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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Circle Flowers

Hi and welcome!  Our sketch hostess this week at Freshly Made Sketches is Jennifer Timko and she has a fabulous yet CAS sketch for us.  

I went looking through my inventory for a circle frame and found this stamp set and thought it would work perfectly. 

 I did, however, forget the layer in the background and ironically, I did contemplate cutting the yellow panel a bit smaller, but decided not to!

The image was stamped and stenciled before being die-cut and then I added some sparkle pen.  I made a bit of a boo-boo with the stenciling so decided it was a good place for the sentiment.

This card is quite "in your face" so I apologise to anyone whose retinas were burned...

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

Products used:

Stamps: Elegant Floral Frames (Honey Bee Stamps)

Ink: Amalgam (Gina K), Firefly, Shadow Creek, Mountain Pine, Warm Sunshine, Caramel Toffee (Altenew)

Cardstock: White, Honey Drizzle (Altenew)

Dies: Elegant Floral Frames (Honey Bee Stamps)

Accessories: Elegant Floral Frames Stencils, Burlap Embossing Folder (Honey Bee Stamps), Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers

Karren

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Embossed Leaves

Hi and welcome!  It's time for another Tic Tac Toe challenge, and this time I went with the centre column Foliage/Leaves - Free - Thank You to come up with this card.

I've been a bit obsessed lately with Distress Spray Stains so once again I pulled them out to have a play.  I white embossed the Hodge Podge stamp onto watercolour paper then went to town with multiple spray stains and spritzes.  Once I was happy with the result I let the paper dry then die-cut with various leaf shapes.  Before I adhered the black layer on top, I took each leaf and added some foundry wax with my finger before heat-setting.

I embossed a kraft panel with the Burlap embossing folder then added a black frame.  Within the frame I arranged the leaves and a gold foiled thanks sentiment and called it done.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll have time to play along with us.

Products used:

Ink: Versamark, various Distress Spray Stains and Distress Spritz

Cardstock: Neenah Desert Storm, Black, Distress Watercolor Paper (Tim Holtz)

Dies: Fall Leaves, Nesting Rectangle Frames (Waffle Flower), Hexi-Gem Sentiments Hot Foil (Spellbinders)

Accessories: Burlap Embossing Folder (Honey Bee Stamps), White Embossing Powder, Gold Hot Foil, Gilded Foundry Wax (Tim Holtz)

Cheers

Karren

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Cosy Christmas

Hi, it’s time for a new sketch from the team at Freshly Made Sketches  and this week our sketch hostess is Judy Rozema. I made another Christmas card for my paltry stash and came up with this.

I used the Colour Cube for the colour combo and from there it was a matter of putting together the (fiddly) die-cut rocking chair and accessories and stamping the sentiment onto one of the panels.  Once I'd stamped the sentiment, I taped the four panels on the back and ran it through the Subtle embossing folder.

Thanks for visiting.  Please check out the fabulous cards made by the rest of the design team and I hope you'll find some time to join us.

Products used:

Stamps: Christmas Messages (Hero Arts)

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Scorched Timber, Black Soot, Ground Espresso, Aged Mahogany Distress Inks

Cardstock: White, Merlot, Dune (Spellbinders), Fine Linen (PTI), Dove (C+9), Gravel Gray, Milk Chocolate (MFT)

Dies:Christmas Rocking Chair (Spellbinders)

Accessories:  Pink Copic, Subtle EF (SU)

Cheers

Karren

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Delilah

You probably have to be of an age to get the meaning of this blog post title.  I hope you don't have an ear worm now but as soon as I found this "Hey There" die, I couldn't get the song out of my head 😄

Anyway, Amy O'Neill is our sketch hostess over at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  I looked through my NBUS and found this cassette tape die and the card came together pretty easily.  I stenciled the card base with a music stencil and white embossing paste.  

While that was drying, I put together the die-cut elements.  For the fishtail flag, I cut the top and bottom in two additional colours and adhered them to the vellum flag.  It's hard to tell in the photo, but the actual tape is cut from dark brown cardstock.

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

Products used:

Cardstock: White, Black, Vellum, Hot Fudge (MFT), Blue Spruce, Teal Topaz, Waterfall (Spellbinders), Silver Matte Foil

Dies: Mix Tape (Hero Arts), Stitched Fishtail Flag Stax, Hey There, Cupcake (MFT)

Accessories: Music Stencil (Newton's Nook), White Embossing Paste

Cheers

Karren

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Santa Paws

Welcome to the newest sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches where our hostess this week is Narelle Farrugia.  I thought it was about time I started on some Christmas cards, although, if things go like last year, I won't send any out.  I find it hard to celebrate Christmas and last year I gave myself permission to not celebrate it.

