Perfect Time

Hi and welcome!  I'm at the start of a week off work and have great plans of spending time in my craft room.  Maybe not as much time as I had planned when I first booked the leave, because our daughter has gone and got herself a Spoodle puppy, so I'm a fur-grandma and the fur-baby spends a bit of time at our place.  As she's only just 3 months old, she can't be left unattended outside of her crate, so babysitting it is 😄  She's pretty cute though, but with our Dexter being 12, I had forgtten how boisterous and nippy little puppies are.  Here's a photo of mother and puppy on the day she brought her home.

Anyway, onto my card.  I made this card for the challenges at Paper Players (CAS Signs of Autumn), Just Us Girls (Pumpkin), Sweet Stampers (plaid-gingham-tartan) and Sunday Stamps (sketch).

I hope this is CAS enough for The Paper Players.  I tried to keep it clean lined, even though there's not a huge amount of white space.  I started by stamping the background and creating a mask which I used to ink-blend the sky and grass.  I then splattered ink and white gloss paing onto the background, while keeping the various masks in place during each step.  I coloured the tree and bushes and die-cut with a rectangle die.

for the central image, I stamped, Copic-coloured and fussy cut each image.  I also stamped onto some patterned paper and fussy cuty for some paper piecing detail.

I positioned the pumpkins and adhered with liquid glue and added a bit of gray shading.  The little girl was popped up with foam tape and I also added some gray shading to ground her.  The sentiment was white-embossed onto black.

Thanks so much for visiting.  It was so nice to stamp just for fun and not for DT commitments.  Here's hoping I can keep it up for the rest of the week.

Products used:

Stamps:  Fall Friends, Scene Builder (MFT)

Ink:  Amalgam (Gina K.), Peeled Paint, Tumbled Glass, Broken China Distress Inks

Cardstock:  White, Black, X-Press It, Plaid Patterned Paper (MFT)

Dies:  Rectangle Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Copics, White Gloss Spray

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout-out at The Paper Players, Sweet Stampin' and Sunday Stamps

Snowy Village

 Hi all and welcome!  I'm the sketch hostess over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and I hope my sketch will provide a starting point for some amazing cards!  

For my card, I wanted to play with an ink-blended and Perfect Pearls background as well as some new silhouette dies I'd just received.

The background was created with Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers, Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot Distress Inks and then I brushed on some Blue Patina Perfect Pearls powder before splattering it with white gouache.  After I'd die-cut the black elements, I also splattered on some white gouache.  The snowy hills was die-cut from white cardstock and I stamped one of my favourite Christmas sentiment stamps from Papertrey Ink.

I adhered some of the silhouette elements to the front and back of the snowy hills and some directly to the ink-blended background panel, then I used foam tape to pop up the hills.

Thanks so much for visiting.  Please check out the wonderful cards made by the design team.

I'm linking this up to the Christmas creations challenge at Sweet Stampin' and the Winter/Holiday challenge at Time Out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Winter Village (PTI)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers, Chipped Sapphire, Black Soot Distress Inks

Cardstock:  White, Black, yellow scrap

Dies:  Winter Wonderland (Gina K), Stitched Slopes & Hills (SSS)

Accessories:  Blue Patina Perfect Pearls, White Gouache

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Sweet Stampin'

Snowy Christmas

Hi and welcome to a new sketch from the team at Freshly Made Sketches where this week our hostess is Judy Rozema.  I sort of deviated slightly from the sketch but here's my card:

I wanted to make this gorgeous patterned paper the star of the show so mounted a panel onto a white mat then onto a white card base.,

My original idea was to have an embossed vellum panel for the horizontal strip but it gave me fits - first cracking, then when I added double-sided adhesive paper behind it, it turned it opaque!  In frustration, I decided to use two simple glitter strips and make the sentiment the focus of the card.

Thanks for visiting.  Please head over to check out the wonderful cards made by the rest of the design team.

I'm linking this up to Sweet Stampin' Challenge who are looking for anything but a birthday card.

Products used:

Stamps:  Wonderful Christmas (Waffle Flower)

Ink:  Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Silver Glitterm, Winter's Sparkle patterned paper (Crafters Companion)

Accessories:  Sterling EP (Brutus Monroe), gems

 

Plaid Poinsettia

Hi all!  Today was a public holiday as a memorial day for Queen Elizabeth II and I spent some of the day in my craft room making a card for a few challenges.  I chose the sketch from The Paper Players, the Christmas metallic challenge from Happy Little Stampers, the Christmas in September challenge at Sweet Stampin' and the current Tic Tac Toe challenge where I pretty much played with every square except Splatters!  But I'll go with Foliage/Plaid/Berries

I stamped and stenciled the wreath before die-cutting it but then wasn't happy with the colours I'd used. This wreath was already done and in the stamp packet, so I decided to use that as it had more traditional Christmas colours.  The hot-foiled plaid background was also already done so you'd think this card would have been quick to put together, wouldn't you? Ha!  Not for me as I second- and third-guess every step.

