Christmas White Foliage

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

And here is my take:

Christmas White Foliage | by karen @ carefree creations

When I first looked at the sketch, I immediately thought about this cover plate!

Easy peasy card – so quick to put together. But the gold embossing with all the white is so elegant.

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 Cheer (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Versamark (Tsukineko);
Paper: White (PTI);
Other: gold embossing (Filigree); Winter Floral cover plate die (PTI);

Rainbow Birthday Icons

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Papertrey’s Make it Monday #314 is about using the color wheel to make a rainbow card. Here is my take:

Birthday Rainbow | by karen @ carefree creations

I love rainbows! I don’t stamp enough of them…so I had to play with this challenge! I started out with pale colors and added slightly deeper hues as accents.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Birthday Wishes
Stamps: Birthday Balloons, Wishes Come True, Happy Day (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Green Parakeet, New Leaf, Lilac Grace, Winter Wisteria, Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, Lovely Lady, Hibsicus Burst, Lemon Tart, Bright Buttercup, Summer Sunrise (PTI); Apricot Appeal (Stampin’Up); Gravel Gray (My Favorite Things); Espresso Truffle (Momento);
Paper: White, Lilac Grace, Green Parakeet, Aqua Mist (PTI);
Other: Birthday Balloons die, Birthday Strings die, Wishes Come True die, Happy Day die, Mix & Mat Scallops die (PTI);

My Precious

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Today’s card is for The Library Challenge where the inspiration is The Hobbit! Squee!

Here is my card:

Rare & Precious Friends | by karen @ carefree creations

I’m fairly certain it is obvious, but my inspiration is Smaug.

I found a free clipart image of a pile of gold coins. I printed it and hand-cut it out. The cute lil dragon was colored with Copics. After that I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. Finding a sentiment so that I could actually use the card, but that made sense with the image was a challenge.

I settled on this sentiment because, well it has the word precious – just couldn’t pass that up! 🙂

After struggling with how to put it all together, I found the layout in my inspiration file. It is an old Two Peas in a Bucket sketch.

Thanks for taking a peek!

True Friends
Stamps: Magical Dragons (MFT); Half & Half (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: markers (Copic); Smoke (Simon Says Stamp – SSS); Truffle (Momento);
Paper: Crushed Curry cardstock, Flowerpot DSP (Stampin’Up); White (PTI); Smoke (SSS);
Other: Magical Dragons die (MFT); Half & Half die (PTI); Marigold twine (The Twinery); Borders 2 die (Paper Smooches); white acrylic paint (stash);

My Lucky Charm

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Today I am playing along with Addicted to CAS: Luck.

My Lucky Charm | by karen @ carefree creations

Ultra simple here! I stamped and colored the images then die cut them. They are adhered to the card with tiny bits of foam tape.

Thanks for taking a peek!

you’re my lucky charm
Stamps: My Lucky Charm (Lawn Fawn);
Ink: Black (Momento); Copic markers;
Paper: White (Papertrey Ink);
Other: My Lucky Charm dies (Lawn Fawn);

St Patrick’s Hat

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It is time for another CASology challenge. Check out the latest challenge – Abstract!

Here is my take:

St Patrick's Hat | by karen @ carefree creations

I had lots of ideas for this challenge cue. I finally decided to make a card that implies a thing, but isn’t shaped like it [you know, abstract] (for instance: pig, snowman, or reindeer). I tried a few things, unsuccessfully, but finally got a leprechaun’s hat to work.

The buckle is a die that is not completely straight in the inner corners, but I just trimmed it with scissors.