Anyway, onto the card.  I was pressed for time, so found this pre-coloured image (badly coloured I might add!) and decided that was going to be the focal point for my card.  Onto a white card base, I stamped the Holly Jolly background stamp with Morning Frost ink, then added a panel of vellum to soften the stamping.  I chose three colours of cardstock to match the dog image and die-cut with a Wonky Rectangles die.  Onto the red panel I white heat-embossed the sentiment.

I finished with some ruby red pearls and called it done.

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

Products used:

Stamps:  Happy Pawlidays (MFT), Holly Jolly Background (Honey Bee Stamps)

Ink:  Amalgam (Gina K), Morning Frost (Altenew)

Cardstock:  White, Stone Gray, Wild Cherry (MFT), Dove (C+9), vellum

Dies: Wonky Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Ruby Red Pearls (Pretty Pink Posh)

Cheers

Karren

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Torn Hodgepodge

Hello and welcome!  Our sketch hostess this week at Freshly Made Sketches is Michele Ferguson and I went a tad rogue with my interpretation, letting Distress Spray Stains  and white embossing define the sketch elements.

After being on my wishlist for months, I finally purchased the Hodgepodge stamp by Tim Holtz.  I absolutely adore collage stamps, which goes back to the early 2000's but don't often incorporate them into my mostly clean stamping style these days.  But I had to have Hodgepodge and the week it arrived, I put it to use on this sketch.

I was originally going to do ink-blending so started out with some Bristol Smooth cardstock, but then veered to spray stains so the paper choice probably wasn't best but it worked.  I white heat-embossed the stamp onto the paper, then created a stencil from some torn paper edge dies and some stencil plastic.  Once the stencils were in place, I went to town with all the sprays you can see in the product list below!  Before removing the stencils, I flicked on some foundry wax and heated it for some added shine.

I had a week bit of ink seep under the stencil but a strategically placed sentiment fixed that problem.

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

Products used:

Stamps: Hodgepodge (Tim Holtz)

Ink: Versamark, Black Soot Distress Ink

Cardstock: White, Bristol Smooth, Black, Gold Kraft Stock

Dies: Outlined Hello (Waffle Flower), Torn Paper Edges (MFT)

Accessories:  Distress Spray Stains: Crackling Campfire, Rusty Hinge, Tumbled Glass, Gathered Twigs, Weatherwed Wood, Bundled Sage, Scorched Timber. Distress Oxide Spray: Salvaged Patina. Distress Spritz: Rusty Hinge, Hickory Smoke. Gilded Foundry Wax, White EP, Stencil plastic

Cheers

Karren

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Tall Hello

Hi and welcome!  Today's card is for the latest over at Tic Tac Toe Challenge. I went with the top row - Rectangle-Die-cut-Stripes for this card.

I already had the strips of gray cardstock adhered together so it was a simple matter to die-cut the word out of the panel.  I then also die-cut it from a blue panel and pieced it back into the negative on the stripes.  I painted over the letters with clear sparkle pen, matted it onto the same blue cardstock and called it done!

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you'll get time to play along.

Products used:

Cardstock: White, Grout Gray, Cement Gray, Gravel Gray, Steel Gray, Black, Tropical Teal (MFT)

Dies: Slimline Stripes (Pink Fresh), Tall Hello (MFT), A2 Rectangle Stax 1 and 2 (MFT)

Accessories:  Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers

Karren

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Bokeh Rose

Hi and welcome!  I am the sketch hostess this week over at Freshly Made Sketches and I have to admit I made the sketch fit this card that I had made some months ago and never posted!

I used pink, yellow and peachy inks to create a blended background and then went over it with a bokeh stencil to create a soft-looking background.  I then die-cut an arch frame from white cardstock and adhered that to the base.

For the rose, I started with white cardstock and ink-blended the same colours onto the various layers, adding greens for the stems.  When I was assembling the rose, I used foam tape in between each of the layers for added dimension.

I finished with a simple gold hot-foiled birthday sentiment.

Thanks so much for visiting.  I hope you'll check out the way the rest of the design team have used my sketch.

I'm linking this card up to the Anything Goes Die Challenge at Just Us Girls as well as the Mark Your Mark challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More (ink-blending on background and rose).

Products used:

Ink:  Pinkalicious, Warm Sunshine, Caramel Toffee, Buttercream, Mossy Meadow, Misty Sage, Green Opal (Altenew), Unicorn White (Hero Arts)

Cardstock:  White, Black, Bristol Smooth

Dies:  Lovely Layers: Rose (Honey Bee Stamps), A2 Arches (The Greetery), Hexi-Gem Sentiments Hot Foil  (Spellbinders)

Accessories:  Bokeh Stencil (Taylored Expressions), Gold Hot Foil

Cheers

Karren

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Edited to Add:  This card got a shout-out at Just Us Girls and Addicted to Stamps and More.

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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