Sympathy Butterflies

Hi, I'm thrilled today to be the CAS on Friday Guest Designer.  This challenge is Sympathy - and I like to have sympathy cards ready because I often don't feel like making a sympathy card at the time.  

I kept this card as CAS as possible with a sentiment stamped onto the card base then embossed with the Subtle embossing folder.  I then added three hot foiled and stenciled butterflies that I had from a previous project.  These were added with foam tape to give a bit of lift.

And that is it.  I didn't add any bling because sympathy cards are not really the place for too much bling and the hot foiling adds some shine.

Thanks for visiting!  Please head over and check out the fabulous cards made by the CAS on Friday design team.  Thanks to the team for choosing my card a couple of challenges ago which gave me the chance to guest for this challenge.

Products used:

Stamps: Brushstroke Expressions (MFT)

Ink:Versafine Clair Nocturne, Blue Suede Shoes, Dress Blues, Sea Glass, Utown, All that Jazz, Daydream Black Jack (Catherine Pooler)

Cardstock: White

Dies: Small Butterflies Hot Foil and Die (Pink Fresh)

Accessories: Silver Hot Foil, Subtle EF (SU)

Cheers

Karren

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Flower Barrel

Hi and welcome!  Today's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches was designed by Michele Ferguson.  I was originally going to create an arch as in the sketch but then found this NBUS die set from Spellbinders and thought the barrel would be a great substitute.

I went with a dark background and embossed it with a brick embossing folder before adhering the panel to a card base.  I then added a kraft coloured pierced frame.  All the die-cut elements for the focal point were die-cut with white cardstock and ink-blended with Altenew inks or Distress Inks.  The foliage was already ink-blended and I have no idea what inks I used!

After arranging the flowers and foliage, I found a pre-foiled sentiment and decided that this card would make a suitable sympathy card.

As an afterthought - I was just previewing this post before publishing and I looked at the card with the sympathy sentiment and immediately thought "body in a barrel" along the lines of my favourite TV serial killer Dexter, so maybe I need to replace the sentiment with something a little more appropriate 😱😁

Thanks for visiting.  The DT have created some gorgeous cards so please check them out.

Products used:

Ink: Orange Sorbet, Apricot Frost, Canyon Clay, Pastel Sunrise, Mocha, various green inks (Altenew), Scorched Timber, Gathered Twigs Distress Inks

Cardstock: White, Black, Dark Chocolate (Altenew), Paper Bag (Lawn Fawn)

Dies: Rustic Garden, Hexi-Gem Sentiments (Spellbinders), Chocolate Flowers (Altenew), Lovely Layers: Mini Fall Florals (Honey Bee Stamps), Pierced Rectangle Frames (MFT)

Accessories:  Gold hot foil, Rustic Brick Wall EF (Honey Bee Stamps), shimmer spray

Cheers

Karren

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Floral Stump

 Hi and welcome! Today’s sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches was designed by Narelle Farrugia. I am still on my Honey Bee die kick so pulled out some more NBUS for this card.

All the die-cut elements were cut from white cardstock and ink-blended with Altenew inks. Once I had finished the ink-blending, I arranged the elements to sort of match the sketch. I wanted a background so chose this cover plate and cut it from white and adhered it to the card base, before adding the die-cuts.

The hot-foiled sentiment was already prepared so I added it with foam tape and called it done. 

Thanks for visiting. The design team gave some fabulous cards so please check them out.

Products used:

Ink:  Misty Morning, Nimbus, Evergreen, Eucalyptus, Mountain Mist, Buttercream, Maple Yellow, Hazelnut, Dark Chocolate

Cardstock:  White, Black

Dies:  Slice & Stump, Lovely Layers: Mini Holiday Florals (Honey Bee Stamps), Rocks Glass (Catherine Pooler), Hexi Gem Sentiments Hot Foil & Die (Spellbinders)

Accessories:  Gold Hot Foil

Cheers

Karren

Sympathy Lilies

It's time for another challenge from the team at Fusion and this time I went with the sketch and took in a few elements from the photo - the burgundy colour of the wine and the calla lilies.

I've had these flowers coloured up for quite a few years - they are part of a colouring class over at Kit and Clowder.  I used my Scan n Cut to cut them out and then went to work on the background.  After embossing a panel of Paver Red cardstock with a brickwork embossing folder, I then used my finger to add some foundry wax to the panel, focusing on the top left and bottom right corners.  I also used a paintbrush to splatter some over the whole panel (not to mention my deskop and my glasses too!) I adhered that to a white card base and finished with a simple sentiment.

