Citrus Christmas

Hi and welcome to another challenge from the team at Freshly Made Sketches, where our hostess this week is Jen Mitchell.  Turns out I mis-interpreted Jen's sketch from the final design so do as I say, not as I do this week... 

I wasn't planning on making a Christmas card when I pulled out these Dried Citrus Slices dies but that's what happened.

I started by creating the citrus slices, which I was intending to use for the scallop element on the sketch.  From there it just morhped into a Christmas card, with ephemera tags, die-cut holly sprig and vintage-looking patterned paper.  I added some ink-blending round the edges of the embossed panel and the patterned paper, but didn't do any distressing in keeping with the clean theme at FMS.

Thanks so much for visiting and to everyone who left heartfelt comments on my post from last week, thank you.  It meant a lot.

Please check out the fabulous cards from the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Curio Labels (The Greetery)

Ink: Walnut Stain DOX, Walnut Stain, Forest Moss, Aged Mahogany, Festive Berries, Pine Needles, Rustic Wilderness, Antique Linen, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks

Cardstock: White, Desert Storm, Christmas Backdrops patterned paper (Tim Holtz)

Dies: Bigger Botanicals Holly 1, Dried Citrus Slices (The Greetery)

Accessories: Burlap EF (Honey Bee Stamps), Sepia Serenity Ephemera (Aall & Create)

Cheers

Karren

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Coral Poinsettia

Hi and welcome to our first challenge of 2026 over at Freshly Made Sketches where our hostess this week is Amy O'Neill.  Despite making hardly any Christmas cards in the lead-up to Christmas, I decided to make a Christmas card in January - go figure!

I started with a kraft panel on a white card base onto which I stamped the sentiment before embossing with the Subtle EF.  I then stamped a background stamp using white ink onto Oceanside cardstock and die-cut it with a torn edges die.  I also die-cut a small strip of Coral cardstock as a border.

The flowers and leaves were die-cut with light and darker cardstocks and adhered together.  I then went over the edges with some Distress Grit Paste to mimic snow.  I finished with some yellow Nuvo Drops for the flower centres.  I used the leftover elements for the inside of the card.

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

Products used:

Stamps: Christmas Background (MFT), Poinsettia Bouquets (WPlus9)

Ink: Unicorn White (Hero Arts), Versafine Onyx Black, Canyon Clay, Eucalyptus (Altenew)

Cardstock: Kraft, White, Oceanside, Sage, Coral (Spellbinders), Coral Crush (MFT), Lagoon (Altenew)

Dies: Torn Edges (MFT), Seasonal Sketch (Tim Holtz)

Accessories: Distress Grit Paste, Dandelion Yellow Nuvo Drops, Subtle EF.

Cheers

Karren

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White Poinsettia

Hi and welcome!  It's New Year's Day here in New Zealand and it's raining so a perfect time to get into the craft room just for fun.  For the first time in I don't know how long, I made a card for a couple of challenges.  I made a Clean and Simple card for the Addicted to CAS - Christmas challenge and as soon as I saw the inspiration photo at The Card Concept I was immediately drawn to the white and the glass in the kitchen so I drew on that inspiration for this card

I went with a white on white card with little touches of gold.  I hot-foiled the brushstroke stripe onto the card base and then hot-foiled a sentiment using the same gold foil.   I die-cut the sentiment and stacked it three deep so it stood out from the card base.

The flower and leaves were die-cut from vellum and white brushed metallic cardstock.  The glass I was inspired by is created using the "see-through" top layer of the die-cut and the vellum base layer.  After adhering the two elements together I added some tiny gold pearls to the centre.  I didn't add any other embellishments.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Cardstock: White, Vellum, Brushed Metallic Antique Assortment (Spellbinders)

Dies: Seasonal Sketch (Tim Holtz), Foiled Brushstrokes & Stripes, Glimmery Christmas Flora (Spellbinders)

Accessories: Gold Hot Foil, Pastel Pearl Stickers (Honey Bee Stamps)

Cheers

Karren

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Edited to Add: This card got a shout-out at The Card Concept and Addicted to CAS.

Poinsettia

Hi and welcome to our second-to-last challenge of the year over at Freshly Made Sketches where our hostess this week is Michele Ferguson.

I went with a Christmas card because I couldn't think of anything other than a big flower for the circle image (my creativity is on hiatus at the moment).

The flower was stamped, stenciled and die-cut before being layered onto a dark green background.  For the banner, I went with vellum and really wanted to actually stitch it onto the card but was just too lazy to pull out the sewing machine! Hence the stitched dies - so much easier!

I finished with some gold gems in the centre of the flower and on the banner to hide some little dots of glue.

