Toadily

Today's sketch for Freshly Made Sketch challenges comes from Cindy and can go in so many different directions.

I decided to make a slightly non-traditional Valentine's card for one of my boys.

I used an image from Penny Black's transparent set called Toadily.  I stamped my toad onto Xpress-it cardstock and colored with Copics.  I mounted every layer onto Basic Black to keep to a green color scheme.  The DSP is from Epic Day and the sentiment is from Avery Elle's Oh Happy Day set - love that calligraphy font!

The inside is finished very simply.

Thanks for visiting.  Check out the awesome inspiration from the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Toadily (Penny Black), Oh Happy Day (Avery Elle)
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock:  Gumball Green, Basic Black, Xpress-it, Whisper White, Epic Day DSP
Accessories:  Copic markers, sequins

Cheers
Karren

The Stockings Were Hung...

This week's  Merry Monday challenge is very traditional - use a stocking or stockings on your card.

I went with a stamp I've had in my stash for years.  It came from a company in the UK called Imagina Clarity and it is part of a series on The Night Before Christmas.

I stamped the image onto Watercolor Paper with Black Stazon ink and colored it using inkpads and an aqua painter.  I went for non-traditional colors, using Island Indigo, Pool Party and Daffodil Delight, with a touch on Old Olive on the mouse's cap.  Staying with the non-traditional theme, I used some DSP from World Spectacular.  Some Candy Dots in opposite corners finished off the card.

I'm linking this card up to Friday Mashup as I've used their sketch, but turned 90 degrees.

Thanks for looking.  Head on over to the Merry Monday blog to see what delicious inspiration the rest of the DT have come up with.  

Products used:

Stamps:  Imagina Clarity
Cardstock:  Island Indigo; Pool Party; Watercolor Paper; World Spectacular DSP
Ink:  Black Stazon; Island Indigo; Pool Party; Daffodil Delight; Old Olive; Smoky Slate
Accessories:  Candy Dots; Square Nesties; Northern Flurry EF.

Cheers
Karren

Cross Stitch Love

I got the January Stamp of the Month from CTMH yesterday.  It's called Cross Stitch Wishes and while it's not my usual style, it's perfect for a Valentine's card.  Coincidentally, the challenge at ATCAS is Love and the color challenge at ColourQ is pink tones, so I decided to take the new set for a test drive.

This is a very, very simple card, but I quite like it.  I stamped the string in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored the hearts with Pink Pirouette, Blushing Bride and Primrose Petals markers before stamping onto the string.  The "Love" had a heart above and below it, but I cut those off the stamp and inked up the word in Crumb Cake.  

A Pink Pirouette heart punched from the Owl Punch and stuck it over the center heart.  Some pearls were placed on the card, either plain or colored with a copic marker.

I kept the inside simple to match the outside.

I think I'll give this card to my 11-year old son.  Even though it's a bit of a girly card, William is a very sweet and loving boy (when he's not being a drama queen!).  Last night I was feeling unwell with an upset stomach and went upstairs to lie down for a while.  William comes up with the thermometer, a glass of water and some cold medication (hey, it's medicine!).  Such a sweet boy.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Cross Stitch Wishes (CTMH)
Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Crumb Cake, Memento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock:  Primrose Petals, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette
Accessories:  Basic Pearls, Copic marker, Pink Pirouette, Primrose Petals, Blushing Bride markers

Cheers
Karren

Neutral Collage

Today I'm submitting a card for a new-to-me challenge called Mod Squad Challenge.  I loved the Mod Squad TV show when I was a kid, so how could I not enter this challenge :)  

(In the interests of not appearing too old, I would like to point out that in New Zealand, we got TV shows years after they screened in the US.... LOL)

The challenge is to find a designer that you like and case one of their cards.  I chose Jen Mitchell, whose stamping style I really admire.  Finding a card to case involved a pleasant visit to her blog, where I found this card from November last year.

I decided to case the colors and the collage style of Jen's card.  My card is quite a bit different in layout but I hope you can see where the inspiration came from:

This is a one-layer card and uses many stamps from Stampers Anonymous and Hampton Art Stamps.  I masked off an area of my card base and randomly stamped images using Always Artichoke, Sahara Sand and Crumb Cake ink.  The sentiment is a Penny Black stamp and was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

I stamped a star in Crumb Cake and cut it out before lightly sponging the edges.  I thought I'd randomly placed some Candy Dots, but looking at the photo, I can see I ended up with a near perfect triangle :)

The inside was finished in a similar manner:

Thanks for looking.  Go check out the new challenge.  It looks like it's going to be fun.

Products used:

Stamps:  Stampers Anonymous, Hampton Art Stamps, Collections, Penny Black, Seeing Stars (SU)
Ink:  Always Artichoke, Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake, Memento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock:  Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Neutrals Candy Dots

Cheers
Karren

Purple...

For my second card today, I've combined challenges from CAS(E) This Sketch, CASology and Colour Me to come up with this card.

The Colour Me challenge is 5 colors of our choice so I went with three different shades of purple, black and white.  The sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch is so versatile that this is my second go at it this week :)

I used various foliage images and, after masking off the bottom of the panel, I stamped in several generations using Wisteria Wonder and Elegant Eggplant from SU and Dusty Concord Distress ink.  I then stamped the sentiment in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and did some paper piercing.  To cover the masked edge, I placed a tiny strip of Concord Crush cardstock.  I was going to snip off the overhang, but I decided I quite liked it, so it stayed!

The little butterfly was stamped in black and lightly colored with Copic markers.  Some Dazzling Details gave it a bit of bling.

The inside is very simple, using a stamped die cut that I decided not to use on the front.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Turning a New Leaf, Larger than Life, Communique Curves (PTI), Papillon Potpourri (SU)
Ink:  Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant (SU), Dusty Concord (Ranger), Memento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock:  Whisper White, Concord Crush
Accessories:  Paper Piercing Essentials Kit, Larger Than Life die, small butterfly punch

Edited to Add:  This card got an Honorable Mention at Colour Me.

Cheers
Karren

Up, Up and Away

Hi and welcome to another Freshly Made Sketch challenge.  This week, it's Linda Callahan's sketch we're working with and it's a fun one.

I had several ideas for this sketch but ended up going with a hot air balloon and cloud theme.

For this card, I went with a fresh aqua, red and white color scheme.  I created cut files for my images using my Silhouette then after cutting them out, I stamped the images and colored with Copics.  The sentiment is from a new-to-me set called Laurels by Avery Elle.  I just love the font!  The curved bottom is also from a new-to-me die from Spellbinders.  

I hope you've checked out the rest of the Design Team's cards.  They're fantastic!  

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Avery Elle, CTMH

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Real Red

Accessories:  Cloudy Day EF, square nesties, curved borders nesties, white baker's twine, copic markers

Cheers

Karren

Love Tag

I'm off work this week as my boys go back to school next week after the long summer holiday and there's lots to get sorted before then.  Anyway, the upside is that I get more stamping time and get to play along in some challenges I don't usually get time for.

This card is for The Paper Players sketch challenge and the inspiration photo at Just Us Girls.

This card is all SU apart from the tag which I cut with my Silhouette.  The card base is embossed with the Pretty Prints EF.  I cut into some retired DSP called More Amore for the heart DSP and the laser cut heart.  

The sentiment on the heart is white-embossed.  The music DSP is from Modern Medley.  With the tag open, this is what you see:

Pool Party and Real Red hearts were white-embossed then cut with the Hearts a Flutter framelit.  I tied some Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine around the tag and it's far enough from the red heart to not be noticeable that it's a different color.  I cut two arrows from the Label Card Thinlits and cut them to appear as if it was one arrow going through the heart.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Stamps:  Teeny Tiny Wishes, Hearts a Flutter, Well-Scripted
Ink:  Basic Black, Versamark
Cardstock:  Basic Black, Crumb Cake, More Amore DSP, Modern Medley DSP, Real Red, Pool Party
Accessories:  Label Card Thinlits, Hearts a Flutter Framelits, Pretty Prints EF, White EP, Basic Pearls, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Silhouette