Category Archives: cards

Bitty Bird Friends

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Hi all! I am honored to be a guest designer at Addicted to CAS. The challenge is FRIENDS.

And here is my take:

Bitty Bird Friends | by karen @ carefree creations

I love word challenges – they are so open to interpretation! I was able to find lots of images in my index that I could use for a friend card, but I settled on these little birds as I haven’t used them in ages.

I did alter the sentiment. Instead of “friend” it ended with “happy ending”. I just trimmed those two words off and stamped the sentiment then went back and stamped the “friend”. I like how it is a bit bigger than the rest as it brings the focus.

I stamped all my images with Antique Linen distress and then used other distress inks to watercolor. Not only did that make coloring so much easier, but I was also able to extend the branch to the length I needed. After doing the branch, leaves, and birds, I let it dry. Then I went back and added the blue circle (can you believe that is done just by eyeing it?!!). After that was dry, I masked off the birds and did a bit of splattering with the darker blue for some texture.

I hope you’ll join in at Addicted to CAS!

Thanks for stopping by!

Every day…
Stamps: Little Bitty Bird (Papertrey Ink);
Ink: Noir (Palette); Antique Linen, Gathered Twigs, Pine Needles, Mustard Seed, Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean Distress Inks (Ranger);
Paper: watercolor;

Butterfly Thoughts

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

And here is my take:

Butterfly Thoughts | by karen @ carefree creations

I’ll be honest, I have no idea what I was thinking when I came up with this color scheme (besides summer – it was hot). I know I *had* an idea of what to stamp, but um…

Thankfully, I’m very happy with how this turned out!

The background is stamped just on the top portion of the card base, then a small strip of Bermuda was added to strengthen the edge. The butterflies are hand cut.

And some how I stamped the sentiment straight! Woohooo!

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).

Good Thoughts
Stamps: Flutter (Close to My Heart); Perfect Pennants (Stampin’Up – SU); Etched Tribal Background (My Favorite Things);
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Calypso Coral (SU);
Paper: White (SU); Bermuda Bay (SU);

Sweet Strawberries

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

And here is my take:

Sweet Strawberries | by karen @ carefree creations

I’m also playing along with the Summer Fun challenge at AAA Cards

I love strawberries in the summer! So sweet and refreshing.

This strawberry image paired so nicely with the sketch, I just had to combine the challenges.

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).

sweet summertime
Stamps: Strawberry Patch (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Pure Poppy, New Leaf, Bright Buttercup (PTI); Noir (Palette);
Paper: White (PTI);
Other: Stitched Rectangle dies (Lil Inkers);

Pineapple Greetings

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Pineapple Greetings | by karen @ carefree creations

I carved out a bit of stamping today. This card worked out so well, I got 3 challenges together! I combined Less is More’s Tropical Fruit challenge with CAS(e) This Sketch and kept it all One-Layer for Addicted to CAS.

  CASeThisSketchBadge   

I think my thought process is pretty obvious once you see all the challenges. I did choose the swoosh and sentiment because their style seemed to compliment the artsy rendering of the pineapple.

I am quite surprised at how quickly this one came together and I’m so happy with it.

Thanks for taking a peek!

hello
Stamps: Some Like it Hot, Wet Paint (Papertrey Ink – PTI); Sheltering Tree (StammpinUp – SU);
Ink: Lemon Lime Twist (SU); New Leaf, Bright Buttercup, Summer Sunrise, Dark Chocolate (PTI);
Paper: White (PTI);

Bugging You

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

And here is my take:

Bugging You | by karen @ carefree creations

So, I fell in love with this set when Stampin’Up brought it out last year. Of course I waited until it was on the retired list before I decided to buy it. I love the set, but never knew what to do with it.

The colors for this challenge stumped me until I saw the bugs and I knew just how to use the colors. I didn’t have a good sentiment in my stash, so I printed one out using a fun font from the internet.

My layout is inspired by this card by Susan Raihala.

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).

Hope I’m not bugging you!
Stamps: Beetles & Bugs, Gorgeous Grunge (Stampin’Up – SU);
Ink: Noir (Palette); Cajun Craze, Blushing Bride, Tempting Turquoise (SU);
Paper: Rustic White (Papertrey Ink);
Other: Barrio font (1001 Fonts);
Technique: masking;

Birthday Numbers

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Neglecting my cleaning to make a card for the CAS(e) This Sketch and AAA Cards: Rainbow challenges.

