Triangle Thanks

It's Sunday evening here and I finally had a chance to do some stamping just for fun.  And I just had to make a card using the photo at Inspired by All The Little Things. I combined that with the Thanks theme at both Simply Create Too and Sweet Stampin' Challenge to come up with this card:

My original intention with this card was to use Mama Elephant's Trifecta set and stamp the outline triangles then stamp the insides with colors to match the photo.  Unfortunately, though, my solid triangle stamp wouldn't stamp properly, even using Jennifer McGuire's tip of inking with Versamark first.  I tried several brands of ink and in the end had to come up with an alternative.  That alternative involved cutting heaps of little triangles using the photo colors and arranging them on a white panel.  They're not perfect, but they'll do, because man, was this fiddly :)

Once I was finished, I cut the panel with a pierced rectangle die and mounted it onto a Fog card base.  The sentiment was stacked three deep and lightly covered with Wink of Stella.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Trifecta (Mama Elephant)

Cardstock:  White, Fog, Smoke, Slate, Sunshine, Orange Peel (SSS)

Dies:  Hand Lettered Thanks (WPlus9), Blueprints 21 (MFT)

Accessories:  Wink of Stella

Cheers

Karren

Caribbean Snowflakes

Hi!  Today's card was made for the current Muse challenge, as well as  the Thanks/Thanksgiving theme at Simon Says Stamp, the inspiration pic challenges at City Crafter and The Challenge and the snow/white theme at Simply Create Too.

We don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in NZ, so I've gone with a general thanks card.  I used the blue/white colors in the inspiration photos and from Anita's gorgeous card I was inspired by the white on white layers, the layout, and the tag with the hearts.  In my case, I used a die-cut snowflake.

My snowflakes were stamped with Caribbean Blue ink and I also smooshed some onto some white card for the layers above and below the snowflakes.  The snowflake panel and the die-cut snowflake were spritzed with a Perfect Pearls/water mix.  Everything on this card happens to be Simon Says Stamp product, apart from the twine, which is from Lawn Fawn.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Lots of Snowflakes (SSS), Tiny Tags Words (SSS)

Ink:  Caribbean Blue (SSS)

Cardstock:  White

Dies:  Maryanne die (SSS), Tiny Tags (SSS)

Accessories:  Perfect Pearls, Lawn Fawn twine

Cheers

Karren

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

Winter Snowflakes

Hi!  Today is the start of a three-day weekend for us here in New Zealand, so after doing a bit of housework and a bit of shopping, I got into my craft room to produce a few cards.  This card was made for the current challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch, as well as the Baby, it's Cold Outside theme at Simply Create Too.

Lately my cards haven't been turning out as I envisage in my head and it's frustrating!  With this card, I originally white embossed the snowflakes onto the card base and sponged some SSS ink up the panel, tapering off on a diagonal.  However, I quickly learned that SSS inks do not wipe off white embossing!  So I had to create another panel and use distress ink, which does wipe off.  Lesson learned!

The die-cut was cut from Audrey Blue cardstock and double-embossed with clear embossing powder to give it a raised and shiny finish.  I then adhered two strips of washi tape to mimic the sketch.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:  In the Meadow (PTI)

Ink:  Peacock Feathers, Versamark

Cardstock:  White

Accessories:  Clear EP, White EP, Wintertime Wishes die (Penny Black), Washi Tape

Cheers

Karren

Pumpkin Girl

Hi!  I'm sneaking in quickly to post this card before the linky closes at Retro Sketches!  I'm also linking up to the challenge at ColourQ, Addicted to Stamps, who have a Halloween inspired picture and Simply Create Too, who are asking for Halloween colors.

I stamped and colored my pumpkin girl before fussy cutting her out.  I then dug out some Kiwi Kiss cardstock and layered a strip onto some black and adhered that down the center of a white card base.  The sentiment is white embossed and popped up on foam tape.  Finally, the girl is also stuck down on foam tape and "sitting" on the sentiment strip.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Greeting Card Kids (SU), Sweet Little Sentiments (Clearly Besotted)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Black, Kiwi Kiss, X-Press It

Accessories:  Copics, white EP

Cheers

Karren

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

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.

Leaves

Hi!  I wanted to make a card featuring leaves to meet a few current challenges, but I didn't know what sort of card to make, so I pondered on it for a while today.  Unfortunately, I got a phone call from a former workmate advising of the sudden death of another workmate's young wife, so I needed a sympathy card.  Because of the nature of this card, I spent quite some time trying to make it the best I could.  Consequently, there were a lot of steps that aren't immediately apparent.

I am playing along in the autumn colors challenge at AAA Cards, the autumn splendors challenge at Simply Create Too and the current Tag You're It Challenge.  Admittedly, I didn't take too many elements from the gorgeous inspiration tag, but I was trying to produce a more muted and somber card.  I did use the leaves, autumn colors and I used white paint splatter instead of sequins.

I started with a manila tag and sponged on various Distress Ink colors in a random fashion.  I then over-stamped the tag with a blueprint-type image in Stone and Cobblestone inks.  The Layered Leaves dies were used to cut some leaves and I sponged the edges in Vintage Photo ink before adhering the open layer to the bottom layer at the stem only.

I white-embossed a sympathy sentiment onto a die-cut tag and then I careful cut around the reinforcing circle from the manila tag and adhered that to the black tag.  Another tag in Desert Storm was arranged behind the black one.  Finally I splattered some Picket Fence Distress Paint onto the tag using a paintbrush before adhering the tag to the card base.

So, that's my card, that'll be mailed out on Monday.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Deepest Sympathy (Verve), Steampunk (Stampers Anonymous)

Ink:  Peeled Paint, Rusty Hinge, Spiced Marmalade, Fossilized Amber, Squeezed Lemonade, Wild Honey, Vintage Photo (Distress), Stone, Cobblestone (SSS), Versamark, White Picket Fence Paint 

Cardstock:  White, Black, Desert Storm, Dots & Stripes patterned paper (MFT), manila tag

Accessories:  White EP, Layered Leaves dies (MFT), Pierced Traditional Tag Stax (MFT), twine

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Simply Create Too.