Author: Karen Brown

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Altenew Academy: Color Your Day

Karen Brown3 Comments

I just finished this card for Altenew Academy\’s Color Your Day and I wanted to share it.  This is the second class I\’ve taken with Therese Calvird, and she is an excellent instructor!  She is creative, calm and explains her lessons well.


Today\’s card was inspired by Lesson #1. Therese showed us some loose watercoloring and I loved the color blue she used (Tombow #493).  She also suggested that we leave a little white around the edges and I really like that look.
My process:  I stamped my blooms and leaves on watercolor paper with Versafine Onyx black ink.  I then partially colored the images and then used a wet brush to move the color around.  I was sure to leave a bit of white around the edges.  Therese also suggested using just a hint of neutral for the flowers center, which is really pretty. Normally I would color the centers yellow.  I added some clear glossy accents to the flower centers.  
Supplies:
Altenew Smile More stamp and die bundle
Versafine Onyx Black Ink
Watercolor Paper
Tombow Markers:  493, 443, N45, 173, 133
Nuvo Crystal Glaze
Spellbinders Essential Rectangles for the frame
Foam tape for the three blooms and sentiment
Liquid glue for the other elements.

I also wanted to play along with:

I am so pleased that you stopped by!
Karen
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Altenew Academy: Beautiful Details

Karen Brown7 Comments

Hello!  I just finished the Altenew Academy Class \”Beautiful Details\”.  I have to say our instructor, Marika Rahtu, is quite the artist and her cards are amazing!  Marika taught us that adding details can elevate our cards.


My style is more colorful and bold, but I incorporated several of her suggestions into my card.

Details I added to make this card special:

  • I love ink blending so I ink blended a complimentary background.  I reversed the colors from the floral images so I started blending from the bottom right in yellow (top flower) then added 5 other colors so that I finished with purple to get the gradient that I wanted.  I laid down a lot of ink and think this gives a bold and cohesive look to the card.  
  • I masked the left side (1\”) of the card to give contrast to the bold colors.
  • I used foam adhesive to give dimension to the focal point.
  • I added some shimmer pen to the flowers for a bit of subtle shine.
This Altenew Weekend Doodles stamp and die bundle may be my favorite set from Altenew.  I Copic colored the blooms and arranged them where the ink blending meets the white edge. 
I am also playing along with:
 Festive Friday FF0064.  I\’ve used  pink, a sweet sentiment, die cuts and colored my card for \”summer fun\”.
Little Red Wagon #560 Give Us Your Background  I used loads of distress ink to make this bold background.  
UPDATE:  I am so please that this card was chosen as a Festive Friday Fave!


Karen
 
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Altenew Academy: Polychromatic

Karen Brown3 Comments

Hello!  I just completed the Polychromatic Class at Altenew Academy and I have some cards I would like to share.  Our instructor, Nina Marie Trapani, taught us about color and  color combinations.  The cards in this post are from lesson #4 \”Watercoloring with Similar Colors\”.  I will say this monochromatic look is difficult to photograph because of the minimal contrast.

For my first card, I heat embossed the spray in white and then colored the blooms and leaves with Zig markers and a wet paint brush.  I used 5 similar shades ranging from light blue to aqua to turquoise to teal.  I made an A2 card base from watercolor paper and heat embossed some leaves for the background.  I took the same five colors and scribbled in the leaves, sprayed with water and dried. The next round I added scribbles of color in the leaves and on the background, sprayed and dried.  I repeated one more time and then added paint splatters in the same five colors.  The background is subtle but really adds dimension to this monochromatic card.
I decided to create the card again but with similar colored embossing powder for a bit more definition.  The Zig colors ranged from Blush for the leaves to Sugared Almond, Light Pink, Peach Pink and Dark Pink.  On this card, I did not emboss the background but just scribbled color, sprayed and dried and repeated a couple of times. I finished with pink paint spatters.  
Altenew Supplies Used:
Altenew Best Mom stamp and die bundle
Altenew Mini Branch stamp (for blue background)
Altenew Golden Peach Embossing Powder

I would love to hear which card you like best.  Thanks for stopping by!
Karen
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Altenew Academy: Creative Watercolor Media

Karen Brown4 Comments

Hello and welcome.  I just completed The Altenew Academy \”Creative Watercolor Media\” class and wanted to share this card with you.  