CASeThisSketchBadge       

Here is my card:

Birthday Numbers | by karen @ carefree creations

My hubby’s birthday is in a couple weeks. This is one of those years where the numbers are next to each other so I thought this type of stamp would be perfect – and with the overlapping bits it made it easy to color with rainbow colors.

I stamped the wheel first (it is unmounted, so it stamps like a border stamp) and colored it with Copics. Then I took a panel of Kraft and laid it offset to the left (and then right) behind the white card and made marks to indicate the line of the wheel image. I trimmed the Kraft according to those marks and then mounted the Kraft panels on top of the white base.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Happy Birthday
Stamps: Keep it Simple – Birthday II (Papertrey Ink – PTI); Take a Number wheel (Stampin’Up);
Ink: Noir (Palette); Black (Momento); markers (Copic);
Paper: White (GinaK); Kraft (PTI);
Challenges: CAS(e) This Sketch; AAA Cards: Rainbow

Hold the Helm

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Taking some time to play along with the Addicted to CAS challenge: Wheels.

When I looked through my digital stamp index I realized I don’t have much in the way of wheels. Lots of folks did a bicycle, so I wanted to do something different. When I spied the ship’s wheel I went with it! Here is my card:

Hold the Helm | by karen @ carefree creations

The wheel moves! I popped up the white layer with a layer of foam, cut a hole in the foam so that the brad could spin.

Since I put it all on a Navy card base, I decided to decorate the inside too:

I don’t normally do the inside (I’m usually wiped out mojo/mentally once the front is done, lol). For this I just simply switched the elements around – the striped paper is on the right and the image is bottom left.

I’m so happy with how this card turned out!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Anyone can hold the helm
Stamps: From Land to Sea (Stampin’Up – SU); Out to Sea (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Burnt Umber (Palette); Night of Navy (SU);
Paper: White (PTI); Night of Navy, Maritime DSP (SU);
Other: brad (stash); Sea Things die (Dies by Dave);
Technique: spinner / interactive
Challenge: Addicted to CAS

PTI Blog Hop – July 2017

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Today is PTI’s Blog Hop:

I was inspired by the colors, the soft leaves, and the gold wax seal.

Here is my card:

Graceful & Gold | by karen @ carefree creations

I love the blue/grey color in the background of the inspiration so I started with a Ocean card base. The soft leaves made me want to do a blended leaf background, but I couldn’t find supplies to bring my vision about. Taking a second look at the inspiration, I saw the pale pink flowers and decided to go that route. My final inspired touch, the gold embossed sentiment, was taken from the gold wax seal.

In putting the card together, I wanted to do a bit more accents and saw, what I think is, a pearl ring in the inspiration, so I added some pearls.

Here is a close-up of the embossing:

Thanks for taking a peek!

Hello
Stamps: Garden Grace, Graceful Greetings(Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Aqua Mist, Ocean Tides, Sweet Blush, Pale Peony (PTI); Versamark (Tsukineko);
Paper: White, Ocean Tides (PTI);
Other: Pearls (KaiserCraft); Stitched Rectangles die (Lil Inkers); gold embossing powder (Filigree);

Merry Mouse

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

And here is my take:

Merry Mouse | by karen @ carefree creations

I changed up the sketch by using a circle instead of rectangle.

The mouse and holly are stamped onto die cuts.

The leaves of the holly are 2nd generation Pinefeather with the detail image being full-on Pinefeather.

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).

Merry Christmas
Stamps: Christmas Critters, Keep it Simple – Christmas (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Aqua Mist, Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Pure Poppy, Pinefeather, Pale Peony (PTI);
Paper: White, Aqua Mist (PTI);
Other: Christmas Critters die, Double-Ended Banner die (PTI);

Rain or Shine

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

And here is my take:

Rain or Shine | by karen @ carefree creations

A simple one-layer card.

I stamped the umbrella first then added the rain around it masking where needed.

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).

Love you…
Stamps: Scattered Showers, Scattered Showers Additions (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Soft Sky, Powder Pink, Night of Navy, Sahara Sand (StampinUp);
Paper: White (PTI);