Sunday 28 February 2016

Framed Roses

Hi and welcome!  After a very busy weekend, I finally managed to get into my craft room to make a card that wasn't for upcoming DT work.  I saw a video by Therese Calvird showing how she created a stamped, framed, card and I just had to give it a go myself.  And I have to say, I love the results.


I took a panel of white cardstock the same size as a card front and stamped and masked the roses from Vintage Flowers.  Once I was finished, I die-cut the rectangle frame from the center of the card. The sentiment was silver embossed onto the center panel.

I then layered the three pieces onto a card base, adhering the center and outer panels directly to the card base and the frame using foam tape.  Simple, but effective.


I'm going to enter this card into the current Work It Wednesday floral challenge, Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes and the Share Joy CAS challenge.  I don't have any Taylored Expressions stamps, but I plan on rectifying that oversight soon :)

Thanks for visiting.

Share Joy Challenge 24 by Taylored Expressions

Simon Wednesday Challenge Blog

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Products used:  

Stamps:  Painted Flowers (Altenew), Bitty Bouquets (PTI)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT), Versamark, Frayed Leaf, Forest Glades, Buttercream, Warm Sunshine (Altenew)
Cardstock:  White
Dies:  Pierced Rectangle Frames (MFT)
Accessories:  Silver EP, Wink of Stella

Cheers
Karren

Thursday 25 February 2016

Little Fat Chef

Hi and welcome!  It's time for another great sketch from Freshly Made Sketches and this week our hostess is Jen Mitchell, who makes the most gorgeous cards!


For my card, I had to use this adorable little chef!  I've been coloring these chefs as part of The Daily Marker 30 Day Challenge and thought it was about time one made it onto a card!



I went for a simple layout as the sketch is such a classic one - and I really liked the linear look.  To give the chef a jaunty look, I put white polka dots on his red bandanna.  The rest of the card is fairly self-explanatory, so I'll leave you with a close-up.


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


Products used:

Stamps:  Recipe for Happiness (MFT)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT), Smoke (SSS)
Cardstock:  White, Soft Stone (PTI), X-Press It, Dots & Stripes Neutrals (MFT)
Dies:  Recipe for Happiness (MFT), Blueprints 23 (MFT)
Accessories:  Copics, white gel pen

Cheers
Karren

A Little Birdie

It's time for another fabulous sketch from SugarPea Designs and this week, we've got a fun one for you to try!


I used the versatile Everyday is Christmas set for my card and made a birthday card:



I stamped and colored the adorable little bird using Copics and cut him out with the matching dies.  I then used the Zig Zag Stitched Circles and Rectangles dies for the various panels on the card.  The sentiment comes from Feeling Sentimental which has fun sentiments matching the image set.



A few sequins and the card was finished!  I'm linking this card to the Birds of a Feather challenge at Cardz for Guyz.


  • Create a new card or project using the sketch provided.
  • SugarPea Designs stamps are NOT required to play along or to win but would be appreciated :)
  • You may rotate/flip the sketch & replace shapes – so long as the original sketch layout is recognizable.
  • Upload to your blog or other Online Gallery using Keyword: SPDSS42 so that we may check out your beautiful work.
  • One randomly selected winner will receive a $25 Gift Certificate to the SugarPea Designs store. However, if the winning entry features a SugarPea Designs stamp we will increase the prize to $75!
  • We will announce our Main Winner at the end of each month.
  • The more times you play along during the month, the better chance you have of winning!
Be sure to visit the rest of the design team - they have some wonderful inspiration for you:




Cardz 4 Guyz Logo

Products Used:

Stamps:  Everyday is Christmas, Feeling Sentimental (SugarPea Designs)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT)
Cardstock:  White, Limeade Ice, Hawaiian Shores (PTI), X-Press It
Dies:  Everyday is Christmas, Zig Zag Stitched Rectangles, Zig Zag Stitched Circles
Accessories:  Copics, Sequins, Wink of Stella

Cheers
Karren

Wednesday 24 February 2016

Deepest Sympathy

Hi and welcome!  Today I have the thrill of being guest stamper at Color Throwdown, because my card was randomly drawn as Featured Stamper.  The colors this week are just gorgeous - check them out:


The colors are kraft, pink and pale green.  Of course, when I saw those colors, I immediately thought of flowers!



