Pink Thanks

 Hi and welcome!  I'm here with a card for the latest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches, where our hostess is Cecile Ribon.  Here is my card:

I already had the flower watercoloured from a previous colouring session and I think I used Zig markers to colour it.  I cut it with my Scan n Cut.  The card base is Neenah Desert Storm onto which I white-embossed a background stamp.  I stamped the notebook paper then die-cut it with a notebook die before stamping the sentiment.

Then it was just a matter of putting it all together.  The flower is added with foam tape for some dimension.

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

Products used:

Stamps:  Sweet Flowers, Many Thanks (Altenew), All Lined Up BG, Notebook Paper BG (MFT)

Ink:  Amalgam, Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark, Barely Blue (SSS)

Cardstock:  Desert Storm, White, Bristol Smooth

Dies:  Notebook Journal Card (SugarPea Designs)

Accessories:  Zig Real Brush Clean Color Markers, White EP

Cheers

Karren

Kinder

Hi!  I'm late posting my card for the latest challenge at   Fusion.  Doh!  I run the challenge and set up and schedule the challenge posts but forgot about my own!  So I'll be short and sweet here.

This card uses a recent My Monthly Hero kit and a sentiment from SugarPea Designs.  I did some ink-smooshing on the white embossed background, coloured the flowers with Zigs and the bees with Copics.

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you'll check out the fabulous cards made by the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  MMH January 2021, Abstract Honeycomb Background (Hero Arts), Kindness Matters (Sugar Pea Design)

Ink:  Versamark, Amalgam (Gina K), Obsidian (Altenew), Speckled Egg Distress Ink

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Bristol Smooth, Surf Blue (SSS)

Dies:  MMH January 2021 (Hero Arts)

Accessories:  Copics, Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen, White EP

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout-out at Sugar Pea Designs.

Watercoloured Flowers

 I'm here with a card for our newest challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches, where our hostess is Kim Singdahlsen.  I love Kim's sketch and came up with this card using it:

I was trying to sleep one night a few weeks ago and into my head popped the idea that I needed to watercolour some flowers using yellow and orange.  Now, I am not a watercolour artist and to be honest, I try to avoid it, but the next day I pulled out this stamp and a couple of Zig markers and just started colouring and I have to say, I really like the result.  There was no technique to this - I just dabbed on some colours and spread it out with my water brush.

Once it was dry, I fussy-cut the image and set it to one side, waiting for a card to put it on.  I then went and checked the DT blog for FMS and here was Kim's sketch - perfect to showcase these flowers.  I flipped the sketch to fit the way the flowers are facing.

I found some solid-colour cardstock in similar colours and created an ombre look to match the sketch. The sentiment was chosen because (a) it fit in the gap and (b) it was a very simple font as I didn't want to compete with the flowers.  The strips were die-cut with a die from Blueprints 24 which gives a subtle rounded corner.  The card base was embossed with the Subtle embossing folder from SU and the flowers popped up on foam tape.

Thanks for visiting.  Please head over and check out the wonderful cards made by the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Sweet Flowers, Painted Butterflies (Altenew)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Amalgam (Gina K)

Cardstock:  White, Bristol Smooth, Summer Sunrise (PTI), Harvest Gold (PTI), Orange Fizz (MFT)

Dies:  Blueprints 24 (MFT)

Accessories:  Zig Real Brush Markers, Subtle EF (SU)

Cheers

Karren

Pink Flowers

 Hi!  I'm back with another card for a few challenges.  This card is for the Altenew challenge, Krafty Chicks ATG challenge, Addicted to CAS who have Emboss as their code word and Happy Little Stampers January Watercolour Challenge.

I don't watercolour very often but had the urge to do something a bit looser than Copic colouring and so pulled out my Zig markers to colour up this gorgeous Altenew stamp.  Once I was finished, I fussy-cut the image and set it aside to work on the card base.

Firstly I splattered Aged Mahogany and Black Soot Distress Oxide inks onto a white card base using Perfect Pearls spray to dilute the inks.  When the ink was dry, I ran it through my die-cutting machine with the Subtle embossing folder.

I was totally inspired by the graphic in the Altenew challenge to add stripes to my card.  To most closely match what I saw as the darkest colour, I used the Direct to Paper technique to add Aged Mahogany oxide ink onto a strip of Bristol Smooth paper.  Once it was dry, I die-cut it, along with some Cotton Candy, Razzle Berry and Black cardstock with the Slim Stripes dies by Pink Fresh.  I used Rose Gold embossing powder on the Razzle Berry strip and embossed the words Thank You.  I then adhered all the strips onto the card base and finished with the flower, which is popped up on foam tape.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Sweet Flowers, Many Thanks (Altenew)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark, Aged Mahogany and Black Soot Distress Oxide Inks

Cardstock:  Bristol Smooth, White, Black, Cotton Candy, Razzle Berry (MFT)

Dies:  Slim Stripes (Pink Fresh)

Accessories:  Rose Gold EP, Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, Perfect Pearls Spray, Subtle Embossing Folder (SU)

Cheers

Karren

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

Tulips

Today's Freshly Made Sketch is brought to us by Lee Ann Barrett and she has a graphic design for us this week.  I decided to define the sketch elements using masking and ink blending.

