Lattice Roses

It's been a long week at work and I've had hardly any time to check my favorite blogs, so it was with relief that I finally made it into my craft room this afternoon.  I decided to combine the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches with the challenge at Just Add Ink, which is to Just Add Woodgrain.

I hope Narelle doesn't mind but I did substitute the leaves and bud for the banners at the bottom of the card.  In hindsight, I should have cut the circle higher up the card, and basically I was left with no room for banners, so I had to get creative!  

The card has a white base. I adhered the Lattice Die onto the base and then a woodgrain embossed layer using dimensionals.

The flowers and leaves all come from the Stippled Blossoms set.  I usually use the large roses, but today decided to go with the smaller roses and buds. Lots of fussy cutting here, let me tell you!

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!)

Stamps:  Stippled Blossoms
Cardstock:  Whisper White; Island Indigo
Ink:  So Saffron; Daffodil Delight; Lucky Limeade
Accessories:  Lucky Limeade and Raspberry Ripple markers; Island Indigo SAB 2013 ribbon; Woodgrain EF

Cheers
Karren

Monochromatic Secret Garden

While I had my Secret Garden set and framelits out the other day, I made another card - this time for the sketch/birthday challenge at Friday Mashup and the monochromatic challenge at SUO Challenges.

I've been really busy at work as it's budget time, so I'm squeezing this post in while I have my morning coffee before heading in to do another long day crunching numbers.

I white-embossed various flowers onto the Pool Party script DSP from the paper stacks, then cut them out with the framelits.  They were mounted onto Whisper White using dimensionals, which itself was mounted onto Whisper White using dimensionals.

The background is more script DSP, this time Island Indigo.  The little soda pop top was stamped using Collage Curios and coated in Crystal Effects and left to dry.  When it was dry, I stuck a tiny little rhinestone on it.

I don't know whether it's because my Crystal Effects is old (circa 2007) but my wee embellishment looks a bit cloudy.  Next time I might try clear embossing several layers to see if that looks clearer.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Secret Garden; Memorable Moments; Collage Curios
Cardstock:  Island Indigo; Whisper White; 2011-13 In Color DSP
Ink:  Versamark; Island Indigo
Accessories:  Secret Garden Framelits; White EP; Scallop Border Punch; Soda Pop Tops; Basic Rhinestones

Edited to Add:  This card was chosen for a Glamette award at Friday Mashup!
Cheers
Karren

Secret Garden Get Well Card

I combined the sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches with the color challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments to come up with this card.  I haven't had a chance to play with the HSS challenges for what seems like forever, so it was good to get to use these gorgeous colors together.

I white-embossed several flowers from Secret Garden onto Crumb Cake cardstock.  I then "colored" them in with white ink and over-colored with Daffodil Delight and Island Indigo ink.  (I still don't know what this technique is called, so if anyone knows it's name, please let me know LOL).

The rest of the card is pretty self-explanatory, so here are the challenge details:

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Secret Garden; Delightful Dozen
Cardstock:  Crumb Cake; Brights DSP; 2011-13 In Color DSP; Island Indigo
Ink:  Island Indigo; Lucky Limeade; Daffodil Delight; Versamark
Accessories:  White EP; Secret Garden Framelits; Oval Framelits; Daffodil Delight Satin Ribbon; 2011-13 In Color Brads

Edited to Add:  This card was chosen as an HSS Artist Pick card this week.

Cheers
Karren

Cherry Pool Birthday

I have an unexpected day off work today due to my youngest having an Open Day at what will be his new school next year.  That only lasted half a day so I had the afternoon to stamp in peace!

I decided to make a card for this week's color challenge at Dynamic Duos and the sketch challenge at Seize the Birthday

.
My idea when I started this card was to have a white base with Pool Party as the main color and just a hint of Cherry Cobbler, but when I laid down the DSP on top of the base, it just seemed to work, so Cherry Cobbler is the star of this show!

