Mushroom Mail

Hi and welcome.  Today's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches was designed by Donna Mikasa.  For the triangle element on the sketch, I went with an envelope which is sort of triangular.

I stenciled with some crackle paste on the background panel.  While that was drying, I went to work on the envelope and its contents.  The envelope was die-cut from patterned paper and all the elements inside were leftovers from a previous project here.  Once the stenciled panel was dry, I cut a section from it and layered some thin slivers of black cardstock on each end.

The front of the kraft card base was embossed with my new favourite embossing folder - Cracked Leather - which gives a subtle impression to lift a plain card base.  I finished with a twine bow on the sentiment label.

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

Products used:

Stamps:  Envelope of Wonder Sentiments (Spellbinders)

Ink: Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Gathered Twigs, Lumberjack Plaid, Walnut Stain, Peeled Paint, Rusty Hinge, Rustic Wilderness Distress Inks, Versafine Clair Nocturne

Cardstock: Neenah Desert Storm, Caramel Toffee (Altenew), Black, White, Salvage District patterned paper (Prima)

Dies: Autumn Wonder (Spellbinders), Labels Eight (Spellbinders), Signed & Sealed (The Greetery)

Accessories:  Linen Thread, Crackle Paste Opaque (Tim Holtz), Old Pages stencil (Finnabair), Cracked Leather Embossing Folder (Tim Holtz)

Cheers

Karren

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Farm Friend

Today's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches was designed by Judy Rozema and is a fun one with lots of ways to go.  I went with a scene card, leaving the top part as the sky.

I die-cut everything from white cardstock and ink-blended with Distress Inks.  The sentiment was already foiled and didn't look right in the same position as on the sketch so I took a bit of artistic licence and moved it.

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

Products used:

Ink: Scattered Straw, Rustic Wilderness, Lost Shadow, Rusty Hinge, Antique Linen, Speckled Egg, Peeled Paint, Scorched Timber, Forest Moss, Hickory Smoke, Black Soot, Fired Brick, Uncharted Mariner, Gathered Twigs Distress Inks

Cardstock:  White, Black

Dies: On the Farm (Honey Bee Stamps), Stitched Hillside Backdrop Portrait (Lawn Fawn), Hexi-Gem Sentiments Hot Foil and Die (Spellbinders)

Accessories: Gold Hot Foil

Cheers

Karren

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Focus

Hi all and thanks for dropping by.  I am the sketch hostess this week over at Freshly Made Sketches and, fair to say, my card is nothing like I imagined when I designed the sketch!  

This die set was in my NBUS box.  I had placed quite a few orders that didn't arrive until after my husband passed, so they sat untouched for several weeks before I felt up to organising them.  Slowly, I am starting to use them and I thought the sketch would work for this die set.

Onto a Velvet card panel, I stenciled with some coloured grit paste and a text-y stencil.  While that was drying, I set about making the View-Master reel.  I die-cut the reel from Desert Storm cardstock and a black base, then die-cut individual images from patterned paper.  The sentiment was embossed with embossing glaze and die-cut before being added to the centre of the reel.

I did add some light ink-blending around the outside of the reel to age it a bit.

The film strips were die-cut with black and haphazardly placed onto the stenciled panel to sort-of mimic the sketch.  I added the reel with foam tape and called it done.

Thanks so much for visiting.  I hope you'll play along.  Make sure you check out how the rest of the DT have interpreted the sketch.

Products used:

Stamps: Be Your Beautiful Self (SSS)

Ink: Versamark, Frayed Burlap Distress Ink

Cardstock: Black, Desert Storm, Velvet (Altenew), Curated Palette Collection (Tim Holtz)

Dies: Vault Picture Show (Tim Holtz), Artful Palette (SSS)

Accessories: 755 Street stencil (13@rts), Distress Grit Paste, Aged Mahogany Distress Spray Stain

Cheers

Karren

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Columbine

Hi and welcome!  I'm here with a card for today's Freshly Made Sketches challenge where our hostess this week is Narelle Farrugia.  I decided to use a NBUS die set to make this card.

