Remember the Now

Hi!  I've got a couple of days off work and what better than to spend some of that time stamping!  I made a card for several challenges that I'd like to show you.  I used the sketch at Fab Friday, the colors from Color Throwdown, the neutrals theme at Card Concept and the buttons theme at Cardz for Guyz.

I went with a different style to my usual CAS and I guess you'd call this Shabby Chic.

I started off by stamping a Paper Artsy collage image onto a sheet of watercolor paper using Grout Grey ink, which made a very, very light impression and was the look I was going for.  I then tore the edges and sponged Antique Linen all over the panel, concentrating on the edges.  The watercolor panel underneath was lightly sponged with Weathered Wood distress ink and I then stamped some first and second generation splatters on using my new CTMH Ink Blot stamp set.  I used an off-cut from that panel for the sentiment, which was stamped in Slate ink as I didn't want a stark black ink on the card.

Pulling it all together, I decided to add some sewing, so I sewed two deliberately wonky lines all around the edges on the Desert Storm base and also stitched the sentiment panel onto the card as well.  I threaded a button with some of the same thread and glued that to the card.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Hot Pick 1305 (Paper Artsy), #Hashtags (Stampers Anonymous), Ink Blot (CTMH)

Ink:  Grout Grey (MFT), Slate (SSS), Antique Linen, Weathered Wood (Distress)

Cardstock:  Desert Storm, watercolor

Accessories:  Button, sewing machine

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Card Concept.

Leaves

Hi and welcome!  It's time for another fabulous sketch challenge from the team at Freshly Made Sketches.  This week, the talented Kim Singdahlsen designed the sketch.  Check it out!

I went with a color-blocked card and made my panels by watercoloring on distress inks, including smooshing a tissue into the ink and dabbing it onto the panel - a tip I picked up from Shannon Jaramillo and modified slightly.  I think that provides a bit of extra dimension to the panels.

The leaves and branch were cut from my new Fall Foliage thinlets by Tim Holtz.  I sprinkled Brushos onto a manilla tag then die-cut the pieces.  Before adhering them, I sponged the edges with Ground Espresso distress ink.  The sentiment is white embossed onto a thin black strip of cardstock.  A tiny little twine bow finished my card.

Thanks for visiting.  The rest of the design team have interpreted Kim's sketch in some wonderful ways, so be sure to check them out.

I'm entering this card in the current Autumn challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

Products used:

Stamps:  Persian Motifs (Altenew)
Ink:  Versamark, Wild Honey, Fired Brick, Forest Moss, Ground Espresso
Cardstock:  Black, Desert Storm, watercolor, manila tag
Accessories:  Tim Holtz Fall Foliage dies, Brushos, White EP, twine

Cheers
Karren

Silhouette Sympathy

Hi and welcome!  This card, unlike the one I made last week, is fortunately not needed so will go into my stash.  However, I wanted to join in the challenge at Just Us Girls who have a "sympathy" word challenge.  I'm also joining in at Friday Mashup who are looking for a full colored background (check) and/or a silhouette image (check); Simply Create Too has an autumn theme, Time Out Challenges has a quote featuring the word "autumn" and I used the colors from Color Throwdown.  Phew!  So after all that, here's my card:

I watercolored the background using various distress inks, then splattered ink onto the panel with a paintbrush before also spritzing water to take away some of the color.  Once that was dry, I stamped the silhouette image from Paper Garden onto the right hand side of the watercolored panel.  I really like this image as it has some text and nicks built into the acrylic which gives a nice effect.

I then dug out my With Sympathy die to find in the packet I already had one die-cut in black and covered with Glossy Accents.  Score!  So I adhered that to the watercolored panel and then onto an Early Espresso card base.  I rounded the bottom corners, which in hindsight, I wish I hadn't but you can't put back bits you've cut away :)

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Paper Garden (CTMH)

Ink:  Ripe Persimmon, Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door, Festive Berries, Peeled Paint distress inks, Ranger Archival Black

Cardstock:  Watercolor, black, Early Espresso

Accessories:  With Sympathy die (SSS), Glossy Accents, Corner Chomper

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Color Throwdown.

