Author Archives: kth

Patriotic Pedaling

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Patriotic Pedaling - by karen @ carefree creations

This was sorta fun to create. I love this bicycle image but have a hard time using it (I think because it is so big). For this card, I used a flower stamp to create the fire works. And since the card wasn’t quite balanced, I decided to make it a funky edge so the sentiment could be up on the edge.

I admit using this edger die, in this manner, was really difficult. But I did some creative die-cutting (selective cutting by keeping the plates off the parts that shouldn’t be cut) and then hand cutting other parts.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Happy 4th of July
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Pedal Pusher, Est. 1776, Funky Florals (fireworks);
Ink/Cardstock: White, Enchanted Evening, Pure Poppy, Black, Kraft; Versamark (Tsukineko);
Other: Soft Stone pattern paper, Pedal Pusher die, Edgers 5 die; silver embossing powder;

Patriotic Circles

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Patriotic Circles - by karen @ carefree creations

As of today I am all caught up creating my July 4th cards – but I’ll be posting them over the next few days.

I’m pretty happy with this one. I used a circle die and coordinating stamp set. Then I used a sentiment and repeated it over and over in the background with a light ink.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Happy July 4th
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Simple Circles, Est 1776;
Ink/Cardstock: White, Enchanted Evening, Pure Poppy, Soft Stone;
Other: Simple Circles die;

Reason to Smile

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It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge: #79 – colors.

CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge #79

And here is my take:

Reason to Smile - by karen @ carefree creations

These sherbert-y colors are so wonderful. I wanted to do a summer popsicle card, but I don’t have any popsicle stamps (OK, I have one, but it is too small for what I wanted to do). So I had to find another idea.

I looked through my inspiration file and came up with a dozen or so ideas. While trying to make one idea work, I designed this card instead (yeah, that’s how my brain works).

To complete the sentiment panel, I started by die-cutting the Phrase Play die from white paper. Then I backed the “you are my…” part with black paper. My original plan was to just leave that part of the sentiment so that it looked sorta-graphic (with out the letter middles), but I don’t know if it is just me or because it is a scripty font, but I decided I needed those little middle bits (thankfully I kept all the little pieces when I did the die-cutting). I popped the words back into place and use them to position the middle pieces.

The sub-sentiment (“reason to smile”) is stamped on the card base. I used a light pencil mark around the sentiment panel to make sure I didn’t get any flowers stamped so that they would show in that space.

Make sure you check out the other design team members:
Jacqueline
Lizy
Louise
Patricia

I hope you join us at CAS Colours & Sketches!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Little About the Challenge: Posted every Thursday, the challenges alternate between color and sketch (if there is a 5th week in the month you get the double dose of color & sketch).

Reason to Smile
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Mini Blooms, Bigger Blooms, Phrase Play #1;
Ink/Cardstock: White, Black (PTI); Winter Wisteria, Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe (SU);
Other: Phrase Play #1 die;

Square Print Flag

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Square Print Flag - by karen @ carefree creations

I love everything I see that has used Square Prints, but I have the hardest time using it on my own. When I ran across Debbie Olson’s card I knew I could use the concept to make a flag card.

I wish I could have spaced the blocks a little more evenly horizontally, but honestly, I’m still impressed I got them lined up!!

When I was done I felt the card needed just a little something, so I added rhinestones to the centers of the blue squares.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Celebrate
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Square Prints, Celebrations;
Ink/Cardstock: Enchanted Evening, White, Pure Poppy;
Other: rhinestones (Kaiser); Stitched Rectangle dies (Lil Inkers);

July 4th

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July 4th Waves - by karen @ carefree creations

Oh my – I love this card! Not often does a fuzzy idea work for me so well!

Last night I decided it was time to start working on my 4th of July cards – or they wouldn’t get sent out (much like last year). So I started googling the patriotic stamp sets I have to get some inspiration. A non-patriotic card popped-up that used the Rainbow Stripes die. I bought that die when it was released, but have not actually used it yet. Seeing that die in use got me thinking and this fuzzy idea to create the flag came to be (my card looks nothing like the one that sparked my idea – that too never happens for me…usually I see and idea and I can’t get away from it).

First I used the die to trim the edge of a panel of blue pattern paper (just lined up the die so the top stripe would cut the bottom of the panel…does that make sense??). Then I die cut the stripes from red cardstock.

The die is long enough to work on a landscape card, but I really liked the vertical orientation.

For the sentiment, I die-cut a star from white and then oriented it the way it would sit on the finished card – then I stamped the sentiment so it would be straight. I had another star that I tried a different approach (I added a little “happy” as well) but it just didn’t look right – not sure if it was crowded with the extra word or because the words weren’t straight…whatever it was, even though it didn’t work in this situation, I saved that piece….maybe you’ll see it in the next week or so 🙂

A very clean and simple card – just the way I like ’em!

Thanks for taking a peek!

4th of July
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Let Freedom Ring;
Ink/Cardstock: White, Pure Poppy, Enchanted Evening;
Other: Enchanted Evening pattern paper, Seeing Stars die, Rainbow Stripes die;

Inlaid Die Technique

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The Cutting Edge Challenge There is a new challenge in the blogosphere: The Cutting Edge where the challenges will be focused on die-cutting (either with a metal die or an electronic cutting machine).

This first challenge provided 6 different cards for inspiration. One of the cards used the inlaid die technique. I haven’t tried this technique yet and thought it would be fun to give it a go.

Hello Bright Colors - by karen @ carefree creations

When looking through my index to decide which dies to use I figured this technique would be awesome to do bright colors on a black background (something I *love* but have a hard time creating with other methods).

I ended up designing quite a composition as a first time card – lots of layers, but I love how it turned out!

