28

Welcome to our last challenge of 2025 over at Freshly Made Sketches. Our hostess this week is Narelle Farrugia and I used her sketch to make a birthday card for my son, who would have been 28 on 17 December (yesterday for me as this post goes live).  I still make him a birthday card to celebrate each birthday and this year, I made a card to resemble his car, which was his pride and joy.  He painted it himself and wanted to be a car painter.  

To make the card, I first stamped the Papillon stamp onto the black panel with Versamark for a subtle watermark effect, but it didn't even show up in the final card or the photos.  I applied some gilding flakes to a white panel and then ripped it diagonally to match Matthew's car.  I then die-cut the rectangle frame from the panel and mounted it onto another slightly larger black rectangle before putting it onto a card base.

I used the same technique for the numbers but put the gilding flakes at the top, added a smaller black panel and the stamped sentiment.

Here is a photo of Matthew's car after he had painted it and then at his funeral where we invited everyone to write a message in Sharpie over the gold paint.  That car is treasured as are the messages.

Thanks for visiting and please check out the fabulous cards made by the design team.  This challenge will be open for longer and we'll be back in January with a new year of sketch challenges.

Products used:

Stamps: #Hashtag, Papillon (Tim Holtz)

Ink: Obsidian (Altenew), Versamark

Cardstock: Black, White

Dies: A2 Rectangle Stax (MFT), By The Numbers (PTI)

Accessories: Gilding Flakes (Nuvo)

Cheers

Karren

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Poinsettia

Hi and welcome to our second-to-last challenge of the year over at Freshly Made Sketches where our hostess this week is Michele Ferguson.

I went with a Christmas card because I couldn't think of anything other than a big flower for the circle image (my creativity is on hiatus at the moment).

The flower was stamped, stenciled and die-cut before being layered onto a dark green background.  For the banner, I went with vellum and really wanted to actually stitch it onto the card but was just too lazy to pull out the sewing machine! Hence the stitched dies - so much easier!

I finished with some gold gems in the centre of the flower and on the banner to hide some little dots of glue.

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

Products used:

Stamps: Festive Poinsettia (Alex Syberia Design)

Ink: Amalgam (Gina K.), Versamark, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, Lumberjack Plaid, Aged Mahogany, Saltwater Taffy, Worn Lipstick Distress Inks

Cardstock: White, Vellum, Forest (Spellbinders)

Dies: Festive Poinsettia (Alex Syberia Design), Stitched Fishtail Flag Stax, Blueprints 25 (MFT)

Accessories: Gilded Embossing Powder (Brutus Monroe), Back to Basics Gem Stickers (Honey Bee Stamps)

Cheers

Karren

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Snowy Plaid

Hi and welcome!  I'm here with a card for the latest Tic Tac Toe Challenge where I've gone down the left column with Texture/White/Plaid.

I added the Altenew Layered Plaid cover plate to a blue background and then added some hand-cut snow drifts on top.  The snowman was assembled using various colours of cardstock and the Honey Bee Stamps Build a Snowman die set.

Finally, I added the sentiment and called it done.  Thanks so much for visiting.  Head on over to the challenge blog and have a go yourself!

Products used:

Stamps: An Arctic Christmas (SSS)

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Salvaged Patina Distress Ink

Cardstock: White, Black, Sno Cone, Summer Splash, Blu Raspberry, Hot Fudge (MFT)

Dies: Layered Plaid A & B (Altenew), Build a Snowman (Honey Bee Stamps)

Accessories: Orange Copic Marker

Cheers

Karren

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Skating Christmas

Welcome to the new challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches where this week I am the sketch hostess.  I had no idea what I would make when I came up with the sketch and it took a while to figure something out but finally came up with this card.

The sled and floral arrangement were made using coloured cardstock and ink-blending.  After I put the pieces together, I set it aside and worked on the background.  The patterned paper was a little bit too dark for the softer look I was going for so I painted over the panel with some diluted white gesso to soften it.  The top of the panel was die-cut using the linen side of the PTI cover plate.  I stamped the sentiment and added a thin mint strip to separate the two panels.

After adding the die-cut elements, I finished with some pearls to match the coral tones of the poinsettia.

Thanks for visiting.  Please check out the fabulous cards made by our design team and meet our super-talented two new design team members.