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

Products used:

Stamps: Festive Poinsettia (Alex Syberia Design)

Ink: Amalgam (Gina K.), Versamark, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, Lumberjack Plaid, Aged Mahogany, Saltwater Taffy, Worn Lipstick Distress Inks

Cardstock: White, Vellum, Forest (Spellbinders)

Dies: Festive Poinsettia (Alex Syberia Design), Stitched Fishtail Flag Stax, Blueprints 25 (MFT)

Accessories: Gilded Embossing Powder (Brutus Monroe), Back to Basics Gem Stickers (Honey Bee Stamps)

Cheers

Karren

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Skating Christmas

Welcome to the new challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches where this week I am the sketch hostess.  I had no idea what I would make when I came up with the sketch and it took a while to figure something out but finally came up with this card.

The sled and floral arrangement were made using coloured cardstock and ink-blending.  After I put the pieces together, I set it aside and worked on the background.  The patterned paper was a little bit too dark for the softer look I was going for so I painted over the panel with some diluted white gesso to soften it.  The top of the panel was die-cut using the linen side of the PTI cover plate.  I stamped the sentiment and added a thin mint strip to separate the two panels.

After adding the die-cut elements, I finished with some pearls to match the coral tones of the poinsettia.

Thanks for visiting.  Please check out the fabulous cards made by our design team and meet our super-talented two new design team members.

Products used:

Stamps: Star Snowflake Sentiments (Waffle Flower)

Ink: Obsidian (Altenew), Brushed Corduroy, Abandoned Coral, Lost Shadow, Bundled Sage, Fossilized Amber Distress Inks

Cardstock: White, Kraft, Coral Crush (MFT), Fog (SSS), Rouge (Altenew), Mint (Spellbinders), Silver Matte Foil, Christmas 2025 Backdrops (Tim Holtz)

Dies: Winter Welcome Sled (Spellbinders), Linen & Canvas (PTI)

Accessories: Pastel Pearls (Honey Bee Stamps), white Gesso

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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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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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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Row of Buildings

Hi and welcome!  Jen Brum is our sketch hostess this week over at Freshly Made Sketches and she gave us a row of circles to play with.  I turned the circles into buildings and came up with this card:

I've been enjoying playing with layering die-cuts and ink-blending lately, so these were all cut from white cardstock and ink-blended with mostly neutral colours to try and give a cohesive look.  I used a mini-slimline card base and die-cut a smaller panel from a nesting die set.  Onto that panel I lightly ink-blended Speckled Egg distress ink, fading it into white to mimic snow.  I then spritzed shimmer spray on the panel before adding the buildings and sentiment.  I then used foam tape to add it to the card base.

Thanks for visiting!  Please check out the fabulous cards made by the rest of the design team.  This is our last challenge for 2024 so it will stay open over the holiday period, giving you plenty of time to play along.

Products used:

Stamps:  Cozy Christmas (Mama Elephant)

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Speckled Egg Distress Ink, Limestone, Silver Stone, Evening Gray, Industrial Diamond, Pure Graphite, Burnt Red, Mahogany Bark, Sand Dunes, Rocky Shore, Moss (Altenew)

Cardstock:  White

Dies:  Winter Village (Honey Bee), Mini Slimline Layers (Waffle Flower)

Accessories:  Shimmer Spray

Cheers

Karren

 

Pastel Trees

Hi and welcome!  Today's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches was designed by Linda Callahan and I used it to make a non-traditional Christmas card. 

This die set is an old one from MFT that actually cuts the tree as negative space, but I snipped the decorations away from the tree to give me the tree base and then added white die-cuts over the top of the three pastel-coloured trees.

In keeping with the sketch, I used my scoreboard to add lines above and below the stamped sentiment.  All in all, this was a pretty simply card to make.  What can't be seen in the photo is the clear shimmer pen on the white ornaments and stars.

Thanks for visiting me.  Please make sure you check out the fabulous cards made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Merry Christmas Duo (Waffle Flower)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Cardstock:  Pink Lemonade, Coral Crush (MFT), Mist (Hero Arts), White

Dies:  Christmas Tree Window (MFT)

Accessories:  Clear Sparkle Pen

Rich Poinsettia

Hi and welcome!  Today's card uses the latest grid from the Tic Tac Toe Challenge and for my card I went down the centre column with Poinsettia-Free-Stencil to come up with this card.

I used the absolutely gorgeous Festive Poinsettia stamp, stencil and die set from Alex Syberia to create the poinsettia and heat embossed sentiment.  Once that was complete, I created my card base by adhering some plaid patterned paper down the left hand side and edged with some gold foil cardstock and some black cardstock for a bit of drama. 

I then cut down the poinsettia image and butted it up against the black strip.  I finished with the heat-embossed sentiment and some gold pearls for the centre of the poinsettia.