 

The sentiment was silver-embossed on black cardstock and die-cut with the co-ordinating die before I put all the elements together on a Cranberry Cocktail card base, which matched the berries.  I added some yellow Nuvo drops to the centres of the poinsettias and Copic-coloured some pearls to try and match the cranberry colour.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Poinsettia (Pink Fresh Studio), Poinsettia Bouquet (WPlus9)

Ink:  Amalgam (Gina K Designs), Versamark, various Altenew inks for the stenciling

Cardstock:  Cranberry Cocktail, Black Licorice (MFT), White

Dies:  Poinsettia (Pink Fresh Studio), Poinsettia Bouquet (WPlus9), Triple Line Diamond Hot Foil Plate (Waffle Flower)

Accessories:  Poinsettia stencil (Pink Fresh Studio), Silver EP, Silver Hot Foil, Pearls, Dandelion Yellow Nuvo Drops

Cheers

Karren

Boxy Beer

 Hi!  I found some time this week to make a card for a few challenges.  For the Tic Tac Toe challenge, I went with Masculine/Square/Beer or Drink.  For The Card Concept, I was inspired by the masculine challenge theme, Krafty Chicks have a CAS challenge and Sweet Stampin' are looking for masculine/Father's Day cards.  It's not Father's Day here until September so I went with masculine.

This beer mug was already stamped and waiting in the stamp pocket to be used (present-day Karren gives a nod of thanks to past Karren 😏) All I had to do was fussy-cut it and then work on the rest of my card.  The squares were die-cut with an embossed edge die in three different shades of blue from a Memory Box paper pack (love these packs!). I arranged them onto a white card base so they overlapped each other and then stamped a simple Happy Birthday sentiment.  

The beer jug is popped up on foam tape and I added some clear sparkle pen to the froth.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Beer (The Ton)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Vanilla Cream, Hazelnut, Almond Butter, Limestone, Silver Stone, Buttercream (Altenew)

Cardstock:  White, Fresh Aqua (Memory Box)

Dies:  Embossed Edge Square (Kat Scrappiness)

Accessories:  Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout-out at Krafty Chicks and Tic Tac Toe.

Cool Santa

I'm here with a card for the latest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches, where our hostess this week is Narelle Farrugia.  I created a Christmas card using her fun sketch. 

I started by white-embossing the Christmas Background stamp onto a white card base.  I then adhered a Wild Cherry die-cut circle to the right of centre.  I die-cut and coloured Santa Man before adhering him to a second Wild Cherry die-cut circle.  The red part of his hat and his beard are adhered directly to the circle and the rest is popped up on foam tape.  I also coloured the white parts of his hat with clear sparkle pen.

Finally, I added a hot-foiled sentiment and this card was done.

I hope you'll visit the blog and see the wonderful cards made by the rest of the design team.

I'm playing along with a few challenges with this card:  Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge, Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies and Sweet Stampin' Challenge (Christmas in September)

Products used:

Stamps:  Christmas Background (SSS)

Ink:  Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Black, X-Press It, Wild Cherry (MFT), Silver Hot Foil, Pearlescent Vellum (Lawn Fawn)

Dies:  Santa Man (SSS), Pierced Circle Stax (MFT), Holiday Sentiments Series 2 (Spellbinders)

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

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge.

Pretty Amazing

 Hi and welcome to a new sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, where our hostess this week is Amy O'Neill.  I have to admit I was a bit stumped by Amy's sketch at first, not sure what to use for the horizontal strip which needs to cover both panels.  I then decided to use colour and a stencil and this is the result.

I just got this stencil this week and was keen to put it to use.  I took two panels of Bristol Smooth cardstock to match the sketch and placed the stencil over the larger panel and masked off the centre strip with purple tape before ink-blending with Silver Lake Ink on the top and bottom of the panel.  

I then removed the purple tape and applied it over where I'd just inked.  Then I used Fresh Lemon ink in the centre of the panel.  Before removing the tape, I added the smaller panel to the centre of the larger one, using repositionable tape to hold it in place.  I then went over the centre area with a darker yellow ink - Maple Yellow.  Moving the tape again, I went over the top and bottom with darker gray ink - Gray Denim and the stenciling was done.

Originally I wasn't going to add a mat around the smaller panel but it just didn't stand out enough, so I cut a Cement Gray mat just slightly bigger than the inked panel.  I then decided to add the background stamping with Fog ink so put both inked panels into my Misti and stamped the background text over them.

The rest of the card was pretty simple - a stacked die-cut sentiment with a white-embossed sub-sentiment and I finished with some shimmery hearts left over from a previous project.

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you'll check out the fabulous cards made by the rest of the design team.

I'm playing along with the Anything Goes challenge at Happy Little Stampers Stencil Challenge and the cards for teens/kids challenge at Sweet Stampin' as I intend to give this card to my 18-year old daughter when she starts back at university in a few weeks.