Thanks so much for visiting!  I hope you'll check out the wonderful cards made by the DT.

Products used:

Stamps:  Assorted Greetings (Gina K)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Cardstock:  White, Paver Red (MFT), X-Press It

Accessories:  Copics, Brickwork Embossing Folder (Tim Holtz), Statue Foundry Wax (Tim Holtz)

Cheers

Karren

Daffodil Sympathy

 Hi!  It's time for another challenge from the team at Freshly Made Sketches where our hostess this week is our other "Camp Mother", Jen Mitchell.  Here's what I made using her sketch:

I had just received some new Waffle Flower goodies and wanted to put them to use, so this card is pretty much all Waffle Flower!  The daffodils were stamps and coloured with the co-ordinating stencils before being die-cut.  Unfortunately, I didn't stamp with a Copic-friendly ink and wanted to add some more shading, so I very carefully and sparingly added a few touches with Copics, but would have like to have added more but didn't want to chance my luck.

The flowers were arranged and adhered to a die-cut piece of Modern Neutrals patterned paper and then I went hunting for a card base to match the patterned paper tones.  This Stone Gray was a good match - a nice blue-gray - so it became the card base.  

Onto that I added the die-cut cover plate and then the patterned paper and flowers.  The sentiment was stamped, die-cut and stacked three high for stability and dimension.  Finally I finished with some yellow enamel dots and a heart.

Thanks so much for visiting.  I hope you'll head over and check out the wonderful cards made by the rest of the design team.

Products used:

Stamps:  Daffodil, Elegant Sentiments (Waffle Flower)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Green Fields set, Golden Sunset set (Altenew)

Cardstock:  Stone Gray (MFT), White, Modern Neutrals (Waffle Flower)

Dies:  Daffodil, Elegant Sentiments, Geometric Cover Die (Waffle Flower), Stitched Mod Square Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Daffodil Stencils (Waffle Flower), Copics, Pocketful of Sunshine Enamel Dots (Altenew)

Cheers

Karren

Butterfly Sympathy

 It's time for a new challenge over at Fusion and we have the cutest inspiration photo this week.  I had originally intended playing with the photo, but ended up going with the sketch with the blue-y shades from the photo thrown in.

I kept this card very clean and simple, using scoring to mimic the panels on the sketch.  It's hard to see in the photo, but I also did some partial dry-embossing in the big centre panel, using the Subtle embossing folder.  The butterfly was stamped and die-cut and the sentiment was added directly to the card front.  No embellishments due to the nature of the card.

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

Products used:

Stamps:  Beautiful Butterflies (MFT), BAF:  Columbine (Altenew)

Ink: Dew Drop, Aqualicious (Altenew), Versafine Onyx Black

Cardstock:  White

Dies:  Beautiful Butterflies (MFT)

Accessories:  Subtle EF (SU)

Cheers

Karren

Poppies

Welcome!  It's time for another challenge from the team at Freshly Made Sketches where our hostess this week is Amy O'Neill with this gorgeous sketch:

I have need of another sympathy card, so I used the new Spotlight Poppies card kit from MFT to create this card - yes, another gray and yellow floral card 😄

 I started by stamping the poppies background stamp onto a panel of Cement Gray cardstock then the individual co-ordinating poppy stamps onto X-Press It using London Fog ink.  I colored them in and die-cut them with the matching dies.  From there I decided which poppy I wanted to use and cut the gray panel to suit (the individual poppy stamps match various images on the background stamp to give a spotlight effect).  I adhered some black & white striped patterned paper down each side and a white embossed sentiment.

I was going to adhere that to a white card base when I got the idea to stamp the background stamp onto a white panel and match the image on both panels.  That took a bit of jiggery-poke and I had to cut down the white panel slightly to make everything line up, but eventually I got it to work.  I used SSS Fog ink for a soft look.  I added it all to a Lemon Drop card base to finish.

Thanks for visiting!  The design team have created some amazing cards using Amy's sketch so I hope you'll check them out. 

I don't have a photo of the markers I used because this is the second flower I colored.  The first one, I colored the pod-thing in the centre green, but it just looked weird so I colored a new one and left the centre brown - not correct according to Mother Nature, but okay by me!  The Copics I used for the petals are V12 for under-painting, Y17, Y15 and Y11.  I can't remember which browns I used for the centre.