Both Pool Party pieces are textured - the banner using the Cloudy Day EF and the horizontal strip using Fancy Fan EF.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Stamps:  Petite Pairs
Cardstock:  Whisper White; Pool Party; Cherry Cobbler; Regals DSP
Ink:  Cherry Cobbler
Accessories:  1 1/4" circle punch; 1 3/8" circle punch; McGill pine branch punch; oval nesties; Designer Frames EF; Fancy Fan EF; Cloudy Day EF; Large Scallop Framelits; Paper Doilies; White Organza Ribbon

Edited to Add:  This card was picked as a Dynamic Darling at Dynamic Duos this week.

Cheers
Karren

Quin's 6th Birthday Card

Today's card is for the sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches (BTW lovin' the new look!) and the color challenge at Just Add Ink.

I needed a birthday card for my niece who is having her 6th birthday party tomorrow.  Now the idea in my head didn't translate too well and I'm not even sure this is what a 6 year old would like to see on their card, but I have no time to make another one.

I wanted to keep the card clean so I went for a white-on-white look.  I used the clouds and the die-cut name instead of the horizontal panel as per the sketch.  Unfortunately in my haste to make the card more girly, I got a tad carried away with the Dazzling Details.  It looks good on the Bashful Blue balloon, not so good on the Raspberry Ripple balloon and downright ugly on the little flower.  Most likely before I give Quin the card, I'll replace the little flower with a glitter-less version LOL.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Up, Up and Away
Cardtock:  Whisper White; Raspberry Ripple
Ink:  Raspberry Ripple; Bashful Blue; Early Espresso
Accessories:  Dazzling Details; Serif Big Shot Die; Itty Bitty Punches; Basic Pearl

Cheers
Karren

Baby Blocks

Hi and welcome to this week's sketch challenge at Create with Connie & Mary.  This week we have a fun sketch for you to try.

For my card this week, I went graphic again and made this Baby Blocks card:

For this card I die cut the letters out of Whisper White cardstock, then adhered the negative letters to colored card using dimensionals.  This card is larger than normal at 3.5" x 8.5" in order to fit the letters.  BTW, given that Valentines is over and I didn't want to use the word "love", I had to think what (appropriate) four-letter word I could use for this card - I actually don't know anyone having a baby LOL.

Thanks for looking.  Have a go at this fun sketch!

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Cardstock:  Whisper White; Lucky Limeade; Island Indigo; Daffodil Delight
Accessories:  Typeset Alphabet Bigz Die; Island Indigo Bakers Twine; Brights Button

Cheers
Karren

Butterfly Doily

This is my second post today.  Here is my card for this week's sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  I also used the inspiration photo at Stampin' Royalty.

My mum gave me a pack of large paper doilies she had bought in her local supermarket, so I used one of them today for my card.  These guys are biiiig!  On top of the doily I placed some butterflies from the Butterflies Embosslit and the Butterfly Bigz die.  The sentiment comes from Just Believe and is embossed in white.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Stamps:  Just Believe; Everything Eleanor
Cardstock:   Basic Black; Melon Mambo; Pretty in Pink
Ink:  Versamark
Accessories:  Doily; Butterflies Embosslit; Butterfly Bigz Die; White EP; Basic Pearls

Cheers
Karren

CCMC240 Color Challenge

Hi everyone.  Today at Create with Connie & Mary we have a color challenge - Basic Gray, Melon Mambo and Daffodil Delight.

When I first saw the colors, I thought of doing a floral card.  Funny how it ended up like this...

Not a flower in sight LOL.  I'd seen the "thanks" done this way on a card on Pinterest (which I didn't pin, unfortunately), so it's not my idea.  The letters are popped up on little slivers of dimensionals.

The honeycomb layer has DSP hexagons randomly placed in both Melon Mambo and Daffodil Delight.  A button and bakers twine bow finishes it off.

