Christmas Mug

Hi and welcome!  Today's card was made using the sketch at Mojo Monday, the inspiration pic at Merry Monday, the sparkle theme at Merry Christmas challenge  and the tag inspiration at Tag You're It.

I was inspired by Lynn's color scheme, the mug, the heart and snowflake and the white sentiment banner.  I just got some new supplies in the other day, and one of them was the Knitted Pattern embossing folder, so I used that on the cream base layer, the chocolate horizontal layer and the red tag.  The mug was die-cut and colored with Copics to match the mug in the Merry Monday inspiration photo.  I die-cut a white snowflake and embossed it with glitter embossing powder and the heart was colored with Star Dust Stickles to give it a bit of glitter as well.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  An Arctic Christmas (SSS)

Ink:  Black Soot Archival, Versamark

Cardstock:  Cream, Schoolhouse Red, Dark Chocolate (SSS)

Dies:  Stitched Circles (Lil Inkers), Stitched Sentiment Strips, Coffee Cup, Warm & Fuzzy (MFT), Abby snowflake (SSS), Tag Me (Reverse Confetti)

Accessories:  Snowdrift sequins (SSS), Diamond White EP, Start Dust Stickles, Knitted Pattern EF (Richard Garay), Baker's Twine, Copics (E40, E41, E42, E43)

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Tag You're It and Merry Monday.

Pretty Bouquet

Hi and welcome to challenge day at Freshly Made Sketches.  This week our hostess is the fabulous Rita Wright and she has a wonderful sketch for us.

And here's my card inspired by the sketch and by Donna's gorgeous tag at Tag You're It:

I spritzed some Heidi Swapp color spray onto a die-cut tag and set it aside to dry.  Then I stamped some images from Peony Bouquet.  Some dotted washi tape was wrapped around the tag and I then arranged my flowers to the left as in the sketch.  I wanted a thin and long sentiment and found the perfect one in a PTI KIS set.  Lastly I tied a bow from some black twine.

Thanks for visiting.  The rest of the design team have some wonderful cards so be sure to check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Peony Bouquet (Altenew), KIS Just Because (PTI)
Ink: Moon Rock, Velvet, Rouge, Blush, Forest Glades, Frayed Leaf (Altenew), Versamark
Cardstock:  White, Black
Dies:  Peony Bouquet (Altenew), Fishtail Flag Stax, Tag You're It, Blueprints 24 (MFT)
Accessories:  Teal Color Shine (Heidi Swapp), twine, washi

Cheers
Karren

Balloon Bash

Hi and welcome back for the reminder post over at Tag You're It, where I'm Guest Designer for this challenge.  Here's another look at Bobby's fabulous tag:

Last week I focused on the stripes and stars in Bobby's tag.  This week I decided to play around with the layout - in particular the crossover of the flags.

I pulled out my NBUS balloon dies from PTI and went to work.  I die-cut the balloons from navy, red and yellow cardstock then used the co-ordinating inks to sponge one side to give some shading (hard to see in the photo!).  Once that was done, I colored them with Wink of Stella - and got a bit heavy-handed unfortunately!

The balloon strings were cut with Slate cardstock and I positioned the stamped and cut-out sentiment on the cross-over point of the strings.

And that's it!  Thanks for visiting.  Check out the Tag You're It blog as there is more wonderful inspiration there for you.

Products used:

Stamps:  Label Love (Altenew)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Pure Poppy, Lemon Tart, Enchanted Evening (PTI)
Cardstock:  Pure Poppy, Lemon Tart, Enchanted Evening (PTI), White, Slate (SSS)
Dies:  Ballon Bash Die, Balloon Strings Die (PTI), Tag Me Too (Reverse Confetti)
Accessories:  Starry Sky Vertical Stencil (MFT), Embossing Paste, Wink of Stella

Cheers
Karren

Celebrate Stars

Hi!  Today I'm thrilled to be a Guest Designer over at Tag You're It - the challenge that celebrates tags!

