Spring Bouquet

Hi!  It's time for the April challenge over at The Flower Challenge and this time we're asking for spring colours in your floral cards.  Easy, right?

 

Again, I was pressed for time.  The weekends seem to get shorter and shorter, leaving me less time to get into my craft room.  Luckily, Past Me had some already die-cut and ink-blended floral elements so this card didn't take too long to pull together.  Unfortunately, Past Me didn't record the ink colours I used but they would have been Altenew inks.

Past Me also had a panel of pale yellow cardstock that had been run through the die-cutting machine with a linen look cover plate.  I'm 99.9% sure this is a Papertrey Ink plate but I was too lazy to check! I cut an oval from the panel and adhered it to the white card base with foa tape.  I then arranged the flowers and previously hot-foiled sentiment.

I finished with some champagne drops by Pink Fresh.  

Thanks for visiting.  The DT have some gorgeous Spring-y cards so I hope you'll check them out.

Products used:

Ink:  Various Altenew inks

Cardstock:  White, Lemon Chiffon (MFT)

Dies:  Fancy Sentiment Strip BetterPress Plate and Die, Foral Spray, Garden Wreath Add-On, Essential Stylish Ovals (Spellbinders), Canvas cover plate (PTI)

Accessories:  Clear Drops: Champagne (Pink Fresh), Gold hot foil

Cheers

Karren

Masculine 18th

 Just a quick post today as I’m running out of time to get this published.  Today’s card was made for a young man who celebrated his 18th birthday last week. 

Patterned paper, distress mics stains and my favourite number dies meant this card came together fairly quickly.

Linda Callahan is our hostess over at Freshly Made Sketches this week so pop over and check out the fabulous cards made by the design team. 

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Cardstock:  Milk Chocolate (MFT), White, Black, Spooktacular Patterned Paper (Honey Bee Stamps)

Dies:  By The Numbers (PTI), Hexi-Gem Sentiments (Spellbinders)

Accessories:  Fallen Acorn Mica Stain Spray (Tim Holtz), Tasteful Textile EF (SU), Gold Hot Foil

Cheers

Karren

Lighthouse

Hi and welcome to the newest challenge from the team at Tic Tac Toe . I chose red-nautical-stripes and a very old stamp set for my card.

I stamped the images and die-cut them. On a white card base I added two strips of patterned paper on the outer edges.  On a smaller panel, I added the sentiment, lighthouse and birds before adhering it to the card base with foam tape.

Thanks so much for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Guiding Light (PTI)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Cranberry Fizz (Catherine Pooler), Lost Shadow Distress Oxide

Cardstock:  White, B&W Stripes (MFT)

Dies:  Guiding Light (PTI)

Cheers

Karren

Mother's Day Bouquet

 Hi and welcome to another challenge from the team at Tic Tac Toe.  This week, I've gone straight down the middle of Rosanne's board with Flower-Dry Emboss-Diagonal to come up with this Mother's Day card for my mum.

Once again, I pulled out the Be Bold Blooms dies - I can totally see how addictive these can become!  I arranged the florals in a pleasing pattern and used Press n Seal to hold it all together while I worked on the rest of the card.  The bottom panel is dry-embossed and cut on a diagonal before being adhered to the card base.  I then gold heat-embossed the sentiment onto a strip of white and adhered that.  I then added a gold foil strip along with the flowers.

I finished with a die-cut gold heart.

Thanks so much for visiting.  I hope you'll check out the gorgeous creations by the rest of the design team.

Products used:  

Stamps:  KIS:  Mother (PTI)

Ink:  Versamark

Cardstock:  White, Dark Indigo (PTI), Lavender Fields, Hot Fudge, Prickly Pear, Jellybean Green (MFT), gold foil

Dies:  Be Bold Blooms (Spellbinders), Blueprints 28 (MFT)

Accessories:  Gilded EP (Brutus Monroe), Four Petal Floral EF (Spellbinders)

Cheers

Karren

90 Years Young

 Hi and welcome!  Cecile Ribon is our sketch hostess this week over at Freshly Made Sketches and she has a fabulous sketch for us to play with.  I needed a 90th birthday card for my father and the sketch was perfect.  As you can see, I took a literal interpretation to come up with my card.

