Category Archives: Papertrey Ink

Thanksgiving Greenery

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I was much inspired by PTI’s release of Holiday Greens and while I would love to add it to my collection, I’m on a budget and other items were more important to me this month. I am playing with PTI’s Create Along with Us challenge to help me find suitable stand-ins.

pti_createwithus

Although there was lots of inspiration for the Holiday Greens set, I really fell in love with Lizzie’s Happy Holidays card. Here is my take:

Sprigs & Pinecones | by karen @ carefree creations

I didn’t want to completely copy Lizzie’s card, so I used autumn colors and a thanksgiving sentiment. Sigh, I haven’t even finished my Halloween cards, and I’m already creating Thanksgiving cards. (Probably because I designed my Halloween cards in my head way back in July. I knew I should have stamped them right then!)

While I did use different stamps, my intent was to get as close as possible. I’m quite happy that I was able to use supplies I already have. While there are details to the Holiday Greens set that keep it on my wish list, I know I can make due until I can get it.

The angled edge is just done with a trimmer; I wish I hadn’t made it so severe an angle, but I still like it.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Happy Thanksgiving
Stamps: Meadow Greens, Spruce & Sprigs, Peaceful Pinecones, Keep it Simple: Happy Thanksgiving (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Terracotta Tile, Simply Chartreuse, Ripe Avocado, Pinefeather, Dark Chocolate (PTI);
Paper: Rustic White, Terracotta Tile, Cocoa Bean (PTI);
Other: Spruce & Sprigs dies, twine (PTI); vanilla embossing powder (Stampin’Up);
CASEd from: Lizzie Jones’ Happy Holidays

Ruby Rose in Autumn

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

CC&S_2016-09-15_#191

And here is my take:

Ruby Rose in Autumn | by karen @ carefree creations

Color challenges are the hardest for me. You’d think when it was time for me to host one, I’d do something easy. Somehow I forgot about needing contrast in my colors! While this is not my first idea for these colors, I think this worked out well.

I hope you join us at CAS Colours & Sketches!

Thanks for stopping by!

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

hello
Stamps: Ruby Rose, Fillable Frames 1 (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Delightful Dijon, Cucumber Crush, Bermuda Bay (Stampin’Up); Smokey Shadow (PTI);
Paper: Soft Stone cardstock, Soft Stone pattern paper, White (PTI);
Other: Ruby Rose dies (PTI)

Birthday Butterfly

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

CC&S_2016-09-08_#190

And here is my take:

Bold Butterfly | by karen @ carefree creations

I had another idea in my head for this sketch, but it was not working out. Then I drew inspiration from my DT. A couple weeks back a few members used tone on tone layers and embossing to implement that sketch. I decided that would be perfect for this card (I didn’t want to start completely over).

I used a card that was already cut, but it is a bit smaller than normal 5.5 x 4 – not sure why it was cut that way, but I went with it!

To make the curve, I used an old Spellbinders Labels 10 die turned sideways. I had to do a partial die cut so I only cut the one edge – but that is easily done by positioning everything on the edge of the machine cutting plates.

I hope you join us at CAS Colours & Sketches!

Thanks for stopping by!

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

Happy Birthday
Stamps: Beautiful Butterflies, Beautiful Butterflies Layers (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Berry Sorbet, Scarlet Jewel (PTI); Primrose Petals, Pacific Point (Stampin’Up);
Paper: White, Scarlet Jewel (PTI); Soft Sky (SU);
Other: Beautiful Butterflies, Beautiful Butterflies Layers dies (PTI); Labels 10 die (Spellbinders);

Best Year Yet

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

CC&S_2016-09-01_#189

This is my month to host at CC&S. I selected my colors and created my sketches months ago. I probably had ideas in my head for what I would stamp…but dang if I can remember now! Why do I do this to myself?? I know with this challenge I was thinking beginning of school, so let’s go with primary colors. Hmph. Have fun 🙂

Since school is what I was thinking, that is the theme I used for my card:

Back 2 School | by karen @ carefree creations

I have 4 nieces/nephews in college. For one of them, this is the final year, so I thought this sentiment would be a good one.

The eraser is Real Red, just off stamped a couple times first. And the leaf is Island Indigo.

I hope you join us at CAS Colours & Sketches!

Thanks for stopping by!

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

Hope this year
Stamps: Teacher’s Apple, Teach & Inspire, Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Real Red, Crushed Curry, Island Indigo (Stampin’Up); Espresso Truffle (Memento);
Paper: White (PTI);
Other: Stitched Rectangle die (Lil Inkers);

Wisteria Thanks

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

CC&S_2016-08-25_#188

And here is my take:

Wisteria Thanks | by karen @ carefree creations

This sketch was a stumper at first, but once I spied my new lattice dies, I knew what to do.

When stamping the leaves, I used light and medium greens; the vine is a dark green.