I wanted to try pencil coloring on kraft after seeing some beautiful cards on my friend, Sonja's blog (and having received one from her in real life!)  So I took a new Unity Stamp flower stamp and stamped it onto some Desert Storm cardstock.  I then very loosely colored it with pink, green and white Prismacolor pencils.  The sentiment comes from Verve and is one of my favorite sympathy sentiments.

I layered the panel onto black and Pink Pirouette and then onto a Desert Storm cardbase.  To finish the card, I kept it pretty low-key and only added some Rainstones.



Thanks for visiting.  Be sure to check out the fabulous creations from the team at Color Throwdown - they amaze me every week with their gorgeous cards!


Products used:  Lean, Pretty Please (Unity Stamps), Deepest Sympathy (Verve)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT)
Cardstock:  Desert Storm, Black, Pink Pirouette
Dies:  Blueprints 20
Accessories:  Prismacolor Pencils, Rainstones (PTI)

Cheers
Karren

Saturday 20 February 2016

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.



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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.

Friday 19 February 2016

Lots of Love

Hi and welcome to another Fusion Card Challenge!  This week, we have a beautiful photo to inspire you and a fun angled sketch.


And here is the card I made, inspired by the photo.


I went with the pink, navy and white color scheme to come up with a very simple card with a graphic look.

I smooshed some pink distress inks onto my craft mat before dropping in some watercolor paper.  Once i was happy with the coverage, I die-cut the panel using my MFT Pierced Circle Frame dies.  I interlaced the dies and positioned them omto a white card base.  The "Sending" was die-cut from navy blue cardstock and stacked four layers high.  Lastly I white-embossed the rest of the sentiment onto a strip of black cardstock.


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

Products used:

Stamps:  Sending & Wishing (SSS)
Ink:  Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry, Versamark
Cardstock:  White, watercolor, black, Soft Navy (SSS)
Dies:  Sending (SSS), Pierced Circle Frames (MFT)
Accessories:  White EP

Cheers
Karren

Thursday 18 February 2016

Thanks a Latte

Hi and welcome to another fabulous sketch challenge at SugarPea Designs.  This week, our sketch has a lot of open space allowing you to give free rein to your creativity and imagination.


I decided to use the big open space for a fun background panel and came up with this card.


I took a sheet of watercolor paper and started by covering it with Frayed Burlap Distress Paint, then Gathered Twigs Distress Stain - not covering the whole panel with either color.  I flicked on some water and dried it with my heat tool.

I then used some Picket Fence Distress Paint and the Cargo stencil to stencil some letters down the left hand side.  After that was dry, I took the Shatter stencil and some Frayed Burlap distress ink and lastly the Splatter stencil with some Ground Espresso distress ink.  After cutting the panel to size, I rounded one corner and adhered it to another panel that I'd sponged Ground Espresso ink onto.  The card base is Neenah Desert Storm and I flicked some Ground Espresso onto that with a paintbrush.

The Copic-colored coffee cup comes from the fabulous new Caffeine Addict stamp set and Coffee to go Cup dies.  The sentiment comes from Espresso Yourself.  I used some sponged Ground Espresso cardstock for the die-cut "latte" as well as the coffee beans.



Thanks for visiting.

  • Create a new card or project using the sketch provided.
  • SugarPea Designs stamps are NOT required to play along or to win but would be appreciated :)
  • You may rotate/flip the sketch & replace shapes – so long as the original sketch layout is recognizable.
  • Upload to your blog or other Online Gallery using Keyword: SPDSS41 so that we may check out your beautiful work.
  • One randomly selected winner will receive a $25 Gift Certificate to the SugarPea Designs store. However, if the winning entry features a SugarPea Designs stamp we will increase the prize to $75!
  • We will announce our Main Winner at the end of each month.
  • The more times you play along during the month, the better chance you have of winning!
Be sure to visit the rest of the design team - they have some wonderful inspiration for you:





Products used:

Stamps:  Caffeine Addict, Espresso Yourself (SugarPea Designs)
Ink:  Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black, Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso, Frayed Burlap, Fathered Twigs Distress Stain, Frayed Burlap Distress Paint, Picket Fence Distress Paint
Cardstock:  Neenah Desert Storm, White, X-Press It, watercolor
Dies:  Coffee to Go Cup, Coffee Words
Accessories:  Splatter Stencil, Shatter Stencil, Cargo Stencil (Tim Holtz), Copic Markers

Cheers
Karren

You are Tough

Hi and welcome to Freshly Made Sketches!  Our fabulous sketch today comes from our own super-talented Jennifer Timko.