I die-cut the leaves and the 90 from white card stock and ink-blended various green inks onto the die-cuts.  I also die-cut a pierced heart from both white and vellum.  I arranged the leaves both behind and in front of the white heart and adhered everything to the card base.  I then adhered the 90 to the vellum heart and added that to the card front as well.

To finish the front, I white-embossed a sentiment onto black.  I didn't add any embellishments.  For the inside, I added a couple of stamped sentiments, then die-cut another heart from vellum and added a leftover leaf sprig to it.

Thanks so much for visiting.  The DT have some gorgeous cards, so I hope you'll check them out.

I am linking this up to the CAS challenge at Inkspirational, the Stencil and/or Dies challenge at The Male Room and the Garden theme at Addicted to CAS.

Products Used:

Stamps:  More Essential Sentiments (MFT), Lots to Say (Reverese Confetti)

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Wintergreen, Sage, Seafoam, Spruce (Catherine Pooler)

Cardstock:  White, Black, Vellum

Dies:  Pierced Heart Stax (MFT), Curvy Leaves (Elizabeth Craft Designs), By The Numbers (PTI)

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout-out at The Male Room

Purple Hugs

 I'm here with my card for the latest Fusion challenge and this time I've created a fusion of sketch and photo.

I went digging through my patterned paper to find some purples and came up with these.  I would have preferred a darker purple but this was all I had.  I cut them to match the sketch and adhered them to a white card base.  From there, I added thin strips of black cardstock to separate the patterns.

The sentiment die was die-cut three times - twice from purple and once from black.  I off-set the black die-cut slightly to create a shadow.  The secondary sentiment was stamped with black ink and comes from a set by The Ton.

Finally, I finished with some black enamel dots.  Thanks for visiting.  Please head over to the challenge blog and check out the fabulous cards made by the DT.

Products used:

Stamps:  Rose Patch (The Ton)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Cardstock:  White, Black Licorice, Lavender Fields, Proper Pinstripes, Itsy Bitsy Polka Dots, Watercolor Wash (MFT)

Dies:  Big Hugs (PTI)

Accessories:  Black Enamel Dots

Cheers

Karren

Roses for You

I'm here with a card for the latest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches and our hostess this week is Narelle Farrugia.  Here is her wonderful sketch:

I was planning on using a leaf die for my card, but as I was flipping through my dies, I came across this one that I had never used.

I love the art of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and this die puts me in mind of his work.  I didn't want to go the pink and green route, so decided to go with gray and cranberry for a bit of drama.  The pieces of the die were inlaid and then set aside while I figured out how to finish the card.

I originally thought of adding scored lines rather than a strip of cardstock or patterned paper, but then had the idea to add two strips of black cardstock - further adding to the art deco look.  A simple stamped sentiment, some clear sparkle pen on the "petals" and the card was done.

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

Products used:

Stamps:  KIS:  Just for You (PTI)
Ink:  Obsidian (Altenew)
Cardstock:  White, Black Licorice, Gravel Gray, Cranberry Cocktail (MFT)
Dies:  Rad Roses (Paper Smooches)
Accessories:  Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers
Karren

Leafy Birthday

Hi and welcome.  Here's the latest sketch from the Freshly Made Sketches team where our hostess this week is Narelle Farrugia.

I am in need of a birthday card for DH, whose birthday is on Christmas Eve.

To make this card, I blended some distres inks onto a panel of Bristol Smooth cardstock.  I then added a stencil and went over again, using slightly more pressure.  Finally I added some flicks of water and die-cut the panel with a stitched rectangle die.

The leaves were die-cut from black cardstock and then flicked with Antiqued Bronze Mica Spray and white gouache before being set aside to dry.  I then stamped and die-cut the sentiment.

The card was easy to put together and makes for a nice masculine card.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll check out the rest of the DT as they have some gorgeous cards as always.

