Author Archives: kth

Sherbet Butterflies

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It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge: #31 – sketch.

CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge #31

And here is my take:

by Karen @ carefree creations - Sherbet Butterflies

Since I have both punches that coordinate with the butterfly stamp set, I knew using butterflies would be a breeze on this card. I adhered the butterflies with a dab of liquid glue to their middles – leaving the wings free for fluffing. The shadows created from fluffing the wings gives a lot of dimension and (hopefully) keeps the card from being boring.

Make sure you check out the other design team members:
Jacqueline
Kylie
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 you get the double dose of color & sketch).

Happy Birthday
All supplies Stampin’Up! unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Papillion Potpourri, Label Love;
Ink/Card Stock: Marina Mist, Naturals White, Daffodil Delight, Strawberry Slush, Crisp Cantaloupe;
Other: Artisan Label punch, Bitty Butterfly punch, Elegant Butterfly punch;

PTI + Gold: Blog Hop

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Today is the 25th of the month, which means it is time for a Papertrey Ink Blog Hop!

This month’s theme is gold.

by Karen @ carefree creations - Gold Anniversary

One of the things I pin a lot is photos of manicured nails. I used this one as the inspiration for my card (I re-pinned someone else’s pin – and it doesn’t go to the original photo, so I’m not sure how to credit this…sorry!):

manicurednails_goldinspiration

I drew a light line down the center of the card. I used that line to center my sentiment and paper panels.

The black panel is stamped with the fleur de lis border image and clear embossed.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Happy Anniversary
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Damask Designs;
Ink/Card Stock: White, Black;
Other: Ribbon (PTI); Gold paper (Curious Metallics – though PTI does sell shimmer paper too); Gold & Clear embossing (Filigree); Versamark (Tsukineko);

Evolution of a Card

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by Karen @ carefree creations - Beautiful Ride

That photo is my card at the end.

It started life a couple weeks ago as a submission for the CASology challenge Wheels.

My original card was toooo bland. See:

unfinished! by Karen @ carefree creations

(ACK! Sorry for the horrible photo – I didn’t correct my settings after doing some other work.)

The card just did not feel finished to me – too flat and no interesting points. I think the bicycle stamping turned out well, it just didn’t command attention.

After some pondering I decided to add some pattern paper to help add interest. I toyed with some at the top as well as the bottom of the white panel – and in different colors. Despite my desire to use yellow or wisteria, they didn’t look right so I stopped trying to work them in. Sometimes you just have to say no 🙂

I finally decided that instead of pattern paper at the top, some other decorative touch was needed. I pulled out my edger dies and thought this lacy one would be great.

One final touch I wanted was dimension. I thought about die-cutting the basket & flowers, but I liked the way the stamping had turned out. Instead I turned to ribbon. Again I tried a few colors of twine but decided on one that matched the closest with the pattern paper.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Beautiful Ride
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Pedal Pusher;
Ink/Card Stock: Blueberry Sky, White, Wisteria, Limeade, Black;
Other: Limeade Patterns paper, Edgers #2 die; Twine (stash);

Colorful Mehndi

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It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge: #30 – colors.

CAS Colours & Sketch Challenge #30

And here is my take:

by Karen @ carefree creations - Colorful Mehndi

On my Pinterest board I have a few Middle Eastern type pins – and they have one thing in common – color! They have the amazing ability to combine colors. This is what I thought about as I designed this card.

My card is a CASE of Kim’s wonderful wreath card (seen here). I know she was following a sketch, but, in addition to the great layout, I loved her centered image with white on white background as well.

The Mehndi Medallion image is gold embossed and then watercolored. Here is a detail show:

by Karen @ carefree creations - Mehndi Detail

Make sure you check out the other design team members:
Jacqueline
Kylie
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 you get the double dose of color & sketch).

Happy Birthday
Stamps: Mehndi Medallion, Birthday Basics (Papertrey Ink);
Card Stock: Julie’s Smooth Bristol – Essentials by Ellen(Ellen Hutson);
Ink: Versamark (Tsukineko); Cajun Craze, Primrose Petals, Gumball Green (SU);
Other: Gold embossing powder (Filigree); Flag die (PTI); Fancy Fan embossing folder (SU);

Country Berries

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It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge: #29 – sketch.

CAS Colours & Sketches - Challenge #29

And here is my take:

by Karen @ carefree creations - Country Berries

I think I’m in love with this gingham wheel! The other gingham stamps I have in my collection are more “builder” ones where the edges are open on one side so you can line it up and make large swaths of pattern. The wheel has finished edges and so is perfect for single stamping (and we won’t talk about how I tried to connect them last time, lol). I’ve never considered myself a lover of “country” style, but I could get used to this wheel!