This die set has a matching stamp set and cleverly, there are three separate floral die sets that work with the same stamp set, so of course I had to buy all three!  I created the flowers, adding the stamped portions as well as some light ink-blending.  I then used a stylus tool to provide a bit of shape to the various pieces. 

The background die is also NBUS and I stacked it two high to give a bit more dimension.  The foiled sentiment was already made so I just had to adhere it to the card and call it done.

Thanks for visiting! Please check out the fabulous cards made by the rest of the design team - most of which seemed to have a floral thing going!

Products used:

Stamps: Flower Centres 3 (Elizabeth Craft Design)

Ink: Alpine Aster, Crystal Violet, Indigo Skies, Parrot, Maple Yellow (Altenew)

Cardstock: White, Sour Apple, Daffodil, Wild Wisteria, Purple Rain (MFT)

Dies: Columbine (Elizabeth Craft Design), Decorative Lattice, Hexi-Gem Sentiments hot foil (Spellbinders)

Accessories: Copper hot foil

Cheers

Karren

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Hydrangea Love

Today's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches was designed by Michele Ferguson, and in a turn-up for the books, I actually mostly stuck to the sketch!  The last couple of weeks I've worked from memory and mis-sized elements or missed layers altogether!

In fact when I saw the sketch, I knew exactly what products would work for it.  I had bought this Stamperia die set a couple of months ago, but hadn't used it yet, so the notebook edge, torn rectangle and flowers worked perfectly.

I used watercolour paper and smooshed distress inks to colour the flowers and leaves, then set them aside to dry.  Once dry, I spritzed with distress spritz and again left to dry.  After that, I die-cut the flowers and leaves and ink-blended around the edges.  The rectangle panel was die-cut from patterned paper and ink-blended around the edges with Frayed Burlap distress ink.  For the notebook paper, I stamped onto white cardstock with both the notebook stamp and a crackle stamp. After die-cutting, I went over the panel with Antique Linen distress ink to age it up a bit.

The Good Reading BG stamp was stamped onto Desert Storm cardstock with Frayed Burlap DOX and then ink-blended around the edges before splattering with some Tarnished Brass Distress Spray Stain.

I finished with a pre-foiled sentiment and some blue pearls in the centres of the flowers.

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

Products used:

Stamps: Good Reading BG, Crackle BG (SSS), Notebook Paper (MFT)

Ink: Frayed Burlap, Antique Linen, Peeled Paint, Bundled Sage, Rustic Wilderness, Salvaged Patina, Broken China, Uncharted Mariner Distress Inks, Broken China, Lost Shadow, Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide Inks

Cardstock: White, Desert Storm, watercolour, Traces of Time patterned paper (Aall & Create)

Dies: Notes & Flowers (Stamperia), Essential Sentiments II (Spellbinders)

Accessories: Sweet & Spooky Pearls (Honey Bee Stamps), Gold hot foil, Tarnished Brass Distress Spray Stain, Uncharted Mariner and Rustic Wilderness Distress Spritz

Cheers

Karren

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Strawberry Thanks

Hi and welcome to another sketch from the team at Freshly Made Sketches where our hostess this week is  Cecile Ribon.

I was a bit rushed for time with this card so I went looking for some already prepared die-cut pieces and found a few leftover strawberries from this post.  I had to do some jiggery-poke with the diamond die because it was designed for an A2 card, not a square card, so I extended the sides a bit to make it fit.  Although looking at the sketch, it appears I have completely missed a layer - doh!

I wasn't thrilled with how bright the Teal Cave cardstock looked against the strawberries and as I wasn't going to finagle with the diamond die again, I went over both panels with some Uncharted Mariner distress ink to darken it up.  The Paper Bag card base was embossed with an embossing folder to add some interest to the diamond cut-out and I embossed the sentiment with Scorched Timber Embossing Glaze.

At this point in time, I decided the diamond panels were a bit splotchy so I covered that up by stamping over the top with a background text stamp and Uncharted Mariner Distress Oxide ink - taking care to not give complete coverage.