Thanks for looking.  Head on over to Create with Connie & Mary and check out the fantastic cards created by the challenge team.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Cardstock:  Basic Gray; Melon Mambo; Daffodil Delight; Brights DSP
Accessories:  Honeycomb EF; Brights Button; White Bakers Twine; Typeset Alphabet Bigz Die

Cheers
Karren

Saffron Muse

Today's card covers several challenges out this week:  the sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches; the color challenge at Just Add Ink; the SUO Challenge to use SAB 2013 products and the Friday Mashup challenge to use markers and/or texture.  And I've only now realised the sketch at FMS is a square card - oops, sorry ladies!

The colors this week at JAI are really pretty together - Midnight Muse; So Saffron and Whisper White.  I chose to use Whisper White as my base, with So Saffron as my second color then touches of Midnight muse.

I inked up the stamp using markers and stamped onto Whisper White cardstock.  I then cut it out using my Circle Scissor.  It is adhered to the large doily using dimensionals.  The smaller doily is from the Delicate Doilies Sizzlet with a punched piece from the now-retired Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch.  A 3/4" circle punch in Midnight Muse and a jumbo pearl finishes off this embellishment.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Vintage Verses (SAB 2013)
Cardstock:  Whisper White; So Saffron; Midnight Muse; Subtles DSP
Accessories:  Midnight Muse marker; So Saffron marker; Delicate Doilies Sizzlet; Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch; 3/4" circle punch; Doily Sizzlet; Jumbo Pearls; Midnight Muse Ribbon

Edited to add:  This card was chosen as top pick at Just Add Ink and SUO Challenges and also awarded a Glamette Award at Friday Mashup.

Cheers
Karren

Cream on Cream for FMS

The sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches this week has so many possibilities.  I stuck almost literally to the sketch and came up with this card:

I had a doily left over from my card the other day so that became the focal point for this card.  I also decided I wanted a cream on cream look with a pop of color.  The DSP comes from what is probably my favorite paper - Love Letters.  And I'm loving those Designer Builder Brads!

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Feeling Sentimental
Cardstock:  Very Vanilla; Love Letters DSP; Raspberry Ripple
Ink:  Raspberry Ripple
Accessories:  Delicate Doilies Sizzlet; Large Scallops Edgelit; Designer Builder Brads; Itty Bitty Punch; Lacy Brocade EF; Fancy Fan EF

Cheers
Karren

Red 'n' Pink Love

The colors at Dynamic Duos this week are perfectly geared towards Valentines Cards and that's the route I took.  The challenge at SUO Challenges is CAS Valentines, so I kept my card CAS to meet that challenge as well.

For my card, I cut out the word 'love' using the Typeset Alpha die.  I then cut out multiple hearts from the Fashionable Hearts Embosslit, one heart from the Scalloped Heart of Hearts and one stamped heart from Hearts a Flutter.

I stamped the 'you' from Fabulous Phrases in Basic Gray ink, then embellished with rhinestones and a button.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Hearts a Flutter; Fabulous Phrases
Cardstock:  Whisper White; Real Read; Pretty in Pink
Ink:  Basic Gray; Real Red
Accessories:  Fashionable Hearts Embosslit; Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit; Hearts a Flutter Framelits; Typeset Alpha Bigz Die; Basic Rhinestones; Button Bouquet button

Cheers
Karren

CCMC234 Color Challenge

This week at Create with Connie & Mary we have a color challenge:

These colors threw me for a bit - Pink Pirouette is not my friend LOL.  But I persevered and ended up with this:

For this card I cut a doily in Pink Pirouette and positioned it partly off the card base.  I used the Adorning Accents die and EF for the side of the card base and filled the gap with a Pink Pirouette strip and a sliver of Midnight Muse.

The sentiment banner is curved and lots and lots of pearls were added in an attempt to lift the paleness of the Pink Pirouette.

