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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