In class #4 we were taught how to watercolor with shimmer sprays.  I don\’t have any shimmer sprays so I hydrated some shimmer powders and used that instead.  In class #5, we learned to make watercolor backgrounds so I made a coordinating panel for the lotus.
My Process:
  • I thought Altenew\’s Inked Lotus would be so pretty with this technique so I stamped the images on watercolor paper using Versafine Onyx Black ink.  I then let it dry.
  • I hydrated 5 colors total, three for the lotus (pink, purple and blue) and two for the stem (green and yellow).  I then used the wet on wet technique as I dropped color into the the petals of the bloom.  The colors don\’t blend as well as watercolors, but the shimmer patina is so pretty in person.
  • I popped the watercolor panel back in my Misti and restamped the outline after the paint dried.
  • I decided to make a coordinating background so I spritzed the leftover shimmer paint on my media mat with additional water and then dipped a piece of watercolor paper into the puddle.  I dried and re-dredged until I liked the background.  I still had leftover ink so I was able to make a second background panel to keep with my \”made ahead\” backgrounds.  
  • The sentiment is from the same Inked Lotus stamp and die bundle.  I love when a stamp set has usable sentiments included.
Pro Tip:  The key to these watercolor backgrounds is to add lots of layers of color.  Dredge, dry and repeat until you like the panel.  

I am also playing along with The Flower Challenge and their Summer/Winter theme.  Summer for me!  I used cool blues and purples that remind me of a swimming pool.

I am so pleased that you stopped by!
Karen
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WWC281 – Heidi\’s Challenge: All About Occasions

Karen Brown7 Comments

Hello and welcome!  This is my design team card for Watercooler Wednesday\’s All About Occasions Challenge and Heidi is our hostess.


I\’ve created a birthday card using a faux watercoloring technique.  I used bright summer colors and added a bold birthday sentiment die-cut using navy cardstock. 

Supplies Used:
Altenew Inked Lotus stamp and die bundle
Altenew Golden Peach Embossing Powder
Distress Inks:  Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Carved Pumpkin, Pickled Raspberry, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn
Simon Says Stamp Happy Birthday die cut
Picket Fences Blending Brushes
Watercolor Paper
Navy Cardstock (for sentiment die cut)
Cream A2 card base

I am also playing along at:
The Flower Challenge: Summer or Fall I love summer and used bright, happy colors that I associate with summer.


Inspired By \”Pretty Blossoms\”  I was inspired by the floral theme and the colors in the bouquet.

I am so pleased you stopped by and hope to see your card in our challenge gallery.

Karen
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Altenew Academy "With A Twist"

Karen Brown5 Comments

I just completed Altenew Academy\’s Class \”With A Twist\” and I created a bunch of cards.  The class was all about trying the unexpected.  I am sharing my favorite card from the series and it was from Class #6 \”Die Cutting With a Twist\”.  Our instructor, Therese Calvird, showed us how to do faux embossing with die cuts.  I had never done this technique before but it does result in a dramatic and showy card.

My Process:

  • I stamped two A2 Bristol panels full of leaves and blooms from Altenew\’s Smile More stamp and die bundle.
  • I colored them with Zig markers and used a damp brush to blend the colors.
  • I die cut everything.
  • I wanted to use a big scripty sentiment so I heat embossed Enjoy on an A2 card front made of Bristol cardstock and Your Birthday on a scrap of black cardstock.
  • I played around with the layout and when I was happy, I glued the die-cuts down with liquid adhesive.  I was sure to leave all the edge images over the edge and then I took sharp scissors and trimmed  the die-cuts flush to the edge.