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

Products used:

Stamps: Good Reading BG (SSS), Written Words (C&9)

Ink:  Versamark, Uncharted Mariner Distress Ink and Distress Oxide Ink

Cardstock:  Paper Bag (Lawn Fawn), Teal Cave (Altenew)

Dies:  Halfsies Diamond (The Greetery), Written Words (C&9)

Accessories: Scorched Timber Embossing Glaze, Herringbone Decor EF (Spellbiders)

Cheers

Karren

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Cosmos Celebration

Hi!  Today's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches was designed by Jen Brum.  I used it to make a birthday card for my youngest sister.

I die-cut and ink-blended some Altenew cosmos flowers and set them aside while I worked on the background.  Onto a Rouge panel, I dry embossed a brick embossing folder and adhered it to a white card base.  I then cut a white panel into two angled pieces and, after hot foiling the sentiment, I attached a thin strip of gold foil to each angled edge.

The angled panels were adhered with foam tape and then I arranged the flowers and leaves.

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

Products used:

Ink:  Apricot Frost, Citronella (Altenew), Rustic Wilderness Distress Ink

Cardstock:  White, Rouge (Altenew), Gold Matte Foil

Dies:  Garden Cosmos (Altenew), Celebrate hot foil (Pink Fresh)

Accessories: Gold hot foil, Rustic Brick Embossing Folder (Honey Bee Stamps)

Cheers

Karren

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Little One

Hi and welcome!  Today's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches was designed by Verena Shapiro.  I went through my box of NBUS and decided these geese would work well for the circles in the sketch.

I die-cut the geese bodies and wings from white cardstock and the smaller elements from coloured cardstock.  I added a bit of light grey shading to the geese before assembling them.  

I added an embossed panel cut from Mist cardstock and adhered to a white card base.  A strip of gingham patterned paper was added for the "ground" and I added a sentiment onto a strip of Lemon Tart cardstock.

Thanks for visiting! The DT have some fabulous cards so please check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Essential Sentiments (MFT)

Ink: Versafine Clair Nocturne, Lost Shadow, Scattered Straw Distress Ink

Cardstock: White, Lemon Tart (PTI), Mist (Lawn Fawn), Carrot (Spellbinders), Gingham patterned paper (Echo Park)

Dies:  Silly Goose (The Greetery)

Accessories: Subtle Embossing Folder (SU)

Cheers

Karren

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Best Ever

Today's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches was designed by Kim Singdahlsen.  Originally I was going to use butterflies for the circular elements but couldn't get them to look right, so veered off on a tangent and went with gears for a masculine card.

I embossed onto a panel of kraft cardstock and went over the embossed areas lightly with white ink.  The gears were cut from watercolour cardstock and then spritzed with various distress spray stains.  I arranged the gears onto the kraft panel and adhered them down.  

 

The sentiment was stamped, embossed and die-cut before being added to the panel.  I then added it all to a black card base and called it done.

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

Products used:

Stamps:  Dad Squared (The Greetery)

Ink: Versamark, Unicorn White (Hero Arts)

Cardstock: Black, Kraft (MFT), Watercolour paper

Dies: Dad Squared (The Greetery), Vault Watch Gears (Tim Holtz)

Accessories: Timeless Type EF (SU), Black Soot, Antique Bronze, Tarnished Brass, Brushed Pewter Distress Spray Stains, eyelets

Cheers

Karren

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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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Daisy Thoughts

Hi and welcome.  So it's been a while since I've been here.  My husband passed away in May and it was completely unexpected and such a shock.  I was actually in my craft room when I got the news and it took me weeks before I could go back into that room.  Even now, I have to force myself to go and sit at my craft desk and try to create.  

This card was the second one I've made since he passed.  The first was for my daughter's 24th birthday last week and, fair to say, it was a pretty crappily executed card, but she liked it so that's all that matters.  This card didn't involve a lot of original thinking.  I used the colour scheme for the daisies from the packaging and then chose a colour combo from the Colour Cubes.

