Birthday Wishes

Hi and welcome.  I'm back with a new challenge for Tic Tac Toe after a short break due to a very close bereavement in my family.  I chose to go with the centre row in the board with Any Colour/Free/Sentiment to come up with this birthday card.

I ink-blended a panel of cardstock with three colours of Distress ink and then I spritzed with Crackling Campfire Distress Spritz and set it aside to dry.  I die-cut the sentiment three times and stacked them together.  A few die-cut elements from a Carnation Crafts set finished off the card.

Thanks for visting.  Please check out the challenge blog and have a go yourself.

Products used:

Ink: Antique Linen, Dried Marigold, Crackling Campfire Distress Ink

Cardstock: White

Dies: Big Birthday Wishes (MFT), Full Flourish (Carnation Crafts)

Accessories: Crackling Campfire Distress Spritz

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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Beachy Birthday

Hi! Today's card is for Seize the Birthday (animals), Just Add Ink (stencils and/or dies), and the sketch at Card Challenges.

I started by stamping the girl and the turtle onto X-Press It paper.  Once dry, I coloured them in quickly with Copics.  I then took the Beach Scene Builder dies and die-cut them all from white cardstock.  I then ink-blended all the layers.  On the sand layer I stamped some "specks" with Antique Linen ink and a stamp; on the sea layer, I used a waves stencil and on the sky layer, I used a cloud stencil.  Then on both the sand and sea layers I added dots with a white gel pen.

I wasn't 100% happy with the palm tree leaves so went over them with a dark green Copic marker to try and improve the look.  Not much better, but it'll do.

I then adhered all the elements together and added a birthday sentiment.  I went over the sun with a clear sparkle pen. 

Thanks for visiting.

I just realised that the animal should be the focal point at Seize the Birthday.  If my turtle isn't focal point enough, then I'll link this to the Anything Goes challenge.

Products used:

Stamps: Polynesian Paradise, Birdie Brown Greetings Galore, Distressed Patterns (MFT)

Ink: Amalgam (Gina K), Scattered Straw, Dried Marigold, Tattered Rose, Saltwater Taffy, Walnut Stain, Pine Needles, Rustic Wilderness, Speckled Egg, Salvaged Patina, Tumbled Glass, Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap Distress Inks

Cardstock: White, X-Press It

Dies: Polynesian Paradise, Beach Scene Builder (MFT)

Accessories: Copics, white gel pen, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen, Micro Cloud Stencil, Waves Stencil (MFT)

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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Daisy Border

Hi and welcome!  Today's card was made using the sketch over at Card Challenges, the colours at Color Hues of blue and yellow and the birthday theme at Addicted to CAS.

I started with a Lemon Tart card base and added a white frame cut from the Gift Box Cover-Up die which I adhered using foam tape.  I used the same die to cut another panel from Lemon Tart, stamped the sentiment on one of them and then adhered the stitched panels inside the popped-up frame.

The flowers were cut from Desert Night cardstock to which I added a bit of ink-blending in the centre using the same ink.  The flower centres were cut from some lemon polka-dot patterned paper.  The leaves were die-cut from some Dew Drops cardstock which is a pale blue/pool colour and again I added some shading with the same colour ink.

I arranged the flowers down the left hand side of the card and called it done.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps: Mini Messages & More (MFT)

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Desert Night, Dew Drops (Altenew)

Cardstock: White, Lemon Tart (PTI), Desert Night, Dew Drops (Altenew), Itsy Bitsy Polka Dots Pastels patterned paper (MFT)

Dies: Gift Box Cover-Up, Upsy Daisy (MFT)

Cheers

Karren

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Explore Tag

Hi, it's a holiday here in NZ today (Monday), so I spent some time in my craft room, getting messy and inky venturing into the mixed media space, where I don't go very often.  I based my card on the sketch at The Paper Players and the masculine theme at Krafty Chicks.

While I love clean cards, I really enjoyed putting this together.  I started with the tag using a piece of Aall & Create patterned paper to cut the tag from.  Once the tag was cut I added stamping, ink-blending, splatter, rub-ons and stenciling to the tag.  The rub-ons ended up getting covered up by the layers on top, but they're there.

I went to a craft show here in Christchurch, New Zealand last weekend and bought some supplies I normally wouldn't.  But seeing things in real life makes all the difference.  Of the things I bought was some patterned paper by 3Quarter Designs - a NZ-based company.  The papers are gorgeous (the strip down the left hand side and the fussy-cut elements on top of the tag come from the same paper pack).  