There is a tiny bit of stamping – the centers of the flowers are stamps – but the leaves are two die cuts!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Hello
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Happiness in Bloom;
Ink: Winter Wisteria, Hibiscus Burst, White;
Cardstock: Black, Limeade Ice, Simply Chartreuse, Hibiscus Burst, Hawaiian Shores; Lavender Lace (SU);
Other: Happiness in Bloom leaf dies, Beautiful Blooms 1 die, Wonderful Words: Hello die; Stitched Rectangle mat die (Lil Inkers);
Technique: inlaid die technique

2014 Graduate

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2014 Grad - by karen @ carefree creations

I have a nephew who is graduating this year. His school colors are maroon, white, and gold. I was heavily inspired this card by Heather – I loved the large numbers with pattern paper showing through.

On the smaller white panel, I drew a light pencil line to assist in lining up the number dies. I also kept the inner parts for the 0 and 4. After attaching the small white panel with dimensional adhesive, I laid number die cut into its hole and then adhered the inner parts – and popped the number die back out.

Thanks for taking a peek!

2014 congrats
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: For the Graduate;
Ink/Cardstock: White, Black, Scarlet Jewel; gold (SU);
Other: For the Graduate die, Scarlet Jewel pattern paper, Wonderful Words: Congrats die, Super Stars border die, By the Numbers die;

Miss You Cityscape

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It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge: #78 – sketch.

CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge #78

I’m your hostess for this month at CAS Colours & Sketches. When creating this sketch, I was inspired by an image I pinned months ago:

And here is my take (obviously CASEd from the inspiration piece):

Miss You Cityscape by karen @ carefree creations

I really love the inspiration piece – I wanted to copy pretty much all of it. I chose colors that were similar to the artwork, and I used cityscape dies.

Make sure you check out the other design team members:
Jacqueline
Lizy
Louise
Patricia

I hope you join us at CAS Colours & Sketches!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Little About the Challenge: Posted every Thursday, the challenges alternate between color and sketch (if there is a 5th week in the month you get the double dose of color & sketch).

Miss You
Stamps: Skinny Mini Alphabet (SU); Handwritten Notes (PTI);
Ink/Cardstock: Aqua Mist (PTI); Summer Starfruit, Island Indigo (SU); White (Colorbox); Versamark (Tsukineko);
Other: white embossing powder (Hero Arts); Cityscape Nightline die (Memory Box); Skyline Border die (MFT); Aqua Mist pattern paper (PTI);

Teacher Gift

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I’m finally getting around to posting my final teacher project. This one was for my youngest’s teacher. I made a gift package with her favorite candy, a bookmark (which I forgot to photograph), and a photo frame with matching card.

by karen @ carefree creations - Teacher Thanks

I don’t think there is anything tricky or special about making the card, so I’ll move on to the frame.

by karen @ carefree creations - Family Photo Frame

I started with a plain wooden frame (got it for a buck or two at a craft store). I painted it with white paint that I tinted with Tempting Turquoise ink refill. After that dried, I used the frame to trace the inside and outside edges onto some pattern paper. Once that was cut out, I used modge-podge to glue it in place. I wrapped the frame sides with yellow ribbon. I pulled out some paper flowers from my stash, die cut some leaves – adhering them in place with glue dots. To do the ‘family’ letters, I backed some black paper with sticky paper then die cut the letters.

Thanks for taking a peek!

thanks
Stamps: Beautiful Blooms 2 (PTI);
Ink/Cardstock: Berry Sorbet, Lemon Tart, Black, White (PTI); Tempting Turquoise (SU); Gumdrop Green (MFT);
Other: Lemon Tart ribbon, Beautiful Blooms 1 die, Happiness in Bloom leaf die, Buttoned Up 1 die (PTI); Stitched Rectangle die (Lil Inkers); Quote Tag die (Paper Smooches); Flamingo DSP (SU);
family Photo Frame
Stamps: none
Ink/Cardstock: Gumdrop Green, Sour Apple (MFT); Black (PTI);
Other: Lemon Tart ribbon, Script Alphabet lower, Happiness in Bloom leaf die (PTI); Flamingo DSP (SU); paper flowers (stash); copic-colored Rhinestone (stash);

Awesome Day

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It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge: #77 – colors.

CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge #77

And here is my take:

by karen @ carefree creations - Awesome Day

So, I’m the hostess this month. You’d think I would pick colors that would be easy for me….but honestly, I was looking for a combo we hadn’t done yet! I do love bright colors, and maybe it is just because I wasn’t quite in a bright color mood, but I had a challenge with my challenge 🙂 I do love what I finally ended up with…just no idea who I will send it to (probably end up in my Operation Write Home box).

OK, I guess you’d rather read about how I made the card. I started with plain ole white cardstock (mostly because I hate that watercolor paper isn’t white, and has texture to it…one day I hope a vendor will come with a hybrid paper!!). I lightly wet it then did my stamping and wet again. Since it isn’t watercolor paper it did pill the cardstock a bit, but only to a discerning eye (I think, lol). I did go back and overstamp the green dots and yellow stars for a bit more definition.

After heating the panel with the heat gun, I used LOTS of tape to adhere the panel to the card base – not too much warping thankfully.

The “awesome” part of the sentiment is stamped directly on the panel; the “hope your day is” piece is cut-out and popped-up.

Make sure you check out the other design team members:
Jacqueline
Lizy
Louise
Patricia

I hope you join us at CAS Colours & Sketches!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Little About the Challenge: Posted every Thursday, the challenges alternate between color and sketch (if there is a 5th week in the month you get the double dose of color & sketch).

Hope Your Day is Awesome
Stamps: So 80s (W plus 9);
Ink/Cardstock: White, Black (PTI); Turquoise, Wasabi, Daffodil (SU);
Other: dimensional adhesive;