After I die-cut and ink-blended the daisy elements, I used the matching embossing folder to give some 3D details.  I then went with an Acorn card base and onto that I popped an embossed panel with the centre cut out with a square die.

I finished with a white hot-foiled sentiment on black cardstock.

Thanks for visiting.  This card uses the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches and Jennifer Timko is our sketch hostess this week so I hope you'll check out her card as well as all the fabulous cards made by this wonderful design team.

Products used:

Ink:  Berrylicious, Acai Berry, Honey Drizzle, Andromeda (Altenew)

Cardstock: White, Black, Acorn (Spellbinders), Grapevine (Altenew)

Dies:  Inside/Out Stitched Squares (MFT), Always and Forever BetterPress Plate and die (Spellbinders)

Accessories:  Lush Botanicals: African Daisy Embossing Folder and dies, Paper Rhythm Embossing Folder (Altenew), white hot foil

Cheers

Karren

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93rd Birthday

Hi and welcome.  I'm the hostess over at Freshly Made Sketches this week but this is a quick post because I've got some things to deal with in real life.

This card was made a few months ago for my dad's 93rd birthday.  I thought it would work for my sketch so I based my sketch off it.

For a very quick explanation, I used stencils and soft ink-blending for the muted background and ink-blended die-cuts for the focal point.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll check out the wonderful cards made by the rest of the design team and have a go yourselves.

Products used:

Stamps: To the Wise One (Honey Bee Stamps), Mini Messages & More (MFT)

Ink: Gathered Twigs Distress Oxide, Antique Linen, Gathered Twigs, Tea Dye, Frayed Burlap, Scorched Timber, Speckled Egg, Iced Spruce Distress Ink

Cardstock: White

Dies: Rustic Garden (Spellbinders)

Accessories: Winter Wonder Background stencils (Honey Bee Stamps), Antiqued Bronze Distress Spray Stain

Cheers

Karren

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Good or Evil...

Hi, just a quick post from me today, sorry.  Today's card uses the latest sketch at Freshly Made Sketches, where Cecile Ribon is our hostess.  I went a bit grungy again with my card and used a funny sentiment sticker to go with the Tim Holtz Papercut Cafe coffee cup.

I won't go into details but the products I've used are below.  Please check out the wonderful cards made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps: Good Reading Background (SSS)

Ink: Unicorn White (Hero Arts)

Cardstock: White, Desert Storm, Fog (Spellbinders), Dark Night, Espresso, Dark Chocolate (Altenew), After Midnight, Stone Gray (MFT), Enchanted Evening (PTI)

Dies: Papercut Cafe (Tim Holtz), Stitched Strip (MFT)

Accessories: Books Stencil (Stamperia),Opaque White Crackle Paste (Tim Holtz), Gloss White Spray (Dina Wakely), Black Splatter Medium (SSS), Small Talk: Snarky stickers (Tim Holtz)

Cheers

Karren

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Snail Mail

Hi and welcome to the new sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, where our hostess this week is Jen Brum.  Jen has given us a clean and open sketch so have fun with it!

I used some new-to-me products from a UK company called Carnation Crafts that I first saw on Bibi Cameron's blog.  Basically you buy the dies and then download the images to print out on your printer.  This card was made using two separate products - the florals and leaves were from one set of dies and the postbox was another.

Fair to say, I would recommend also buying the paper Carnation Crafts sells to print on.  I tried on different cardstock I had and their paper definitely gave the best, most vibrant result.  In the downloads you can also download a sheet that you then fold in half and can get a double-sided image for either 3D or just to use the reverse side for a different view.  The dies also add embossing to parts of the image for added realism. It's pretty innovative and I've already placed my second order.  I probably won't use these products exclusively on a card, but they are a welcome addition and can be used for quick cards, which is what this was.

