Thursday, 12 June 2025

Be-Leaf

Edited:  I just realised I had my post set to publish next week instead of this week - doh!  Apologies!

Hi and welcome. I’m the sketch hostess this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  I had no card planned when I came up with the sketch and I don’t love my card but it will do.



I bought this propagation collection when Spellbinders had a big sale and this is their first outing. I used a combination of coloured card stock and ink-blending to put together the die-cut elements and patterned paper for the background.


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



Products used:

Stamps:  Propagation Garden Sentiments (Spellbinders)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Green Opal, Forest Glades, Sand Dunes, Dew Drops (Altenew)
Cardstock:  White, Black, Jalapeno Popper (MFT), Avocade (C&9), Grain & Grunge (Honey Bee Stamps), Gingham Pastel (Echo Park)
Dies:  Propagated Plants, Laboratory Glassware (Spellbinders), Infinity Circle Dies (Hero Arts)

Cheers
Karren


Thursday, 5 June 2025

Pinboard

Hi all, a quick post from me today.  Cecile Ribon is our sketch hostess over at Freshly Made Sketches and I went very literal because all I could see in her sketch was a Post-It note.  Luckily I had just received a die that is a pinboard note and pin so this card was pretty easy to put together and as I was pressed for time, it all worked well!


 

The photos are a bit glare-y so it's hard to see but I BetterPressed a script plate onto both the card base and the yellow note, using no ink for the card base and cream ink for the note.  I also added ink around the edges of the note to make it look more dimensional.  The sentiment was BetterPressed and die-cut and the flower was ink-blended with inks to match the pin.



This is a very simple card that came together quickly and definitely won't set the world on fire, but it meets the brief.  Thanks for visiting.  The design team have much more imaginative cards using the sketch so I hope you'll check them out.

Products used:

Ink:  Pink Diamond, Pinkalicious, Rubellite, Shadow Creek, Vanilla Cream (Altenew, Versafine Onyx Black
Cardstock:  White, Vanilla Cream (Altenew)
Dies:  Push Pin Notes, BPOM Post Edge Expressions, LDOM Lock & Key Mailbox (Spellbinders)

Cheers
Karren

Thursday, 29 May 2025

Stitched Birthday

 Hi and welcome! Jen Brum is the hostess over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and I had the perfect die for it!


This MFT cover die was ideal for the sketch and I paired it with some NBUS dies from Waffle Flower. Most of the dies were cut with white card stock and ink-blended with various Altenew inks. The scissors, pins and safety pins were die-cut with silver mirror cardstock.


I finished with a hot-foiled sentiment. I sort of got my scale wrong for the top panel, but you can almost see the sketch!

The design team have some gorgeous cards so I hope you’ll check them out.



Products used:

Ink:  Volcano Lake, Lagoon, Pastel Sunrise, Dusty Rose, Limestone (Altenew)
Cardstock:  White, Fog (SSS), Silver Mirror
Dies:  Notions, Sew Fun (Waffle Flower, You Are Everything Sentiments (Spellbinders), Stitched Cover-Up Horizontal (MFT)
Accessories:  Silver Hot Foil

Friday, 23 May 2025

Best Dad

 Hi and welcome!  I'm here with my card for the latest challenge at Tic-Tac-Toe where I went in two directions:  Die-cuts - Ribbon/Twine - Embossing Folder and Masculine - Ribbon/Twine - Plaid.

Onto a panel of Desert Storm cardstock, I embossed with the Woven embossing folder and then adhered to a white card base.  I added a panel of plaid patterned paper and then a sliver of gold embossed cardstock (in hindsight, I regret that strip but it was too late to rip it off).  The sentiment was die-cut from black and I also added a couple of gold-embossed hearts.


Finally, I used my new-to-me twine die-cut which I cut from dark red cardstock and added to the card.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Cardstock:  Neenah Desert Strom, Black Licorice (MFT), Vineyard Berry (Altenew), Black & White Plaid (MFT)
Dies:  Best Dad Ever (MFT), Field Notes Twine, Parcel & Post Heart Decorations (Spellbinders)
Accessories:  Woven EF (Spellbinders, Gold EP

Cheers
Karren



Thursday, 22 May 2025

Semi Wreath

 
Hi! Today’s sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches was designed by Verena Shapiro @simple_stamper on Instagram.


I immediately saw a half wreath so went that route with some die-cut and ink-blended florals.  Once I had them arranged nicely, I worked on the background. I added an extra layer to the original sketch with an embossed brick background. 


I finished with a die-cut sentiment and some pearls. 

Thanks for visiting. Please check out how the rest of the design team have interpreted the sketch.

Products used:

Stamps:  Bloom With Grace (Honey Bee Stamps)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, various Altenew inks
Cardstock:  White, Pastel Sunrise (Altenew)
Dies:  Bloom With Grace (Honey Bee Stamps), Garden Wreath Add-Ons (Spellbinders)
Accessories:  Salvaged Brick Embossing Folder (Honey Bee Stamps), Pastel Pearls (Honey Bee Stamps)

Cheers
Karren


Thursday, 15 May 2025

New Home

Hi and welcome!  I'm here today with my card for the latest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches where our sketch hostess this week is Kim Singdahlsen.  Her sketch was perfect for a card I needed to make for my daughter.


Some of you will know that our daughter has moved to Blenheim (about 4 1/2 hours drive from us at the top of the South Island of New Zealand).  She is in her first year of teaching high school in Design and Visual Communications as well as Automotive.  She finally moved into her new home up there a couple of weeks ago and this was the card I made for her to celebrate that.


I created a panel of pink stripes onto a gray card base and onto that I adhered a little house and trees I made using Honey Bee Stamps dies.  I had to do a bit of swapping out between their various house die sets to get windows that more closely resemble hers. I also snipped off some pieces around the roofline. I then took a white panel, die-cut a heart from the centre and stamped a sentiment, before using foam tape to adhere over the die-cut image.

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

Products used:

Stamps:  New Home (WP9)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Cloudy Night, Charcoal Suit, Espresso, Volcano Lake, Mountain Mist, Lagoon (Altenew)
Cardstock:  White, Cement Gray (MFT), Cream (SSS), Sweet Pea, Carnation (C&9), Blush, Tutu, Chiffon (Spellbinders)
Dies:  Spring Cottages, Summer Cabin (Honey Bee Stamps), Infinity Hearts (Hero Arts) 

Sunday, 11 May 2025

Tea Party

 Hi!  I'm here with my card for the CASE It Instagram hop where we choose a card that inspires us on Insta and create our version of it.  I was inspired by Debra James' card which I've added below and came up with this card using similar elements:


I bought the stamp set especially for this challenge because I just loved Debra's card so much but didn't want to copy it too slavishly.  I went with a different colour combo and stencils but kept a lot of Debra's original ideas.


Here is Debra's card that inspired me.  Isn't it fabulous?



Thanks for visiting!  The whole hop list is over on Instagram.  The link to my IG is in the sidebar.

Products used:

Stamps:  Par-tea (SSS)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Amalgam (Gina K), Volcano Lake, Lagoon (Altenew
Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Volcano Lake, Lagoon (Altenew), B&W Stripes (MFT)
Dies:  Par-tea (SSS), Stitched Fishtail Flag Stax (MFT)
Accessories:  Copics, Letter & Number Stencil (Stamperia)

Cheers
Karren