Products used:

Stamps:  Poppies Background, Poppy Blooms, More Essential Sentiments (MFT)

Ink:  London Fog (Memento), Fog (SSS), Versamark

Cardstock:  Lemon Drop, Cement Gray, Black Licorice, B&W Stripes (MFT), X-Press It, White

Dies:  Poppy Blooms (MFT)

Accessories:  Copics, White EP

Cheers

Karren

Gray Rose

Hi and welcome!  Today's card is for the latest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches where our hostess is Narelle Farrugia.  Check out her fun sketch:

I made this card for a crafty friend who has suffered a loss.  I thought the gray roses provided a sombre note while the single yellow note added a touch of colour and hope.

I used Vintage Roses and the new Add-On set to create my flowers and foliage, using both the Rock Collection and Summer Afternoon ink sets by Altenew.  After I arranged the elements and adhered them to a Grout Gray stitched circle, I added the grouping to a white card base.

The sentiment was white embossed onto a black stip and added with foam tape.

I didn't add any embellishments because I didn't want it to look glitzy.

Head on over and check out the rest of the design team's cards - they're all gorgeous!

I'm adding this card to the CAS Plants challenge at Paper Players.

Products used:

Stamps:  Vintage Roses & Add-On (Altenew), More Essential Sentiments (MFT)
Ink:  Versamark, Rock Collection, Summer Afternoon (Altenew)
Cardstock:  White, Black, Grout Gray
Dies:  Vintage Roses (Altenew), Inside/Out Stitched Circles (MFT)
Accessories:  White EP

Cheers
Karren

Sympathy Flowers

Hi and thanks for dropping by!  I'm here with my card for the latest Fusion challenge.

When I came up with the challenge, I had every intention of making a penguin card, but then I had the need of a sympathy card and thought the sketch worked well for that.

I stamped a whole heap of flowers and foliage from the Life is Awesome set, using various Altenew inks.  Once I'd finished, I arranged them into a bouquet for the top "banner" on the sketch and a smaller bouquet for the two "banners" on the bottom.

I die-cut a rectange with a stitched die and stamped the sentiment and adhered it to a Grout Gray card base.   Finally I adhered both floral arrangements down to the white panel.

I didn't add any embellishments to this card as it didn't really seem appropriate for a sympathy card.

Thanks for visiting!  There are a heap of gorgeous cards created by the design team over on the Fusion blog, so I hope you'll check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Life is Awesome (Altenew), Inspiration Mosaic (GinaK)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Buttercream, Warm Sunshine, Caramel Toffee, Paper Bag, Sunkissed, Orange Cream, Autumn Blaze, Firebrick, Industrial Diamond, Moss, Olive (Altenew)
Cardstock:  Grout Gray, White (MFT)
Dies:  Life is Awesome (Altenew) Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)

Cheers
Karren

Flowers for a Friend

Welcome!  Today's card was made for a friend who suddenly lost her mother.  My heart hurts for her and her family and I wish I could give her a hug in real life, but instead I made this card to send to her across the miles.

I wanted to create something tasteful yet not morose and I hope this card fits the bill.  I stamped and colored the flowers using Copics then cut them with my Scan n Cut.  Once that was finished, I added little touches of Rock Candy Distress Glitter to the flower centres and to the buds and set it aside to dry.

On the white card base, I added some green and pink patterned paper and then a white circle.  Over top of that, I added a vellum overlay and I die-cut where the flowers would go with a scalloped peek-a-boo die.  The sentiment was gold-embossed onto the vellum and then the vellum was adhered to the card putting little dots of glue under the sentiment and where the flowers and sequins would go.  To secure the top, I added some white baker's twine tied in a bow.

The flowers are popped up on foam tape and some sparkling clear confetti finished the card.

I was guided by the sketch at Inky Paws for this card as well as the inspiration photo at Card Concept where I was drawn to the gold and the florals for this Clean and Layered card.  I softened the look somewhat with the vellum to add to the theme, and that also works for the Inkspirational Challenge.  Finally, I'm adding this to The Flower Challenge who are looking for sparkle.  Because this is a sympathy card, naturally I kept the sparkle to a minimum but I hope the distress glitter, the gold embossing and the sequins add enough sparkle for the challenge.

Thanks for visiting!  It's quite late on Saturday night, so this card will be going in the post tomorrow to wing its way across the world.

Products used:

Stamps:  Peony Blooms (Newton's Nook)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT), Versamark
Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Watercolor Wash (MFT), Vellum
Dies:  Stitched Rectangle Stax, Jumbo Peek-a-Boo Circle Window (MFT)
Accessories:  Copics, Sparkling Clear Confetti, White Baker's Twine, Antique Gold EP, Rock Candy Distress Glitter

Cheers
Karren

Sympathy Bouquet

Hi and welcome!  Today's card is for the sketch challenge at MFT Stamps as well as the Color Throwdown challenge and Just Add Ink's "add a window/frame".  I hope the colors are close enough to the challenge.

Once again, I used Painted Prints.  I love that set (and go on about how much I love it in the video!) . It is so easy to use.  This is my third card using it and I've only had the set for a few weeks.  

I stamped the images using Altenew inks and then die-cut them with the matching dies.  I also die-cut two scalloped square frames from Cement Gray cardstock and then arranged my bouquets within the frames.  I kept the bouquets the same so as not to be distracting, but reversed the flower colors.

I used Press 'n' Seal to keep the bouquets in place and adhered them to a white top-folding card base before using my Misti to stamp the sentiment.  I then added the frames with thin strips of foam tape and finished off the card with some Nuvo Jewel Drops.

Thanks for visiting!  As I said earlier, I filmed this card.  You can watch below or over on YouTube.  

Products used:

Stamps:  Painted Prints, Essential Sentiments (MFT)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Minty int, Sweet Leaf, Pink Pearl, Coral Bliss, Pink Diamondm, Pinkalicious (Altenew)

Cardstock:  White, Cement Gray

Dies:  Painted Prints, Stitched Square Scallop Frames (MFT)

Accessories:  Nuvo Jewel Drops

Cheers

Karren

Sympathy Flowers

Hi everyone and thanks for dropping by!  I'm here with my second guest designer card for Just Us Girls Challenge and this week the challenge is right up my alley - check it out:

Yes, black and white stripes, so trendy at the moment! 

For my card, I decided to go with a sympathy card - primarily because that was the sentiment that fit in the space best 😄


I stamped the image onto X-Press It cardstock and colored it with Copics and Prismacolor pencils.  I added some flicks of pencil onto the petal to mimic the veins in the petals but instantly regretted it.  So be it!  I then did some fiddly partial die-cutting with both the image die and a scalloped border die.

Black and white striped paper was added to the bottom of the white card base and the colored image was added on top with foam tape.  I finished with a white-embossed sentiment on a strip of black cardstock.

Thanks so much for visiting!  Be sure to check out what the JUGS design team have done with the challenge and I hope you have time to give this a go yourself.

Products used:

Stamps:  Beautiful Friend, Sweet Little Sentiments (Clearly Besotted)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Versamark
Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Black, B&W Stripes (MFT)
Dies:  Stitched Scallop Basic Edges (MFT), Beautiful Friend (CB)
Accessories:  Copics, Prismacolors, White EP

Cheers
Karren

Autumn Flowers

Hi and welcome!  It's been a long weekend here in New Zealand - the first in nearly five long winter months!  I spent a chunk of it making cards for upcoming DT challenges, as it's unlikely I'll get to stamp next weekend as the big office move is on!  Anyways, after finishing my DT cards, I took some time to make a card for a few challenges out there at the moment:  Paper Players' sketch, CAS on Friday's flower challenge, CASology's Sorry cue word and Card Concept's autumn love inspiration photo (clean and layered category).

As is pretty obvious from my card, I didn't go with an autumn theme, but instead was inspired by the rich orange-y hues in the photo and the white of the cake.  I stamped these gorgeous layering flowers using Altenew inks and cut them with my Scan n Cut.  The fishtail frame was extended using partial die-cutting to fit the sketch and was cut from Persimmon cardstock.  I used Rose Gold embossing powder on the gorgeous sentiment by Reverse Confetti and die-cut the panel with a stitched rectangle frame.

The flowers, leaf and sentiment panel are all popped up on foam tape.  To finish the card, I added a Copper Penny Nuvo Crystal Drop into the center of each flower.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  My Best Friend (Clearly Besotted/SSS), Lots to Say (Reverse Confetti)
Ink:  Versamark, Bamboo, Parrot, Olive, Sunkissed, Orange Cream, Fire Brick (Altenew)
Cardstock:  White, Black, Persimmon (MFT)
Dies:  Stitched Fishtail frames, A2 Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT)
Accessories:  Rose Gold EP, Copper Penny Nuvo Crystal Drops

Cheers
Karren