PInk and Grey

Hi!  I made a quick (for me, anyway!) card this morning as I couldn't let the week go by without playing along with the inspiration photo at Just Add Ink!  I also chose to play along with Avery Elle's Think Pink challenge and the CAS challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More.

I have been watching the videos over at Craftsy where Deepti hosts a class on watercoloring.  I have learned quite a bit watching these videos and am now trying to get some practice in!  The background of this card was done using masking tape and painting on some diluted Hickory Smoke ink.  Once it was dry, I rounded the bottom corners and adhered it to a white card base.

I sponged Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick and Picked Raspberry distress inks onto a scrap of white in an ombre fashion then die-cut the Hello word before painting it with Wink of Stella.  The rest of the sentiment comes from the Love Notes set and was cut out and popped up on foam tape.  I deliberately didn't put any embellishments on the card, wanting to keep a clean and graphic look.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Love Notes (Avery Elle)

Ink:  Ranger Archival Black, Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry, Hickory Smoke

Cardstock:  White, Watercolor

Accessories:  Simply Said Hello die (Avery Elle), Wink of Stella

Cheers

Karren

Genius

Hi and welcome!  Today's card is for the Geek Chic challenge at City Crafter, the Science cue word at CASology and the color challenge at ColourQ.

I went for a very simple card as it will mostly likely end up going to one of the three males in my household so I didn't want any frills.

I die-cut the white panel before stamping the image and sentiment.  I used my Misti to line up the colored stamping in Jellybean, Lipstick Red and Sunshine inks.  The patterned paper is from one of the old SU color family packs and is adhered directly on to the card base.  The white panel is popped up on foam tape.

And that's it!

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Scientifically Speaking (Clearly Besotted)
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Jellybean, Sunshine, Lipstick Red
Cardstock:  White, Patterned Paper (SU)
Accessories:  Stitched Basic Edges (MFT)

Cheers
Karren

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

Sunflowers

Hi and welcome back to another fabulous challenge at Fusion!  Today our inspiration pic has some gorgeous autumn tones and check our our sketch:

For my card, I used elements of the sketch but mainly focused on the mint green can and the floral arrangement to come up with this card:

I used an image from the CTMH set Country Born and colored it on X-Press It cardstock using Copics.  Because I wanted more of a rustic look, I toned down the white background by coloring with various light colored markers.  The Desert Storm base was embossed with a brick folder and some very old SU patterned paper was used along the bottom.  A thin strip of black cardstock was added as was the Verve sentiment.  

And that's it!  A pretty simple, rustic-yet-clean card!  I hope you'll have time to join us.  Choose either the sketch or the inspiration pic - or both - and make a card.  Check out the design team for some fabulous inspiration!

Thanks for visiting.


Stamps:  Country Born (CTMH), Poppy Birthday (Verve)
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black
Cardstock:  Desert Storm, Black, X-Press It, Outlaw PP
Accessories:  Pierced Circle Stax (MFT), Copics, enamel dots, Brick Embossing Folder (SU)

Cheers
Karren

Happy Thoughts

Hi and welcome!  We have fun sketch for you today at Freshly Made Sketches and its creator is the fabulous Linda Callahan.

As you can see from my card, I took a fairly literal approach to the sketch, sticking with the circle theme.

I used two different sized dies to die cut some circle frames of white cardstock that I'd sponged with Mint Candy, Duckling and Apricot inks.  Once the circle frames were cut, I added some more sponging near the bottom for an ombre effect.  The sentiment was also white cardstock sponged with Steel Blue ink and then stacked on top of four other layers of white and slightly offset so the white shows.

The base of the card was die-cut with a stitched rectangle frame then I used a Donna Downey stencil and some translucent embossing paste for a soft textured background.

I'm linking this card up to the current Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge which is Ombre.

Thanks for visiting.  Be sure to check out the wonderful inspiration from the rest of this fabulous team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Sending Happy Thoughts (SSS)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Steel Blue, Duckling, Apricot, Mint Candy (SSS)
Cardstock:  Stone (PTI), white
Accessories:  Spellbinders circle dies, Sending die (SSS), Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), Translucent EP, Scribble Script stencil (Donna Downey)

Cheers
Karren