Super Cute

Hi and welcome to the second week of our month-long 400th challenge celebration at Freshly Made Sketches.  I decided to look back at my history with FMS and I first starting playing along at Sketch #20 - a month after I started my blog.  I was lucky enough to be chosen as a Perfect Princess in that challenge - chosen by none other than then-Guest Designer, Kim Singdahlsen.

It was a crafty dream come true when I was asked to be a Guest Designer in January 2014 and I've stayed ever since.  I love this team - they are so talented, caring and supportive.

Following on from last week's theme, we're going back to sketch #200.

My late son, Matthew, has a very good friend who is due to have a baby girl later this month.  It is nice to have something as sweet as a new baby to look forward to after all the heartache of the last two months, and I enjoyed making this card for the upcoming arrival.

I die-cut the onesie and the dress from patterned paper and added a little bit of shading with Copic markers.  The bib was cut from cardstock.  I adhered Watercolor Wash patterned paper to the bottom of a white card base and then heat-embossed the sentiment.  The clothing was added to the clothesline with foam tape to lift if from the white card and add some dimension.  A thin strip of Cotton Candy cardstock separated the two layers.

To finish the card, I added some clear sparkle pen to the pink heart.

Thanks for visiting.  Please check out the fabulous creations made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Welcome Baby (MFT)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
Cardstock:  White, Cotton Candy, Watercolor Wash, Just Delightful Patterened Paper (MFT)
Dies:  Bundle of Baby Clothes (MFT)

Karren

Polka Dot Baby

Welcome!  I'm here with a very last-minute card for the latest Fusion Challenge.  Let me tell you, I made a card last weekend and it is, without a doubt, the ugliest card in the world!  It is now 4 hours before the new challenge goes live and I sat down and whipped up a card that's not the ugliest card in the world 😄

And here's the challenge graphic:

So I created a fusion of both the sketch and the photo, creating a baby card using similar colors to the photo.  This was quite a simple card to make (luckily - with only 4 hours to go!) . I made use of patterned paper and die-cuts to speed up the process.  The "yay" was die-cut twice - once from Bubblegum cardstock and once from Cement Gray cardstock and layered them slightly offset.

I stamped the sentiment and finished with some sequins in similar colors.

Thanks for visiting!  I'm linking this up to the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp and the Dies/Punches challenge at Sweet Stampin'.

Products used:

Stamps:  Yay for You (MFT)

Ink:  Extreme Black

Cardstock:  Whip Cream, Bubblegum, Cement Gray, Itsy Bitsy Polka Dots Pastels (MFT)

Dies:  So Many Yays, Fishtail Flag Stax, Mod Rectangle Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Sequins (Hero Arts)

Cheers

Karren

Pink Baby

Hi!  This is my last day of a week off work 😢and in between taking my newly-licenced son for driving lessons (like 3x a day!), I've been in my craft room.  It's been so good to actually play along with a few challenges that I just don't get time to play with in my usually limited crafting time.  One of those challenges is Addicted to CAS - every fortnight I see the new cue word and want to play along and before I know it, the challenge is closed and I've not made a card.

Another challenge I haven't played with in ages is City Crafter.  I decided to combine these two challenges into the card below.

The cue word at Addicted to CAS is Baby and City Crafter are looking for pink, flamingoes, wooden blocks, hello or phones.  I went with pink, wooden blocks and hello.  This set is NBUS called Hello Little One by MFT Stamps.  I don't know anyone having babies but it's always good to have a couple of baby cards on hand.  I stamped and colored the images with Copics and cut them with my Scan n Cut.  For a bit of fun, I added some white dots onto the baby pram using a white gel pen.

On a white top-folding card base I lightly sponged some Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick distress inks.  I stamped the sentiment in Black Licorice Hybrid ink and then added the images.  The blocks are popped up on foam tape.  

To finish the card, I added some Nuvo Crystal Drops in White Blizzard and colored the blocks with clear sparkle pen.  

Thanks so much for visiting!  I have another card I made this morning, so I might end up with two posts today, depending on how organised I am 😄

Products used:

Stamps:  Hello Little One (MFT)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick Distress Inks

Cardstock:  White

Accessories:  Copics, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen, Nuvo Crystal Drops (White Blizzard), White Gel Pen

Cheers

Karren

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

Welcome Baby

Hi and welcome!  I'm here with a card for the latest Fusion Challenge.

I flipped the sketch to a landscape layout and went with the baby theme and the colors from the photo - even down to the teal color in the lampshade.