And here is the new challenge inspiration from Bobby:

Now, I have to admit when I first saw this, I saw the patriotic theme only.  Being from New Zealand, we don't tend to be patriotic enough to be creating cards and tags in that theme :)  But I looked closer and saw the stripes and stars and decided to incorporate those two features, along with the colors to come up with this tag.

I die-cut a tag from white cardstock and then stamped the stripe stamp from SugarPea Designs down the left hand side in red ink.  I then die-cut the stars from the tag.  Originally I was going to use inlaid die-cutting and put some some stars in the negative space, but I decided to go for a softer look and cut another tag out of vellum for the backing.  The sentiment comes from PTI and is colored in Wink of Stella.  I finished with a few enamel dots which are actually more of a coral color than red, but I didn't have any red enamel dots - I know, right!

Thanks for visiting.  Be sure to check out the fabulous inspiration from the rest of the design team and join me again next week when I'll debut my second tag using this inspiration.

Products used:

Stamps:  Build a Background Basics (SugarPea Designs)
Ink:  Crimson (Altenew)
Cardstock:  White, Vellum, Soft Navy (SSS)
Dies:  Tags a Lot (Mama Elephant), Stitched Stars (MFT), Wet Paint Cuts II (PTI)
Accessories:  Blue Jay Twine (Lawn Fawn), Enamel Dots (PaperVine), Wink of Stella

Cheers
Karren

Leaving

Hi and welcome!  I haven't had a chance to do much Copic coloring lately and I'm feeling a bit rusty.  But I decided to pull out the old Copics today and color up this cute image from MFT.  I used the current sketch from MFT as well as the inspiration from Tag You're It, the Move cue word from CASology, the Stencil It theme from Simon Says Stamp and the colors from Color Throwdown.

I cut, stamped and colored the girl and bunny using the Color Throwdown colors.  For the card base and the tag, I stenciled over the English Brick Wall stencil with Cobblestone, Burnt Orange and Sparrow inks.  At the bottom, I sponged some Antique Linen and Pumice Stone inks to depict the ground.  The sentiment was white embossed and die-cut with a pierced flag die.

The tag, girl and bunny are all popped up on foam tape.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Adventure is Calling (MFT), From All of Us (CB)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT), Sparrow, Cobblestone, Burnt Orange (SSS), Versamark, Antique Linen, Pumice Stone (Distress)
Cardstock:  White, Black, X-Press It
Dies:  Pierced Tag Stax (MFT), Adventure is Calling (MFT), Pierced Fishtail Flag Stax (MFT)
Accessories:  Copics, English Brick Wall Stencil (MFT), White EP

Cheers
Karren

Edited to add:  This card got a shout out at Tag You're It.

This Little Piggy

Hi and welcome!  It's a scorching hot Saturday afternoon here - 29 degrees celsius and no breeze.  Ugh!  Interestingly enough, we have a new guy at work who has moved to New Zealand from India.  He says that our heat is hotter than that in India and that he struggles to cope in our heat.  Hard to fathom - you'd think that 29 degrees here is the same as 29 degrees anywhere in the world.  Anyway, probably my Northern Hemisphere friends would quite like 29 degrees right about now :)

My card today was made using the sketch at MFT, the hat theme at Cardz for Galz, the critter theme at Tag You're It and the birthday/stencil theme at Friday Mashup.

I started with a white card base and stamped the sentiment right at the bottom.  I then took a piece of black and stenciled over it with the English Brick Wall stencil and white ink, fading out at the sides, top and bottom.  That panel was adhered to the card base using foam tape.  I had the girl from Green Pastures colored as part of The Daily Marker 30 Day Challenge so I put her and the little pig onto a vellum tag.  I colored some ground on the back side of the tag.  Before I adhered the tag to the card, I stuck a thin strip of Limeade Ice cardstock to the black panel.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Green Pastures, The Whole Herd (MFT)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT), Unicorn White (Hero Arts)
Cardstock:  White, Black, Vellum, X-Press It, Limeade Ice
Dies:  The Whole Herd, Green Pastures (MFT), Anytime Tags (Lil' Inkers)
Accessories:  Copics, English Brick Wall Stencil

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Cardz for Galz,  Friday Mashup and Tag You're It.

