Coffee

Hi!  Today's card has a few more layers than I'm used to working with, but I enjoyed making it.  I used the sketch from Viva la Verve, the kraft theme from Inkspirational as well as the food and markers themes from Friday Mashup.

I started with a card base using Neenah Desert Storm and die cut that with my stitched rectangles die.  The Dark Chocolate panel was stenciled with translucent embossing paste and the Splatters stencil by Tim Holtz.  

I stamped and colored the coffee cup using Copics and stamped the sentiment using Dark Chocolate ink onto a die cut tag.

The patterned paper comes from an old Stampin' Up pack called Well Worn.

You can see the embossing paste better in this next photo.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Better With You (Verve)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Dark Chocolate (SSS)

Cardstock:  Neenah Desert Storm, Very Vanilla (SU), Dark Chocolate (SSS), X-Press It, Well Worn Patterned Paper

Accessories:  Lil' Inkers Stitched Rectangles and Circles dies, Tag Builders Blueprints 2 (MFT), Splatters Stencil (Tim Holtz), Translucent Embossing Paste (Wendy Vecchi), Copics

Cheers

Karren

Pink Brick Wall

Hi and welcome!  Today's card covers a few different challenges.  I'm using the sketch from Verve as well as the colors from Color Throwdown for my card.  As it's a birthday card, I'm also entering it at Seize the Birthday (although no toppings this time).

This card has far more layers than I usually use, but it was fun to make.  I started out with a black card base die-cut with a stitched rectangle die.  I stamped a brick background stamp onto the pink panel using Cotton candy ink and adhered that to the card base after stamping the sentiment.

A Green Apple stitched circle was next then two tags - the pink one again stamped with the brick background.

The flowers were stamped and colored with my Zig Real Brush pens using pink for the leaves and orange for the centers.  The leaves are from MFT.

And that's about it!

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Lean on Me, Poppy Birthday (Verve), Brick Background (Impression Obsession)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Cotton Candy (SSS)

Cardstock:  Black, watercolor, Cotton Candy, Green Apple (SSS)

Accessories:  Pointed Flower die (Verve), Layered Leaves die (MFT), Zig Real Brush Watercolor Pens, Twine, Tag Me die (Reverse Confetti), Stitched Circle and Rectangle dies (Lil' Inkers)

Cheers

Karren

Birthday Balloons

Hi and welcome!  Today's post will be short and sweet as I've got lots to do!  This card was made using the colors from Color Throwdown and the sketch from Viva la Verve.

I haven't been able to play along at Viva la Verve for months and really wanted to try out this sketch.  I used a tag shape instead of the rectangle and adhered some black card top and bottom as per the sketch.  The balloons were colored with Copics to try and match the colors at Color Throwdown.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Party Time, Poppy Birthday (Verve)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark

Cardstock:  Black, X-Press It, So Saffron patterned paper

Accessories:  Copics, Tags a Lot die (Mama Elephant), Doodlebug sequins

Cheers

Karren

Blue Flowers

It's a chilly Monday afternoon here, so what better than to stamp :)

I made a card today using the gorgeous colors from Color Throwdown and the versatile sketch from Viva la Verve.

I went with a Basic Gray cardbase for this card which always adds a bit of drama!  The flowers were colored with Copics and the leaves were stamped with Lucky Limeade ink.  The sentiment panel was a piece of white cardstock that I colored with Copics to match the darker blue flower.  I then white-embossed the sentiment from Poppy Birthday.

The center of each flower and the sentiment panel were painted with clear Wink of Stella for a subtle shimmer.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Poppy Birthday, Lean on Me (Verve), Leafy Accents (Clearly Besotted)
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark
Cardstock:  Basic Gray, Whisper White, Xpress-it
Accessories:  Copic Markers, Wink of Stella, White Ep, Pointed Flowers die, Leafy Accents die, Lil Inkers Stitched Rectangles dies

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card was featured on Viva la Verve and was also Featured Stamper on Color Throwdown.

Fresh Flowers

Hi.  This is a card I made on the weekend, trying to watercolor images yet again!  This one came out a bit better but I still need lots of practice.  For this card I used the latest Viva la Verve sketch and the colors from ColourQ.

I white-embossed my Clearly Besotted image then colored with Strawberry Slush and Lucky Limeade ink, using water and a paintbrush.  Once that was dry, I did a very pale wash of Bermuda Bay in the background.