For the horizontal strip in the sketch, I used some acetate, cutting a panel out of the card base and replacing it with acetate.  On top of that I adhered a gray polka-dot pierced heart.  The "welcome" was stamped onto the heart and I used an alphabet die for the word "baby".

Finally I added some aqua glitter drops.  All in all, an easy card!

Thanks for visiting.  Head on over and see the gorgeous cards made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Pineapple Paradise (SugarPea Designs)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Cardstock:  White, Black, Acetate, Travel Dots & Stripes (Echo Park)

Dies:  Pierced Heart Stax (MFT), Inline Alpha (Altenew)

Accessories:  Nuvu Glitter Drops

Cheers

Karren

Easter Baby

Hi and welcome!  This morning I made this card using the sketch at MFT Stamps, the inspiration photo at Just Add Ink and the Easter-Inspired challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

From the JAI photo (congrats on 400 challenges, by the way!), I was inspired by the pastel colours of the eggs and the speckles so I tried to replcate that in my alcohol ink panel.  I chose my lightest colours of alcohol ink as well as Copper Mixative and went to town on a panel of Alcohol Ink cardstock.  When it was dry, I spritzed it with some Distress Resist Spray and once that was dry, I lightly went over the whole panel with Micro Glaze.

I die-cut the sentiment with copper foil cardstock as well as the strip down the left hand side.  And because the photo (and Spring in general) puts me in mind of babies and new life, I decided to add a new baby sentiment, white-embossed on black.

Here's a close-up of the texture created by the Distress Resist Spray.  This stuff is really cool!

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Yay for You (MFT)

Ink:  Versamark, Alcohol Inks

Cardstock:  White, Black, Copper, Alcohol Ink Cardstock

Dies:  So Many Yays (MFT)

Accessories:  Nuvo Jewel Drops, Distress Resist Spray

Cheers

Karren

Oh Baby!

I hope this blog post title doesn't attract the wrong kind of reader... 😄  It's Freshly Made Sketches time and this week I'm the challenge hostess.  And here is my sketch:

I had the oh-so-brilliant idea to use acetate for the vertical panel, but never gave a thought to the fact I was using balloons for the three elements and most balloons have strings.  I tried drawing strings with a Multiliner pen so they ended up "tied" to the letters in the embossed sentiment but they just looked dorky when the card was opened.  So rubbing alcohol to the rescue and I rubbed those strings away!  Now my balloons are just floating away and have no strings...  

The gingham paper was white embossed with the "congrats" and then adhered to the inside of the card base so that it is visible through the acetate.  In keeping with the sketch, I added a thin strip of green cardstock down the right hand side of the acetate.  Here's a photo of the card standing up so you can get an idea of how the patterned paper and acetate work.

Thanks for visiting!  Head on over and check out how the rest of the design team have used my sketch.  You'll be so glad you did!

Products used:

Stamps:  Congrats All Round, Celebration Balloons (Mama Elephant)

Ink:  Intense Black, Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Acetate, Green Apple (SSS), Homespun Gingham (MFT)

Dies:  Celebration Balloons (ME)

Accessories:  Copics, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen, White EP

Cheers

Karren

A Blog Hop for Lesley

Hi and welcome to this very special blog post.  We are having a blog hop for Lesley Croghan!  Now I'm sure most of you know Lesley - creator of gorgeous cards and fabulous challenges.  Lesley offered me a spot on my first ever design team, Merry Monday, then a spot on the SugarPea Designs Challenge Team, then a spot on Fusion and a spot on Inspired by all the Little Things.  So I have a lot to thank Lesley for.

Lesley and Corey, along with Rolley and Penney (their furbabies) are having a baby girl and we want to show them how happy we are for them.  A group of us each made a card and sent it to the wonderful Lori Turner and she collated everything and sent it on to Lesley.

Here is the card I made:

I was looking through my stamps for a suitable image for a baby card when I saw this wood-mounted Penny Black stamp I have had for years.  It just seemed perfect to me, so I stamped and colored it with Copics.

Once that was finished, I worked on the card base.  I adhered some watercolor wash patterned paper down the right hand side of the card base and then a scalloped border die-cut.  The die-cut sentiment is from Paper Smooches and foiled in gold.  Here are a couple of photos from different angles.

I even decorated the inside of this card, which is unheard of for me 😊

Thanks so much for visiting.  Please head on over to Lori's blog and see all the other cards created for this special occasion.  And don't forget to leave Lesley some love and good wishes on her blog, too.

Huge thanks to Lori for organising this and to Nance for the fabulous blog badge.

Cheers

Karren

New Arrival

Hi and welcome to SugarPea Designs Challenge Day!  And here's this week's challenge.