Products used:

Stamps:  KIS Birthday (PTI)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Broken China, Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon, Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide Inks
Cardstock:  White, Black, Bristol Smooth
Dies:  Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT), Skeleton Leaves (Tim Holtz)
Accessories:  White Gouache, Antiqued Bronze Mica Spray (Tim Holtz), Scribble Script Stencil (Donna Downey)

Karren

Cosy Christmas

Hi all and thanks for popping by!  It's time for a new challenge at Fusion and this time we have a wonderful homely inspiration pic or a CAS and fun sketch.


I created a fusion and came up with this card - inspired by the woollens in the photo and the pop of red against the neutrals.

I used a new-to-me set called Cozy Christmas by Concord & 9th and an old-to-me (!) set called Spruce & Sprigs by PTI.  I see that my teamie Jen used the same Spruce & Sprig sets to create her gorgeous card so be sure to check that out on the challenge blog.

The sentiment was white embossed onto some Cherry Crisp cardstock and then adhered onto a Grout Gray panel which was dry-embossed with the Knitted Pattern embossing folder.  I stamped the foliage and berries with MFT inks and arranged them to fit to the right of the sentiment.  Once that was all glued down, the whole panel was adhered to a white top-fold card base.  

I really wanted to color the berries with clear sparkle pen, but I've had an unfortunate accident in the past coloring over red ink with a sparkle pen which caused the ink to bleed, so I left well enough alone.

Here's a close up of the dry embossing.

Thanks so much for visiting.  I hope you'll check out the rest of the DT cards as they're all beautiful, as always.

Products used:

Stamps:  Cozy Christmas (Concord & 9th), Spruce & Sprigs (PTI)

Ink:  Versamark, Jellybean green, Cherry Crisp (MFT)

Cardstock:  White, Grout Gray, Cherry Crisp (MFT)

Dies:  Spruce & Sprigs (PTI)

Accessories:  White EP, Knitted Pattern EF (Richard Garay)

Cheers

Karren

Balloon Birthday

Hi all!  I'm here with a card for the latest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  This week our hostess is the delightful Linda Callahan and she has a very interesting sketch for us:

As soon as I saw Linda's sketch I saw a trio of balloons and nothing would shake the image so that's what I had to go with 😄

I die-cut three balloons from MFT cardstock in similar shades and also the strings from some Black Licorice cardstock.  I sponged some ink onto the right hand side of each balloon and then adhered them to a white top-folding card base.  It was about now that I thought they looked a bit bare, so I grabbed a star stencil and a negative die-cut and masking off all but one of the balloons, I stenciled over the stars with the same color ink.  I repeated this process with the other two balloons and finally added a highlight with white gel pen.  Much better! 

The sentiment is also a die-cut, so this card was pretty simple to put together.  I finished by painting the balloons with clear sparkle pen.

Thanks for visiting!  Head on over and check out the gorgeous cards made by the rest of the DT.

Products used:

Ink:  Peach Bellini, Coral Crush, Persimmon (MFT)

Cardstock:  Peach Bellini, Coral Crush, Persimmon, Black Licorice (MFT), White

Dies:  Balloon bash, Balloon Strings (PTI), Block Happy Birthday (MFT)

Accessories:  Classic Star Stencil (Winnie & Walter), White Gel Pen, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers
Karren

Magnolia Wish

Hi!  I'm back!  It's time for another challenge at Fusion.

While I took some elements from the sketch, I mostly focused on the photo for my card, taking the white and green floral theme to come up with this card:

The flower was stamped in the upper-right corner of a piece of X-Press It cardstock and colored with Copics.  I stuck to the BVs and Ns for the petals, which made them look whitish with a hint of purple.  I went over various parts of the image with Prismacolors to deepen the shaded areas or add more purple tones.  The sentiment was white-embossed and comes from an old PTI set "Mum's the Word".  I specifically wanted a big, multi-word sentiment to balance out the big flowers.

Thanks for visiting!  Head on over and check out the fabulous cards made by the rest of the design team.  You'll be glad you did!

I'm linking this up to the PaperCraft Crew Tic Tac Toe challenge (Emboss-Elements of Sprintime-Birthday) and the Anything Goes challenges at Addicted to Stamps and More and Simon Says Stamp.

