Category Archives: Papertrey Ink

Sending You Sunshine

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by Karen @ carefree creations - Sending Sunshine

I combined a couple challenges for this card.

First the theme “sun” from Keep it Simple challenge.

Keeping the card one layer and using masking is from the latest Clean & Simple challenge on SplitCoast.

One layer cards are hard! Masking is a great way to fake layers though, so I’m pretty happy with how this turned out.

If I was to do this card again I’d probably stamp brown instead of black.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Sending Sunshine
Stamps: Hello Sunshine (PTI); Frame It (Waltzing Mouse);
Ink/Card Stock: White, Lemon Tart, Harvest Gold, Summer Sunrise, Black (PTI);
Technique: masking;

Flower Spot

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It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge: #32 – colors.

CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge #32

And here is my take:

by Karen @ carefree creations - Flower Spot

This is such a fun color scheme, I wanted my card to be fun too.

To get the flowers all lined up, I first drew a grid on my paper. I did 1″ squares with a 1/4″ between them. After I stamped the blue flowers I set it aside to make sure it was dry (I’ve smudged in the past and didn’t want to do it again). Once I had stamped and cut all the other pieces, I finally erased the grid lines.

The fish-tail banner is popped up on dimensionals. The orange flower is popped up too, but only on the edges that hang over the banner; I used a drop of glue to adhere the flower to the banner.

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: Beautiful Blooms 2, Birthday Basics (PTI);
Ink/Card Stock: Pool Party, Pumpkin Pie, Lucky Limeade (SU); White (PTI);
Other: Beautiful Blooms 3 die (PTI);

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;

For the Music Teacher

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by Karen @ carefree creations - Music Teacher

I was inspired by a card Nichole Heady did during the introduction of the Rhythm & Soul set (see it here – you’ll need to scroll down a bit). I was going to emboss white on colored paper, but honestly, I didn’t have the energy the night I made it – and it needed done then. Still, I’m quite happy with how it turned out.

I did play around with the placement of the instruments by laying out the stamps.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Thank You
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Rhythm & Soul, Fillable Frames #1, Communique Curves Sentiments;
Ink/Card Stock: Blueberry Sky, White, Black;
Other: Fillable Frames #1 die;

Thanks to the Gym Teacher

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by Karen @ carefree creations - Gym Teacher

For this card, I used a Fall-to-Layout from the Clean & Simple Stamping blog.

I wanted to do a reprise of a card I did a couple years ago (here), but I wanted it different. That is where the sketch came in – it was perfect!

There are 10 spots on the card and filling them was tricky. I used a font for the volleyball. I repeated a couple of the balls. And one spot was covered by the banner. Footballs should be round 😉

Oh, and in case you are wondering – the red spot is a kick ball, and the black spot is a hockey puck!

Thanks for taking a peek!

#1 Teacher
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: All Star Team, Have a Ball, Teacher’s Apple;
Ink/Card Stock: Kraft, Rustic White, Black, Orange Zest, Ocean Tides, Harvest Gold; Ruby Red (SU);
Other: circle dies (Spellbinders); Sport Relief font for Volleyball dingbat (internet);

Apple for the Teacher

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It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge, it’s a double!! #27 – colors and sketch.

CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge #27

And here is my take:

by Karen @ carefree creations - Apple for the Teacher

Today is the last day of school! I spent this week frantically making cards for teachers. I thought the CAS challenge sketch would be perfect!

I will say I originally stamped the apples directly onto the card base but despite drawing a grid, I didn’t like the position they ended up. Instead I pulled out some old pattern paper that, thankfully, was Sahara Sand! Also originally, I had stamped the leaves all going the same direction. I decided on round two to do them pointing out.

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).

Thank You, Teacher
Stamps: Teacher’s Apple, Teach & Inspire (Papertrey Ink);
Ink/Card Stock: Sahara Sand, Always Artichoke (StampinUp); Pure Poppy, Black, White (PTI);
Other: Labels 1 die (Spellbinders; Notations pattern paper (SU);