WWC300 - Tristan's Challenge: Anything Feminine Goes

Hello and welcome!  There is a lot of "new" on the card that I created for this week's Watercooler Wednesday challenge.  I love ink blending and have been wanting to try Altenew's Ink Blending Tool so I recently purchased the large blender and this was my first time giving it a "go".   I was immediately impressed by how well the blender worked my background.  We are making "feminine" cards this week  so I went with some fun bright coral, pink and purple for my background.  This is a new color combination for me, but I really like it and will definitely use it again.  

A while back, I won some stamps from Crackerbox and Suzy and I wanted to use their Christmas tree, which I thought was quite girly too.  

I started my project by masking off the bottom of my card panel and then began my ink blending.  I created a crude tree mask with a post-it and  added white pigment dots with a fun stamp.  After that was dry I added the script stamp.  I didn't want the script to be uniform so I dabbed off some of the ink prior to stamping.  Last, I heat embossed the the tree.  

What is new for me on this card:

Altenew's Ink Blending Tool for the background

Crackerbox and Suzy's Christmas Tree Fancy Swirl

The Distress Ink background combo (coral, raspberry, seedless preserves)

MFT's Romantic Script (I purchased this months ago but had not used it yet)

Supplies:

Crackerbox and Suzy Christmas Tree Fancy Swirl

Altenew Large Ink Blending Tool

Altenew Pinstripe (dots)

MFT Romantic Script

Hero Arts Unicorn Pigment Ink

Distress Ink:  Abandoned Coral, Pickled Raspberry and Seedless Preserves (Ink Blending)

Distress Ink: Frayed Burlap (background script)

Black heat embossing

Bristol Cardstock

I am also playing along with:

Allsorts: Christmas Flowers, Wreaths and Trees Challenge  I am playing along with my Christmas Tree.

Krafty Chicks All Occasions Challenge  I made a holiday card

Love to Craft December Anything Goes Challenge

I am so happy you stopped by!

Karen

WWC291 - Fifth Week Anything Goes Challenge

Summer technically just ended but I have one more card with the summery colors I love.  I had a scrap of striped background left from a card I made a few weeks ago that was too pretty to throw away so I made it into a card for Watercooler Wednesday's Anything Goes Challenge.  I think bright and happy always works for birthdays.  The background uses the same colors as the striped panel.

Here is a link if you would like to see the original card I made with the watercolor panel.

I am also playing along at:

Make My Monday: Use Your Scraps

Supplies Used:

Altenew Watercolor Stripes Stencil

Altenew Doodle Blooms stamp and die bundle

Jillibean Soup Enjoy sentiment

Distress Inks

UPDATE:  I was so pleased to see my card recognized as a Top Pick at Make My Monday Use Your Scraps!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Altenew Academy: Easy Die Cutting

Hello and Welcome!  I just finished the Altenew Academy class titled Easy Die Cutting.  Yana Smakula was the instructor and she shared six wonderful lessons.   I chose to write this blog post about lesson #5:  Inlaid Die Cutting, which I found very inspirational.  I just purchased this large beautiful scripty thank you die (Altenew's Simply Thank You) and thought it would work great with the inlaid die cutting technique.  I learned to save all the pieces from both panels so you can can create two cards from the positive and negative die cutting.  Don't you just love two-for-one projects!  :-)

My Process:

I started by ink blending a bright colorful gradient on Bristol cardstock.  I didn't want it to smear so I let it dry overnight.  The next day I die cut the "thank you" from the inked panel.  I also die cut the same sentiment  from a white panel.  Then I just swapped the sentiments and glued the white die-cut into the opening on the inked panel and glued the inked sentiment onto the white panel.  I was careful to save all the die cut pieces so I could piece everything back together.  Voila...two cards!  Yana also loves embellishments so I felt encouraged to add buttercream jewels to the white background.  

These cheerful cards will come in so handy on my next thank you notes.

I am so pleased that you stopped by!

Karen

WWC275 - Karen's Challenge: All About Occasions

Hello!  I am so pleased you stopped by.  Today we are showcasing "Occasion" cards at The Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I am this week's hostess.

I recently won several stamps from Crackerbox and Suzy and this is my first card with my new haul.  I think the tree is just gorgeous.  I have been doing a lot of ink blending lately and knew this tree would be perfect for this technique.  I started by masking off a 1 1/2" border on the left of the card and then started ink blending from the bottom right to the top left.  I was very heavy handed and put down a lot of ink.  I added a navy mat as I didn't want the clean white swath to fade into the card base.

Supplies Used:

Crackerbox and Suzy Tree Whimsey stamp

The Greetery Crimped Frame die

Distress Inks:  Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Twisted Citron, Cracked Pistachio, Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch

Neenah cardstock

Navy Mat

Versafine Onyx Black Pigment Ink

Clear Embossing Powder

SSS Birthday Mix 1 sentiment stamp and die

Masking tape

NBUS Challenge - This is my first time to use Crackerbox and Suzy's beautiful Tree Whimsy stamp.

I am so pleased that you stopped by!

