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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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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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.

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.

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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Magnolia

Hi and welcome!  I made this card using the sketch over at Card Challenges, but it also fits the theme at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as well as CAS on Friday and Addicted to CAS.  For both of these challenges, I hope my card is CAS enough.

I don't colour anywhere near as often as I used to and I don't know why.  So today, I thought I'd make myself colour and guess what?  Once I started, I really enjoyed it!  I coloured up this magnolia using Copics and die-cut it with the co-ordinating die.  In keeping with the sketch, I lightly stenciled a circle shape onto the card base using the English Brick Wall stencil and Lost Shadow Distress Ink.

For the bottom panel, I embossed a strip of Pink Lemonade cardstock with the Subtle EF and then adhered it to a strip of lightweight vellum and then onto some black & white striped patterned paper.  The vellum softened the boldness of the black and white in keeping with the rest of the card.  Finally I stamped the sentiment and added some pearls to match the pink of the magnolia flowers.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps: Magnolia Blossoms, More Essential Sentiments (MFT)

Ink:  Amalgam (Gina K.), Versafine Clair Nocturne, Lost Shadow Distress Ink

Cardstock: White, X-Press-It, Pink Lemonade, Black & White Stripes (MFT), vellum

Dies: Magnolia Blossoms (MFT)

Accessories: Copics, English Brick Wall Stencil (MFT), Holiday Pearl Stickers (Honey Bee Stamps), Subtle EF (SU)

Cheers

Karren

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Edited to Add: This card got a shout-out at Addicted to CAS and CAS on Friday.

Birthday Circles

Hi, I'm here with my card for this week's colour challenge over at Card Challenges. I'm also playing along with the current Inskpirational challenge, where I was inspired by the repeating circles in the top right image and pastel colours in the bottom right image.  

The challenge colours threw me for a bit until I re-read the blog post and decided to pastel-ise the colours a bit more.  So I found softer tones of the challenge colours and then used a MFT circle stencil to stencil them onto the left hand side of a white panel.  I deliberately softened the ink-blending as I got near the top of each circle to add to the feel.  Once I'd finished with the circles I stamped some mini splatters onto each circle, using the stencil for the smaller circles to keep the splatter inside the ink-blending.  

I then stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set and mounted it onto a mat in a cardstock colour that most closely matched the pink ink.  Because I like the look of the black against the soft colours, I added some black enamel dots and a black enamel heart.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps: Mini Messages & More (MFT)

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Saltwater Taffy, Broken China, Shaded Lilac, Evergreen Bough Distress Inks

Cardstock: White, Dahlia (Spellbinders)

Dies: A2 Stitched Rectangle Stax 1 & 2 (MFT)

Accessories: Basic Shapes: Circles stencil (MFT), Enamel Dots

Cheers

Karren

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High Top Birthday

Hi and welcome!  Today's card uses the sketch over at Card Challenges as well as the Green/Gold colour combo at Color Hues, the green die challenge at Just Us Girls and the stencils or dies challenge at Just Add Ink, where I used dies but not stencils.

Seeing the new Spellbinders club dies reminded me I had this die set from many years ago, so out it came and I had fun making some green, slightly grubby high-tops.  I die-cut the elements, added some ink-blending to dirty them up and put them together.  I used gold for the eyelets and the stars and then I also added some white thread for the laces.

I embossed a black panel with the Quilted embossing folder and adhered that to a white card base.  I then added a thin strip of gold foil and the sentiment.  Finally I propped up the shoes with foam tape.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps: Be Original, Birdie Brown Greetings Galore (MFT)

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Morning Frost, Reindeer Moss (Altenew)

Cardstock: White, Black, Reindeer Moss (Altenew) Matte Gold Foil

Dies: All-Star High Top (MFT)

Accessories: White twine, Quilted Embossing Folder (Tim Holtz)

Cheers

Karren

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Edited to Add:  This card got a shout-out at Just Us Girls and Color Hues

Colourful Leaves

Hi all!  I'm playing along with this week's colour challenge over at Card Challenges.  I'm trying hard to play along every week to get me back into the swing of challenges and making cards just for the fun of it and not for any DT deadlines.  This week's colours threw me for a bit but when I decided to go for some unrealistic leaves and came up with this card.

I chose the closest match to the challenge colours from cardstock and die-cut multiple leaves using the Leafy Greenery set.  I then arranged them across the top of a white card base and topped it with a previously embossed strip of black cardstock.  I actually got a little glue on the top so to cover that up, I added another strip - this time some yellow. Shhh - I won't tell if you don't 😉

I thought a big, bold sentiment would work with this layout so used the Because die backed with another black die-cut and a yellow one very slightly offset.  I stamped the sentiment because *this world* (rolls eyes) and added some blue pearls to finish.

Thanks so much for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps: Because You (MFT)

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black

Cardstock: White, Black, Beeswax, Carrot, Fern, Cosmic Sky (Spellbinders)

Dies: Leafy Greenery, Because (MFT)

Accessories: Window Slats EF (Altenew), Pacific Northwest Pearls (Honey Bee Stamps)

Cheers

Karren

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