thinking of you

Posted on by

I was inspired to stamp last night:

Thinking of You | by karen @ carefree creations

I ordered from Uniko and the package arrived last night. I paired a new-to-me stamp – the striped background – with one I’ve had for a bit – the flower image. I first colored the flowers with copics, then stamped the detail images with ink. The flower is fussy cut (either I had it going on last night or it wasn’t as hard as I thought it might be). Love the striped background, a great way to add interest and grounding.

Thanks for taking a peek!

thinking of you
Stamps: Beautiful Blooms II, Background Basics Horizontal Stripes (Uniko); Around and About Sentiments (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: markers (Copic); Tuxedo Black (Momento); Fog (Simon Says Stamp); Saffron Spice (PTI); Bermuda Bay (Stampin’Up); Pure Plum (My Favorite Things);
Paper: White (PTI);

Always with a Book

Posted on by

This weekend I’ll be posting my cards from my January 2016 time with the Splitcoast Dirty Dozen. Each month has a theme; if you are a member of the Fan Club, you can view more details about this card and its relation to the challenge here.

Gnome | by karen @ carefree creations

This is an old Stampin’Up set, but I love the gnomes in it! I broke out my Copics for this one. No sentiment…just focusing on the little dude reading!

I really love the cream colored base with the white panel…I need to do that more!

Thanks for taking a peek!

~gnome~
Stamps: Knobbly Gnomes, So Very Grateful (SU);
Ink: Baked Brown Sugar (SU); Black (Momento); markes (Copic);
Paper: Naturals Ivory (SU); White (PTI);
Other: Stitched Rectangles die (Lil Inkers);

Sorry This is Late!

Posted on by

Eeeek! I joined the CASology design team! My thanks go out to Melissa and the team!! Today is a new challenge – Late.

And here is my take:

Sorry This is Late | by karen @ carefree creations
When I first saw this cue card I had lots of ideas – one of my favorites was “pregnancy” but I just didn’t have supplies to do anything for it…dern! My helpful family said I could do a sympathy card (for the euphemism of “being late”), but I thought that might be a bit too sassy for a new team member. So I put my brain back in gear and realized my library books are due tomorrow.

Collages can be hard on a CAS card. I selected just a few images and stamped them close together/overlapping to make it seem like one image. And there is still plenty of white space. To help give some dimension, I fussy-cut the sentiment and popped it up with dimensional adhesive.

The scribble circle around “Past Due” is from the PTI It’s Official set. The image has an A+ within the loop. I cut my stamp apart then I was able to stretch the circle when placing it on the block so it would fit around the words which were in the same set.

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

Thanks for stopping by!

Sorry
Stamps: Apologies (Paper Smooches); Stamp of Authenticity (Stampin’Up); It’s Official (Papertrey Ink – PTI); To Thine Own Shelf (Simon Says Stamp);
Ink: Black, Pure Poppy, Saffron Spice, Enchanted Evening, Plum Pudding (PTI); Elf Green (My Favorite Things); Espresso Truffle (Momento);
Paper: White (PTI);

Birthday Gang

Posted on by

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

And here is my take:

Birthday Herd | by karen @ carefree creations

This card is a tri-fold card. I made 2 card bases and taped them together so that the window flap opens to show the herd image which then opens to a blank inside.

Here is a better look at the herd:

Birthday Herd inside | by karen @ carefree creations

I colored the image with colored pencils (you can click the image to see it larger). I don’t have any gamsol, so this isn’t really blended at all. I did use a blending color pencil, but it didn’t help much. I’m still deciding if I want to get some gamsol, or just stick with my Copics.

Since the balloon shows through the window, I backed the pattern paper balloon with a cardstock balloon (the string die sandwiched between). I just liked the finish.

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).

Happy Birthday
Stamps: From the Herd (Stampin’Up – SU); Bountiful Banners (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Black for sentiment (PTI); Bashful Blue (SU); Black for herd (Brilliance Tsukineko); Colored Pencils (Prismacolor);
Paper: White, Pure Poppy pattern (PTI); Bashful Blue, Poppy Parade (SU);
Other: Bountiful Banners die, Balloon Strings die, Picnic Plaid impression plate (PTI); Make a Wish balloon die (Taylored Expressions); Stitched Circle die (Simon Says Stamp);

Winter Winds

Posted on by

My final December 2015 Splitcoast Dirty Dozen time. Each DD month has a theme. If you are a member of the Fan Club, you can view more details about this card and its relation to the challenge here.

Winter Winds | by karen @ carefree creations

The winds were created by using a wave die. I die-cut it from 3 shades of blue. One color I used as the frame and then pieced the other two colors into the frame alternating the shades.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Warm Wishes
Stamps: Holiday Cheer (W plus 9); Tiny Tags (PTI);
Ink: Autumn Rose, Scarlet Jewel (PTI);
Paper: White, Spring Rain, Blueberry Sky (PTI); Marina Mist (SU);
Other: Stitched Rectangles die (Lil Inkers); Waves Coverplate die (PTI);

Glimmer of Moonlight

Posted on by

Posting a card for the CASology Glimmer challenge.