Products used:

Stamps: Star Snowflake Sentiments (Waffle Flower)

Ink: Obsidian (Altenew), Brushed Corduroy, Abandoned Coral, Lost Shadow, Bundled Sage, Fossilized Amber Distress Inks

Cardstock: White, Kraft, Coral Crush (MFT), Fog (SSS), Rouge (Altenew), Mint (Spellbinders), Silver Matte Foil, Christmas 2025 Backdrops (Tim Holtz)

Dies: Winter Welcome Sled (Spellbinders), Linen & Canvas (PTI)

Accessories: Pastel Pearls (Honey Bee Stamps), white Gesso

Cheers

Karren

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Floral Book

Hi and welcome.  I carved out a bit of time today to make a card specifically for the final Color Throwdown challenge.  I haven't played along in challenges for several years now, but when I was a regular challenge player, Color Throwdown was always one I tried to create for.  I'm sorry to see the challenge go, but totally understand.    

Anyway, onto my card.  I wanted to try and create with softer versions of the challenge colours.  So I went with a vanilla-yellow colour, a soft orange and a minty green.  I added some ink to brighten up the colours some.

I decided to use an old die-set from SugarPea Designs which I have always loved.  I created the "book" using Acorn and Ivory cardstock and then worked on the floral arrangement and glasses.  I wanted the background to look a bit bookish too, so lightly stamped a text background with Fog ink.  I then spritzed it with Hickory Smoke Distress Spritz for some splatter and sparkle.  The floral arrangement was spritzed with clear shimmer spray.

The whole background was dry-embossed with the Subtle EF and I finished with a couple of random flowers on the background.

I'm also playing along with Time Out Challenge where I have chosen all of the options except Movie.  When I saw the challenge and decided to make a book, the "corners" option reminded me of turning the corner down to mark the page (not that I have ever done that - it makes my eye twitch just thinking about it!).

Thanks for visiting. And special thanks to the Color Throwdown team for all the wonderful inspiration over the years.

Products used:

Stamps: You Matter (SSS), Many Thanks (Altenew)

Ink: Fog (SSS), Obsidian (Altenew), Mustard Seed, Cracked Pistachio, Ripe Persimmon Distress Inks

Cardstock: White, Black, Vanilla Cream, Minty Mint (Altenew), Summer Sunrise (PTI), Acorn (Spellbinders), Ivory (Gina K)

Dies: Open Book (SugarPea Designs)

Accessories: Hickory Smoke Distress Spritz, Subtle Embossing Folder (SU), Clear Shimmer Spray (Tsukineko)

Cheers

Karren

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Thinking Of

Hi and welcome!  Our sketch hostess over at Freshly Made Sketches this week is Cecile Ribon.  She gave us an image that tends towards Christmas, but I didn't want to make a Christmas card, so turned it into a floral instead.

Both the floral and the sentiment are NBUS stamp sets for me so it was good to use them.  I stamped and die-cut the images and set them aside to work on the background.  I die-cut a double square frame and backed it with some patterned paper that I'd spattered with gold.  I did the same spattering on the white panel but used some scraps of paper to mask off the top left and bottom right so the gold was contained in a diagonal.

I didn't add any embellishments as I thought the gold was enough.

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

Products used:

Stamps: Garden Treasure (Altenew), Get Well Soon (Honey Bee Stamps)

Ink: Amalgam (Gina K.), Pastel Sunrise, Canyon Clay, Burnt Red, Misty Sage, Mossy Meadow, Warm Sunshine, Caramel Toffee (Altenew)

Cardstock: White, One of a Kind patterned paper (Paper Rose)

Dies: Garden Treasure (Altenew), Get Well Soon (Honey Bee Stamps), Nesting Square Dies (Waffle Flower)

Accessories: Gold Color Shine (Heidi Swapp)

Cheers

Karren

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Tool Birthday

Hi and welcome!  Today's sketch from the team at Freshly Made Sketches was designed by Jen Brum and rather than make a Christmas card, I decided to make a masculine birthday card with some new-to-me dies from Honey Bee Stamps.

I've said it before, but I'm a sucker for anything miniature and these are just so cute!  I cut them out using Milwaukee tool brand colours because my daughter's boyfriend is a builder and uses Milwaukee tools so I had him in mind while making it.

The red frame is placed over top of an embossed panel and I then arranged the tools and a white heat-embossed sentiment.

Thanks so much for visiting.  The design team have created gorgeous cards as usual, so I hope you'll check them out.

And in other news, even though I've been card-making for almost 25 years, I had never put together a cardstock swatch, so after watching a live by Amy Rysavy, I decided to swatch out my cardstock where I have more than 2 sheets of the same brand/colour.  These rings hold MFT, Altenew, Spellbinders, Lawn Fawn, Hero Arts, Simon Says Stamp and PTI (not all the colours for all the brands, of course!).  I haven't swatched my assortment packs of Concord & 9th, Simon Says Stamp, MFT or PTI because I have less than 2 sheets of a colour but this is probably enough to be going on with.  Amusingly, I have multiple companies with the exact same shade.  The photo below makes my colour-loving heart happy. I only wish it wasn't so expensive to ship cardstock to New Zealand or I'd have it all... I created the labels with my Niimbot labelling machine and the tag die is from SugarPea Designs (no longer in business).