And here's my card:


I used a NBUS stamp set called Hello Love by Unity Stamps.  It was seeing the amazing cards made by my blogging friend Lee Ann Barrett with this company's stamps that made me place an order :) I stamped the woman and colored her with Copic markers.  To make the image fit with the sketch, I cut my card base a bit smaller than normal, making it 4" x 5",  A little strip of Limeade Ice cardstock was adhered to the image panel and both panels were popped up on foam tape onto the card base.

Because of the tone of the sentiment (which I love!) I deliberately didn't add any frou frou or embellishments.



Thanks for visiting.  Be sure to check out the rest of the design team's creations - they are fabulous as usual!

Products used:

Stamps:  Hello Love (Unity Stamp Co)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT)
Cardstock:  Stampers Select White, Limeade Ice (PTI)
Accessories:  Copic Markers

Cheers
Karren

Saturday 13 February 2016

Pink Plaid

Hi!  Today's card was made for the sketch challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch, uses the colors from Color Throwdown and the theme from Time Out Challenges - "Love is the flower you've got to let grow".



I went with the obvious after seeing the sketch and stamped my own plaid background.  Unfortunately, I made a boo-boo with the spacing right near the end of the stamping and had to cut my panel down.  You can see the lack of white space in the top right and bottom left corners :(  There was no way I was going to start over though, so I cut down the panel using a pierced rectangle die.  I stamped the plaid using Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz and Royal Velvet inks from PTI.  Then I went looking for my Encore gold ink pad and couldn't find it!  So I had to use a nearly dry Brilliance ink pad, but you can still see the gold, so all is well :)

The sentiment was die-cut from some gold foil paper and the whole panel was backed with some craft foam.


Thanks for visiting.



Grab Our Badge!

Products used:

Stamps:  Jumbo Stripes (SSS)
Ink:  Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, Royal Velvet (PTI), Galaxy Gold Brilliance
Cardstock:  White, Gold Foil
Dies:  Celebration (Spellbinders), Pierced Rectangle Stax (MFT)

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card was randomly picked as Featured Stamper at Color Throwdown and got a shout out at CAS(E) This Sketch.

Friday 12 February 2016

Pawesome

And it's Friday evening... :)  I took some time this evening to do a bit of coloring and once I was finished, I decided to make it into a card.  This card is for the cat/dog challenge at Paper Players, the sketch at Retro Sketches and the colors at Sunday Stamps.


I stamped and colored the wee dog using Copics, then used an old towel and some colorless blender to give him some texture.  He was then mounted onto a white panel using foam tape, onto which I'd stamped part of the sentiment and die-cut the rest.

The Schoolhouse Red layer was sponged with a stencil to add some interest.  When I originally went to write my blog post for this card, I realised I'd forgotten the flags in the top right corner of the sketch, so I quickly went back to my craft room to rectify that problem.  The close-up photo was taken before that correction:


Thanks for visiting.




Products used:

Stamps:  You Are Pawesome
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT), Schoolhouse Red
Cardstock:  Desert Storm, Dark Chocolate, Schoolhouse Red, X-Press It, White, Slate
Dies:  Cat and Dog Pawsome, Stitched Flags (SugarPea Designs)
Accessories:  Scribble Script stencil (Donna Downey), Copics, button

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Paper Players and Retro Sketches.

Thursday 11 February 2016

Espresso my Gratitude

Hi and apologies for the late post!  A long weekend just past has played havoc with my working week and I'm a day behind!

Here's the fabulous sketch this week for the SugarPea Designs Sketch Challenge.


