Birthday Butterfly

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

CC&S_2016-09-08_#190

And here is my take:

Bold Butterfly | by karen @ carefree creations

I had another idea in my head for this sketch, but it was not working out. Then I drew inspiration from my DT. A couple weeks back a few members used tone on tone layers and embossing to implement that sketch. I decided that would be perfect for this card (I didn’t want to start completely over).

I used a card that was already cut, but it is a bit smaller than normal 5.5 x 4 – not sure why it was cut that way, but I went with it!

To make the curve, I used an old Spellbinders Labels 10 die turned sideways. I had to do a partial die cut so I only cut the one edge – but that is easily done by positioning everything on the edge of the machine cutting plates.

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 Birthday
Stamps: Beautiful Butterflies, Beautiful Butterflies Layers (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Berry Sorbet, Scarlet Jewel (PTI); Primrose Petals, Pacific Point (Stampin’Up);
Paper: White, Scarlet Jewel (PTI); Soft Sky (SU);
Other: Beautiful Butterflies, Beautiful Butterflies Layers dies (PTI); Labels 10 die (Spellbinders);

Happy Mail for College Student

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Happy Mail | by karen @ carefree creations

I have a niece who is starting at University of Texas this year. I thought I’d send her a little happy mail. This is the card I made for her.

The college colors are orange and I thought these flowers would look great in orange.

Very simple card.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Hello
Stamps: Too Kind, Four You (Stampin’Up);
Ink: Canyon Clay, Terracotta Tile, old Ripe Avocado (Papertrey Ink – PTI); Espresso Truffle (Momento);
Paper: White (PTI);
Technique: one-layer card olc;

Best Year Yet

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

CC&S_2016-09-01_#189

This is my month to host at CC&S. I selected my colors and created my sketches months ago. I probably had ideas in my head for what I would stamp…but dang if I can remember now! Why do I do this to myself?? I know with this challenge I was thinking beginning of school, so let’s go with primary colors. Hmph. Have fun 🙂

Since school is what I was thinking, that is the theme I used for my card:

Back 2 School | by karen @ carefree creations

I have 4 nieces/nephews in college. For one of them, this is the final year, so I thought this sentiment would be a good one.

The eraser is Real Red, just off stamped a couple times first. And the leaf is Island Indigo.

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).

Hope this year
Stamps: Teacher’s Apple, Teach & Inspire, Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Real Red, Crushed Curry, Island Indigo (Stampin’Up); Espresso Truffle (Memento);
Paper: White (PTI);
Other: Stitched Rectangle die (Lil Inkers);

Wisteria Thanks

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

CC&S_2016-08-25_#188

And here is my take:

Wisteria Thanks | by karen @ carefree creations

This sketch was a stumper at first, but once I spied my new lattice dies, I knew what to do.

When stamping the leaves, I used light and medium greens; the vine is a dark green.

Since everything else was quite subtle incolor, I didn’t want a harsh black for the sentiment, so I found a darker blue that complemented the card base.

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).

thank you
Stamps: Garden Gate, Inside Out: Thank You (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Winter Wisteria, Green Parakeet, New Leaf (PTI); Garden Green, Lost Lagoon (Stampin’Up);
Paper: SeaGlass (Simon Says Stamp); Winter Wisteria, White (PTI);
Other: Garden Gate dies (PTI); Oval & Oval Scalop die (Spellbinders);

Sweet Cake

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

CC&S_2016-08-18_#187

And here is my take:

Sweet Cake | by karen @ carefree creations

Seeing these colors, I just knew I needed to do something sweet!

The flowers are cut using the coordinating dies, but they are trimmed as the dies have room for leaves (which I couldn’t stamp because they would have been green – not a color in the combination).

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).

Sweet Birthday Wishes
Stamps: Just Desserts (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Flirty Flamingo, Sweet Sugarplum (Stampin’Up); Cocoa Bean (PTI);
Paper: Cocoa Bean, White (PTI);
Other: Just Desserts die, Frosted Borders die (PTI); Rhinestones (Kaiser);

May Your Dreams Take Flight

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

CC&S_2016-08-11_#186

And here is my take:

Dreams Take Flight | by karen @ carefree creations

At first I was a bit flummoxed with the sketch, but I soon came up with a few ideas (you may see the others later). I settled on the feathers because they were the most unique option.

I watercolored the background using distress inks and watercolor paper. This is quite a few layers of ink smooshing (I wanted it dark enough under the feathers that they would pop).

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).