The frames on this card were cut from an Altenew die.  I adhered two of them to a white card base then added the Carnation Crafts products.  I finished with a matching sentiment from Spellbinders.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll check out the wonderful cards made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Send & Seal (Spellbinders)

Ink: Versafine Clair Nocturne

Cardstock: White

Dies: Send & Seal (Spellbinders), Fine Frames Cover (Altenew), Elegant Blooms, Post Box (Carnation Crafts)

Accessories: Elegant Blooms, Post Box downloads (Carnation Crafts)

Cheers

Karren

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Reality vs Imagination

Hi and welcome. Today's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches was designed by Verena Shapiro.  I didn't exactly stay clean with my card but I didn't distress it too much so I hope it passes muster.

This card started with the Whirl Butterflies dies.  I thought I would die-cut them in white and then ink-blend, but somewhere along the line I pulled out multiple distress sprays and the grunge began...   While the butterflies were drying, I grabbed the April 2026 card kit from SSS and trimmed a strip of patterned paper over which I added some rub-ons from the same kit.  

I took a full panel of Teal Cave cardstock and embossed it with the Distress Mix EF.  Once that was done, I lightly swiped over the raised pattern with white ink.  Once the butterflies were dry, I went around the edges with Walnut Stain distress ink, then I had the idea to add some foundry wax around the edges so all the elements got that treatment.  I started adhering the various panels to the card.  The thin strip was a leftover from the Distress Spray panel.  

Originally I was going to use three butterflies but then started wondering about the sentiment and thought the centre would make a great spot for that.  I hunted out a sentiment to go with the card's look and stamped and clear-embossed it onto another piece of patterned paper from the same card kit.  I die-cut with a circle die and adhered it to a black cardstock circle for stability.  I then added some Walnut Stain ink and foundry wax.  I finished with some enamel dots and an enamel heart.  Below is a photo of the spray stains I had out - which ones I used for this card, I have no idea!

Thanks for visiting.  The design team have some gorgeous (and cleaner) cards so please check them out.

Products used:

Stamps: Warehouse District (Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz)

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Unicorn White (Hero Arts), Walnut Stain Distress Ink, various Distress Spray Stains, Salvaged Patina Distress Oxide Spray, Antiqued Bronze Distress Spray Stain

Cardstock: White, Teal Cave (Altenew), Beautifully Imperfect patterned paper (Spellbinders)

Dies: Circle Infinity Dies (Hero Arts), Whirl Butterflies (SSS)

Accessories:  Fresh Start Rub-Ons (49 & Market), Statue Foundry Wax (Tim Holtz), Clear EP, Distress Mix Embossing Folder (Spellbinders), black enamel dots and heart

Cheers

Karren

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Latte Heart

Hi all and welcome to another challenge from the team at Freshly Made Sketches . Our sketch hostess this week is Kim Singdahlsen and she has given us lots of squares!

When I first saw this sketch I admit to being a bit stumped, but then I received an assorted pack of new Lawn Fawn cardstock in gorgeous pastel colours and decided to use all five in my card.

I die-cut them with a rounded square die and laid them out as best I could using the eyeball method!  Onto an extra square I stamped a sentiment from Mini Messages and More by MFT Stamps and popped it up on the card base to make it stand out a bit.  I then added a Copic-coloured hand holding a coffee cup with embossed "foam"; a pair of glasses and a heart.

I made this card several weeks ago and I'm trying to remember how I got the foam around the cup.  I *think* I lightly rubbed my embossing pad around the edge of the "coffee" circle then added white embossing powder.  I know the heart is from the Oh Frappe set by Ellen Hutson.

Thanks for visiting!  Please check out the wonderful ways the rest of the design team have interpreted the sketch.

I'm linking this up to the Feminine challenge at The Paper Players.  I think the soft colours give off a definite feminine vibe.

Products used:

Stamps:  Mini Messages & More (MFT), Oh Frappe (Essentials by Ellen)

Ink: Versafine Onxy Black, Versamark, Ginger Root, Umber Shadow, Sea Glass (Altenew)

Cardstock: White, X-Press It, Macaron Assorted Pack (Lawn Fawn), silver matte foil

Dies:  Nesting Rounded Squares (Lifestyle Crafts), Creature Comforts, Crafty Hands (MFT)

Accessories: White EP, Copics

Cheers

Karren

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