Products used:

Stamps:  You Matter, You Matter BG (SSS)

Ink:  Versamark, Fog (SSS), Silver Lake, Gray Denim, Fresh Lemon, Maple Yellow (Altenew)

Cardstock:  Cement Gray, Black Licorice (MFT), Bristol Smooth

Dies:  You (SSS), Blueprints 11 (MFT)

Accessories:  Geo Leaves Stencil (SSS), Shimmer Spray, White EP

Cheers

Karren

Halftone Birthday

Hi and welcome!  I'm back with a card for the latest sketch at Freshly Made Sketches where our hostess is the wonderful Linda Callahan.  Check out her fabulous sketch:

This was my second idea for this card - let's just say the first one didn't pan out too well!  And this is the fourth attempt at this design - I'm glad there are two sides to every piece of cardstock 😂

I stamped a rainbow of halftone squares using various Altenew inks onto a panel of white cardstock.  I then took a black Multiliner and a ruler and drew the lines to mimic the sketch - except I forgot to lift the pen when I was drawing the line through the orange square.  To fix that, I stamped another orange square and cut it out before popping it up on foam tape.  I added some gray Copic liner on one side of each line to add a bit of faux dimension.  The big, bold sentiment finished the panel.

I die-cut the panel with a stitched rectangle die and added it to a white top-folding card base and called it done.

Thanks for visiting!  The DT have got some gorgeous interpretations of Linda's sketch so I hope you'll check them out.

I'm linking this up to Seize the Birthday who are looking for Stamping Only and Sweet Stampin' who are looking for bright and cheerful.

Products used:

Stamps:  Halftone Squares (Altenew), Make a Wish (Clearly Besotted)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Crimson, Orange Cream, Mango Smoothie, Bamboo, Aqualicious, Lavender Fields (Altenew)

Cardstock:  White

Dies:  Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Copic Markers, Copic Multiliner

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Seize the Birthday.

White Poinsettia

Hi and welcome to the last Freshly Made Sketch challenge of 2018!  This challenge, designed by my Antipodean neighbour, Narelle Farrugia, will stay open until 31 December so you have plenty of time to play along. 

Now I really think Narelle was messing with my head when she came up with this sketch.  I have a fear of angled panels on cards and I really dislike ovals 😄 To combat both those obstacles, I came up with this card:

So the angled panels are white-on-white and not too noticeable and the oval transformed into a poinsettia, so all is well with the world again!    To add some interest both the angled panels were die-cut with a stitched rectangle die and then embossed - one with a 3D woodgrain folder and one with a knitting pattern folder.  I added them to the card base after dry-embossing that with a stitched rectangle die.

The poinsettia pieces were cut with white cardstock and then I spritzed them with gold shimmer spray before assembling the flower.  I added that to the card base and then gold-embossed the simple sentiment.  Here's a better shot of the texture in the background.

Thanks for visiting!  The DT have outdone themselves for our last challenge of the year, so I hope you'll head over and check them out.

I'm playing along with Sweet Stampin' Challenge who are looking for last minute Christmas cards.  Luckily this has a stamped sentiment on it!😄

Products used:

Stamps:  Snowglobe Sentiments (MFT)

Ink:  Versamark

Cardstock:  Smooth White (MFT)

Dies:  Perfect Poinsettia, Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Lumber EF (Tim Holtz), Knitted Pattern EF (Richard Garay), Antique Gold Embossing Powder (SSS)

Cheers

Karren

Leaves and Bricks

Hi all!  I'm lucky enough to have three days off work and this is my second day.  Yesterday was spent with my 16 year old son (gotta take advantage when they still want to be seen in public with their mother!)  Today is hopefully going to be spent stamping and I'm off to a good start with one card made and it's only noon 😄

I made this card using the current sketch at MFT, the leaves theme at Paper Players and the stencil theme at Sweet Stampin'.

I started by die-cutting the frame from Blueprints 27.  Using that as a template I lightly penciled around the outside so I knew where to mask for the stenciling.  Using a very small amount of Hickory Smoke distress ink, I mixed up a pale gray embossing paste then added it over the top of the English Brick Wall stencil.  I remove the masking tape and set it aside to dry.

I then went to work on the leaves.  I ended up using nine different distress inks to get these leaves!  I kept adding color, water and dropping my sheet of Bristol Smooth in the resulting mix.  once I was happy with the colors, I flicked on some Ground Espresso, Fired Brick and Peeled Paint inks.

The Falling Leaves dies were used to cut from the distress inked panel and I lightly sponged around the edges with the same three inks used to flick ink onto the panel.  The sentiment is white embossed onto Jellybean Green cardstock and cut with one of the banner dies in Blueprints 27.

Then it was time to assemble the card.  The frame went down first and then the sentiment.  From there, the leaves were added - either directly to the card or on foam tape.  I finished with some clear droplets.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  More Essential Sentiments (MFT)

Ink:  Versamark, Spiced Marmalade, Fossilized Amber, Fired Brick, Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo, Shabby Shutters, Hickory Smoke, Peeled Paint, Ground Espresso, Aged Mahogany Distress Inks

Cardstock:  White, Bristol Smooth, Jellybean Green (MFT)

Dies:  Blueprints 27, Falling Leaves (MFT)

Accessories:  White EP, Clear Droplets, English Brick Wall Stencil (MFT), White Embossing Paste

Cheers

Karren