Since everything else was quite subtle incolor, I didn’t want a harsh black for the sentiment, so I found a darker blue that complemented the card 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 Thursday, and alternates between color and sketch (if there is a 5th week in the month you get the double dose of color & sketch).

thank you
Stamps: Garden Gate, Inside Out: Thank You (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Winter Wisteria, Green Parakeet, New Leaf (PTI); Garden Green, Lost Lagoon (Stampin’Up);
Paper: SeaGlass (Simon Says Stamp); Winter Wisteria, White (PTI);
Other: Garden Gate dies (PTI); Oval & Oval Scalop die (Spellbinders);

Sweet Cake

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

CC&S_2016-08-18_#187

And here is my take:

Sweet Cake | by karen @ carefree creations

Seeing these colors, I just knew I needed to do something sweet!

The flowers are cut using the coordinating dies, but they are trimmed as the dies have room for leaves (which I couldn’t stamp because they would have been green – not a color in the combination).

I hope you join us at CAS Colours & Sketches!

Thanks for stopping by!

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

Sweet Birthday Wishes
Stamps: Just Desserts (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Flirty Flamingo, Sweet Sugarplum (Stampin’Up); Cocoa Bean (PTI);
Paper: Cocoa Bean, White (PTI);
Other: Just Desserts die, Frosted Borders die (PTI); Rhinestones (Kaiser);

Our Love Story

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DTGD-Blinkie-2016

It is Dare to Get Dirty time at Splitcoast!!

What is Dare to Get Dirty? It is a special week during the year that the folks in the Dirty Dozen host a bunch of challenges as a thank you to all the fan club members. Not a fan club member – check it out.

I made a sample card for one of the challenges (you can see all the challenges here if you are fan club member).

Our Love Store | by karen @ carefree creations

I did my favorite wet paper watercolor technique. Wet some watercolor paper, stamp your image – let it bleed, then after it has dried some, re-stamp the image. My first stamping (the wet) I did with 2 colors – red & orange; my final stamping was just the red.

Since I didn’t stamp any leaves, I wanted a touch of green, so I did a tiny mat around the stamped panel. I love how it turned out!

I use Ranger watercolor paper because it is whiter than anything else I’ve found and I like that – a LOT. One thing about it though is that it is very textured which makes stamping sentiments difficult (even with a MISTI). I had an epiphany when I made this card. I used my acrylic bone folder to gently press the texture out of the area where I wanted to stamp my sentiment. I still used my MISTI, but the de-texturizing really helped!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Love Story
Stamps: Sending My Love (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Candied Apple, Carved Pumpkin distress (Ranger); Graphite Black Brilliance (Tsukineko);
Paper: White, Simply Chartreuse (PTI); Watercolor (Ranger);
Other: Stitched Rectangle dies (Lil Inker);

Papertrey July 2016 Blog Hop Challenge

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PTI_BlogHopLogo

It is time for the Papertrey Ink’s Blog Hop. The inspiration piece was, indeed, very inspiring! Here is a snippet of the photo:

2016-07_PTIBlogHop-inspiration

I love the colors, and the mix of florals and geometrics. Those are what I took to make my card:

Hey There | by karen @ carefree creations

The card base is Soft Stone. I embossed the moroccan tile background onto the edge of the card base. The tile image isn’t long enough to just do one impression. Knowing I would never link the two impressions perfectly, I made sure to stamp one end under where I wanted the large flower to overhang. It isn’t visible in the photo since the card is turned away, but I did pretty good; there is a little goof, but even in real life you have to really be looking for it.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Hey there
Stamps: Floral Sketches, Background Basics: Retro (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Melon Berry, Scarlet Jewel, Aqua Mist, Tropical Teal, Soft Stone, Smokey Shadow (PTI); Gravel Gray (My Favorite Things – MFT);
Paper: White, Soft Stone (PTI); Gravel Gray (MFT);
Other: white embossing powder (Hero Arts);
Challenge: Papertrey Ink’s July 2016 Blog Hop

It’s Your Day

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The next PTI challenge I worked on was Watercoloring with Kay.

It's Your Day | by karen @ carefree creations

I chose my colors based on how they stamp…but apparently Ocean Tides watercolors green 🙂 Still, I’m happy with this. My card is much more subdued than Kay’s sample card, but the technique is fun.

Thanks for taking a peek!

It’s Your Day
Stamps: Ikat, Think Big Favorites #2 (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Autumn Rose, Winter Wisteria, Ocean Tides (PTI); Basic Gray (Stampin’Up);
Paper: watercolor (Ranger); Autumn Rose card stock, Autumn Rose patterns, Smokey Shadow (PTI);
Challenge: PTI Stamp-a-Faire: Watercoloring

Pointillism Poinsettia

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Heather brought us a Pointillism Technique!

Pointillism Poinsettia | by karen @ carefree creations

I really love Heather’s sample card – the dots are obvious, but it works. I think I may have over done my dots and blended too much.

I embossed both the front and back of the card base because the cream panel wraps around to the back and allows the twine to be tied at the spine. Just something different for me.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Merry Christmas
Stamps: Year of Flowers: Poinsettia, Holiday Cheer (dots) (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Pale Peony, Pure Poppy, Scarlet Jewel, Lemon Tart, Bright Buttercup, Limeade Ice, Simply Chartreuse, Ripe Avocado old (PTI); Crushed Curry (Stampin’Up); Versamark (Tsukineko);
Paper: Classic Kraft, Rustic White (PTI);
Other: clear embossing (Filigree); Woodgrain impression plate, twine (PTI);
Challenge: Pointillism Technique