I started out by masking off a triangle in top half of the card and sponged Hickory Smoke ink in the gap.  I then moved the masking tape and re-positioned it in the bottom half and repeated the process.  Once that was finished, I removed the tape and lightly sponged ink over the whole panel before placing the stencil down and inking through that.  After the panel was dry, I die-cut it with a stitched rectangle die, stamped the sentiment and then some splatters from the stamp set using Hickory Smoke ink.  I kept the splatters to the left hand side of the card so they would tie in the flowers with the background and sentiment.

The tulips come from a new-to-me stamp set by Close To My Heart.  Originally I was going to color them with Copics but I thought the sketchy look more suited watercolor, so I pulled out a couple of Zig markers and did some very basic coloring.  Once they were dry, I fussy-cut them and created an arrangement.  The flowers are adhered with foam tape.

Thanks for visiting.  The design team have some fun cards so I hope you'll check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  A Million Little Things (CTMH)

Ink:  Obsidian (Altenew), Hickory Smoke Distress Oxide

Cardstock:  White, Bristol Smooth

Dies:  Stitched Rectangles (Lil Inkers)

Accessories:  Zig Markers, Scribble Script stencil (Donna Downey)

Cheers

Karren

Sparkle Hello

Hi and welcome to a new challenge from the Fusion team. 

I chose to just play along with the sketch this time and came up with this card:

The leaves were made using a technique I saw on a video at Memory Box on using napkins for die-cutting.  I didn't have any white napkins so I used a paper towel instead.  I pulled out my Gansai paints and just slapped on various colors, including gold.

To tie in the gold, I die-cut the sentiment from gold sparkle cardstock.

Thanks for visiting.  Please check out what the rest of the DT have done with this challenge.

Products used:

Cardstock:  White, black, gold sparkle, paper towel

Dies:  Leaves (Impression Obsession), Simply Said Hello & Thank You (MFT), Striped Sentiment Strip (MFT)

Accessories:  Gansai Tambi Paints

Cheers

Karren

Sakura Frames

Hi!  My card for the latest Fusion challenge is nothing like I imagined when I created the graphic!  But it came about when I got my hands on the Mondo Sakura stamp set and these square frame dies. 

I also decided the flower looked like it needed to be watercolored, so I got out my Zigs and splashed some color on, deliberately trying for a loose look because me and watercolors don't have a close relationship and I find them hard to use 😄

Anyway, once I was finished I went completely wild and flicked white paint over the image and also some Hickory Smoke Distress Ink.  I set it aside to dry and die-cut the black frames and adhered them together in a random fashion.  

Once the panel was dry, I stamped the sentiment and die-cut it with a wonky rectangle die.  I glued it down to a white top-folding card base, added the frames and called it done!  Definitely not my usual style, but I quite like it for a change!

Thanks for visiting!  The DT have some wonderful interpretations of the challenge that are so clever and fun so I hope you'll check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Mondo Sakura (Essentials by Ellen)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Hickory Smoke Distress Ink

Cardstock:  White, Black, Bristol Smooth

Dies:  Wonky Stitched Rectangles, Mini Square Shaker Window & Frame (MFT)

Accessories:  Zig Pens, Unicorn Spray (Hero Arts)

Cheers

Karren

Lemonade

Hi!  Yes, I have been a prolific blogger this week - blame a week off work for that!  Apologies for filling up your inbox.  It's back to work on Monday though, so I'll be back to my usual 1-2 posts per week after that.

But... as I mentioned in my recent post, it's been great to play along in challenges I don't usually get time to play in.  Todays cards (yes, two!) are for one of those challenges.  It's Darnell's Twofer Challenge and this month the theme is beverages.  Now, for unknown reasons, this challenge really scares me - I never, ever make two cards at the same time using the same stamps and I really had to step outside my comfort zone 😅.  These cards actually took me most of the morning - including the hour I spent going through all my stamps trying to find inspiration.  I hope they aren't too similar for the challenge.  In hindsight, I should have made one lemon and one orange 😄but I did color one with Copics and one with Zigs, if that helps?

So for the first card, I used the sketch at SugarPea Designs and the colors from Cupcake Inspirations.

I colored the images with Zigs and the embossing powder is Crushed Curry from Stampin' Up.  Here's a close up of the card:

I dry-embossed a 3D embossing folder onto a die-cut white panel before adhering it to the card base.  The sentiment is die-cut with a jumbo flag die, which I extended to fit the sentiment.

For my second card, I went with a thanks theme and I'm also linking up to 4 Crafty Chicks.

These images were colored with Copics.  Onto the white card base, I sponged over the Bubbly stencil with Mustard Seed and Squeezed Lemonade distress inks.  I then stamped the sentiment in Versafine Onyx Black ink and added the images.  The lemon squeezer and glass are popped up on foam tape.  