Karen 

WWC247 - Marsha's "All About Occasions" Challenge

Hello and welcome! It is all about Occasions at The Watercooler Wednesday Challenge Website and Marsha is our hostess.

Several friends have been sick or have had surgery, so I was in need of some Get Well cards.  I thought this one turned out bright and cheery.

I put a light glaze of blue distress ink on watercolor paper for the background.  I then die cut the flowers and leaves from scraps of alcohol ink/Yupo panels. Since it is fall, I went with yellow-orange leaves.

Supplies:

• Newton's Nook Flower Trio
• Lawn Fawn Sentiment
• Tumbled Glass Distress Ink
• Assorted Alcohol Inks
• Yupo paper
• Watercolor Paper
• Connect Glue
• Foam Adhesive

I am entering this card in:

Lil Red Wagon's "Don't Be Shy" Challenge

Addicted to Stamps "Make Your Mark" Challenge

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Coffee Time

Hello and thank you for stopping by!  I always love a good scene card and I came up with the idea of a Coffee/Tearoom as seen from the street for the Coffee Loving Cardmaker's fun blog hop.  I just love their hops! 

Card Process:

1. I started by inking Citron Distress Ink on the background. I wanted the bottom to be darker and then fade upward.  
2. Next I created my scene.  I used the following stamp sets and colored with Zigs:  My Monthly Hero January 2019 (shoppe and bike), Altenew Garden Grow (table and bird), My Monthly Hero April 2017 (dog), Life Time Tea set.
3. I embossed the sentiment:  Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Ride and then assembled the card.  

This card reminds me of the beautiful little shops you find in Europe.

I am so pleased to be submitting this card to: The Coffee Loving Cardmakers Blog Hop

I am happy to stopped by!

Karen

Humorous Get Well Card

I needed to restock my Get Well cards and I think humor can be fun as long as the condition is not too serious.

This dog and the bird always make me smile and I thought it would be cute to have the bird, big eyes and all, hang upside down.  The background is hand inked.

Supplies:

Fetch (the dog) by Photoplay

SSS Stacking Animals

Papertrey Sentiment

Distress Ink (Tumbled Glass and Twisted Citron)

S XPress It Paper

Copic Markers

I am entering this card in:

Tuesday Throwdown "Furry Friends" Challenge

Make My Monday "For A Guy" Challenge

Addicted to Stamps Make Your Mark

Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes Challenge

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

WWC225 - Donna's "All About Occasions" Challenge

Hello there!  Today starts Watercooler Wednesday's "All About Occasions" Challenge and I've created a Get Well Scene card. Donna is our hostess and I hope you will stop by our website to see what the other artists have created.   This is such a fun prompt because there are dozens of occasions you can create a card for. 

Last year, I ordered one of Simon Says Stamp's "Mystery Sacks" and Clearly Besotted's "Lift Me Up" was one of the sets in the package.  I don't think I would have purchased this set, but I've had a lot of fun playing with it. So far I've made a birthday card, baby shower card and this Get Well card.  

You can mix and match hot air balloons and baskets so I went with the duck balloon and puppy basket. I thought it would be fun to have a friend on the ground so I added the Scottie from MFT's Lucky Dog set.  I colored and die-cut the pup and then adhered him to the bottom with foam tape so he would have dimension.

• I stamped my little scene on an A2 panel and colored with Copic Markers. 
• I cut some masks because I wanted to add a "cloud and ground" background with Tumbled Glass (Tim Holtz) and Sand Dunes (Altenew) Die Ink.  I used my new Picket Fences Life Changing Brushes.  
• Finally I die cut with a stitched rectangular die.

I am entering this card in:

Pile It On's Transportation Challenge

Crafty Catz Anything Goes Challenge #465

Update:  I was very pleased to see that my card received the "Sweet Sprinkles Award" at Pile It On Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Birthday Balloons

Hello there!  Last year, I ordered one of Simon Says Stamp's "Mystery Sacks" and Clearly Besotted's "Lift Me Up" was one of the sets in the sack.  I don't think I would have purchased this set, but I've had a lot of fun playing with it. So far I've made a birthday card, baby shower card and Get Well card.  

You can mix and match hot air balloons and baskets so I went with the duck balloon and puppy basket. I thought it would be fun to have a friend on the ground so I added the Chihuahua from MFT's Lucky Dog set.  I colored and die-cut the pup and then adhered him to the bottom with foam tape so he would have dimension.

• I started by inking the "grass" with Pink and Main's Pattern Maker Pinstripes with Twisted Citron Distress Ink.
• Next I stamped my little scene on an A2 panel and colored with Copic Markers. 
• I cut some masks because I wanted to add a "cloud" background with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.  I used my new Picket Fences Life Changing Brushes.  
• Finally I die cut with a stitched rectangular die.
• I think this is a cute little scene card and I am entering in the following:

Seize the Birthday Balloon Challenge - I definitely went all the way and included the optional "Balloon" toppings prompt!

Allsorts Transport Challenge - This duck balloon will transport you...but who knows where you'll land!

Alphabet Distress Challenge  I used distress ink for the "grass and cloud" background.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen