Category Archives: cards

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;

Cupcake Wish

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It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge: #76 – a double.

CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge #76

And here is my take:

by karen @ carefree creations - Cupcake Wishes

The double challenges are the hardest for me! Thankfully these colors are quite fun to work with and the sketch is a basic one that I use a lot.

I didn’t waste too much time picking a stamp set – as soon as I found something that worked, I went with it (that’s what happens when you don’t have time to stamp until the last minute, lol).

My card is very simple. I added a bit of texture to the red strip and that really did help finish the card.

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).

Make a Wish
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Cupcake Collection;
Ink/Cardstock: White, Pure Poppy; Baked Brown Sugar, Coastal Cabana (SU);
Other: Simple Stripes impression plate, Cupcake Collection die;

Papertrey Blog Hop – May 2014

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PTI_BlogHopLogo

This month’s Papertrey Blog Hop is all about Melon & Aqua. I love this color combo!

In addition to the color palette, I was inspired by the flowers in this Design Seed flora post.

Here is my card:

by karen @ carefree creations - Thanks for Everything

I love seeing the wide striped backgrounds and decided to try one.

Since I was going with white flowers, I made the background Melon.

This card is another of my teacher cards…actually for the principal. I volunteered a lot in the office this year and had a great time.

Thank you for stopping by!

Thanks for everything
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Wet Paint, Botanical Silhouettes, Background Basics: Super Stripes;
Ink/Cardstock: Melon Berry, Aqua Mist, White, Black;
Other: Mega Gracious Vases die, Bigger Blooms die;

Thank You, History Teacher

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by karen @ carefree creations - History Teacher

Nope, I’m not done yet! I actually have two more teacher-card posts after this (though it may be a few days before they get posted).

This one is for the history teacher.

It is almost a one-layer card – the stamping is all on the card base, except the compass rose which is popped up over the strip of chocolate cardstock.

The compass rose wanted to fall over the edge; to fit the card in the envelope without crushing anything, I lopped off about a 1/4″ from the right side.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Thank You
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: World Map, Out to Sea, Teach & Inspire;
Ink/Cardstock: Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Hawaiian Shores, Vanilla;
Other: nada;

Apple for Teacher

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It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge: #75 – sketch.

CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge #75

And here is my take:

by karen @ carefree creations - Apple for Teacher

Since I’m in the midst of stamping for all the teachers in my life, I decided to use this challenge to get another card done.

I’ll be giving this card to the teacher I’ve been volunteering with for the past 3 years (I’m going to miss her!!).

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).

Congrats
All supplies Papertrey unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Teacher’s Apple, Mega Mixed Messages (PTI);
Ink/Cardstock: White, Pure Poppy, New Leaf, Blueberry Sky, Kraft (PTI); Orange Fizz, Grape Jelly (MFT);
Technique: masking;

Thank You for the (English) Adventure

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by karen @ carefree creations - Thanks, English Teacher

I think I finally hit a brick wall this past weekend while I was stamping all these teacher cards. My mojo just gave up!

I love the idea for this card, but I’m not sure I pulled off what I really wanted. My kiddo likes the card, so I’m going with it!

If you can’t guess, this is for their English teacher.

And now, a few days later, I think I like the card even better in the photo, lol.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Thank You
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: All Booked Up, Up Up Away, Beautiful Butterflies, Tiny Treats – Halloween, Tiny Treats – Valentine, Tag Its #5;
Ink/Cardstock: White, Black, Spring Rain, Hibiscus Burst;
Other: Lemon Tart pattern papers; circle dies (Spellbinders);

Another Teacher Card

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by karen @ carefree creations - Cooking Teacher

I CASEd Laurie’s card, though working with what I had meant some changes to the layout.

I chose my sentiment because I thought it looked like chalkboard art. Even though I used the largest mat die, I still didn’t have room on the left to hang the flags, so I put them across the top. Since I stamped my sentiment so far to the right (hoping there was room for the flags), I needed something to take up that space; some linen thread wrapped around solved that. My original plan was to have the utensils on the flags, but that just didn’t look good, so they ended up being an accent – which is topped off with the button.

This card is for my kid’s Family & Consumer Science teacher (think home-ec). While they did quite a few varied projects, the cooking aspect is what resonated with my kid the most (hence the food theme).

The awesome part is that the kid now cooks on Friday nights! I am so grateful for this – not only does it give me a night off, but she’s gotten a different perspective on providing for a family.

A funny story, last Friday kid1 cooked quiche (was wonderful!). The younger sibling, kid2, tried it but decided they didn’t like it. My normal rule is that whatever is cooked is what is available for eating (no scrounging) – but they are allowed fruit and/or veggies all they want. When kid2 said they were going to eat something else. Kid1 was upset (disappointed maybe a better word). Every night since, kid1 has thanked me for cooking and made a big effort to eat it, even if not totally thrilled by the meal!!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Thanks
Stamps: Big Thank You, Thanks All Ways (PTI); Fork & Spoon (Hero Arts);
Ink/Cardstock: White, Black, Soft Stone (PTI); Unicorn white pigment ink (Memento); Versamark (Tsukineko);
Other: Pure Poppy & Blueberry Sky pattern papers, banner dies, wood button (PTI); Linen Thread (SU); Silver embossing powder (Filigree);
Technique: chalkboard;