Now I have to admit to taking a few liberties with the sketch this week and used stork legs for the flags :)

My nephew and his girlfriend became parents a couple of weeks ago and I needed a baby card.  What better set to use than the adorable Bundle of Joy.  I stamped and colored the stork and baby and paper-pieced the cloth the baby is in.  I then fussy cut the image out (and believe me, fussy-cutting round those legs was fiddly!

I cut a Soft Stone card base and stamped the sentiment, adhered some patterned paper to the top and colored a shadow where the stork would be.  Finally I adhered the stork and his precious bundle to the card.  The wee heart was colored with clear Wink of Stella for a little bit of shimmer.

And don't forget, SugarPea Designs are having a sale this week, so get in and grab a bargain!

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: SPDMIU9 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

I'm linking this up to Just Add Ink who have a paper piecing challenge this week and the Welcome theme at Addicted to CAS.

Products used:

Stamps:  Bundle of Joy (SugarPea Designs)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid

Cardstock:  Soft Stone (PTI), X-Press It, Homespun Gingham Patterned Paper (MFT)

Accessories:  Copics, Wink of Stella

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Addicted to CAS

Baby Blocks

Hi and welcome to a new sketch at SugarPea Designs.

I decided to make a baby card and came up with this:

I started with a Desert Storm card base and onto that I adhered some really old SU patterned paper.  The onesie was stamped and die-cut using Welcome Baby and Welcome Baby Accents.  The blocks were cut by hand after stamping onto matching SU cardstock.  I finished the card with some candy dots.

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: SPDSS51 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 $75!

• 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:

Products used:  

Stamps:  Welcome Baby

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid

Cardstock:  Desert Storm (Neenah), Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze, So Saffron (SU) Sweet Slumber patterned paper

Dies:  Welcome Baby Accents

Accessories:  Candy Dots, Wink of Stella

Cheers

Karren

New Baby

Welcome to another fabulous sketch at SugarPea Designs Sketch Challenge!  I absolutely love our sketch this week - circles and flags - what more could you want? :)

I just got some new goodies from SugarPea Designs and wanted to take them for a test drive, so I decided to make a baby card, using lemon, white and light grey colors.

I started with a white card base and then added a Lemon Chiffon flag cut using the newly-released Stitched Flags die.  I stamped the word "new" from Welcome Baby and added a die-cut "baby" using the die Baby Diaper Pin and some Smoke cardstock.

The top panel was sponged with Lemon Chiffon ink through the Tiny Dots stencil, as I wanted a polka dot look and didn't have any appropriate patterned paper.  That panel was popped up on foam tape and the Heart Border die was added to the bottom.  For the circular element, I took a Fog circle and adhered the pin from Baby Diaper Pin using Smoke and Lemon Chiffon cardstock.  Finally, I added Rock Candy Distress Glitter to the end of the pin.

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: SPDSS42 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 $75!

• 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
Jeanne Jachna
Karren Johnson

Kerin Sylvester
Laura Jane

Lee Ann Barrett

Lesley Croghan

Mackie Robertson

Products used:

Stamps:  Welcome Baby
Ink:  Lemon Chiffon (SSS), Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT)
Cardstock:  White, Lemon Chiffon, Fog, Smoke
Dies:  Baby Diaper Pin, Stitched Flags, Heart Border
Accessories:  Rock Candy Distress Glitter, Tiny Dots Stencil (SSS)

Cheers
Karren

Bunny Baby

Hi and welcome to Freshly Made Sketch Challenge Day!  Today, our sketch comes to you courtesy of Jen Mitchell, who has an amazing ability of taking grunge stamps and making the most beautiful clean cards!  

For my card, I decided to make a baby card as one of our neighbors is due to give birth to her first baby in February.  They don't know whether it's a boy or a girl, so I kept to neutral tones for my card.

I stamped and white embossed this cute little bunny onto two patterns of paper and fussy cut them out.  I used the second pattern for the ears, arm and tail as well as the balloon.

I white embossed the sentiment on a piece of Fog cardstock and adhered that plus a larger piece to my white card base.  Some randomly arranged silver thread and sequins finished off this CAS card.

Thanks for visiting.  I'm linking this up to Avery Elle's challenge this month which is all about paper piecing.  The rest of the FMS design team have some fabulous cards to encourage you to give our challenge a go, so be sure to check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Storybook (Avery Elle)
Ink:  Versamark
Cardstock:  White, Fog (SSS), Sweet Slumber (SU)
Accessories:  Silver Thread, White EP, Sequins

Cheers
Karren