Rainbow Butterfly

Hi and welcome to another fun challenge at Fusion!  Here is the new challenge:

I created a fusion this time, using the sketch and the rainbow and butterfly elements of the photo.  This is my first attempt.

However, I thought the black was too harsh against the ink-blended panel, so back to the drawing board I went and came up with a softer version.

Same card, different scalloped border.  This, believe it or not, is a piece of patterned paper from a Halloween paper pack.  I think the grey stripes work better with the rest of the card.

For the rest of the card, I white embossed the butterfly onto a panel of Bristol Smooth cardstock, then blended on some distress inks before flicking on some water.  Once the panel was dry, I stamped the sentiment.

Thanks for visiting!  The rest of the DT have some gorgeous cards and I hope you'll join in too.

I'm linking this up to the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp as well as the I Wish I Could Fly challenge at Sweet Stampin'.

Products used:

Stamps:  Beautiful Butterflies (Avery Elle), Halftone Circles (Altenew)

Cardstock:  White, Bristol Smooth, Ghostly Greetings (SU)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark, Cracked Pistachio, Spiced Marmalade, Mermaid Lagoon, Worn Lipstick Distress Inks

Dies:  Stitched Scallop Border (Lawn Fawn)

Accessories:  Black Enamel Dots, White EP

Cheers

Karren

Rainbow Thanks

Hi!  I'm playing along with the current Muse challenge - a challenge I haven't had a chance to play with for such a long time.

From Tracey's gorgeous card, I used the same images and bright colors but flipped it around so that the images were white-embossed and the colors were sponged on.  I did the same with the sentiment - instead of being black on white, I went white on black.

To make this card, I white-embossed the halftone circles onto a panel of Bristol Smooth cardstock, then blended Distress Oxide inks over the top.  Some of the circles didn't stamp fully, but I quite liked the imperfect look, so left them as they were.  I flicked on some water, mopped up the excess, then sponged over the top again to tone down the color variations.  I die-cut the panel with a wonky stitched rectangle die and mounted it onto a white card base.

The sentiment was white-embossed onto black and die-cut using the co-ordinating die.

Thanks for visiting!  Here's a look at the Muse card for this week.

Products used:

Stamps:  Halftone Circles (Altenew)

Ink:  Versamark, Fossilized Amber, Worn Lipstick, Spiced Marmalade, Broken China, Cracked Pistachio, Wilted Violet Distress Oxide inks

Cardstock:  White, Black, Bristol Smooth

Dies:  Wonky Stitched Rectangles (MFT)

Accessories:  White EP

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Muse.

Floral Heart

Welcome to Freshly Made Sketch Challenge Day!  This week our hostess is the talented Kim Singdahlsen and she has a fabulous sketch for us:

Now, first things first.  I got the sketch backwards and put my circular element on the right hand side instead of the left.  Doh!  No excuse!

I decided to play along in the Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop and used this cute coffee bean heart by SugarPea Designs.  To bring in the Spring theme, I added some flowers and stenciling in Spring-like colors.

The stenciling was done using white embossing paste and two colors of ink - Lemon Zing and Blue Violet.  The flowers were stamped using Altenew inks and then die-cut.  The sentiment comes from a Verve set.

I filmed the process as I was making the card.  You can watch it below or head on over to YouTube.

I'm also linking this up to Work It Wednesday, where the theme is Spring.

Supplies:

Stamps:  Vintage Flowers (Altenew), Caffeine Addict (SugarPea Designs), Better with You (Verve)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT), Blue Violet, Lemon Zing (SSS), Warm Sunshine, Buttercream Frayed Leaf, Forest Glades, Soft Lilac, Lavender Fields, Deep Iris, Espresso (Altenew)

Cardstock:  White

Dies:  Vintage Flowers (Altenew)

Accessories:  Zig Zag Dots Stencil (SSS), White Embossing Paste (Wendy Vecchi)

Cheers

Karren

You Can Do It

Hi and welcome!  Today, I'm playing along with Kara's 300 Weeks of Inspiration Challenge.  For those of you not familiar with this, Kara has a fabulous Pinterest board called Friday Inspiration Files.  She pins absolutely gorgeous cards there for everyone's inspiration and you know, I don't think she's pinned a single one I don't like!

To celebrate 300 weeks of Friday inspiration, Kara is holding a challenge to choose a card and CASE it.  I chose this gorgeous card made by Wanda Guess from week 277.