Products used:

Stamps:  Make a Wish (Clearly Besotted), Mum's The Word (PTI)

Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Versamark

Cardstock:  Black, X-Press It

Dies:  Stitched Rectangle Stax , Slanted Sentiment Strips (MFT)

Accessories:  Copics, Prismacolors, White EP

Cheers

Karren

Blue Leaves

Welcome!  I'm here with a card for the newest Fusion Challenge.  Check out this graphic!

I love both options so much I decided to create a fusion and after playing around with some alcohol inks, I came up with this card:

That tag is so gorgeous in real life.  The blues are so rich and the silver mixative adds such a beautiful metallic look.  I've had alcohol inks since I first began stamping but watching Jennifer McGuire's video a couple of weeks ago inspired me to get them out and get inky and this was one of the panels that resulted.

The leaves were die-cut from patterned and solid paper using some beautiful Impression Obsession die sets.  I sponged around the edges of the leaves to add a bit of dimension and added a tiny twine bow.  The sentiment is silver-embossed onto black and I finished the card with some black Nuvo Crystal Drops - although one of them was a bit bigger than I planned 😄

Thanks so much for visiting!  Head on over and check out what the rest of the DT have done - you'll see a few more fusions and some all-round gorgeous cards!

Products used:

Stamps:  KIS:  Just for You (PTI)
Ink:  Versamark, Ripe Persimmon, Wild Honey Distress Inks.  Denim, Stonewashed, Turquoise, Sailboat Blue, Silver Mixative Alcohol Inks
Cardstock:  Yupo, White, Perfectly Plaid (Lawn Fawn), Wood & Notebook Basics (Sn@p), Burnt Orange (SSS)
Dies:  Leaves (Impression Obsession), Tag You're It (MFT)
Accessories:  Silver EP, Corner Chomper

Cheers
Karren

Cup of Pansies

Check out the gorgeous inspiration photo the Just Add Ink team have for you this week:

It's pretty obvious how I was inspired...

I have to admit to buying this Taylored Expressions stamp set specifically for this challenge (like I needed an excuse, really 😃😃)  I stamped it onto a panel of X-Press It blending card then colored it with Copic markers.  I then fussy-cut around the left side of the image, using my paper trimmer for the straight bits, before running it through my Big Shot with a stitched edge die.

Onto the white card base I adhered a strip of Blue Violet cardstock that I'd white embossed a birthday sentiment onto.  The colored panel is popped up on foam tape and the flowers are colored with clear sparkle pen.

Thanks for visiting.  Be sure to check out the fabulous cards made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Teacup Bouquet (Taylored Expressions), KIS:  Birthday (PTI)
Ink:  Versamark, Black Licorice Hybrid
Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Blue Violet (SSS)
Dies:  Blueprints 22
Accessories:  Copics, White EP, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers
Karren

Tulips

Welcome to another fabulous Fusion challenge!  Today we have a fun Spring/Easter themed photo and a versatile sketch for you to play along with.

I created a fusion with my card and focused on the flowers in the photo to create this card.

The flowers are a digi from Power Poppy that I colored during the last Daily Marker 30-day coloring challenge.  I die-cut the image with a pierced square die and matted it onto a black panel.  I then die-cut a pierced flag from vellum and adhered that, using an enamel dot to hide the glue.

On the Soft Stone card base, I dry-embossed two rectangle dies to create a frame.  I then used a stitched die to add a pattern to the top and bottom of the Smoke panel.  Finally, I colored the tulips with clear sparkle pen.

Thanks so much for visiting!  The design team have some fabulous inspiration for you, so I hope you check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Just For You (PTI), Tulips in Hobnail Pitcher Digi (Power Poppy)

Ink:  Intense Black (SSS)

Cardstock:  X-Press It, Soft Stone (PTI), Smoke, Slate (SSS), Vellum

Dies:  Pierced Square Stax, Basic Stitch Lines (MFT), Rectangle Infinity Dies (Hero Arts)

Accessories:  Copics, Enamel Dot, Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen

Cheers

Karren