I flipped the sketch on its side and used some new goodies on my card this week:



I colored the cup and saucer last week as part of Kathy Rac's Daily Marker 30 Day Challenge and I really like the blue color, so decided to stick with blue, brown and soft grey for my color scheme.  To match the blue Copics I used, I pulled out some Blue Jay ink by SSS and smooshed it onto some white card to make the vertical panel.

The cup and saucer were adhered onto a Zig Zag Stitched Circle die using foam tape.  I also used the new Espresso Yourself set and Coffee Words dies for the sentiment, which I placed onto two flags cut from the Stitched Flags die set.

Some die-cut coffee beans finished the card.



Thanks for visiting.  Be sure to check out the rest of the design team's fabulous creations with this fun sketch.

  • Create a new card or project using the sketch provided.
  • SugarPea Designs stamps are NOT required to play along or to win but would be appreciated :)
  • You may rotate/flip the sketch & replace shapes – so long as the original sketch layout is recognizable.
  • Upload to your blog or other Online Gallery using Keyword: SPDSS40 so that we may check out your beautiful work.
  • One randomly selected winner will receive a $25 Gift Certificate to the SugarPea Designs store. However, if the winning entry features a SugarPea Designs stamp we will increase the prize to $75!
  • We will announce our Sweet Picks and our Main Winner at the end of each month.
  • The more times you play along during the month, the better chance you have of winning!
Be sure to visit the rest of the design team - they have some wonderful inspiration for you:




Products used:

Stamps:  Caffeine Addict, Espresso Yourself (SugarPea Designs)
Ink:  Blue Jay, Memento Tuxedo Black, Dark Chocolate
Cardstock:  Fog, White, Dark Chocolate, X-Press It
Dies:  Coffee Words, Zig Zag Stitched Circles Dies, Stitched Flags (SugarPea Designs)
Accessories:  Copics


Cheers
Karren

Rock Candy Flower


Hi!  This post is late but we've had a long weekend and I'm a day behind all week :)  Our sketch artist at Freshly Made Sketches is the lovely and talented Amy O'Neill and she has a wonderful sketch for us.


And here's my card:



For my card, I decided to use a leaf die for the diagonal strips.  I pulled out the gorgeous Single Roses die and after blending various inks together, I die-cut both the flower and the leaves.  I then covered the pieces with liquid adhesive and dipped them into Rock Candy Distress Glitter.

They were mounted onto a black circle and then onto a Soft Stone layer and the white card base.  The sentiment comes from Avery Elle's Party Animal set.



Be sure to check out the rest of the design team's gorgeous creations.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:  Stamps:  Party Animal (Avery Elle)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Twisted Citron, Crushed Olive, Squeezed Lemonade, Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade
Cardstock:  White, black, Soft Stone, Watercolor
Dies:  Single Roses (SSS), Pierced Circle Stax, Blueprints 21 (MFT)
Accessories:  Tim Holtz Rock Candy Distress Glitter, Rainstones (PTI)

Cheers
Karren

Monday 8 February 2016

Silver Love

Hi, again!  This is my third post today, but the linky at CASology is closing and I want to link my card to that challenge.

I just had to make a card for this week's challenge at Less Is More - white on white is such a hard challenge, but so beautiful!  I went for a love card and am also linking it to the current Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge, CAS on Sunday and AAA Cards - the latter two both have love/Valentine themed challenges.  For Tic-Tac-Toe I'm using the top row - Love, Shimmer and Hearts.


It's hard to see in the photo, but I've white embossed cascading hearts all down the front panel of this card.  You can see them slightly better in the close-up photo below.  I adhered two strips of silver glimmer paper down each side of the panel then used craft foam as a backing and mounted it onto a white card base.  I also adhered some white cardstock to some craft foam before die-cutting the sentiment.


It's so hard to photograph white-on-white card, but trust me when I say this is much prettier IRL :)

Thanks for visiting.  It's back to work for me tomorrow, but at least it's a short week!  It's been so nice having a long weekend.


For your blog

"Less is More"



Products used:

Stamps:  Charming Cascades (CTMH)
Ink:  Versamark
Cardstock:  White, silver glimmer
Dies:  Little Letters (MFT), You (SSS)
Accessories:  Craft Foam, White EP

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add: This card got a shout out at CASology.