Thanks for visiting!  Please head over and check out the fabulous cards made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Festive Poinsettia (Alex Syberia Designs)

Ink:  Versamark, Amalgam (Gina K), Shadow Creek, Mountain Pine, Pink Pearl, Coral Bliss, Sweet Cherry, Velvet (Altenew)

Cardstock:  White, Black, Gold foil, Home for Christmas patterned paper (CTMH)

Dies:  Festive Poinsettia (Alex Syberia Designs)

Accessories:  Antique Gold EP (SSS), gold pearls

Cheers

Karren

 

Tis the Season

Hi and welcome!  As soon as I saw Jen Mitchell's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches I saw a Santa belt and I couldn't unsee it, so just had to go with it!

I did have to re-arrange the sketch layers to fit my vision but I think you can still see the sketch.  This was really simple.  A square gold frame, black strip and red background - both of which were embossed with the Subtle embossing folder to add some fabric-like texture.

The sentiment was already hot-foiled so this was probably the quickest card I've made in months!

Thanks for visiting.  The DT have some fabulous cards so I hope you'll check them out.

Products used:

Cardstock:  White, Black, Cherry Crisp (MFT), Gold foil

Dies:  Square nesting dies (Waffle Flower), Holiday Sentiments Series 2 (Spellbinders)

Accessories:  Gold Hot Foil, Subtle Embossing Folder (SU)

Cheers

Karren

Case Me a Pinecone

 Hi, I'm so pleased that Michelle Lupton is again doing her Case Me A Christmas Card series after having to take a break from organising it last year.  I'm delighted she has asked me to play along again.  I chose this card to CASE and was inspired by the following elements:

• the slimline size
• the foliage in a curve down the left hand side
• the big bold sentiment in gold on vellum
• the two tone geometric background

And here's my card (I'll post the card I cased down below).

I started with a white slimline card base (full slimline size) and added a cream die-cut striped cover plate.  I also cut the cover plate in kraft and filled in the stripes with kraft strips.  I then set that aside while I worked on the pinecones and foliage.

I die-cut the base of the pinecones in Milk Chocolate and the top in Hot Fudge.  I wanted to add some interest to the base layer so spritzed it with Crooked Broomstick and Fallen Acorn mica sprays.  Once they were dry, it looked a bit bright, so I inked over the top with Ground Espresso Distress Ink to tone it down.  I also spritzed the pine needles with Tree Lot mica spray after sponging the edges with Green Onyx ink.  On the sage foliage, I added some Wintergreen ink but it was too similar to the cardstock colour so near impossible to see.

Once everything was dry, I arranged it into a curve and adhered it to the card base.  The sentiment was heat-embossed on vellum and die-cut and adhered with a mix of liquid glue and tiny slivers of foam tape.  Finally, I finished with some gold pearls.

Here's Michelle's card that I chose to case.  I hope you can see how I was inspired.

 

Thanks to Michelle for inviting me again.  I am excited to see which of my cards she chose to case.  I haven't made many cards this year, so the pickings are slim...  Here is a link to the card Michelle created based on one of mine.

Products used:

Stamps:  Merry Christmas Duo (Waffle Flower)

Ink:  Versamark, Wintergreen (Catherine Pooler), Ground Espresso Distress Ink, Green Onyx (Altenew)

Cardstock;  White, Whip Cream, Kraft, Hot Fudge, Milk Chocolate (MFT), Pinefeather (PTI), Sage (Spellbinders), Vellum

Dies:  Slimline Short Strips (The Ton), Lovely Layers: Winter Greenery (Honey Bee Stamps), Merry Christmas Duo (Waffle Flower)

Accessories:  Tree Lot, Crooked Broomstick, Fallen Acorn Mica Sprays, Antique Gold EP, Champagne pearls (Honey Bee Stamps)

Cheers

Karren

Circle Line

 Hi and welcome!  Amy O'Neill is the hostess over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and she has a fun one for us!  I decided to play with dies for my card.

After die-cutting the elements from various coloured cardstock, I added some ink blending for dimension and then assembled.  I decided to add some blue circles to more replicate the sketch and position my die-cut pieces around and on them.

The sentiment is a negative hot-foiled sentiment which was already prepared so I quickly added that and called my card done!

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

Products used:

Ink:  Gathered Twigs Distress Ink

Cardstock:  White, Wild Cherry (MFT), Paradise (Hero Arts, Spring Moss, Pinefeather (PTI), Avocade (C&9, Dune (Spellbinders)

Dies:  Luminary Circles (SSS), Welcome Winter Sled, Joy, Fancy Sentiment Strips BetterPress (Spellbinders), Gingerbread House (MFT)

Accessories:  Black Hot Foil

Cheers

Karren