This cue took me a bit. I had to look up the definition “shine faintly with a wavering light” — and the example sentence was “moonlight glimmered on the lawn”. No way could I make grass work, but water…definitely could do that:

Glimmer of Moonlight | by karen @ carefree creations

The moon is done by stamping the brushed half-circle image (in Papertrey’s Brushed Off set), rotating it 180 degrees and stamping again. I saw someone else do this with this stamp set, but I cannot find it – sorry to whoever did this before, thank you for your inspiration!!

The water is done with a combination of images. I then used Stickles on the water images for the actual glimmer. It is hard to see even when I tried to take a good photo of it:

Glimmer of Moonlight | by karen @ carefree creations

Thanks for taking a peek!

i love you
Stamps: Brushed Off, Swansational (Papertrey Ink – PTI); Shore Thing (Stampin’Up);
Ink: Fresh Snow (PTI);
Paper: Dark Indigo, White (PTI);
Other: Handwritten die (Lil B); Frosted Lace Stickles (Ranger);

Still of the Night

Posted on by

Another card from my Splitcoast Dirty Dozen time. Each DD month has a theme. If you are a member of the Fan Club, you can view more details about this card and its relation to the challenge here.

Still of the Night | by karen @ carefree creations

This is my favorite card from the month. I was again inspired by the winter sky. I used distress inks to create the background then added dies to create the scene.

No sentiment because it is the “still of the night” – quiet.

Thanks for taking a peek!

~deer~
Stamps: none!
Ink: Tattered Rose, Weathered Wood distress ink (Ranger);
Paper: Watercolor paper (Ranger); White (PTI);
Other: Birch Trees die (Impression Obsession); In the Meadow deer die (PTI); In the Meadow hill die (PTI);

Frosty Friends

Posted on by

Happy new weekend! I’m posting another card from my December 2015 Splitcoast Dirty Dozen time. Each DD month has a theme. If you are a member of the Fan Club, you can view more details about this card and its relation to the challenge here.

Friends Warm the Heart | by karen @ carefree creations

I used some bright pattern paper to perk up a snowy white card. The snowflakes stamped down the center helps to anchor the snowman.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Friends warm the heart.
Stamps: Making Frosty Friends (Lawn Fawn);
Ink: Spring Rain (PTI); Midnight Muse (SU);
Paper: Country Drive pattern paper (Echo Park); White (PTI);
Other: Making Frosty Friends die (Lawn Fawn); In the Meadow Hill die (PTI);
Technique: paper piecing;

Winter Hope

Posted on by

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

And here is my take:

Winter Hope | by karen @ carefree creations

Whoa boy, did this card take some time! I knew right away that, with these colors, I wanted to do a winter snowflake card. I spent hours selecting and arranging images to use. There were so many ways to lay it out and they all gave a different feel. I wanted my card to provide a feeling of movement and hope. To that end, I decided not to do anything too geometric/lined-up. I tried to do a watercolor thing, but that didn’t work and the colors weren’t quite right.

I finally decided to do a bit of sponging with the blue and stamp the snowflakes in a triangle with the sentiment as little strips over the flakes.

Originally I didn’t have any border on the main white panel, so I added a bit of wonky stitching with a die, but it didn’t look quite right (the paper was already cut down and I didn’t want to make smaller and not all the wonk fit), so I die cut again but with a straight stitch die.

The card needed one more touch – sparkle. I embossed the snowflakes with a glitter powder. I think my photo shows that the snowflakes are purple with a sparkly layer.

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).

Winter Hope
Stamps: Fresh Snow, Flap Happy, Scripty Sayings, Mini Monograms (Paper Smooches);
Ink: Soft Sky (Stampin’Up); Winter Wisteria, Plum Pudding (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Paper: White, Plum Pudding (PTI);
Other: Iridescent Sparkle embossing powder (Judikins);

Birthday Quilt

Posted on by

Another card from my Splitcoast Dirty Dozen time. Each DD month has a theme. If you are a member of the Fan Club, you can view more details about this card and its relation to the challenge here.

Birthday Quilt | by karen @ carefree creations

So today is my mom’s birthday, so I thought it would be cool to post a birthday card. This isn’t the one I sent my mom, but still gives me an opportunity to say “Happy Birthday, Mom!”

I’m sorry I don’t have a link to this paper folding technique. I know I saw it somewhere, but I couldn’t find a card or tutorial. I punched a bunch of circles from pattern paper, scored a square on the inside and folded the edges in.

I placed the folded circles in the diamonds of the embossed background.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Birthday Wishes
Stamps: Happy Birthday (Paper Smooches);
Ink: Cherry Cobbler (SU);
Paper: Old Olive cardstock, Paisley Petals DSP (SU); Vintage Cream (PTI);
Other: Streamers die (Paper Smooches); Gold cord (SU); Leaves & Diamonds embossing (Sizzix);