Critters and Coffee

Hi!  It's Christmas Day here in New Zealand as this post goes live, so I'll say Merry Christmas to everyone!

I'm back with my second and last post as a guestie for Coffee Loving Cardmakers.  I had a great time coming up with my cards, and after deciding to go with a Critters and Coffee theme, it was fun to go through all my stamps finding the perfect images.

Today, I have two simple cards to share with you - both featuring critters and, of course, coffee 😄

I love Art Impressions stamps - they are just so fun and this first image is no exception.

I stamped this bossy-looking hen from Spring Chicken Set with Amalgam ink and colored her in with Copic markers.  I then used my Scan n Cut to cut her out.  I set her to one side while I worked on the rest of my card.  The Blu Raspberry cardstock nicely matched my old chook's coffee cup so I cut a panel and embossed this fun sentiment onto it.  

I then adhered it to a white top-folding cardbase, which I'd dry-embossed with the Subtle embossing folder.  You can see the texture in the close-up photo below.  The chook was popped up on foam tape and as a fiishing touch, I added Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen to her flower and 70's-themed blue eye shadow 😀

Below are the Copic markers I used to color her up.

And now onto my second card.  Again, using an Art Impressions set, called Sloth-some.

I did some masking to put the sloth in the coffee cup behind the sloth holding the banner.  Unfortunately, I hadn't planned on paper-piecing the coffee cup when I did the stamping, so that proved to be a bit challenging, lining everything up again to get the masked coffee cup.  It's not perfect, but it's good enough!

I colored the images with Copics and then fussy-cut the Petite Plaid Patterned Paper before adhering it over the relevant parts of the stamps.  I then die-cut the panel with one of the Stitched Basic Edges dies and set it to one side.

Onto my white top-folding card base I added some more of the patterned paper and then adhered my colored image with foam tape.  I finished off the card with some Nuvo Jewel Drops in Pale Periwinkle.  Here are the Copic markers I used:

I would like to say thanks to Amy for inviting me to be a December Guest Designer and thanks to everyone for the warm welcome.  

Products used:

Hen Card:

Stamps:  Spring Chicken Set (Art Impressions)

Ink:  Amalgam (Gina K.), Versamark

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Blu Raspberry (MFT)

Accessories:  White Embossing Powder, Subtle Embossing Folder (SU), Copics, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Sloth Card:

Stamps:  Sloth-some (Art Impressions)

Ink:  Amalgam (Gina K.)

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Petite Plaid Patterned Paper (MFT)

Dies:  Stitched Basic Edges (MFT)

Accessories:  Copics, Pale Periwinkle Jewel Drops (Nuvo)

Cheers

Karren

Tutu Cow

Hi and welcome to another fun challenge from the team at Just Add Ink.  This week we have a gorgeous colour challenge and I decided to have a bit of fun with my card:

I just adore Art Impressions images and had to colour up this tutu-wearing cow using the challenge colours.  Once she was finished I did some out of the box die-cutting and added her to a white card base which I'd added circles in two of the challenge colours to.

The sentiment cracks me up!  I finished with a die-cut string for the balloon and some Nuvo Crystal Drops.

Thanks for visiting!  The design team have some gorgeous cards using these colours so head on over and check them out.

Products used:

Stamps:  Udderly Fantastic (Art Impressions)

Ink:  Intense Black, Versafine Onyx Black

Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Pool Party (SU), Tropical Teal (MFT)

Dies:  Balloons (SSS), Balloon Strings Die (PTI), Infinity Circles (Hero Arts)

Accessories:  Copics, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen, Nuvo Crystal Drops

Cheers

Karren

Birthday Guy

Hi and welcome!  I took a bit of time over the weekend to make a card for a few challenges.  I used the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch; I'm playing along with the Masculine theme at 4 Crafty Chicks and I'm also linking up to Seize the Birthday.

I grabbed this NBUS set and colored up this gentleman with his gift then fussy-cut him out.  I created a simple scene behind him using a curved die for the grass and a cloud stencil for the sky.  The sentiment was stamped onto the card base and the "you" was die-cut from black cardstock.  I got a couple of blotches of ink where I didn't want them when I was stenciling so I added the balloons to cover them up 😄

I'm not so sure this is CAS as there is no white space left, but I'll enter it anyway.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps: Birthday Wishes (Art Impressions), Birthday Wishes (SSS)

Ink:  Intense Black, Tumbled Glass

Cardstock:  White, Black, X-Press It

Dies:  You (SSS)

Accessories:  Copics, Mini Cloud Edges Stencil (MFT)

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at 4 Crafty Chicks and CAS(E) This Sketch

Chews to Party

Hi! The weeks are going so fast, I can't believe it's time for another sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week, our fearless and talented co-leader, Jennifer Timko, is our sketch hostess.  Check out her fabulous sketch:

So, we have a square sketch (yay!) plus we have a big open space in the centre (yay!).

I decided to do a bit of coloring for my centre panel and came up with this card:

I colored up this fun Art Impressions goat that was in my NBUS box.  Once he was colored, I die-cut him with a stitched square die.  I also cut two glitter strips with stitched dies and stacked them under the main panel, using foam tape.  I added foam tape to the rest of the colored image and adhered it to a white square card base.

What you can't see in the photo is that I colored all the red ribbon, the confetti and the hat with Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen to give it a bit of shimmer.  I also die-cut some tiny stars from the blue and silver glimmer paper and added them around the image.

Head on over to the challenge blog and see what the rest of the DT have done with the sketch.  You'll be sure to be amazed - I always am!

I'm linking this up to the Bling, Glitter or Glossy challenge at Art Impressions.

Products used:

Stamps:  Old Goats Set (Art Impressions)

Ink:  Intense Black, Versafine Onyx Black

Cardstock:  X-Press It, White, Cornflower, Silver Sparkle Cardstock (MFT)

Dies:  Inside/Out Stitched Square Dies (MFT), Blueprints 2, Blueprints 11 (MFT)

Accessories:  Copics, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers

Karren

Caffeinated Chicken

Welcome! This is the first of two posts today.  It's time for another Fusion challenge and this time I've gone for a red, white and blue color scheme (or flowers if you prefer) and a fun sketch.



I made this card last weekend using the colors and the (flipped) sketch, thinking I would add it to the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop.  But I got my dates wrong.  Even though it's Friday here in New Zealand, and the challenge opens on Friday, it's not Friday in the US :(  So, I'll just have to try and make another card for the Blog Hop :)

I just love this image from Art Impressions and colored this old girl in the challenge colors.  The sentiment cracks me up as well.  I used a white card base and a navy blue pierced frame popped up on foam.  I fussy-cut the chicken and added her with foam too.

Unbeknownst to me, when I pulled the stamp off the packaging to use for the first time, I left a bit of her claw behind.  Luckily, the sketchy nature of the stamp means it's not too noticeable - in fact I didn't notice until I put the stamp away again and saw the claw still on the packaging!

Thanks for dropping by!  The rest of the DT have some gorgeous cards using the challenge graphic, so I hope you'll check them out.

I'm going to link this up to the animals challenge at CAS on Friday (assuming a chicken is also an animal?) and the CAS feathered friends challenge at Paper Players.

Products used:

Stamps:  Spring Chicken Set (Art Impressions)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Versafine Onyx Black
Cardstock:  White, X-Press It, Soft Navy (SSS)
Dies:  Pierced Rectangle Frames (MFT)
Accessories:  Copics, Stardust Stickles

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Paper Players.

Cone Head

I just love the humorous sets at Art Impressions and this one is no exception!  I used Doggy Kisses to make a one-layer card and I'm entering it into CAS(E) This Sketch, Art Impressions white space challenge and Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge.

I stamped the very unamused looking dog onto X-Press It cardstock and colored him with Copics.  I then die-cut it with a stitched frame.  I stamped the sentiment as if he's resting his head on it and added in some ground.  In case it's not immediately obvious, I flipped the CTS sketch and used images to represent each of the elements.

Oh man, this dog just cracks me up.  I remember when our dog Dexter had his manhood removed when he was a puppy and we had to put a cone on him.  As soon as we put it on, he turned into a statue and wouldn't move until we took it off again.  He was obviously terrified but it was pretty funny at the same time.

Thanks for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Doggy Kisses (Art Impressions)
Ink:  Intense Black (SSS)
Cardstock:  X-Press It
Dies:  Blueprints 25 (MFT)
Accessories:  Copics

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Art Impressions.

Of Course

It's time for another challenge at Fusion and we have a great photo and sketch for you to play along with.  The photo can take you in many different directions - Valentine's, quilting, floral, colors, etc.