To add more interest to the left-hand strip, I scrunched up some collage tissue paper, lightly rubbed Vintage Photo ink over it then flattened it out a bit before adhering it behind the patterned paper strip.  The original tissue paper strip was longer than the card base so rather than cutting off the excess, I gathered it while the glue was wet to give some extra texture and dimension.  The Desert Storm panel was dry embossed with the Airmail Vault embossing folder and then I lightly rubbed some white ink over the top, before blending some Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain ink around the edges.

Once the stenciling on the tag was dry, I assembled all the pieces, adding a die-cut leaf sprig and some corrugated cardboard.  I adhered it to the kraft panel and then stapled a word I cut with a sentiment strip die from the tag's patterned paper using a Tiny Attacher.  Finally I adhered it all to a white card base.

Thanks for visiting.  This was a fun project and I can see more of this in my future...

Products used:

Stamps: Sign Here (Spellbinders), A Little Artsy (SSS)

Ink: Versafine Clair Nocturne, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain Distress Inks

Cardstock: White, Neenah Desert Storm, Eclectic Clockwork (3Quarter Designs), Graph Paper Garden (Aall & Create), Archives Collage Paper (Tim Holtz), corrugated cardboard

Dies: Stitched Traditional Tag Stax (MFT), Tags A Lot (Mama Elephant) [for the reinforcer], Bloom Colorize (Tim Holtz)

Accessories: Opaque Grit Paste (Tim Holtz), black splatter (SSS), White Gloss Acrylic Spray (Dina Wakely), Tiny Attacher (Tim Holtz), Vault Airmail Embossing Folder (Tim Holtz), 755 Street Stencil (13@rts)

Cheers

Karren

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Edited to Add: This card got a shout-out at Paper Players.

Handmade Hugs

Hi and welcome.  Today's card was made using the colours at Card Challenges as well as the sketch at Just Add Ink and the stencil challenge at Just Us Girls.

I started by stamping the flowers and leaves with various Distress Oxide Inks and then die-cut them all.  Onto a white card base, I stenciled the Chicken Wire stencil using Scattered Straw Distress Ink.  The Oceanside panel (which looks navy but is actually a dark, dark teal colour) was die-cut with the stitched border then an inside/out stitched circle to create an opening.

I added the Oceanside panel onto the card base then arranged the flowers, popping them up with foam tape.  The sentiment was white heat-embossed and tucked into the flower and stretched across to the outer edge of the card.

Thanks so much for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps: Painted Prints, Lots of Hugs (MFT)

Ink: Versamark, Scattered Straw Distress Ink, Mustard Seed, Fossilized Amber, Saltwater Taffy, Fired Brick, Lumberjack Plaid, Crushed Olive, Peeled Paint Distress Oxide Inks

Cardstock: White, Black, Oceanside (Spellbinders)

Dies: Painted Prints, Blueprints 25, Inside/Out Stitched Circle Stax

Accessories: White EP, Chicken Wire Stencil (MFT)

Cheers

Karren

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Typed Birthday

Hi and welcome!  Today's card uses the sketch over at Card Challenges as well as the colours from Just Add Ink and the diecuts/stencils theme at Addicted to Stamps and More.

I started out by stenciling an arch onto a white card base using Lost Shadow Distress Ink.  I then set about building the typewriter using the challenge colours from Just Add Ink.  I stamped a sentiment onto the sheet of "paper" with Kitsch Flamingo Distress Oxide Ink and then adhered it to the card base with foam tape.

The sentiment was white heat-embossed onto a strip of Dahlia cardstock and adhered to the card base.  I finished with some die-cut hearts which I covered with clear sparkle pen.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Itty Birthday Wishes, Mini Messages & More (MFT)

Ink: Versamark, Lost Shadow Distress Ink, Kitsch Flamingo Distress Oxide Ink

Cardstock: White, Cream, Dove (C&9), Caramel (SSS), Acorn, Dahlia (Spellbinders)

Dies: Typewriter, Coffee Cup (for the hearts) (MFT)

Accessories: Black and grey Copic, White embossing powder, Clear sparkle pen, A2 Arches stencil (The Greetery)

Cheers

Karren

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Edited to Add:  This card got a shout-out at Card Challenges and Just Add Ink.

Sympathy Butterflies

Hi, I'm thrilled today to be the CAS on Friday Guest Designer.  This challenge is Sympathy - and I like to have sympathy cards ready because I often don't feel like making a sympathy card at the time.  

I kept this card as CAS as possible with a sentiment stamped onto the card base then embossed with the Subtle embossing folder.  I then added three hot foiled and stenciled butterflies that I had from a previous project.  These were added with foam tape to give a bit of lift.