I hope you join us at CASology – and, for more inspiration, check out the other design team members:

Thanks for stopping by!

happy st. patrick’s day
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes (Stampin’Up – SU);
Ink: Versamark (Tsukineko);
Paper: New Leaf (Papertrey Ink); Gold Glitter paper, Lime Twist (SU); Dill Pickle (My Favorite Things);
Other: gold embossing (Simon Says Stamp); Framed Out 1 die (PTI); Lucky Leaves die (Memory Box);

Amazing Butterfly

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

And here is my take:

Amazing Butterfly | by karen @ carefree creations

I admit it, this *was* a challenge! Finding something where all 3 colors looked good to me was difficult! The way I got to this (which I love) was to remember techniques for combining pattern paper that I learned while scrapbooking. One technique was to ink the edges of pieces you were placing together so that the inked edges helped unify them. Once I started thinking in that direction, I went to stained glass (which I don’t have any stamps/dies for) but that led me to this beautiful butterfly die!

I actually have the other die that looks just like the leafy branch I used but is an outline. I thought about using it and doing the same piecing technique, but it was too much black. Instead, I chose a label sentiment over the green leafy branch to continue the “unifying” effect of black. This way the focus is on the butterfly and sentiment.

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).

Amazing
Stamps: Label Love (Altenew);
Ink: Graphite Brilliance (Tsukineko);
Paper: White (Papertrey Ink); Fresh Fig, Crushed Curry, Lemon Lime Twist (Stampin’Up);
Other: Vivienne Butterfly die, Lorelai Leaf die (Memory Box);

Fighting Fit

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It is time for another CASology challenge. Check out the latest challenge – Fit!

Here is my take:

Fighting Fit | by karen @ carefree creations

I don’t know why, but when I saw “fit”, my first thought was the phrase “fighting fit”. Uniko is our sponsor this week and these stamps really pulled the idea together for me!

I clustered and layered the images to retain white space. The colors are (almost) opposite on the color wheel so they stand out from each other and add interest.

The explosion image and sentiment are fussy cut.

I hope you join us at CASology – and, for more inspiration, check out the other design team members:

Thanks for stopping by!

BAM!
Stamps: Background Blocks – Halftone, Explosion, Explosion Additions (Uniko);
Ink: Hibiscus Burst (Papertrey Ink – PTI); Pineapple (My Favorite Things); Truffle (Momento);
Paper: White (PTI);

Tiny All Around

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

And here is my take:

Thanks | by karen @ carefree creations

The first thing I thought of when I saw this sketch was a polaroid frame. I have two – one that is quite large and one that is quite small, lol. I decided to use the quite small one and make the card into a 4-bar size (3 1/2 x 4 7/8) so that the tiny frame wasn’t completely lost.

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).

thank you so much
Stamps: Framed Out #1 sentiment, Tag-Its #5 flowers (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding (Stampin’Up); Truffle (Momento);
Paper: White, Aqua Mist Pattern Pack (PTI);
Other: Framed Out #12 die (PTI);

I Admire and Love You

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I found a new challenge – Library Craft Challenge. I love reading so I am totally stoked by this challenge! The first challenge is: Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice!

Here is the card I made:

Admire & Love You | by karen @ carefree creations

I love Austen so much. When Papertrey released their Simply Jane set ages ago I snapped it up immediately! I just had to use the set for this challenge.

While the challenge doesn’t have a style requirement, I did end up being fairly clean and simple.

I stamped the couple in black as a silhouette, then embossed with a heart die. To add a pop to the card, I stamped the sentiment on a red banner.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Admire and Love You
Stamps: Simply Jane (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Black (PTI);
Paper: White, Pure Poppy (PTI);
Other: Heart die (Hero Arts);

I’m a Sucker….for a Good Pun

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It is time for another CASology challenge. Check out the latest challenge – Pun!

Here is my take:

Sucker for You | by karen @ carefree creations

I *am* a sucker for a good pun. Lots of my stamp sets are punny. I stamped this on Valentine’s Day so I guess I was a little influenced in my sentiment/image selection.

I hope you join us at CASology – and, for more inspiration, check out the other design team members:

Thanks for stopping by!

I’m a sucker for you
Stamps: Color Layering Octopus (Hero Arts);
Ink: Coral Crush, Persimmon (My Favorit Things); Versamark (Tsukineko);
Paper: White (Papertrey Ink); Island Indigo (Stampin’Up);
Other: white embossing powder (Hero Arts);