I didn't want to detract from the central image by using patterned paper for the next layer, so I did another watercolor wash, this time using Lucky Limeade, then die-cut using a stitched mat die.  Here's a close up:

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Fresh Flowers (Clearly Besotted), Poppy Birthday (Verve)
Ink:  Strawberry Slush, Lucky Limeade, Bermuda Bay, Versamark, Night of Navy
Cardstock:  Night of Navy, watercolor
Accessories:  White EP, enamel dots, twine, rhinestones, Lil Inkers Stitched Mats die, Nestabilities die, SU Banner Framelits

Cheers
Karren

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

It's Your Day

Today's card is my first attempt at sponging my own plaid.  I first saw it in an Online Card Class a few months ago but haven't had the time to try it out.  As soon as I saw the ColourQ inspiration pic, I knew my time had come to give it a go!  I used the sketch from Verve as well as I decided it had been a while since I'd made a layered card.

Believe it or not, I did start out making a clean card but it ended up looking a bit vintage and distressed.  I stamped my balloons and colored them with Copics then because the plaid panel looked old, I decided to vintage-up my main image.  I stamped a mask for the balloons then merrily stamped and sponged around them, ending up by rubbing a bit of Gesso in the corners with my fingers.

Here's a close-up of the stamped plaid, which took quite a while as I stupidly sponged almost a half sheet of cardstock!  I sponged with Early Espresso, Island Indigo, Summer Starfruit and Tempting Turquoise and I love how I ended up with some green squares!

I'm also entering this in the following Dare to Get Dirty Challenges at Splitcoaststampers:

DTGD14SusieAustralia
DTGD14IlinaCrouse
DTGD14~Fee~
DTGD14cathymac

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Party Time (Verve), Dictionary (SU)
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Vintage Photo, Pumice Stone Distress inks, Summer Starfruit, Early Espresso, Island Indigo, Tempting Turquoise (SU), Versamark
Cardstock:  Early Espresso, Island Indigo, Whisper White, Xpress-it
Accessories:  White EP, Lil Inkers Stacked Mats Circles, Copics, Gesso, Linen Thread

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card was showcased on the Viva la Verve website plus it got a shout-out at ColourQ.

In the Meadow

For this week's Merry Monday challenge, LeAnne has challenged us to use green and white on our Christmas cards.  

Easy, right?  I spent hours on my card trying to get it looking right - it took 8 attempts to get the tree.  The first seven times I couldn't get good ink coverage and in the end I colored the stamp with a marker and spritzed with water to give it a deliberately mottled look.

I just received some PTI goodies in the mail on Friday and I was determined to use my new In the Meadow set.  I used this week's sketch from Verve as my layout.  The sentiment is embossed with Pewter EP, which is such a gorgeous color.

Thanks for visiting.  If you haven't already checked out the rest of the design team's inspiration, make sure you do - they are awesome!

Products used:

Stamps:  In the Meadow (PTI)
Ink:  Versamark
Cardstock:  Always Artichoke, Whisper White, Wintergreen DSP
Accessories:  Regals Markers, In the Meadow dies, Pewter EP, Frosted Finishes Embellishments, Lil Inkers Stitched Mat Rectangle die, Spellbinders Labels Three die

Cheers
Karren 

Orange Flowers

I had some unexpected stamping time today as I had to take the day off to look after a sick boy.

I chose to make a card using the colors from Just Us Girls and the sketch from Viva la Verve.

This card uses the new In Color Tangelo Twist.  I sponged some ink over a stencil cut using my Silhouette, focusing on the bottom left and lightening it up as I moved across the card.  The flowers are from Lean on Me and colored with Copics.  I colored the centers with Wink of Stella for a little bit of shimmer.  The white panel is raised up on dimensionals.  Some enamel dots from Freckled Fawn finish the card.

Thanks for visiting.

Products used:

Stamps:  Lean on Me, A Happy Hello (Verve)
Ink:  Tangelo Twist, Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark
Cardstock:  Tangelo Twist, Whisper White, Xpress-it
Accessories:  White EP, Pointed Flowers Dies (Verve), MFT Fishtail Flags die, SSS A2 Curved Die, Copics, Wink of Stella, Freckled Fawn Enamel Dots

Edited to Add:  This card got a mention on Viva la Verve

Cheers
Karren