Saturday 25 February 2012

Freshly Made Sketches # 23

I went bright and bold for this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches.  Here is the sketch:


And here is my card using Daffodil Delight; Island Indigo and Lucky Limeade:


This card came together quite quickly (which is unusual for me LOL).  I wanted the drama of black, white and bold colors.  I used textured cardstock and some scoring to break up the black and white a bit.

Products Used (all Stampin' Up!):

Cardstock (all Textured):  Whisper White; Basic Black; Lucky Limeade; Island Indigo
Accessories:  DSP from the In-Color and Brights Stacks; Daffodil Delight Satin Ribbon; Timeless Type Big Shot Dies

Cheers
Karren

Sunday 19 February 2012

Enhanced Sketch 3

Here is my third sketch for Jan & Wendy's MDS Club.  I moved a few things around so that the background showed through where I wanted it to but I kept the main elements in the right places.  Edited to add:  I just realized I forgot to angle two of my photos.  Read instructions fully?  Me?

I have to admit I struggled with this a bit - not the sketch, but the papers, due to the limited number of patterns I have currently.


Products Used (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise stated):

MDS; my own handwriting font.

Cheers
Karren

Saturday 18 February 2012

Freshly Made Sketches #22 - Lovely as a Tree

This week's Freshly Made Sketch appealed to me.  Perhaps it's because I'm a bean counter and I like balance LOL.

Here is the sketch:


Even though I intended to, I didn't end up adhering strictly to the sketch.  My 3 panels ended up almost the same size, with the center panel only fractionally larger than the side ones.  I also didn't put a sentiment on the front because I thought it looked busy enough with the ribbon and brads. The main layer is propped up on dimensionals.

Here is my card:


After I brayered and stamped, I spritzed the cardstock with water to give it a slightly mottled look.

Products used (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise stated):

Stamps:  Lovely as a Tree; Pocket Silhouettes
Cardstock:  Basic Black; Whisper White; Old Olive
Ink:  Basic Black; Old Olive; Elegant Eggplant
Accessories:  Brayer; Old Olive Satin Ribbon; Regals Brads

Cheers
Karren


Thursday 16 February 2012

CAS Cards - Medallion

I had this idea in my head when I was trying to sleep the other night, so I knew I had to get it down on paper as soon as I could.  That doesn't happen to me often, but I'm glad it did as I really like how this card turned out.  NB:  This is such a simple design that it's possible it's been done before.  I didn't consciously CASE anyone's card, but who knows where these subconscious ideas come from late at night!

There are two versions of this card and that's because I made a mistake by stamping Medallion full strength the first time I stamped it.  So I turned the cardstock over and stamped again without re-inking.  Ahhh - much softer!  All went well until I placed the stamped layer onto the Whisper White card base.  Uh oh!  The mistake clearly showed through when placed onto WW.  What to do...

Well firstly, I started all over again and got this version:


Then I layered the first attempt onto a Sahara Sand card base and got this:


Two easy cards!

Products used (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Stamps:  Medallion; Signature Greetings (PTI)
Cardstock:  Whisper White; Sahara Sand
Ink:  Sahara Sand; Real Red
Accessories:  Brights Buttons; White Bakers Twine

Cheers
Karren

Saturday 11 February 2012

FMS21 - Botanicals

Here is my submission for Freshly Made Sketches 21

For this card, I went back to my very first (and still my favorite) Stampin' Up! set.  I saw Botanicals used on a card in a rubber stamping magazine about 9 years ago.  The set wasn't named and the description was only "Stampin' Up! stamps" so that started a long search to find this set, which I HAD to have.   This set is singularly responsible for my long-term obsession with Stampin' Up! products, my over-flowing craft room and the eye rolls I get from my family whenever a brown box is delivered to my door LOL.


Products used:  (all Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)

Stamps:  Botanicals
Cardstock:  Basic Gray; Going Gray; Always Artichoke; Riding Hood Red; More Mustard; Watercolor Paper; Vellum Cardstock
Ink:  Basic Gray;  Black Stazon; Always Artichoke; Riding Hood Red; More Mustard
Accessories:  Blender Pen; Brads; Oval Cutter; Sponges

Cheers
Karren

Wednesday 8 February 2012

CAS Card Set

A couple of years ago, I saw these cool cards on Susan Raihala's blog.  So today, when I felt in the mood to go CAS, I used the second card in Susan's post to base my set of four cards on.

I used four In-Colors - a couple of which I have used less than 1 sheet of in all the time I've had them (Wisteria Wonder and Concord Crush), so I challenged myself to pull out these colors and actually use them.  Here is the grouping of all four cards.


And here is each individual card:




I couldn't seem to get a sharp photo of the Island Indigo card, so this is the best I could do, sorry.

Products used (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise stated):

Stamps:  Just Believe; Because I Care (retired); Love and Care (retired); Happiest Birthday Wishes
Cardstock:  Whisper White; Calypso Coral; Concord Crush; Wisteria Wonder; Island Indigo
Ink:  Island Indigo; Basic Black
Accessories:  SU markers in Concord Crush, Always Artichoke, Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder; EK Success Embossed Scallop Punch; Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon; Blender Pen (for hydrangea).

Cheers
Karren




Saturday 4 February 2012

Freshly Made Sketches #20

Here is my card for FMS20.  It's taken me a while but I'm really liking Calypso Coral.  Of course, the last thing I did on this card was stamp the sentiment and wouldn't you know it, my Basic Black inkpad needed re-inking!  I wasn't game to try and go over it again using a Stamp-a-majig, so it is what it is.

Here's the sketch we had to work with:


And here is my card:


Products used (all Stampin' Up!)

Stamps:  Curly Cute
Cardstock:  Basic Black; Calypso Coral; Island Indigo; Pool Party; In Color DSP
Ink:  Basic Black
Accessories:  Large Star Punch; Small Star Punch; Circle Cutter; Tasteful Trim Die; In Color Brads

Edited to Add:  This card was picked as a Perfect Princess over at Freshly Made Sketches.  Thanks, guys!

Cheers
Karren

Thursday 2 February 2012

Enhanced Sketch 2

This is the second enhanced sketch for Jan & Wendy's MDS club.  For this sketch, I chose my youngest, William, as my subject.  William is a character - always performing.  Just tonight he has written a song and asked me if I'll record him singing it so he can be "discovered on You Tube - just like Adele" LOL.  This from a 9 year old - what on earth will the future bring...

This page is really bright for my usual tastes - I'm a Regals kind of gal.  But William deserves bright colors to suit his bubbly personality.

Products used (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

MDS Sunny Day Kit; CK Becky font (really need some more fonts LOL); staples; brads