Honestly I was stuck with this sketch at first, so as I do when I’m stuck, I went to my Pinterest board looking for inspiration. I recently pinned Danielle’s card (the first one here) where she paired gingham and strawberries. And that just totally worked for me. I love Pinterest!

I didn’t want the strawberries and little white flowers to get lost in the green gingham, so I stamped those onto die cuts. The flowers are glued directly to the panel and the strawberries are popped. And now that I’m seeing the image on screen, I might go back and add little yellow centers to the flowers.

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

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 you get the double dose of color & sketch).

Sweet Birthday Wishes
Stamps: Strawberry Patch & Sentiments (PTI); Gingham wheel (Stampin Up);
Ink/Card Stock: New Leaf, White, Pure Poppy, Black (PTI);
Other: Strawberry dies (PTI);

Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

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SplitCoastStampers is having a Virtual Stamp Night this weekend. One of the challenges is in honor of Lee – a friend.

I chose to case her “Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow” card. Here is my take:

by Karen @ carefree creations - Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

I find CASEing hard – if I like the card, I usually like all of it and just want to copy it. So to help me get started, I looked for a sketch to use.

I used a layout from Clean & Simple Stamping blog: #244.

I kept Lee’s theme and colors.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Sun Will Come Out
All supplies PaperTrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Scattered Showers, Scattered Showers Additions;
Ink/Card Stock: Hawaiian Shores, White, Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, Stone, Black;
Technique: machine stitching;

Grunge-y Hello

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by Karen @ carefree creations - Grunge-y Hello

Playing with my new StampinUp sets. I was so happy to see a couple grunge options in the new catalog! The only thing I wish I could get was a good masculine-font sentiment set (especially since Best Dad Ever retired).

My colors came from the ColourQ challenge #192.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Hello
All supplies StampinUp unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Off the Grid, Gorgeous Grunge, Basic Label, Four You;
Ink/Card Stock: Soft Sky, White, Smokey Slate, Island Indigo, Pear Pizzazz;
Other: Apothecary Accent die, brads;

Birthday Impression

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by Karen @ carefree creations - Birthday Impressions

I’m trying to clean up my home. We have so much junk – and I have a ton of crafting supplies that I’ve had for years and just don’t use. A lot of it never got unpacked from my moves. Earlier this week I managed to go through a box and empty it!

In the box I found this wonderful embossed panel. I honestly have no idea where it came from – I don’t own the embossing folder, and I don’t have this yellow (though I do love it – it is the perfect color of yellow!!). Anyway, I set it on my desk and, within a day, made a card with it!

I used a recent card sketch from CAS(e) This Sketch.

I added the strip of purple cardstock to help balance the purple flags. It still needed something so I broke out my new sequins. I think I’m challenged when it comes to “sprinkling” embellishments around, but I am happy with how this turned out.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Happy Birthday
Stamps: NONE!
Ink/Card Stock: White, Wisteria (PTI); Yellow (??);
Other: Wisteria Pattern Paper (PTI); Sequins (Neat & Tangled); Ribbon (stash); Embossing folder (??)

Cozy Thoughts

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It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge: #28 – colors.

CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge #28

And here is my take:

by Karen @ carefree creations - Cozy Thoughts

When the new Stampin’Up catalog came out, there was a set that caught my eye and wouldn’t let go. I’m not sure what it is about the Kind & Cozy set, but I love it! So when my box came in time for me to use my new supplies for this challenge, I knew just which set I’d pull out!

The sentiment and extra flowers are inked using markers.

I did use a non-Stampin Up product to create the faux-stitching around the border, but that’s because I’m essentially lazy. You could easily keep this SU-only (suo) by paper piercing a border.

I didn’t do a great job lining up my gingham wheel, but I am challenged with non-polymer stamps (and, as I said before, too lazy to break out my stamp-a-ma-jig!). Even so, I can’t decide if I like it squashed up against each other, or with a break between them. I guess I’ll just have to spend more time with that wheel and play 😉

My layout is based on a somewhat recent CAS(e) This Sketch layout.

Make sure you check out the other design team members:
Jacqueline
Kylie
Louise
Sandie

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 you get the double dose of color & sketch).

Thinking of You
All supplies StampinUp unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Kind & Cozy, Gingham wheel;
Ink/Card Stock: Perfect Plum, Rich Razzleberry, Garden Green, White;
Other: 2 1/2″ circle die; Stitched Rectangle die (Lil Inkers);

For the English Teacher

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by Karen @ carefree creations - English Teacher

OK, my favorite part of this card is the little “shine” on the apple in the shape of a heart.

I had so much fun coloring!

The card base is embossed with a text motif.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Great Teacher
Stamps: Back to School (GinaK);
Ink/Card Stock: White (PTI); Black (Memento);
Other: Book Print impression plate (PTI); markers (Copic);