I CASEd Wanda's layout, colors and text theme to come up with this card.

I stamped the You Matter background down the left hand side of a white card base and set it aside.  I then stamped some yellow roses and leaves from Altenew's Vintage Roses and arranged them into a bouquet with Glad Press 'n' Seal.  The "you" is stacked 5 high in black cardtock and I stamped the rest of the sentiment in Intense Black ink.

I popped that whole panel up on fun foam and then adhered a strip of gold foil down the left hand side before adding it to the card front.  Finally, I colored the roses and leaves with Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen.

Thanks for visiting!  I encourage you to check out this challenge and also Kara's Pinterest board.

Cheers
Karren

Purple Peony

Hi and welcome to the very first monthly challenge at The Flower Challenge.

As the name suggests, this challenge was set up to celebrate floral images.  This challenge is the brain child of Aileen Ryan and the gorgeous graphics and watermarks were created by DT member Viv Hodge.  Our first challenge is Anything Goes and this is the card I made:

I used the beautiful Altenew set, Peony Bouquet and stamped it using their purple inks.  I also stamped a couple of leaves from green inks.  On the card base I sponged over a swirls stencil using Scattered Straw ink, focusing the color in the bottom left corner.  I also stenciled over a frame that I then popped up on foam tape.

The sentiment was foiled using my Mini Minc machine.  

Thanks for visiting.  Please take the time to check out the challenge and also the gorgeous floral beauties created by the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Peony Bouquet (Altenew)

Ink:  Soft Lilac, Lavender Fields, Deep Iris, Frayed Leaf, Forest Glades, Evergreen (Altenew), Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT), Scattered Straw Distress

Cardstock:  White, Toner Paper, Gold Foil

Dies:  Peony Bouquet, Pierced Rectangle Frames (MFT), Celebratory Greetings (MFT)

Accessories:  Swirls Stencil (Hero Arts), Mini Minc Machine

Cheers

Karren

Birthday Triangles

Hi and welcome!  I'm thrilled to be Guest Designer at my favorite color challenge, Color Throwdown, for the month of September.  And here is the first color swatch of the month:

I am so drawn to the inspiration photo and took my cue from there to come up with my card.

I die-cut the Triangle Screen die from MFT in white, Hawaiian Shores and Daffodil Delight.  I adhered the white frame to a Soft Stone card base and then randomly dropped in the aqua and yellow triangles where I felt like with no rhyme nor reason :)  When I thought I had enough, I stopped and stamped the sentiment using Label Love and adhered that with foam tape.  I finished the card with some clear droplets.

Thanks for visiting.  The DT have some gorgeous inspiration for you so be sure to check them out.

Amy Rohl Amy Rysavy

Barbara Anders   

Broni Holcombe   

Jodi Collins 

Lisa Henke 

Lori Tecler

Lynn Put   

Vickie Zimmer 

Wanda Cullen

Products used:

Stamps:  Label Love (Altenew)

Ink:  Jet Black Archival

Cardstock:  White, Soft Stone, Hawaiian Shores (PTI), Daffodil Delight (SU)

Dies:  Triangle Screen (MFT)

Accessories:  4mm Droplets (PPP), Clear EP

Cheers

Karren

Pretty Bouquet

Hi and welcome to challenge day at Freshly Made Sketches.  This week our hostess is the fabulous Rita Wright and she has a wonderful sketch for us.

And here's my card inspired by the sketch and by Donna's gorgeous tag at Tag You're It:

I spritzed some Heidi Swapp color spray onto a die-cut tag and set it aside to dry.  Then I stamped some images from Peony Bouquet.  Some dotted washi tape was wrapped around the tag and I then arranged my flowers to the left as in the sketch.  I wanted a thin and long sentiment and found the perfect one in a PTI KIS set.  Lastly I tied a bow from some black twine.

Thanks for visiting.  The rest of the design team have some wonderful cards so be sure to check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Peony Bouquet (Altenew), KIS Just Because (PTI)
Ink: Moon Rock, Velvet, Rouge, Blush, Forest Glades, Frayed Leaf (Altenew), Versamark
Cardstock:  White, Black
Dies:  Peony Bouquet (Altenew), Fishtail Flag Stax, Tag You're It, Blueprints 24 (MFT)
Accessories:  Teal Color Shine (Heidi Swapp), twine, washi

Cheers
Karren

Balloon Bash

Hi and welcome back for the reminder post over at Tag You're It, where I'm Guest Designer for this challenge.  Here's another look at Bobby's fabulous tag:

Last week I focused on the stripes and stars in Bobby's tag.  This week I decided to play around with the layout - in particular the crossover of the flags.

I pulled out my NBUS balloon dies from PTI and went to work.  I die-cut the balloons from navy, red and yellow cardstock then used the co-ordinating inks to sponge one side to give some shading (hard to see in the photo!).  Once that was done, I colored them with Wink of Stella - and got a bit heavy-handed unfortunately!

The balloon strings were cut with Slate cardstock and I positioned the stamped and cut-out sentiment on the cross-over point of the strings.

And that's it!  Thanks for visiting.  Check out the Tag You're It blog as there is more wonderful inspiration there for you.

Products used:

Stamps:  Label Love (Altenew)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Pure Poppy, Lemon Tart, Enchanted Evening (PTI)
Cardstock:  Pure Poppy, Lemon Tart, Enchanted Evening (PTI), White, Slate (SSS)
Dies:  Ballon Bash Die, Balloon Strings Die (PTI), Tag Me Too (Reverse Confetti)
Accessories:  Starry Sky Vertical Stencil (MFT), Embossing Paste, Wink of Stella

Cheers
Karren

Curvy Thanks

Hi!  I had the day off work today and after doing a bit of shopping, I spent some time in my craft room making cards.  This card was made for a few challenges:  Tic Tac Toe (yellow, ink splatters, scalloped border),Can You Case It's sketch and Addicted to CAS's Petals theme.

I rotated the sketch and moved the panel up slightly (hope that's okay!).  I started with some watercolor paper and I sponged on some Squeezed Lemonade ink, keeping it darker on the right hand side.  I also added some Scattered Straw to the right hand side.  Before I die-cut it, I splattered on some Scattered Straw ink, using some liquid Perfect Pearls to dilute the ink slightly.

I adhered a black strip to the top and also behind the word to make it pop and then popped the whole lot up on foam tape.  Finally I adhered a stamped flower that I had left over from another project, also using foam tape.  The flower was painted with clear Wink of Stella.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Painted Flowers (Altenew)

Ink:  Buttercream, Warm Sunshine, Frayed Leaf, Forest Glades (Altenew), Squeezed Lemonade, Scattered Straw (Distress), Black Licorice Hybrid

Cardstock:  White, watercolor, Black

Dies:  Thanks Scallop Border (SSS)

Accessories:  Wink of Stella

Cheers

Karren

Mother's Day Peony

Hi and welcome!  Today's card was made for a few challenges - the current Muse challenge, Simon Says Stamp's Work It Wednesday and the floral theme at Card Concept.

I have been on a self-imposed craft spending ban for the last 2 months and have done quite well, despite all the gorgeous new products that have come onto the market in that time!  However, I really, really wanted Peony Bouquet as soon as it was released and, well, I ended up buying it, plus all the newer Altenew inks.  So today it was time to take them for a spin and this is the result.

I used the new red inks for the flower and one of the grey inks for the outline.  The sentiment comes from a Verve set and was stamped in the same grey ink and clear embossed.  What you can't see in the photo is the two scored lines above and below the sentiment.

I was inspired by Jenni's beautiful flower and bold sentiment as well as her general layout.  I categorising my card as Clean and Simple for Card Concept.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Peony Bouquet (Altenew), Button Best (Verve)
Ink:  Moon Rock, Blush, Rouge, Velvet, Frayed Leaf, Forest Glades (Altenew), Versamark
Cardstock:  White
Dies:  Peony Bouquet
Accessories:  Scoreboard, Wink of Stella, rainstones

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Muse and Card Concept.

Birthday Squares

Welcome to Wednesday - when a new sketch debuts at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week our hostess is Cindy Hall, who frequently blows me away with the details in her gorgeous cards.

As soon as I saw those squares, I thought of my Quadrangle Frames dies by SSS.

I went with a cool color scheme - Sea Glass, Audrey Blue, Fog, Smoke, White and Black.  This card was simple to make.  I laid a strip of Sea Glass cardstock onto a white card base, then popped up the two white panels using foam tape, letting the Sea Glass peek through. The frames were cut from scrap cardstock and adhered using spray adhesive.  Finally, I stamped the sentiment from Label Love, cut it out and adhered it to the card base.  No embellishments because I think this is quite a masculine card.