Thanks for looking.  Check out the rest of the design team's samples and give these colors a go yourself.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Sweet Essentials

Cardstock:  Whisper White; Midnight Muse; Pink Pirouette

Ink:  Midnight Muse

Accessories:  Paper Doily Sizzlet; Adorning Accents die and EF; Basic Pearls

Cheers

Karren

Masculine 60th

I need a 60th birthday card for next weekend.  We've been invited to our neighbour's 60th birthday party and what a party it'll be!  I used this week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches and the color challenge from Color Throwdown to create this card:

I kept the card reasonably plain as the recipient is a very down-to-earth guy - a true Kiwi bloke LOL.  I love Lucky Limeade and Basic Black together - so stunning - so I made that the foundation of my card with a few accents of blue and white.  The background is the Netting background stamp which I also stamped onto the banner.  The numerals were made from thick DSP backing board and DSP.  The circles are popped up on dimensionals.

Here are the challenge details:

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Stamps:  Netting

Cardstock:  Lucky Limeade; Basic Black; Whisper White; Well-Worn DSP

Ink:  Lucky Limeade

Accessories:  Typeset Alphabet Bigz; Big Shot; Neutrals Brads; Circle Nesties

Cheers

Karren

Tags in Triplicate

I had a bit of a struggle finding a small enough image for the challenge this week at Create with Connie & Mary.  Of course I had to make it harder on myself by combining with the color challenge at Dynamic Duos which steered me towards a Christmas card.  But I ended up finding this gorgeous little image in the Tags Till Christmas set.  I have to confess I'd never even noticed this little stamp before (hangs head in shame...).

Anyway, onto the card:

I colored the image using Early Espresso; Gumball Green and Raspberry Ripple markers then stamped onto Very Vanilla cardstock before punching out with the Small Oval punch.

It wasn't until I was putting the card together that I realized I didn't have any Christmass-y DSP in either Raspberry Ripple or Gumball Green, so I used the Big Shot to add some texture to the Raspberry Ripple panel.  I also centered the largest snowflake on the EF onto the Gumball Green framelit piece.  Considering I'm still on the fence about Gumball Green, I'm quite happy with how this card turned out.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Tags till Christmas; More Merry Messages
Cardstock:  Very Vanilla; Gumball Green; Raspberry Ripple
Ink:  Early Espresso
Accessories:  Labels Collection Framelits; Northern Flurry EF; Small Oval Punch; Early Espresso, Gumball Green, Raspberry Ripple markers; Gumball Green ribbon

Cheers
Karren

Indigo Thanks

I had a bit of spare time this evening so I decided to make a card for this week's color challange at Create with Connie & Mary.  I really like these colors together and decided to go clean and graphic for this card.

For this card, I used the Timeless Type Sizzlets to die cut the word "Thanks".  This took a slightly larger than usual card base to fit on.  I cut an inch off the bottom of the card front and positioned the letters across the top.  I then lined up the top of the letters and adhered to the shortened card base.  A few rolled flowers in Daffodil Delight and a couple of leaves and the card is finished.

Thanks for looking.

Before I sign off, my 10-year old son William made a card and has asked me (several times!) to post it on my blog.  The flower is something I had made and put in my "To Use Someday" box.  William made the rest and has plans to give it to his girlfriend.  So without further ado:

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Cardstock:  Whisper White; Island Indigo; Lucky Limeade; Daffodil Delight

Accessories:  Timeless Type Sizzlets; Little Leaves Sizzlet; 1 3/8" circle punch

Cheers

Karren

Edited to add:  This card was chosen as a Top 3 pick at Create with Connie & Mary.

Cherish Friendship

This is my first time using this lovely stamp set, Cherish Friendship.  I combined several challenges in producing this card:  the sketch challenge at iSpy Sketches; the chevron challenge at Just Add Ink; the color challenge at Color Me Beautiful and the inked embossing folder challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments.

The sketch is actually rectangular but I changed it to a square card as the chair image is actually quite large.  I watercolored the image using markers and blender pens and managed to get in all the colors in the challenge.    The chevron layers were inked in their matching colors using a brayer then run through the embossing folder.  I made sure to line up the chevrons between both layers.

