CC&S #357 – Life is Sweet

It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge:

And here is my take:

Life is Sweet | by karen h @ carefree creations

Flowers are my favorite, so I’ve been trying to stamp more of them. This sketch worked well for them.

For the short trellis, I did some partial die cutting. I figured out how much of the trellis I needed and die-cut just a bit more than that. I also die-cut the end-cap piece. I glued the end cap onto the trellis and trimmed off the extra bits.

The sentiment is fussy-cut.

I hope you join us at CAS Colours & Sketches!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Little About the Challenge: This weekly challenge is posted on Tuesday, and alternates between color and sketch (if there is a 5th week in the month you get the double dose of color & sketch).

Life is Sweet
Stamps: The Sweet Life (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Grapesicle (My Favorite Things); Amethyst Allure, Plum Pudding, Spring Moss, Ripe Avocado (PTI); Espresso Truffle (Memento);
Paper: Soft Sky (Stampin’Up); Soft Stone, White (PTI);
Other: The Sweet Life die, Garden Gate die (PTI);

CC&S #353 – Purrfect Day

It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge:

And here is my take:

Purrfect Day | by karen h @ carefree creations

To stamp this, I started with a larger white piece than the final size. I stamped the sentiment and the cat. Then I cut the panel down to the size I wanted, but didn’t cut across the tail – that I fussy cut so it hung off/out of the panel. I did add a thin mat to that panel to help it stand out from the base.

I hope you join us at CAS Colours & Sketches!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Little About the Challenge: This weekly challenge is posted on Tuesday, and alternates between color and sketch (if there is a 5th week in the month you get the double dose of color & sketch).

purrfect day
Stamps: Kit n Kaboodle (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Canyon Clay (PTI); Espresso Truffle (Memento);
Paper: White, Wisteria Wonder – cs & pattern (PTI);

CASology – Christmas Branch

There is still time to play along with the CASology challenge – BRANCH; it is an extended deadline!

I thought I’d post some more inspiration for you:

Christmas Branch | by karen h @ carefree creations

Since my previous Branch card was autumn, I thought I’d do a Christmas one this time around.

The style of the ornament is a bit retro, so I chose to do retro coloring.

There is lots of extra time to play this cue, so check back again next week when I’ll have more inspiration from this challenge!

I hope you join us at CASology!

Deck the Halls
Stamps: What the Doodle (Papertrey Ink);
Ink: Black (Memento); markers (Copic);
Paper: White, Vintage Jadeite (Papertrey Ink);
Other: Stitched Rectangle dies (Lil Inkers);

CASology – Branch

It is time for a new CASology challenge. Check out the latest challenge – BRANCH!

Here is my take:

Thankful | by karen h @ carefree creations

I decided to use autumn colors for this card. I kept my stamping to the top 1/3 of the card leaving lots of white space.

Check back next week when I’ll have more inspiration from this challenge!

I hope you join us at CASology – and, for more inspiration, check out the other design team members:

Deidre Payne
Jacquie Southas
Janet Ribet **Sadly this is her last week with us – make sure you leave her some love!!
Jen Wills
Joyce Mehrberg
Melissa Chipperfield
Milka Gubo
Nancy Elrick
Sue Symens

Thanks for stopping by!

thankful
Stamps: Beautiful Berries – Autumn (Papertrey Ink);
Ink: Espresso, Firebrick, Evergreen (Altenew); Hello Honey (StampinUp);
Paper: Rustic Cream (PTI);

CC&S #351 – ‘Tis the Season

It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge:

This is our final challenge of the year – and like years past the idea is to use a challenge from this past year and make a seasonal card. Here is my take:

Tis the Season | by karen h @ carefree creations

I went back to the end of July for a double challenge #332.

There were a few holiday entries for that challenge and it inspired me to use it for this challenge.

I hope you join us at CAS Colours & Sketches!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Little About the Challenge: This weekly challenge is posted on Tuesday, and alternates between color and sketch (if there is a 5th week in the month you get the double dose of color & sketch).

‘Tis the Season
Stamps: Holiday Greens, Holiday Lights (Papertrey Ink – PTI); Candy Stripes Background (My Favorite Things);
Ink: Pistachio Pudding, Primrose Petals, Emerald Envy (Stampin’Up); Espresso (Altenew);
Paper: Pistachio Pudding (SU); Vintage Cream (PTI);
Other: Holiday Greens die (PTI);

Warm Winter Woods

This card is for the current Freshly Made Sketches Challenge.

Here is my card:

Warm Winter Woods | by karen h @ carefree creations

I really loved the up & down of the scribble in the sketch so I took my inspiration from that. My stationary trees may not have the same energy, but they do offer up the change of height.