Pro Tips:
  • Stamp and color a lot of images.  For this card I stamped and colored two complete A2 panels worth of  blooms and leaves.  You don\’t want the card to look skimpy and there is quite a bit of waste after your trim around your card.  
  • I made my own card base out of Bristol cardstock so the cardbase and die-cuts would blend well. 
  • I stamped one panel with Ranger Archival Jet Black ink and one with Versamark Onyx black and found I got a better result with the Onyx Black. The Archival required multiple stamping and after drying for one day, one bloom still smeared a bit.
I am also playing along with:
Allsorts \”Flowers All Over\”  I \”faux embossed\”  flowers all over my cardbase.

The Flower Challenge \”Summer or Winter\”  The answer for me is summer!  I love summer…the sun, warm weather clothes, bright colors, long days….  These daisies are very summery to me.  

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

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AECP Altenew Academy: In The Mood for Color

Karen Brown7 Comments

In The Mood for Color (taught by Stephanie Klauck) was such an interesting class.  We learned to select colors based on the mood we are trying to convey.  Adding the right color can add depth and nuance to your project.


I chose to make a Thinking of You card and decided to use yellow to project optimism.  

I love the look of colored pencils, but they intimidate me a bit.  Stephanie inspired me to dust off my Polychromos and give them a try.  She walked us through the technique and I was pleased with my coloring. 


My Process:
  • I put my Lotus stamp in my Misti and stamped the bloom and stem on grey paper. I left the stamps in there while I colored.
  • Stephanie taught us to start with our lightest color, then add shadows with  our darker colors and then blend with our medium tones.  The key is to add lots of layers of color.  
  • The lines blur a bit with the pencil coloring so I then put the paper back in the Misti and restamped which resulted in crisp lines.
  • I fussy cut the images and then went around the edges with a black pen.
  • I wanted an accent strip so cut a strip of this designer paper and then mounted it on a piece of the grey Strathmore.
  • I stamped my sentiment on another strip of grey Strathmore so that there was continuity across the card.
  • I made an A2 top folding card, assembled with liquid glue and added some clear drop embellishments.  
Pro Tips:
  • Strathmore Toned Grey paper works great with colored pencils.
  • Keep your stamps in the Misti so you can restamp after coloring. This makes a huge difference!

Supplies Used:
Altenew Inked Lotus stamp
Altenew Jet Black Crisp Ink
Strathmore Toned Grey paper (for flower, border and sentiment strip)
Faber Castell Polychromo colored pencils
Scrap of Designer Paper
Slate cardstock (for A2 card base)
Clear Waterdrop embellishments

I am also playing along with:
Inkspirational #217 Painting or Coloring  I chose coloring with colored pencils.

The Flower Challenge: Summer or Winter
A Place To Start: Flowers
UPDATE:  I am so pleased that this card was chosen as a Rising Star by A Place to Start!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen


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WWC280 – Kath\’s Challenge: Anything Goes with a Masculine Twist

Karen Brown8 Comments

Hello and welcome.   We are making \”masculine\” cards this week at The Watercooler Wednesday and this is my design team card.  I was in need of some masculine get well cards and came up with this idea.  
I started by stamp block inking, but I used a minimal amount of water to get this speckled look.  I made a similar background (same ink color but more water here).  I trimmed the panel down and then inked the edges with the same ink as the background to give the panel a bit more definition.  I added a sentiment and then stamped, Copic colored and die cut the plant and snail and attached with foam tape.  I like how the card turned out.
Supplies Used:
Altenew Garden Grow
Papertrey Get Well Soon Sentiemnt
acrylic block to stamp the background
Altenew Sand Dunes Crisp Die Ink for background and edges
Copic Markers
Neenah cardstock
Foam tape

I am playing along at:
Cut It Up \”Create Your Own Background Paper\”

Cardz4Guyz: No Patterned Paper

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen