Cool as You

Hi and welcome!  Today I'm thrilled to be a Guest Designer this week at City Crafter Challenge Blog.  The challenge is Typically Tropical and as I'm right in the middle of winter, it was nice to create something with a warm feel :)

And here's my card:

I used the adorable Penguins in Paradise set and created a little scene after sponging some "sand" and "sea" onto a white panel.  I used Copics for my coloring and also added some white gel pen dots on his towel.  The palm tree in the foreground as well as the penguin are popped up on foam tape.  For a different look, I positioned the panel in the bottom right hand corner of the card base.

Thanks for visiting!  And thanks to the team at City Crafter for inviting me to join them this week.  Head on over and check out the challenge and the fabulous inspiration from the DT.

I'm also entering this into the Tropical theme at Cupcake Inspirations Challenge and the stash challenge at AAA Cards.  My absolute favorite thing to use is my Copic marker collection, followed closely by my distress inks - both of which are featured here.

Products used:

Stamps:  Penguins in Paradise (MFT)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT), Brushed Corduroy, Salty Ocean (Distress)
Cardstock:  White, X-Press It
Dies:  Penguins in Paradise
Accessories:  Copics, white gel pen

Cheers
Karren

Embossed Holidays

Hi and welcome!  I'm back with my card for Camp Create's Background Bonanza and I've made a Christmas card using a few small stamps from a couple of MFT sets.  I've also loosely used the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch and I'm linking up to Cardz for Guyz who have a Christmas in July theme.

 I white embossed small images from Santa's Elves and Hand Lettered Holidays onto some Kraft cardstock.  I then outlined most of the images using a C1 Copic marker to make them stand out a bit more.  The panel was cut with a Blueprints 29 die.  A big sentiment was stamped with Archival Black ink onto a strip of vellum and adhered to the kraft panel which was then stuck to a white card base using foam tape.  I finished the card with a few clear sequins, which I hope aren't too girly :)

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Hand Lettered Holiday, Santa's Elves (MFT)
Ink:  Versamark, Archival Black
Cardstock:  White, Kraft, Vellum
Dies:  Blueprints 29 (MFT)
Accessories:  White EP, C1 Copic, sequins

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at CAS(E) This Sketch.

You're the Best

I'm back again with another card for Camp Create!  This time I combined it with the sketch at Just Add Ink and came up with this card:

I bought a Mini Minc machine a couple of months ago, but hadn't used it much mainly due to not having a toner printer.  In the end, I bought the cheapest toner printer I could find and my first job was to print off a page of black toner.  From there I die-cut the "because" word and then foiled it using gold foil.  So much easier than trying to use a toner pen!

For the rest of the card, I die-cut the Stitched Dot Circles onto a white card base and stamped the rest of the sentiment in black.  I stamped and Copic-colored a heart from Lucky and adhered that to the card front after painting it with clear Wink of Stella.  Finally I added the foiled sentiment.  A very CAS version of the sketch :)

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Because, Lucky (MFT)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Gold Foil (Heidi Swapp)

Dies:  Stitched Dot Circles, Because, Lucky (MFT)

Accessories:  Mini Minc Machine, Wink of Stella, Copics

Cheers

Karren

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

Art Soul

Welcome back!  This is my second post today and I've had the idea for this card in my head since I saw the cue word at CASology this week.  I had to get it out of my head and onto a card so I could actually concentrate on making DT cards today :)

As soon as I saw the cue word of Art, I thought of this wood-mounted stamp I have that is one of my oldest stamps.  I love this saying and knew I had to make a card using it.  I used the Color Throwdown colors and some ink blending to put together this card.

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."  What a wonderful and true saying.

I used the Tim Holtz splatter stencil and sponged Wilted Violet, Festive Berries, Picked Raspberry and Scattered Straw ink over it.  NB:  When I saw the colors, I thought the peach color was a yellow, so apologies to the CTD team, but with the ink blending, it sort of came out peachy anyway!  I went back and forth several times to get a good blend of colors.  Once I was happy with that, I stamped the sentiment.  And, being a wood-mounted stamp, I couldn't use my Misti :(  I hadn't realised how much I relied on that tool for my sentiment stamping.  In the end, I didn't want to ruin the sponging, so I dug out my Stampamajig and used that.  I wasn't game to ink and re-stamp though, so it only got one stamping.

I finished the card with some rainstones which add a bit of dimension but don't detract from the image and sentiment.

Because I just love these colors so much, I'm also entering this in Virginia's View challenge.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Art Soul (Hampton Arts)

Ink:  Archival Black, Scattered Straw, Picked Raspberry, Festive Berries, Wilted Violet

Cardstock:  White

Accessories:  Splatters Stencil (Tim Holtz), Rainstones (PTI)

Cheers

Karren

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

Hello Sunshine

Hi and welcome!  I've had a busy Saturday in the craft room today as I'm trying to complete all the challenges at Camp Create again.  This card is for the Inlaid Die-cutting challenge and I was also inspired by Tracey's adorable card at Muse and the inspired by words challenge at Time Out.

I went with Tracey's sponged background but for my card, I made it a sky.  I also used the same Wonky Stitched Rectangle die and kept a black sentiment along the bottom of the card.

For the inlaid die-cutting, I first die-cut the sun from the sponged panel and replaced the cut-out with the same image cut out of yellow cardstock.  I then die-cut the clouds out of the same panel, then again in white.

Putting the card back together again was pretty simple.

Thanks for visiting.

"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine"

Anthony J. D'Angelo

Products used:

Stamps:  Polynesian Paradise (MFT)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Tumbled Glass

Cardstock:  White, Sunshine (SSS)

Dies:  Wonky Stitched Rectangles, Flat Bottom Clouds, Radiant Sun (MFT)

Cheers

Karren

Sunny Smiles

Hi and welcome to another fabulous sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.  This week our hostess is the super-talented Jen Mitchell and she has a square card sketch for us!  I love square cards, and definitely don't make them enough, so this was a fun challenge.

I played with some new toys for my card.  I seem to be always playing with new toys, don't I?  I think I have a problem :)

I did some ink blending on a panel of watercolor paper and die-cut it with Stitched Basic Edges die.  That panel was popped up on foam tape onto a 5" square white card base.  I stamped, Copic-colored and die-cut the girl before popping her up on foam tape as well.  The sentiment comes from Polynesian Paradise and I thought it suited the image nicely.  Lastly I added some clear droplets.

Thanks for visiting.  Be sure to check out the rest of the design team's fabulous creations.  They're sure to inspire!

Products used:

Stamps:  Fun in the Sun, Polynesian Paradise (MFT)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Squeezed Lemonade, Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade Distress
Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Watercolor
Dies:  Fun in the Sun, Stitched Basic Edges (MFT)
Accessories:  Copics, PPP droplets, Wink of Stella

Cheers
Karren

Celebrate

Hi and welcome to another fabulous challenge at SugarPea Designs.  Here is the new challenge:

I went with the sketch this week and decided to do some ink blending and die-cutting.

I sponged various colors of distress inks onto scraps of watercolor paper and then spritzed with water.  I then die-cut the pieces using different sizes of Zig Zag Stitched Circles dies.  A strip of black and white striped patterned paper was adhered down the left hand side of a white card base and then I added a thin strip of black cardstock to finish it off.  The circles were arranged on the card base with the yellow circle popped up on foam tape.

Lastly, a stacked die-cut using the brand-new Celebrate die.

Thanks for visiting!

Here are the guidelines to join in our challenge:

• Create a new card or project using the sketch provided.

• SugarPea Designs stamps are NOT required to play along or to win but would be appreciated 

• You may rotate/flip the sketch & replace shapes – so long as the original sketch layout is recognizable.

• Upload to your blog or other Online Gallery using Keyword: SPDMIU7 so that we may check out your beautiful work.

• Add your name and link to your project in the InLinkz on the SugarPea Designs blog.

• One randomly selected winner will receive a $25 Gift Certificate to the SugarPea Designs store. However, if the winning entry features a SugarPea Designs stamp we will increase the prize to $50!

• We will announce our Main Winner at the end of each month.

• The more times you play along during the month, the better chance you have of winning!

Be sure to visit the rest of the design team - they have some wonderful inspiration for you:

Claire Broadwater

Deanne Kay
Karren Johnson

Kerin Sylvester

Lee Ann Barrett

Lesley Croghan

Mackie Robertson

And our special guest Tricia Traxler

Products used:

Inks:  Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade, Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Shabby Shutters, Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon Distress Inks

Cardstock:  White, black, watercolor, Dots & Stripes PP (MFT)

Dies:  Zig Zag Stitched Circles, Celebrate (SPD)

Cheers

Karren