Tag Archives: gender-neutral

Celebrate with a Beer

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Congrats - by karen @ carefree creations

A friend of mine is retiring soon. I made this card for him.

The beer image was stamped on Hello Honey paper and then sponged with Wild Honey distress ink.

For the foam on the beer, I used Liquid Applique and heat set it right away – you get more “bubbles” that way!

I won’t be posting much the next couple of weeks. I’m doing a lot of clean-up work in the galleries at SplitCoast and I have company.

Thankfully I’ve already created my CAS Colours & Sketches cards and posts for the next couple of weeks – so those will happen!

Thanks for taking a peek!

congrats
Stamps: Cheers to You (SU); Congrats All Ways (PTI);
Ink/Cardstock: Naturals Cream, Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey, White (SU); Black (PTI);
Other: Limitless Layers Circle die, Double-Ended Banner die (PTI); Peekaboo Frames die (SU); Liquid Applique;

Happy Healing

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Happy Healing - by karen @ carefree creations

My sister-in-law had some shoulder problems and is now in physical therapy. I wanted a happy and fun card to send to her.

I thought it would be cute to have the band-aid appear to hold the card together. The card base is blue and I just trimmed some white cardstock to fit the front in two panels.

The sentiment is part selective inking and part alphabet.

Thanks for taking a peek!

happy healing
Stamps: Healthy Vibes, Christmas Sampler (“happy”), Alphadot (Paper Smooches);
Ink/Cardstock: White, Aqua Mist, Simply Chartreuse, Pure Poppy (PTI);

Watercolor & Embossing

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Watercolor & Embossing - by karen @ carefree creations

Here’s my last July 4th card.

I was inspired by a recent video by Jennifer McGuire about watercoloring and embossing folders. Her technique uses distress inks and watercolor paper. I used plain ole dye ink and regular cardstock.

I smeared ink onto the embossing folder, spritz with water, added my cardstock and ran it through the machine. The right-side did NOT blend, so I covered up part of it with a cardstock border.

The sentiment is stamped on another panel (part of it is handwritten with a marker).

I won’t post my very last card because it is a complete CASE of this awesome card by Janelle.

Thanks for taking a peek!

happy July 4th
All supplies StampinUp unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Skinny Mini Alphabet;
Ink/Cardstock: Night of Navy, Real Red, Naturals White;
Other: Navy marker, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder;
Technique: watercolor & embossing folder

Patriotic Circles

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Patriotic Circles - by karen @ carefree creations

As of today I am all caught up creating my July 4th cards – but I’ll be posting them over the next few days.

I’m pretty happy with this one. I used a circle die and coordinating stamp set. Then I used a sentiment and repeated it over and over in the background with a light ink.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Happy July 4th
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Simple Circles, Est 1776;
Ink/Cardstock: White, Enchanted Evening, Pure Poppy, Soft Stone;
Other: Simple Circles die;

July 4th

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July 4th Waves - by karen @ carefree creations

Oh my – I love this card! Not often does a fuzzy idea work for me so well!

Last night I decided it was time to start working on my 4th of July cards – or they wouldn’t get sent out (much like last year). So I started googling the patriotic stamp sets I have to get some inspiration. A non-patriotic card popped-up that used the Rainbow Stripes die. I bought that die when it was released, but have not actually used it yet. Seeing that die in use got me thinking and this fuzzy idea to create the flag came to be (my card looks nothing like the one that sparked my idea – that too never happens for me…usually I see and idea and I can’t get away from it).

First I used the die to trim the edge of a panel of blue pattern paper (just lined up the die so the top stripe would cut the bottom of the panel…does that make sense??). Then I die cut the stripes from red cardstock.

The die is long enough to work on a landscape card, but I really liked the vertical orientation.

For the sentiment, I die-cut a star from white and then oriented it the way it would sit on the finished card – then I stamped the sentiment so it would be straight. I had another star that I tried a different approach (I added a little “happy” as well) but it just didn’t look right – not sure if it was crowded with the extra word or because the words weren’t straight…whatever it was, even though it didn’t work in this situation, I saved that piece….maybe you’ll see it in the next week or so 🙂

A very clean and simple card – just the way I like ’em!

Thanks for taking a peek!

4th of July
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Let Freedom Ring;
Ink/Cardstock: White, Pure Poppy, Enchanted Evening;
Other: Enchanted Evening pattern paper, Seeing Stars die, Rainbow Stripes die;

2014 Graduate

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2014 Grad - by karen @ carefree creations

I have a nephew who is graduating this year. His school colors are maroon, white, and gold. I was heavily inspired this card by Heather – I loved the large numbers with pattern paper showing through.

On the smaller white panel, I drew a light pencil line to assist in lining up the number dies. I also kept the inner parts for the 0 and 4. After attaching the small white panel with dimensional adhesive, I laid number die cut into its hole and then adhered the inner parts – and popped the number die back out.

Thanks for taking a peek!