And that is it.  I didn't add any bling because sympathy cards are not really the place for too much bling and the hot foiling adds some shine.

Thanks for visiting!  Please head over and check out the fabulous cards made by the CAS on Friday design team.  Thanks to the team for choosing my card a couple of challenges ago which gave me the chance to guest for this challenge.

Products used:

Stamps: Brushstroke Expressions (MFT)

Ink:Versafine Clair Nocturne, Blue Suede Shoes, Dress Blues, Sea Glass, Utown, All that Jazz, Daydream Black Jack (Catherine Pooler)

Cardstock: White

Dies: Small Butterflies Hot Foil and Die (Pink Fresh)

Accessories: Silver Hot Foil, Subtle EF (SU)

Cheers

Karren

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Magnolia Birthday

Hi and welcome!  It's Good Friday and a public holiday here in New Zealand, so what better than to get into the craft room?  I decided to make a card using the latest sketch over at Card Challenges, as well as the tic-tac-toe challenge at Paper Players and the birthday challenge at Krafty Chicks.  Because of time zones and full-time working, I don't often get to play with Paper Players so try and grab the opportunity when I can.  I went with the left diagonal with Die-cut/Flowers/Layers to come up with this card:

I coloured up the magnolia a few weeks ago when I was doing a bit of Copic-colouring so I don't know what colours I used, but I was pleasantly surprised when I found it already coloured and die-cut!  That formed the basis for my card, so I matched the flower colours with various cardstock colours and die-cut them from both a strips die and a stitched ric-rac die.  I layered the ric-rac over the strips and adhered them to a white card base that I'd embossed with the Subtle embossing folder.

I then adhered the white-embossed sentiment to the flower with liquid glue and added foam tape behind both before adding to the card.  Some clear shimmer pen to the centre of the flower added a bit of sparkle and I decided not to add any further embellishments.  

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps: Magnolia Blossoms, Bitty Birthday Wishes (MFT)

Ink: Amalgam (Gina K.), Versamark

Cardstock: White, Black, X-Press It, Blush, Coral Bliss (Altenew), Bellini, Wildberry, Crimson (Spellbinders)

Dies:  Magnolia Blossoms, Stitched Ric Rac (MFT), Slim Stripes (Pink Fresh Studio)

Accessories: Copics, White EP, Subtle EF (SU)

Cheers

Karren

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Edited to Add: This card got a shout out at Paper Players and Krafty Chicks.

Sticky Note

Hi all and welcome to another sketch from the team at Freshly Made Sketches.  Our sketch hostess this week is Judy Rozema and here is the card I made.

As soon as I saw the torn edge, I thought stationery so that’s the route I took. I created two sticky notes and a torn edge and adhered them to an embossed background. I finished with some silver foil paper clips and a bold sentiment - albeit in the wrong place!

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

Products used:

Stamps: Take Note (SSS)

Ink: Versafine Clair Nocturne

Cardstock: White, Stone Gray (MFT), Misty Morning (Altenew), Peach Sorbet, Terracotta (Spellbinders) Mist (Lawn Fawn), Off The Grid patterned paper (MFT), Silver mirror foil

Dies: Push Pin Notes (Spellbinders), Notebook Edge (MFT), Notebook Journal Card (SugarPea Designs)

Accessories: Distress Mix Embossing Folder (Spellbinders)

Cheers

Karren

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The Desk

Hi!  This card uses the colors at this week's Card Challenge.  When I first saw the colours, my mind went blank, but then I started scrolling through my MFT products and came across the various office die sets and decided to give it a go!  Confession:  all these products have never been used, even though I purchased the kit when it was released so... hangs head in shame... but pleased they finally got used because they are fun!

I created the "office" using various dies from three different sets.  The "wall" is stenciled with a small brick stencil and Lost Shadow Distress Ink.  The "floor" and the computer screen are patterned paper. I used the challenge colours as closely as possible, although the desk may be a bit too brown.  Once I'd assembled all the die-cuts I went looking for a sentiment and found this one (also never used) and thought it worked well with the office theme.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Sticky Note Sentiments (MFT)

Ink: Versafine Clair Nocturne, Lucky Clover, Lost Shadow, Scorched Timber Distress Inks

Cardstock: White, Black, Celestial, Beeswax, Truffle, Teal Topaz (Spellbinders), Floor to Ceiling patterned paper (MFT), One of a Kind patterned paper (Paper Rose)

Dies: At My Desk, Office Greenery, Around the Water Cooler (MFT)

Accessories: Salvaged Brick Stencil (Honey Bee Stamps)

Cheers

Karren

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