To get some of the shorter trees, I had to selectively ink the images. Also, the pines are double or triple stamped to get their fullness as I only used the second layer image because it went with the other trees better.

Thanks for taking a peek!

warm winter wishes
Stamps: Enchanted Forest, Keep it Simple – Winter Wishes (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Winter Wisteria, Cocoa Bean, Ocean Tides, Pinefeather (PTI); Wild Wasabi, Mint Macaroon (Stampin’Up); Sour Apple (My Favorite Things – MFT);
Paper: Sno Cone (MFT); White (PTI);
Other: Enchanted Forest die (PTI);

Blessing in My Life

We had our Thanksgiving on Wednesday – so yesterday was all mine to stamp. I managed to make 5 cards (which was about an average of 2 hours each, sigh…I am NOT a fast designer). I’ll be posting all those cards cards today (in individual posts).

First up – the Addicted to CAS challenge for Blessing.

Here is my card:

Blessing in My Life | by karen h @ carefree creations

My first step was finding something with “blessed” or “blessing”. I hadn’t used this set yet, so that settled that.

The colors are ones I had recently stamped with (on a card I’ll post tomorrow) and really liked the purple & green/blue together.

Very quick card!

Thanks for taking a peek!

thanks
Stamps: Gathered Garden (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Autumn Rose, Dark Chocolate (PTI); Pretty Peacock (Stampin’Up);
Paper: Rustic Cream (PTI);
Other: jute (PTI);

CASology – Faith

It is time for a new CASology challenge. Check out the latest challenge – FAITH!

When you look up the definition of faith:

I tried to keep to the definition, even if my card doesn’t say “faith”.

Here is my take:

Belief in Tomorrow | by karen h @ carefree creations

I’ve been doing lots of white card base lately, so this time I pulled out a color. When I do this, I always try to do the inking in complimentary colors so they don’t muddy up.

The “garden” part of the sentiment had open spaces, so to give it some more weight, I colored in the spaces with a brown colored pencil.

I hope you join us at CASology – and, for more inspiration, check out the other design team members:

Thanks for stopping by!

Plant a Garden
Stamps: Garden Grace (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Spring Moss, Cocoa Bean (PTI); Moss (Altenew); Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral (Stampin’Up);
Paper: Lemon (PTI);
Other: brown colored pencil;

CC&S #348 – Sweet Congratulations

It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge:

And here is my take:

Sweet Life Roses | by karen h @ carefree creations

With these colors – I just had to stamp flowers.

I did my stamping before I realized that the coordinating dies are closed (meaning you can’t see through them to position over stamping). So I just fussy-cut these out.

To add layers to the leaves, but without a second green color, I used a neutral ink.

I hope you join us at CAS Colours & Sketches!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Little About the Challenge: This weekly challenge is posted on Tuesday, and alternates between color and sketch (if there is a 5th week in the month you get the double dose of color & sketch).

congratulations
Stamps: The Sweet Life, Banner Style (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Blushing Bride, Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizzazz (Stampin’Up); Fine Linen (PTI); Espresso (Altenew);
Paper: White (PTI); Naturals (My Favorite Things);
Other: Shape Shifters Circle 1 die, Banner Style die (PTI);

CC&S #347 – Hugs

It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge:

And here is my take:

Forget Me Not Hugs | by karen h @ carefree creations

This is actually my second card. The sketch flustered me that my first card was not CAS (I’ll post it in a few days). But after a few days of thinking on it, I came up with this one.

Now, I could have done this very easily by using pattern paper in the back, but nope, this is stamped/colored.

To get started, I first used a ruler on the back of the front panel to draw the shape I wanted. Then I cut the panel. The result is that the front panel is in 2 pieces – top & bottom. I added some detail with a cross-stitch impression along the opening.

The card base is where I did my stamping. I laid my front panel on the card base and made little marks so I knew where I needed to stamp. After my stamping was done, I went back in with a light-blue Copic marker so there was no white left.

The sentiment die is 3 layers and the front panel is popped up on foam tape.

I hope you join us at CAS Colours & Sketches!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Little About the Challenge: This weekly challenge is posted on Tuesday, and alternates between color and sketch (if there is a 5th week in the month you get the double dose of color & sketch).

Hugs
Stamps: Forget Me Nots (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Amethyst Allure, New Leaf, Blueberry Sky (PTI); Gorgeous Grape (Stampin’Up); marker (Copic);
Paper: White (PTI);
Other: Big Hugs die (PTI); Stitched Borders die (Lawn Fawn);