2014 congrats
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: For the Graduate;
Ink/Cardstock: White, Black, Scarlet Jewel; gold (SU);
Other: For the Graduate die, Scarlet Jewel pattern paper, Wonderful Words: Congrats die, Super Stars border die, By the Numbers die;

Miss You Cityscape

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It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge: #78 – sketch.

CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge #78

I’m your hostess for this month at CAS Colours & Sketches. When creating this sketch, I was inspired by an image I pinned months ago:

And here is my take (obviously CASEd from the inspiration piece):

Miss You Cityscape by karen @ carefree creations

I really love the inspiration piece – I wanted to copy pretty much all of it. I chose colors that were similar to the artwork, and I used cityscape dies.

Make sure you check out the other design team members:
Jacqueline
Lizy
Louise
Patricia

I hope you join us at CAS Colours & Sketches!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Little About the Challenge: Posted every Thursday, the challenges alternate between color and sketch (if there is a 5th week in the month you get the double dose of color & sketch).

Miss You
Stamps: Skinny Mini Alphabet (SU); Handwritten Notes (PTI);
Ink/Cardstock: Aqua Mist (PTI); Summer Starfruit, Island Indigo (SU); White (Colorbox); Versamark (Tsukineko);
Other: white embossing powder (Hero Arts); Cityscape Nightline die (Memory Box); Skyline Border die (MFT); Aqua Mist pattern paper (PTI);

Awesome Day

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It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge: #77 – colors.

CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge #77

And here is my take:

by karen @ carefree creations - Awesome Day

So, I’m the hostess this month. You’d think I would pick colors that would be easy for me….but honestly, I was looking for a combo we hadn’t done yet! I do love bright colors, and maybe it is just because I wasn’t quite in a bright color mood, but I had a challenge with my challenge 🙂 I do love what I finally ended up with…just no idea who I will send it to (probably end up in my Operation Write Home box).

OK, I guess you’d rather read about how I made the card. I started with plain ole white cardstock (mostly because I hate that watercolor paper isn’t white, and has texture to it…one day I hope a vendor will come with a hybrid paper!!). I lightly wet it then did my stamping and wet again. Since it isn’t watercolor paper it did pill the cardstock a bit, but only to a discerning eye (I think, lol). I did go back and overstamp the green dots and yellow stars for a bit more definition.

After heating the panel with the heat gun, I used LOTS of tape to adhere the panel to the card base – not too much warping thankfully.

The “awesome” part of the sentiment is stamped directly on the panel; the “hope your day is” piece is cut-out and popped-up.

Make sure you check out the other design team members:
Jacqueline
Lizy
Louise
Patricia

I hope you join us at CAS Colours & Sketches!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Little About the Challenge: Posted every Thursday, the challenges alternate between color and sketch (if there is a 5th week in the month you get the double dose of color & sketch).

Hope Your Day is Awesome
Stamps: So 80s (W plus 9);
Ink/Cardstock: White, Black (PTI); Turquoise, Wasabi, Daffodil (SU);
Other: dimensional adhesive;

Cupcake Wish

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It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge: #76 – a double.

CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge #76

And here is my take:

by karen @ carefree creations - Cupcake Wishes

The double challenges are the hardest for me! Thankfully these colors are quite fun to work with and the sketch is a basic one that I use a lot.

I didn’t waste too much time picking a stamp set – as soon as I found something that worked, I went with it (that’s what happens when you don’t have time to stamp until the last minute, lol).

My card is very simple. I added a bit of texture to the red strip and that really did help finish the card.

Make sure you check out the other design team members:
Jacqueline
Lizy
Louise
Patricia

I hope you join us at CAS Colours & Sketches!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Little About the Challenge: Posted every Thursday, the challenges alternate between color and sketch (if there is a 5th week in the month you get the double dose of color & sketch).

Make a Wish
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Cupcake Collection;
Ink/Cardstock: White, Pure Poppy; Baked Brown Sugar, Coastal Cabana (SU);
Other: Simple Stripes impression plate, Cupcake Collection die;

Apple for Teacher

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It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge: #75 – sketch.

CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge #75

And here is my take:

by karen @ carefree creations - Apple for Teacher

Since I’m in the midst of stamping for all the teachers in my life, I decided to use this challenge to get another card done.

I’ll be giving this card to the teacher I’ve been volunteering with for the past 3 years (I’m going to miss her!!).

Make sure you check out the other design team members:
Jacqueline
Lizy
Louise
Patricia

I hope you join us at CAS Colours & Sketches!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Little About the Challenge: Posted every Thursday, the challenges alternate between color and sketch (if there is a 5th week in the month you get the double dose of color & sketch).

Congrats
All supplies Papertrey unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Teacher’s Apple, Mega Mixed Messages (PTI);
Ink/Cardstock: White, Pure Poppy, New Leaf, Blueberry Sky, Kraft (PTI); Orange Fizz, Grape Jelly (MFT);
Technique: masking;