting to get the shape I wanted and then stamped various postage images with pale gray ink.  I finished with a stamped and die-cut sentiment and a wee faux wax seal.

Thanks for visiting!  The design team have some fabulous cards so I hope you'l check them out.

 

Products used:

Stamps:  Sealed Sentiments, Postage Collage, Postage Collage Royal Mail (Waffle Flower)

Ink:  Morning Frost (Altenew), Saltwater Taffy, Salvaged Patina, Shaded Lilac Distress Inks

Cardstock:  White, Bellini (Spellbinders), Fog (SSS)

Dies:  Postage Collage Envelopes Die, Sealed Sentiments (Waffle Flower), Postage Edge Rectangles (Spellbinders)

Accessories:  Clay heart

Cheers

Karren

Charcuterie

Hi all.  It's been a long time since I've made a card just for fun, but we had a long weekend here in New Zealand and rather than do boring stuff like doing some winter gardening,  I decided to spend a whole day in my craft room.  That turned into a day and a half, but it was good to just play with no design team commitments.  I decided to play along in a couple of challenges with my card today.  The Honey Bee Stamps Buzzworthy Challenges FB group has a monthly card contest and this month's challenge is Father's Day.  Father's Day isn't until September here but I bought this set specifically for my DH so I thought it was time to put it to use and get ahead of the game!

I'm also playing along with Addicted to Stamps and More who are looking for die-cuts this challenge.  Everything apart from the patterned paper was cut with dies.

I hadn't done any Copic colouring for a long time so that was my plan this weekend.  I coloured up a sunflower which will be in an upcoming DT post and then had fun colouring all these images, using about a million different Copic markers.  Once coloured, I worked on the cutting board which was die-cut and then ink-blended with Distress inks.  I arranged the food onto the cutting board and adhered it all with liquid glue then used foam tape to add the board to the card base.  I tucked in a few pieces to the side of the cutting board and added the sentiment.

Thanks for visiting!

 Products used:

Stamps:  So Char-CUTE-rie, To The Wise One (Honey Bee Stamps)

Ink:  Amalgam (Gina K), Versafine Onyx Black, Brushed Corduroy, Gathered Twigs, Ground Espresso Distress Inks

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Gingham (Echo Park)

Dies:  So Char-CUTE-rie, Cutting Board, To The Wise One (Honey Bee Stamps)

Accessories:  Copics