May Your Dreams Take Flight
Stamps: Pond Life Sentiments (Papertrey Ink);
Ink: Salty Ocean distress (Ranger); Versamark (Tuskineko);
Paper: watercolor (Ranger); Lush Lagoon (My Favorite Things);
Other: white embossing powder (Hero Arts); Feather dies (Simon Says Stamp);

On a Dark Night

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On a Dark Night | by karen @ carefree creations

I’ve planned out all my Halloween cards and decided I better get started on actually stamping them.

I was very much inspired by photo I saw on pinterest, but since the original link no longer exists, I’m not sure I can share the photo here. My card is pretty faithful, so you may have seen it already.

I chose a light grey card stock as my base; I stamped the tree and masked the branch the owl sits on. The owl is white heat embossed on the card. I also added a cloud mask. Lots and lots of sponging.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Happy Halloween
Stamps: Spooky (Newton’s Nook); Keep it Simple: Halloween (Papertrey Ink);
Ink: Graphite Black Brilliance, Versamark (Tsukineko); Black Soot, Hickory Smoke distress (Ranger);
Paper: Fog Gray, Black (Simon Says Stamp);
Other: Cloud 1 & 2 die (Papertrey Ink);
Technique: sponging; embossing;

Blue Hexagons

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

CC&S_2016-08-04_#185

And here is my take:

Blue Hexagons | by karen @ carefree creations

I find monochromatic challenges very challenging! I decided to do something geometric.

I used a die set from Simon Says Stamp. The set comes with 4 hexagon dies – but nestled together to make 2 sets of inlaid shapes. Since I hadn’t cut them apart yet, doing these cuts was SUPER easy. Once the 3 color were cut, I separated the pieces and then starting mixing and matching.

I played with the layout / flow of the hexagons quite a bit before I eventually decided the best thing is to have some hanging off the edge and just tried to make sure nothing lined up too much and the same colors were not too close.

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).

Thinking of You
Stamps: Keep it Simple: Thinking of You (Papertrey Ink – PTI)
Ink: Midnight Muse (Stampin’Up – SU);
Paper: Kraft (PTI); Marina Mist, Dapper Denim (SU); Nightshift Blue (My Favorite Things);
Other: Perfect Shape dies (Simon Says Stamp);

Our Love Story

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DTGD-Blinkie-2016

It is Dare to Get Dirty time at Splitcoast!!

What is Dare to Get Dirty? It is a special week during the year that the folks in the Dirty Dozen host a bunch of challenges as a thank you to all the fan club members. Not a fan club member – check it out.

I made a sample card for one of the challenges (you can see all the challenges here if you are fan club member).

Our Love Store | by karen @ carefree creations

I did my favorite wet paper watercolor technique. Wet some watercolor paper, stamp your image – let it bleed, then after it has dried some, re-stamp the image. My first stamping (the wet) I did with 2 colors – red & orange; my final stamping was just the red.

Since I didn’t stamp any leaves, I wanted a touch of green, so I did a tiny mat around the stamped panel. I love how it turned out!

I use Ranger watercolor paper because it is whiter than anything else I’ve found and I like that – a LOT. One thing about it though is that it is very textured which makes stamping sentiments difficult (even with a MISTI). I had an epiphany when I made this card. I used my acrylic bone folder to gently press the texture out of the area where I wanted to stamp my sentiment. I still used my MISTI, but the de-texturizing really helped!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Love Story
Stamps: Sending My Love (Papertrey Ink – PTI);
Ink: Candied Apple, Carved Pumpkin distress (Ranger); Graphite Black Brilliance (Tsukineko);
Paper: White, Simply Chartreuse (PTI); Watercolor (Ranger);
Other: Stitched Rectangle dies (Lil Inker);

Tropical Thanks

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

CC&S_2016-07-28_#184

I’m the host for this week’s challenge. I came up with the sketch while I was on vacation last month. When I got home I tried it out right away by making this Fourth of July card. When it came time to make a sample for this challenge, I wanted to do something a little different.

And here is my take:

Tropical Thanks | by karen @ carefree creations

The first thing I knew I wanted to try was using washi on the sides instead of pattern paper or stamping. I don’t have a lot of washi, but I do love these bright geometric ones, so I started brainstorming from there.

It may be hard to see in the photo, but the washi is holding on a panel. I didn’t want too much going on, so the panel and the card base are both white.

I really love this set of flower/leaf dies! I haven’t used them nearly enough, so I thought I’d break them out for this card.

The Turquoise flower is sponged with Marina Mist. The stamping and sponging on the leaves is with Cucumber.

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).

Thanks
All supplies Stampin’Up unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Botanical Blooms, Watercolor Wishes;
Ink: Marina Mist, Crushed Cucumber, Pacific Point;
Paper: White, Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Green Galore;
Other: Gingham washi, Candy Dots: Brights;