Products used:

Stamps: Elegant Sentiments (Waffle Flower)

Ink: Versamark

Cardstock: White, Fog (SSS), Red Hot, Cement Gray, Steel Gray (MFT), Silver matte foil

Dies: Pierced Rectangle Frames, Pierced Fishtail Flag Stax (MFT), Lovely Layers: Woodworking, Lovely Layers: Pegboard Garage Tools (Honey Bee Stamps)

Accessories: Wood Plank Embossing Folder (Honey Bee Stamps), White EP

Cheers

Karren

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Work of Heart

Hi and welcome!  Today's sketch designer over at Freshly Made Sketches is Verena Shapiro and she has a classic sketch for us.  I used it to create a card for my daughter who is coming up to the end of her first year of high school teaching and it's been a tough year for her.

I started with the stamped images which I then stenciled and die-cut.  From there I embossed a Jalapeno Popper panel to provide some texture and adhered it to a white card base.  Two strips of patterned paper onto a white panel were used as per the sketch and I then stamped the sentiment before arranging the stamped images.

I finished with some enamel dots and called it done.  Thanks for visiting.  Please head over and check out the fabulous cards made by the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Awesome to the Core (Honey Bee Stamps)

Ink: Amalgam (Gina K.), Versafine Onyx Black, Heartbeat, Mossy Meadow, Green Opal, Milk Chocolate (Altenew), Antique Linen Distress Ink

Cardstock: White, Jalapeno Popper (MFT), B&W Stripes (MFT), Freebie patterned paper (Honey Bee Stamps)

Dies: Awesome to the Core (Honey Bee Stamps)

Accessories: Awesome to the Core Stencils (Honey Bee Stamps), Tropical Forest Enamel Dots (Altenew), Subtle EF (SU)

Cheers

Karren

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CASE It - Distressed Leaves

Hi and welcome.  Over on Instagram I'm joining in the CASE It Instagram Hop and this month I was inspired by Amy Rohl and her gorgeous card which I've shown at the bottom of my post.  I created a panel with various Distress Spray Stains and Spritzes and used some Altenew dies to cut them out.  I then set about the card base with a postage edge panel which was orignally going to be left out and just use the frame, but I liked the look of the splattered panel so re-inserted it.

The outline for the leaves comes from a previously foiled black panel where I made a mess and it only partly foiled.  I've kept it for a couple of years and finally put it to use.  I think it adds a suitably grungy look to the card. The sentiment comes from a Spellbinders stamp set.  I finished with some gems.

Thanks for visiting.  Here is Amy's card - isn't it gorgeous?

Head on over to Instagram and check out the hop.  It'll be amazing as always!

Products used:

Stamps: Hello Sunflower (Spellbinders)

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black

Cardstock: Watercolour paper, Black, Kraft

Dies: Leaf Mix (Altenew), Postal Frames (The Greetery)

Accessories: various Distress Spray Stains, Hickory Smoke Distress Spritz, Gold Color Shine (Heidi Swapp), Back to Basics Gem Stickers (Honey Bee Stamps)

Cheers

Karren

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Snowman Joy

Hi and welcome to the latest Tic Tac Toe Challenge.  This time I went with the right diagonal of Snow/snowman - Gold - Christmas Sentiment to come up with this card.

This uses components of an older MFT card kit.  I used ivory cardstock for the base and patterned paper for the scarf, nose and hat band.  The frme and J and Y were die-cut with Tim Holtz gold metallic cardstock.

This was a pretty quick and simple card to make.  I hope you will join in the fun!  Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps: Filled With Joy (MFT)

Ink:Versafine Onyx Black

Cardstock:White, black, Ivory (Gina K.), Gold Metallic (Tim Holtz), Perfect Plaid (Lawn Fawn)

Dies: Filled with Joy (MFT), Nesting Rectangle Frames (Waffle Flower)

Accessories: Subtle embossing folder (SU)

Cheers

Karren

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Berry Wreath

Welcome!  Today's card uses the latest sketch from Freshly Made Sketches which was designed by Kim Singhdahlsen. I went the obvious route with the sketch and created a wreath card using hot-foiling.

The wreath was created with both hot-foiling and stenciling.  Once I had finished that I created a wreath arrangement and set it aside.  Onto a kraft cardbase I embossed with a wood plank embossing folder.  I then added the wreath and finished with a hot-foiled sentiment and some champagne drops.