Thanks for visiting.  The design team have some stunning samples for you, so be sure to check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Label Love (Altenew)

Ink:  Ranger Archival Black

Cardstock:  White, Sea Glass, Audrey Blue, Fog, Smoke (SSS)

Dies:  Quadrangle Frames (SSS)

Cheers

Karren

Framed Roses

Hi and welcome!  After a very busy weekend, I finally managed to get into my craft room to make a card that wasn't for upcoming DT work.  I saw a video by Therese Calvird showing how she created a stamped, framed, card and I just had to give it a go myself.  And I have to say, I love the results.

I took a panel of white cardstock the same size as a card front and stamped and masked the roses from Vintage Flowers.  Once I was finished, I die-cut the rectangle frame from the center of the card. The sentiment was silver embossed onto the center panel.

I then layered the three pieces onto a card base, adhering the center and outer panels directly to the card base and the frame using foam tape.  Simple, but effective.

I'm going to enter this card into the current Work It Wednesday floral challenge, Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes and the Share Joy CAS challenge.  I don't have any Taylored Expressions stamps, but I plan on rectifying that oversight soon :)

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:  

Stamps:  Painted Flowers (Altenew), Bitty Bouquets (PTI)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT), Versamark, Frayed Leaf, Forest Glades, Buttercream, Warm Sunshine (Altenew)

Cardstock:  White

Dies:  Pierced Rectangle Frames (MFT)

Accessories:  Silver EP, Wink of Stella

Cheers

Karren

Oriental Happiness

Hi, I had so much fun making this card!  The theme at The Male Room is "Oriental" and it gave me the opportunity to pull out some unmounted plates I've had since the early 2000's from a stamp company called Non Sequitur.  I'm also linking to the "Cards for Guys" challenge at Stampin' Royalty.

I started by making the vertical panel by sponging various distress inks onto a piece of white cardstock.  I then used the Crocodile stencil and Pumice Stone ink to add a bit of interest, before flicking some water onto the panel.  Once I was happy with the result, I sponged Vintage Photo around the edges before stamping the Asian Text image three times down the panel, using my Misti for placement.

The panel was then layered onto some black cardstock and then onto a Neenah Desert Storm card base.  I then went looking for an Asian-looking sentiment and found the Ori Kami set by Altenew.  I stamped the sentiment onto the card base using black ink then stamped the bird onto a piece of white card onto which I'd smooshed Blueprint Sketch ink and then flicked water on.  I fussy cut the bird and adhered him using foam tape.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Oriental Love Letters plate (Non Sequitur), Ori Kami (Altenew)

Ink:  Ranger Archival Black, Cracked Pistachio, Tumbled Glass, Blueprint Sketch, Peacock Feathers, Pumice Stone, Vintage Photo Distress Inks

Cardstock:  Desert Storm, white, black

Accessories:  Crocodile stencil (Tim Holtz)

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at The Male Room.

Floral Birthday

Hi and welcome back to a brand new year with Freshly Made Sketches!  This week our hostess is the very talented Kim Singdahlsen and here is her sketch:

Now, I have to admit, when I first saw the sketch my mind went blank.  I pondered it for days before finally coming up with a card that uses the sketch flipped and, let's say, turned inside out :)

I sponged some yellow distress inks onto my card base and then die-cut another panel using a Stitched Basic Edge die.  After stamping the sentiment from Adorable Elephants on the top panel, I adhered it to the base with foam tape.

I then stamped some flowers using Altenew's Painted Flowers and Altenew inks before fussy-cutting them out.  I positioned those to break the horizontal panel as per the sketch.  I finished off the card with some rainstones.

I'm entering this card into Seize the Birthday who have an Anything Goes theme this time.

Thanks for visiting.  The rest of the design team have recharged their batteries and produced some fabulous examples using the sketch, so please check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Painted Flowers (Altenew), Adorable Elephants (MFT)
Ink:  Buttercream, Warm Sunshine, Frayed Leaf, Forest Glades, Jet Black (Altenew), Scattered Straw, Fossilized Amber, Wild Honey distress inks
Cardstock:  White
Dies:  Stitched Basic Edges (MFT)
Accessories:  Rainstones (PTI)

Cheers
Karren