To finish the card off, I attached a button to the bottom right hand corner.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Stamps:  Cherish Friendship

Cardstock:  Soft Suede; Perfect Plum; Old Olive; Watercolor Paper

Ink:  Black Stazon

Accessories:  Soft Suede, Perfect Plum, Old Olive, River Rock, Baja Breeze, Going Grey markers; blender pen; circle nesties; Chevron EF; brayer; bronze button; linen thread

Cheers

Karren

Melon Christmas

This week's challenge at Freshly Made Sketches is a classic sketch which can be used over and over.  I paired that challenge with the challenge at Friday Mashup, which is to:


Make a project with a "Christmas Ornament".
Or Make a project with some "Sparkle".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Christmas Project with some Sparkle".

I think this is the first time I have ever voluntarily used Melon Mambo!  Apart from Old Olive, I'm just not a Brights kinda gal.

I took inspiration from my friend Vicki who made some fantastic ornaments using Melon Mambo.  I used Vicki's great idea of stamping the ornament on top of the piercing mat to get better ink coverage.  I created a 3-D ornament and tied it with silver cord.  I then pierced around the top of the ornament using the Festive Paper Piercing Pack.  The sentiment is silver embossed and the ribbon is retired. 

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Ornament Keepsakes; More Merry Messages

Cardstock:  Whisper White; Brights DSP

Ink:  Melon Mambo; Versamark

Accessories:  Holiday Ornaments Framelits; Festive Paper Piercing Pack; Melon Mambo ribbon; silver cord; silver EP

Cheers

Karren

Snowflake Soiree

This card fought me all the way.  I had to work on it over two days because it was frustrating me so much!  I knew what I wanted but it just wasn't coming together.  Even now it doesn't look quite right to me but I refuse to spend any more time on it LOL.

I'm entering this card into both the Freshly Made Sketch challenge and the challenge at Just Add Ink, which is to use something new.  The JAI challenge came at a perfect time because on Thursday I received a rather large demo order, plus my class order, which of course I had to add to (I admire demos who can put in an order without adding just a little something to it...)  Anyway, suffice to say, I now have buckets of the promotion ribbon!

In my order was the Snowflake Soiree set, plus the 3 builder wheels that match.  This is also the first time I've used Raspberry Ripple in a significant way.  And I've been hoarding that silver glimmer paper.  Actually, I'll let you in on a little secret.  I'm so frugal with it, that I cut the inside of the rectangular frame and used it for the snowflakes.

Enough yapping.  Here's the card:

I'm convinced the word "Merry" is crooked, but it was really hard to decide which angle was straight.  I lined up the "err" but the "y" seems to be a bit higher.  Next time I'll try lining up the top of the "rry" and see if that looks better.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Snowflake Soiree

Cardstock:  Basic Black; Raspberry Ripple, Silver Glimmer Paper

Ink:  Raspberry Ripple; Versamark

Accessories:  Silver EP; Good Cheer Builder Wheel; Snow Flurry Die; Tasteful Trim Die; Silver Organdy Ribbon

Cheers

Karren

Dynamic Duos #22

Here is my submission for this week's Dynamic Duos color challenge.  I chose to pair up Cherry Cobbler with Crumb Cake and make another Christmas card.  I also used last week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.

I stamped and white embossed the snowflakes onto the Cherry Cobbler card, then sponged round the edges with Cherry Cobbler ink.  I then lightly spritzed the layer with Vanilla Smooch Spritz, which gives the piece a look of snow falling in the background (in my mind, anyway LOL).  The snowflake embellishment is made using the two smallest dies in the new Snowflake Bigz die, with the smallest die cut at the back.  On the bigger die cut, I white embossed the smallest snowflake and then used a Cherry Cobbler brad to hold it together.  The sentiment is stamped with Cherry Cobbler ink and clear embossed.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Snow Swirled; Word Play

Cardstock:  Crumb Cake; Cherry Cobbler

Ink:  Versamark; Cherry Cobbler

Accessories:  White EP; Clear EP; Vanilla Smooch Spritz; Snowflake Bigz Die; Regals brads

Cheers

Karren