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

Products used:

Ink: Green Valley set, Tea Party set, Grapevine (Altenew)

Cardstock: White, Kraft, Black

Dies: Winter Berries Frame hot foil and die (Pink Fresh), Fishtail Flag Layer Stax (MFT), Holiday Florals Background hot foil (Spellbinders)

Accessories: Winter Berries Frame stencils, Clear Drops: Champagne (Pink Fresh), Wood Planks Embossing Folder (Honey Bee Stamps), gold matte hot foil

Cheers

Karren

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Mushy Hello

Hi and welcome to our newest challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches where our sketch hostess this week is Linda Callahan. Linda gave us a fun sketch which we can take in so many different directions.  I saw the sketch and immediately thought of my Tri Peek a Boo window dies from MFT and I'd also just seen a card featuring mushrooms so my card was born.

All of the mushroom and foliage elements were die-cut from white cardstock and ink-blended (hence the sentiment).  I arranged them into three separate groupings and went to work on my card base.  The gingham paper was die-cut using the peek a book window border part of the die and a panel of Neenah Desert Storm was cut using the circle part of the die.  I added some more gingham paper behind the circles for added interest.

Before adding the foliage and mushrooms, I stamped the sentiment then adhered everything down.  I finished with some brown enamel dots and a heart.

Thanks so much for visiting.  I hope you'll check out the rest of the design team's fabulous cards.

Products used:

Stamps: Sealed Sentiments (Waffle Flower)

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Gathered Twigs, Lumberjack Plaid, Walnut Stain, Peeled Paint, Rusty Hinge, Rustic Wilderness Distress Inks

Cardstock: Neenah Desert Storm, Gingham patterned paper (Echo Park)

Dies: Envelope of Wonder, Autumn Wonder (Spellbinders), Stitched Tri Peek a Boo Window (MFT)

Accessories: Dessert Dreams Enamel Dots (Altenew)

Cheers

Karren

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CASE Me A Christmas Card 2025

Hi and welcome!  I'm here with a card I've posted over on Instagram for the annual Case Me A Christmas Card run by Michelle Lupton.  This year we are doing several hops so I hope you'll follow along.

Join the fun with "Case me a Christmas Card 2025"! This series features ten creative hops in October—two on YouTube and eight on Instagram—where we’ll CASE (Copy And Selectively Edit) cards from fellow crafters. Make your own unique Christmas card inspired by someone in the hop, upload it via Inlinkz on @michelle_lupton ’s blog (link in Michelle’s IG profile), and you could even snag a prize from one of our awesome sponsors. Or leave a comment on the stops on the hop (either on IG or on YT)! It's all about sharing ideas, connecting with other cardmakers, and sparking your creativity for the holidays!

I was inspired by @kellyrasmussen - scroll down to see the card that inspired me. I was initially drawn to Kelly's gorgeous colour combo, then I pulled in the white pattern in the background as well as the general layout. I went with a white embossed background which I over-stamped with a Chalk Background stamp to soften it somewhat. For the focal point, I put together the die-cut Santa Man from SSS and finished by die-cutting part of the background from behind the red strip to tie it all together. And here is Kelly's gorgeous card.

Next Up in the Hop is: @kellyrasmussen

Hop list:

@michelle_lupton

@traceymcneely

@bowdangel

@annikarten

@channinpelletier

@scrapbooking_swe

@kailashcrafts

@karrenjnz

@kellyrasmussen

Products used:

Stamps:  Holly Jolly Background (Honey Bee Stamps), Chalk Background (Hero Arts)

Ink:  Versamark, Grapevine, Monring Frost (Altenew)

Cardstock:  White, Lagoon, Heartbeat (Altenew), Onyx Matte Metallic (Spellbinders)

Dies: Holly Jolly (Honey Bee Stamps), Santa Man (SSS)

Accessories: White EP, Rustic Brick Wall Embossing Folder (Honey Bee Stamps)

Cheers

Karren

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Noel

Hi all!  Thanks for dropping by.  Our sketch hostess over at Freshly Made Sketches this week is Jen Mitchell and she has given us a square card layout.  I went Christmassy again for this card.

I already had the NOEL stenciled and die-cut so this card didn't take too long to put together, which was lucky as I only got 30 minutes of crafting time in the weekend.  I chose cardstock colours for the flags to match the flowers and leaves and added some soft embossing to the white card base.

I finished with some pretty pink pearls from Honey Bee Stamps.  Thanks for visiting.  Please check out the fabulous cards made by the design team.

Products used:

Ink: Jade, Eucalyptus, Forest Fern, Strawberry, Dusty Pink, Mocha (Altenew), Solid Gold (Lisa Horton)

Cardstock: White, Bubblegum (MFT), Ocean Tides (PTI)

Dies: Foral Noel (Honey Bee Stamps), Fishtail Flag Stax (MFT)

Accessories: Floral Noel Stencils, Holiday Pearl Stickers (Honey Bee Stamps), Subtle EF (SU)

Cheers

Karren

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