Big Smooch

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This is my busy time at work, but I am definitely going to carve time on the weekend for stamping. Today I made a card for the CAS(e) This Sketch challenge.

Big Smooch | by karen @ carefree creations

I had this kiss set out on my desk for another card and I thought the large image would be perfect for this sketch. When I added the bling where the sketch had an accent, it looks likes a beauty mark.

Thanks for taking a peek!

love you
Stamps: Smooches (Lil Inkers);
Ink: Primrose Petals (Stampin Up); Versamark (Tsukineko);
Paper: White, Black (PTI);
Other: white embossing powder (Hero Arts); rhinestone (Kaiser)
Challenge: CAS(e) This Sketch

Quilled Congratulations

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

And here is my take:

Quilled Congratulations | by karen @ carefree creations

When I designed this sketch, I wanted a dripping/draped feel to the image. While I didn’t use a conventional floral image, my card is pretty much what I envisioned.

I love this quilled image set. To stamp this, I first used a light grey ink, then stamped with solid images – not everywhere, but most. Then I re-stamped with Versamark and gold embossed the outlines.

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).

Congratulations
Stamps: Quilled Elegance (Papertrey Ink – PTI); Bravo (StmapinUp – SU);
Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Poppy Parade, Island Indigo (SU); Tropical Teal (My Favorite Things – MFT);
Paper: White (PTI); Tropical Teal (MFT);
Other: gold emboss powder (Filigree);
Technique: heat embossing;

You Made My Day

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Today’s card is for Freshly Made Sketches challenge

Here is my card:

You Made my Day | by karen @ carefree creations

This week’s sketch is very versatile. I decided to break out an old wheel – this is one that I love but I don’t think I’ve ever used it! I love the quirky flowers and leaves. (Though, I am thinking about cutting the dots out of the rubber to make it a bit more modern feeling.)

My preferred card making style is CAS. I tend to go in spurts with white or colored card bases. I seem to be on a color base trend now. I love yellow, it is a happy color, but I struggle to use it as a card base. I like how this card finished up.

Once I decided how to do the sentiment, I added a scallop peeking out from the yellow border strip to help tie together with the sentiment panel.

Thanks for taking a peek!

You Made my Day
Stamps: Tweet Time wheel, Best of Greetings (Stampin Up);
Ink: New Leaf, Melon Berry (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Paper: Bright Buttercup, White (PTI); Lemon Chiffon (My Favorite Things);
Other: Limitless Layers Circle die, Heart Border die (PTI);
Challenge: Freshly Made Sketches

Cup of Cheer

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This card is for My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch challenge.

Here is my card:

Cup of Cheer | by karen @ carefree creations

I love this yeti set – those guys are so adorable!

It wasn’t until I was putting this post together, but with this being sketch #314 – someone missed out an opportunity by not having a circle on the card. Sadly, I didn’t include one on my card either!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Sending You a Cup of Cheer
Stamps: Beast Friends, Hug in a Mug (My Favorite Things – MFT);
Ink: Black (Momento); markers (Copic);
Paper: Sno Cone, Cement (MFT); White (Neena);
Other: Beast Friends, Icebergs (MFT);
Challenge: MFT Sketch #314

Winter Fun

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I’m playing along with the CASology challenge.

The cue card is: Cold. Here is my card:

Winter Fun | by karen @ carefree creations

So many ideas for “cold” – I love word type challenges, they offer so much interpretation. I went with the obvious – winter.

I used this blue because it feels wintery to me. I love the ice skate image but sometimes I’m not sure what to do with them. I figured, why not hang them?! At first it was just going to be from the top of the card with the sentiment on the tag below, but then I thought the tag would be perfect to hang the skates from. Just a pop of color with the red twine.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Enjoy the fun
Stamps: On Ice, Fancy Flourishes, Peace Be Still (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Aqua Mist, Black (PTI);
Paper: Aqua Mist, White (PTI);
Other: red twine (stash); On Ice die, Keep it Simple Frame die (PTI);
Challenge: CASology challenge

Be Mine

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This post is to play in the Less is More challenge.

The challenge is dimension. Here is my card:

Be Mine | by karen @ carefree creations

I was going for an Iris Folding type of thing, but I just winged it and ended up with a bunch of layers of paper 🙂 Still, I like it.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Be Mine
Paper: Pure Poppy, White (Papertrey Ink – PTI); Candy Lane DSP (StampinUp);
Other: XOXO die, Limitless Layers Heart die, Heart Border die (PTI);
Challenge: Less is More challenge

Throughout the Year

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I’m playing along with the CAS(e) This Sketch challenge.