I chose to go with a Valentine's theme and came up with this one-layer card, which takes in the hearts, colors and frame of the inspiration photo.

This lady just cracks me up!  And the sentiment makes me smile because I would probably say that to my DH 😃  The card is pretty simple.  I stamped and colored Tina, then stamped the sentiment.  I then took a rectangle die and used it as a template to draw a frame using a Copic Multi-liner pen.  Finally, I colored the hearts and balloons with clear sparkle pen.

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you can check out the inspiration from the rest of the design team - it's so worth it!

I'm linking this card up to the hearts challenge at CAS on Sunday, as well as The Color of Love at Simon Says Stamp, the Lots of Love challenge at Art Impressions and The Card Concept, where my CAS card was inspired by the pink and red and the hearts in the inspiration pic.

Products used:

Stamps:  Tina (Art Impressions)

Ink:  Intense Black (SSS)

Cardstock:  White

Accessories:  Rectangle die, Copic markers, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen, Copic Multi-liner

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at CAS on Sunday.

Cheer Team

So, here's the thing... Yesterday, when I decided to make a card, I had the insane idea to film it.  Totally unprepared - no nail polish as my nails are really brittle at the moment due to the remover I was using; no jewellery as I don't wear jewellery on the weekends; no idea what I was actually going to do other than color an image with Zig markers.  But I hooked up my iPhone and pressed Record.

Once it was finished, my 14-year old son took my phone to his Mac and created a video and then uploaded it to YouTube!!!  I was going to do a quick voice-over but he was getting over it by that stage, so no voiceover.  I did win the battle on background music though 😃

And here is the card that started it all:

I made this card for the new challenge at Art Impressions to try a new technique.  My technique was using a water brush to color with Zigs.  I've used paintbrushes in the past but the water brush was so much easier.  Another new technique was to use Press n Seal to hold the watercolor paper onto my board.  That wasn't such a good idea when you're coloring an image, but it's genius for doing watercolor backgrounds and stenciling.  A great idea from Jennifer McGuire.  My third new technique was filming the making of this card 😄

It was pretty simple to create, but when I stamped the sentiment directly onto the watercolor panel and then die-cut the image the sentiment was way to close too the edge and didn't look nice.  To fix that mistake I added a white-embossed banner (all of this is left in the video!).

I'm also going to link this to the "New" challenges at Just Us Girls and Sweet Stampin' as this stamp set is new to me plus I was inspired by the blues and whites over at The Heart Desires.

And here is the video.  If you prefer, you can watch it over at YouTube.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Products used:

Stamps:  Cheers set (Art Impressions)

Ink:  Intense Black (SSS), Versamark

Cardstock:  Strathmore watercolor, Hawaiian Shores (PTI), Black

Dies:  Sunshine Layers (WP9), Stitched Fishtail Flag Stax (MFT)

Accessories:  Zig markers, white EP, Caribbean Ocean Nuvo Crystal Drops

Cheers

Karren

Caffeinated Owl

Hi and welcome to the first Fusion challenge of the year!  And it's our 3rd anniversary so we've got a very special challenge with some fabulously talented guest designers.  I was thrilled when Michele Ferguson from I Card Everyone agreed to join us as my guest.  Michele is well-known in the card-making world, both from her gorgeous CAS creations and from her very generous support of other stampers.

Here is our inspiration for this challenge:

I was mostly inspired by the photo but also took some elements of the sketch to come up with this card.

I stamped Louie from Purple Onion Designs onto a panel of whit card and colored him with Copics, keeping to the reds and wood tones in the photo.  The sentiment comes from an Art Impressions set and fits perfectly on the panel.  I cut the panel narrower and adhered black strips down each side.

On the white card base, I adhered strips of Schoolhouse Red down each side and then used foam tape to pop the main panel up.  Louie's hat and gloves were painted with a clear sparkle pen.

Thanks for visiting.  Please head on over to the main Fusion blog and check out the incredibly talented guests and DT members and I hope we'll see you in the gallery.

Products used:

Stamps:  Louie (Purple Onion Designs), Girlfriend Blend (Art Impressions)
Ink:  Intense Black (SSS), Black Soot Archival
Cardstock:  White, Black, Schoolhouse Red (SSS)
Accessories:  Copics, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Cheers
Karren