Holly Jolly

Hi and welcome!  Today's card is yet another Christmas card - which, considering I've been making them all year and have enough, is a bit ironic!  But I can't help it!  Seeing all the fabulous Christmas cards around blogland at the moment and all the gorgeous new sets has inspired me.

The image on this card, even though it's new to me, is from last Christmas, I think.  I wanted to make a card for the latest Tag You're It challenge and I was intrigued by the sketch at Try Stampin' on Tuesday.  This card also fits the Christmas theme at Simon Says Stamp.

I wanted to keep the polka dot theme and the holly theme from Tracey's tag so I used some polka dot paper on the card base.  I stamped and colored the gorgeous holly leaves from Hero Arts and positioned them onto a small tag cut with one of MFT's pierced tags.  The berries are painted with clear Wink of Stella to give them a shimmer.  I had to hunt for a sentiment small enough to fit in the space left after placing the holly on and finally found this sentiment in the Build a Snowman set by SSS.

A small twine knot just to show the tag is actually a tag :) and the card was finished.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Holly Jolly (Hero Arts), Build a Snowman (SSS)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark

Cardstock:  White, SU patterned paper, Riding Hood Red (SU), X-Press It

Dies:  Holly (Hero Arts), Pierced Tag Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Copics, White EP, Wink of Stella, Baker's Twine

Cheers

Karren

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.

Cupcake Celebration

Hi and welcome!  Today's card is inspired by Nancy's tag at Tag You're It and I'm also using the sketch at Try Stampin' on Tuesday.  As the stamp set I used is NBUS, I'm also linking up at Darnell's blog.

This was another card that took way too long!  I'll spare you all the failed attempts and the mountain of cast-aside cupcake images I have in my bin :)  I finally settled on this cupcake which is a NBUS set called Tasty Treats.  I colored the cupcake with Copics then went over the icing with Wink of Stella.  I had it sitting on a white tag but it looked a bit bereft, so I sponged three different pink inks in an ombre fashion on that white tag and I was quite happy with the effect - especially how the white die-cut sentiment pops.

For the confetti, I went through all my dies to find the smallest shapes and cut them from various colors of cardstock.  Funnily, the little dots are berries from PTI's Harvest Berries set.  The heart on the cupcake is covered in Glossy Accents and the whole cupcake is popped up on foam tape.

The bottom tag is also a white tag that I blended Sparrow and Dark Chocolate ink on in an ombre fashion.  I added more confetti to the card base and finished off with some brown baker's twine.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Tasty Treats (Clearly Besotted)

Ink:  Rosie Cheeks, Twirling Tutu, Hollyhock, Sparrow, Dark Chocolate (SSS), Memento Tuxedo Black

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Green Apple, Lipstick, Sunshine, Cotton Candy

Accessories:  Tasty Treats die (Clearly Besotted), Joy to the Woods die (Lawn Fawn), Harvest Berries (PTI), Starry Dies (Verve), Tag Sale #5 (PTI), Wet Paint Cuts III (PTI), Wink of Stella, Copics, Glossy Accents, Baker's Twine

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Tag You're It and Try Stampin' on Tuesday.

Tag For You

I'm so excited to be a guest designer at Tag You're It this week, due to my card winning a recent challenge.  Here is the beautiful inspiration tag made by Carol Mayne.

I was really drawn to the black, white and gold color scheme as well as the circle element on the tag.  I didn't have anything graphic for the background like Carol's card so I went for some stripes instead.

I die cut the sentiment from gold foil cardstock and layered it up about four deep with black cardstock.  On the card base I adhered some striped paper and a strip of gold foil.  The white layer is popped up on foam tape as is the tag.

I finished the card with some gold sequins to mimic the stars on Carol's card.  Thanks to the Tag You're It team for letting me "tag along" this week :)  Be sure to check out the beautiful and clever inspiration from the rest of the team.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Cardstock:  White, Gold Foil, Black, Dots & Stripes Neutral Paper (MFT)
Accessories:  Tag Me, Tag Me Too (Reverse Confetti), Baker's Twine, sequins, Pierced Circle Stax (MFT)

Cheers
Karren