Here is what I came up with:

Throughout the Year | by karen @ carefree creations

I had lots of ideas for the sketch and through a twisty route I came up with this “through the year” idea. Since I used different colors, I used bling to help link the rows together. The bling is colored the same as the images, but I tried to place them to line up. Thank the MISTI for how easy this was to stamp!!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Happy Birthday
Stamps: Around About Sentiments, Turning a New Leaf, Twig Wreath, Winter Penguin, Keep it Simple: Birthday 2, Inside-Out: Birthday (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Lovely Lady, New Leaf, Blueberry Sky (PTI); Peekaboo Peach (StampinUp); Espresso Truffle (Momento);
Paper: White (PTI);
Other: rhinestones (Me & My Big Ideas, Kaiser Kraft); markers (Copic) – to color the green & peach bling;
Technique: one-layer card
Challenge: CAS(e) This Sketch challenge

Let’s Get Cozy

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I’m playing along with Paper Smooches Sparks challenge. It is a theme and inspiration combination. The theme is cozy and the inspiration photo is:

I’ll admit, I had a hard time finding the inspiration photo cozy! But I had a brain storm and it worked out beautifully:

Let's Get Cozy | by karen @ carefree creations

I got to try my hand at mirror stamping with the MISTI. I followed Jennifer McGuire’s video. It worked wonderfully!

The cocoa is watercolored. I added a bit of texture to the mugs with an embossing folder. And I tied it all together with some fiber.

Since it turned out so wonderfully, I’m going to forget that a mistake led me to the stitched border and white on white layering. Instead of attributing that to having stamped on the card base UPSIDE DOWN, we’ll just pretend that I was inspired by the layers of the window sill. 🙂

Thanks for taking a peek!

let’s get cozy
Stamps: Hot Concoctions, Dude Block, Space Cadet, Christmas Sampler, Mini Monograms (Paper Smooches);
Ink: Mocha (Altenew); Wet Cement (Hero Arts);
Paper: White (Papertrey Ink);
Other: fiber (stash); Fancy Fan embossing folder (StampinUp); Stitched Rectangle dies (Lil Inkers);
Challenge: Paper Smooches Sparks

Ocean Sunset

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

And here is my take:

Ocean Sunset | by karen @ carefree creations

When I was picking colors for this challenge, I thought soft wintery colors would be good for the first January challenge. Of course, when I went to stamp, that is not where my mind ended up, lol.

I used distress inks to watercolor. I had to mix the Velvet & Perserves to make a Sugarplum equivalent (though, since it is just that slim section between the pink and blue, it might not have been necessary).

Originally, the sentiment strip was done with Sugarplum, but it was too bright for the sunset scene. I ended up taking that apart and trying again. Thankfully grey is now an acceptable neutral color for this challenge. It was the perfect accent!

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: Wetlands (StampinUp – SU); Keep it Simple Birthday (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Spun Sugar, Tumbled Glass, Seedless Preserves, Victorian Velvet distress inks (Ranger); Espresso Truffle (Momento);
Paper: Soft Sky (SU); Fog (Simon Says Stamp); Watercolor (Ranger);
Other: Stitched Square die (Lil Inkers);

Mistletoe Greetings

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Mistletoe Greetings | by karen @ carefree creations

I’ve had no Christmas spirit this year. I didn’t send cards, didn’t put up a tree, and I listened to maybe 20 minutes of music. So it should come as no surprise that this card sat on my desk for a couple weeks – all stamped and ready, just needed some tape to hold it together, lol. Better late than never? 🙂

I’m really happy with how this turned out (you may see this layout later this year as a sketch for CC&S, lol). I’m surprised at how well/true the green looks on blue paper.

I need to practice with the enamel stuff though. When I first put it on it was translucent and I thought it just needed to dry. By the time I got to the last dots the white started coming out and I realized that while I did shake the bottle, it wasn’t nearly enough. I really thought I’d be throwing out that panel, but the enamel wiped off without smearing across the card stock.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Season’s Greetings
Stamps: Mistletoe & Holly, Season’s Greetings (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: New Leaf (PTI); Dapper Denim (StampinUp);
Paper: Blue Breeze (My Favorite Things); White (PTI);
Other: Enamel Accents white (Ranger); Holiday Tags die, red/white twine (PTI); Stitched Rectangle die (Lil Inkers);