Thanksgiving Leaves

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Thanksgiving Foliage | by karen @ carefree creations

Splitcoaststampers is having a Falliday Fest – a week of challenges all focused on the upcoming holidays. I’m a bit behind, but I managed a card for the first challenge: be inspired by the fall colors of NYC and use text. This dovetailed quite nicely with One Layer Simplicity Challenge of using red, orange, and yellow.

To make this card, I masked off the edges and then did my stamping. I used a very pale ink for the added text as I didn’t want it to overwhelm anything.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Happy Thanksgiving
Stamps: Leaf Prints, Basket of Happiness, Background Basics: Text (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Pure Poppy, Fine Linen, Dark Chocolate (PTI); Crushed Curry, Peach Parfait (Stampin’Up);
Paper: Cream (PTI);
Technique: one-layer card; masking;
Challenge: Splitcoaststampers Falliday Fest; One Layer Simplicity Challenge

Thanksgiving Dinner

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

ccs_2016-10-13_195

And here is my take:

Thanksgiving Dinner | by karen @ carefree creations

This is such a versatile sketch – I had lots of ideas!

I thought this would be a cute take on the sketch – setup like a dinner place setting (the plaid paper being the napkin).

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 Thanksgiving
Stamps: Autumn Acorns, Keep it Simple: Thanksgiving (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Crushed Curry, Peach Parfait, Chocolate Chip (Stampin’Up); Persimmon (My Favorite Things);
Paper: Kraft, Rustic Cream, Silver card stock (PTI); Perfectly Plaid Fall pattern paper (Lawn Fawn);
Other: Flatware 2 die (Paper Smooches); Autumn Acorns die, Sketched Shapes die (PTI);

Halloween Dots

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I found some inspiration on Pinterest and couldn’t wait to make a card.

Halloween Dots | by karen @ carefree creations

Thanks for taking a peek!

Happy Halloween
Stamps: Brush Stroke Alphabet (Stampin’Up – SU); Get to the Point Sentiments (Papertrey Ink – PTI); Lots of Dots (Simon Says Stamp);
Ink: Lucky Limeade, Tangelo Twist (SU); Black (PTI);
Paper: White (PTI);
Other: Happy Spooky Halloween die (PTI);
Inspired by: Pinspiration

Merry Bright Trees

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

ccs_2016-10-06_194

And here is my take:

Merry Bright Trees | by karen @ carefree creations

I love using non-traditional color schemes for Christmas cards. When I was brainstorming for this challenge, I thought about blue and green (and after a few other ideas) came to trees and this card formed!

I added a square rhinestone to the top of each tree. I’ve had those square blings for ages and this is the first time I’ve used them – but I thought they would look like little stars.

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).

merry&bright
Stamps: Merry & Bright, Holiday Swoosh (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Emerald Envy, Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo (Stampin’Up);
Paper: White (PTI);
Other: rhinestones (Basic Grey);

Halloween Wreath

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Halloween Wreath | by karen @ carefree creations

A special Halloween card for my sister-in-law who *loves* Halloween more than anything!

I’m sending this in a package, so I could do lots of depth. The watercolor panel is up on foam; the wreath is 5 layers thick; and the sentiment uses quite a few dimensionals!

This card sat on my desk for weeks before I was able to finish it to satisfaction. I had found the inspiration on Pinterest ages ago, and even picked out the sketch I wanted to use. I think putting all those eyes on was intimidating because it required planned randomness!

My original watercoloring included a bit of stencil painting over a lighter background, but it was just too much going on. I put more ink on the panel to make it darker and bigger (and cover up the stencil pattern) and I liked it much better.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Happy Halloween
Stamps: Keep it Simple: Halloween (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Peeled Paint Distress (Ranger); Versamark (Tsukineko);
Paper: Orange Zest (PTI); Watercolor (Ranger); Wild Wasabi card stock, Nite Owl DSP, Ghostly Greetings DSP (Stampin’Up – SU);
Other: tons of googlie eyes (stash); Swirly Scribbles die (SU);
Sketch: RetroSketch 222
Inspired by from: Pinterest

Southwest Hello

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

CCS 193

And here is my take:

Southwest Hello | by karen @ carefree creations

Simple, simple card. A bit of masking, one tiny strip of card stock – and boom, done!

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: Southwest Style, Wet Paint (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Mint Macaron, Tangerine Tango (Stampin’Up – SU);
Paper: White (PTI); Rich Razzleberry (SU);
Technique: one-layer card;

PTI Blog Hop – Simple Package

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Today is Papertrey Ink’s Blog Hop. The inspiration was clean and simple (my favorite style for card making):

2016-ptibloghop-inspiration

As usual, my card is a fairly literal representation:

Simple Package | by karen @ carefree creations

Thanks for taking a peek!

Merry Christmas
Stamps: Mistletoe & Holly, Peaceful Pinecones, Tiny Tags II, Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Cocoa Bean, Dark Chocolate (PTI); Lucky Limeade, Poppy Parade (Stampin’Up);
Paper: Kraft, Rustic White (PTI);
Other: twine, Mistletoe & Holly die, Tiny Tags die (PTI);
Challenge: PTI Blog Hop

Congrats

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

ccs_2016-09-22_192

And here is my take:

Congrats | by karen @ carefree creations

I recently bought the layered banner, but hadn’t used it yet. I thought it would be a good focal piece for this sketch. I used school colors for the banner and then my favorite yellow for the stars.

The sentiment is embossed and, I must say, I think this is the best I’ve ever done with embossing! I do think the powder quality helped a lot, but dang – so smooth and no little extra dots. I love it when it works right!

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).

Congrats
Stamps: Layered Banner, Scribble Stars (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Crushed Curry (Stampin’Up); Versamark (Tsukineko);
Paper: White, Enchanted Evening, Scarlet Jewel pattern (PTI);
Other: Layered Banner die, Scribble Star die (PTI); White embossing powder (Hero Arts);

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)