I finished both cards with some Sparkling Clear Confetti.

Here are the various colors I used for the images.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Card 1:

Stamps:  Pucker Up (SugarPea Designs)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Black, Bristol Smooth

Dies:  Mod Rectangle Stax, Jumbo Fishtail Flag Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Zigs, Crushed Curry EP, 3D Texture Fades EF (Lumber), Sparkling Clear Confetti

Card 2:

Stamps:  Pucker Up (SugarPea Designs)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Versafine Onyx Black, Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed Distress Inks

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It

Accessories:  Copics, Bubbly Stencil (Newton's Nook), Sparkling Clear Confetti

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at 4 Crafty Chicks and Cupcake Inspirations.

Cheers Big Ears

Hi!  I'm here with a card for the current challenge at Addicted to CAS.  I've been wanting to play along with their challenges for an age, but I keep running out of time.  So this weekend, I made sure to make some time to play along with their Bubbles challenge.

Bobby's adorable DT card reminded me I had some wood-mounted Penny Black stamps in my stash, so I went hunting to find one in particular and made this card:

This stamp is quite large so I went with a very simple card as the image is so big.  To not distract from the image but also to add a sentiment, I used the Camouflaged Die-Cut technique, backing the "cheers" die-cut with a stack of black die-cuts to make it pop.

Becuase of the sketchy look to the image, I decided to color it with watercolors - definitely not my strong suit!  The image was stamped with London Fog ink for more of a softer outline.  I die-cut the main panel with a stitched die and adhered it to a black card base.  Finally, I added some sparkling clear confetti to mimic bubbles (out of a closed champagne bottle???)  and painted the foil top with a clear sparkle pen.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Lovely Bubbly (Penny Black)

Ink:  Memento London Fog

Cardstock:  Bristol Smooth, Black

Dies:  Cheers, Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Zig markers, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen, PPP Sparkling Clear Confetti

Cheers

Karren

Awesome Leaves

Hi!  It's Monday morning here and the start of a week's break from work for me - yay!  The last two months have been crazy busy, with moving premises and I needed a break!  I'm sure the week will go way too fast, but I'm going to enjoy it while I can.

I made this card last night using the current sketch at MFT Stamps, the colors from Color Throwdown and the Fall theme at Cupcake Inspirations.  It's been a long time since I've had a chance to play in any of these challenges, so this card was fun to make.

I just received the Geometric Greenery set - one I've been umm-ing and ahh-ing about since it was released.  I'm so glad I've got it now though because it is such a unique look and can be used in many different ways.  I chose to go with simple Zig coloring on Bristol Smooth cardstock, using two shades plus a water brush for each leaf.  I cut the leaves with my Scan n Cut after they were dry then arranged them into a leaf bouquet, holding them together with Press n Seal until I was ready to attach them to the card.

For the bottom panel, I used Versamark ink to do some watermark stamping onto a panel of dark gray cardstock.  To fill in any gaps, I used the smallest stamp from Distressed Patterns.  As a finishing touch, I added a thin strip of gold foil cardstock (love that stuff and can't stop using it!!)

A stitched circle was cut from black cardstock and the sentiment was surgically altered and then white-embossed onto the circle.  I arranged the leaf bouquet around the sentiment and adhered it down with liquid glue.  I added a twine bow to cover where I'd cut off all the stems from the leaves as they were all at different angles.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Geometric Greenery, Distressed Patterns (MFT)

Ink:  Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Black, Slate, Gold Foil, Bristol Smooth

Dies:  Inside/Out Stitched Circles

Accessories:  Zig markers, Twine

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Cupcake Inspirations Challenge and Color Throwdown

Hydrangea Hello

Welcome to another fabulous Fusion challenge!  Today we've gone with an elegant, soft-shaded inspiration photo and a fun sketch featuring an angled panel.

I created a fusion with my card to come up with this.

I decided it was high-time I got out my Zig markers so chose to do a bit of watercoloring of this gorgeous Mondo Hydrangea flower and leaf, which I white embossed onto Bristol Smooth cardstock.  Once they was colored and die-cut, I set them aside to work on the card base.  I die-cut a curve from a panel of white cardstock and also a strip of gold foil cardstock.  Layering the gold behind the white, I adhered both to a white top-folding card base with foam tape.  I then added the hydrangea, using foam for the top portion and liquid glue for the bottom.  The sentiment was die-cut from toner paper and gold-foiled and I finished the card with a solitary falling petal beside the sentiment.

Thanks so  much for visiting!  I'm linking this up to the current Flower Challenge, where they are asking for heat or dry embossing, and the Anything Goes challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More.

Products used:

Stamps:  Mondo Hydrangea (Essentials by Ellen)
Ink:  Versamark
Cardstock:  White, Gold, Bristol Smooth, Toner Paper, Minc Gold Foil
Dies:  Mondo Hydrangea (EbyE), Stitched Basic Edges (MFT), Hello (Pink & Main)
Accessories:  Zig Markers, Minc Mini, White EP

Cheers
Karren