Author: Karen Brown

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Watercolor Wedding Card

Karen Brown7 Comments
We are so happy to be attending the wedding of a friend this month.  Our friend is 52 and has never been married and he is engaged to a lady that is 51 and has never been married!

Water color Wedding Card on Brutus Monroe Aqua Pigment Paper with Kuretake watercolors.
I love to watercolor this beautiful stamp from Concord and 9th (Happy Day).  I used Brutus Monroe Aqua Pigment Paper, which is a lovely soft eggshell color.  I silver embossed then used my Kuretake watercolors.  I used a stitched die to trim the panel down and then adhered to a kraft A2 card.

I am entering this card in:

Sisterhood of Crafters Any Occasion Challenge and my card is for a wedding.

Tuesday Throwdown Anything Goes Challenge

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen
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Off The Edge Die-Cutting

Karen Brown8 Comments
I had never tried off the edge die-cutting but I am very pleased with the end result.  
Sugar Pea Designs Element Builder die cutting.
I was in the mood to do a puppy card so I chose Mama Elephant\’s Playful Pups, one of my oldest and most used stamp sets.  I die cut a panel, did my partial die-cutting, then stamped and finally colored with Copic markers.  I liked the CAS look of the panel but wanted to break up some of the white so I used my new Sugar Pea Designs Element Builder to die cut the bottom edge.  I really like that subtle stitched wave.

I am entering this card in:
Make my Monday \”B\” Challenge – B is for lots of  Brown! I used 5 Shades of Copic Brown on these pups.
Addicted to Stamps \”Make Your Mark\” I made my mark with lots of brown.

UPDATE:  I am so pleased that this card was a \”Top Pick\” at the Inkspirational Challenge!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen
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Humorous Monkey Birthday Card

Karen Brown1 Comment
Sometimes a funny card is the way to go.  These monkeys make me smile so I thought it would be fun to have them swinging together by their tails. They look like they are up to mischief.
Photo Play We Bought A Zoo stamp and die set.
I used PhotoPlay We bought a Zoo stamps and dies.  I colored in the monkeys with Copic markers and then die cut.  I also cut a frame to define the scene a bit better.  I used some pretty textured butter colored card stock for the background because I wanted to keep the focus on the monkeys.  
Thanks for stopping by!
Karen
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WWC227 – Michelle\’s "All About Occasions" Challenge

Karen Brown3 Comments
Welcome and hello!  It is all about occasions this week at Watercooler Wednesday and Michelle is our hostess.


It is summer so I wanted to make a fun bright tropical card.
Pattern stamping using Sunny Studio\'s Tropical Paradise stamp set.
I did a bit of pattern stamping with Sunny Studio\’s Tropical Paradise set.  I think these images are so fun to color!  I used Copic markers and put in some white gel pen accents.  I also added tiny little jewels to the flower center.

I am entering this card in:
SSS Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge

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I am so glad you stopped by!

Karen 
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WWC226 – Dawn\’s Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Karen Brown6 Comments
Hello there and welcome!  It\’s all about masculine cards this week at Watercooler Wednesday and Dawn is our hostess. I hope you will stop by the website, see what the artists have created and then submit one of your cards.  
A handmade card featuring the Altenew Pinstripes Background Stamp.
In my family, men (and ladies too!) enjoy a good humorous card.  This dog (Fetch by Photoplay) makes me smile every time I use him.  This is a simple one layer panel mounted on a Lilac A2 card.  


Supplies used :

Photoplay Fetch
Altenew Pinstripes Background Stamp
SSS Brush Stroke Messages Sentiment
Hero Arts Lilac Ink
Copic markers
MFT Stitched rectangular die STAX set 2
Inkadinkadoo Stamping Mask Paper


I stamped Fetch, colored with Copics, masked and then stamped the background stamp in lilac.  I love how the dog almost makes a perfect square.

I am entering this card in:
June Papercraft Challenge

I am so pleased you stopped by today! 

Karen
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WWC225 – Donna\’s "All About Occasions" Challenge

Karen Brown6 Comments
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

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WWC224 – Karen\’s Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Karen Brown3 Comments

Hello there!  Today I am hosting Watercooler Wednesday\’s #224 – Karen\’s Feminine \”Anything Goes\” Challenge and I am so pleased you stopped by.  

I\’ve been playing with alcohol inks and had some scraps I wanted to use to make into a floral card.  I just ordered these fun floral die-cuts (Newton\’s Nook Flower Trio) for this idea.  

Die cut alcohol ink flowers using Newton\'s Nook Floral Trio Die

I started by die cutting the parts to each flower/leaf and then assembled.  I wanted a textured background so I used an embossing folder (Sizzix/Tim Holtz Alterations) on a neutral cardstock panel.  I like that there are different sizes of \”dots\” as well as empty spaces.  I also diecut my sentiment from an alcohol ink scrap.  I added the  dry embossed panel to a white A2 card and then added the flowers with foam dots for added dimension.  I like this cheery card and it is going to my mom on her birthday.  Red is her favorite color so I thought she would like to top bloom.

I am entering this card in Alphabet Challenge \”E is for Embossing Folder\”.  I love the texture that embossing folders add to a project.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

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Using Alcohol Ink Scraps with Papertrey Yellow Sunshine Die

Karen Brown4 Comments
Good Morning and Hello!  I\’ve been wanting to make a card with the scraps leftover from my alcohol ink projects and I thought Yellow Sunshine by Papertrey Ink  would be perfect!

I selected scraps of my favorite summertime hues and die cut a bunch.  I also die-cut a coordinating sentiment and  then worked on my layout.  I cut a negative die for another card and used that as my template to place all the little tear drops.  

This card was a lot of fun to make and I like that I was able to upcycle  some beautiful scraps.

Lil Red Wagon \”Upcycle/Recycle\” Challenge

Update: My card was selected as a \”featured\” card.
 Featured Button


Thank you for stopping by!
Karen
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WWC223 – Anything Goes Challenge

Karen Brown1 Comment
Hello there!  So glad you stopped by.  Today is Watercooler Wednesday\’s Special Absolutely Anything Goes Challenge. Dawn is our hostess this week.
Pretty Pink Posh Buttercream jewels.
I needed some Thinking of You cards so I looked through my stamps to find floral images I thought would blend together.  I used stamps from 6 stamp sets:

  • WPlus9 Doodle Buds
  • Photo Play Thinking of You
  • Create a Smile In Bloom
  • SSS Hello Friends
  • Ink Blot Shop This and That 
  • Hero Arts Year Round Sentiments
I stamped a random pattern on Xpress It paper with Memento ink.  I colored with Copic markers:
  • V01
  • YG25
  • YG17
  • Y21
  • Y17
I really like this color combination and will use it again.  I added some Pretty Pink Posh Buttercream jewels. 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen
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Summertime Beverages

Karen Brown8 Comments
Hello there!  It\’s Memorial Day Weekend and time for parties and festive warm weather beverages.  I combined the \”beverages\” theme from Shopping Our Stash \”Get Your Drink On\” Challenge with the color and tropical theme (lei in particular) for Time Out Challenges \”Home Sweet Home\” photo challenge.
I LOVE Sunny Studio\’s Tropical Paradise set for fun summer cards.  This is one of the first stamps sets I bought when I started cardmaking.   I started by stamping the beverage images on Bristol card stock and then colored them with my new Zig Clean Watercolor markers.  

I wanted to subtly frame the grouping so I die-cut a stitched rectangle as a backdrop.  I die-cut Celebrate three times and glued them together for a substantial looking sentiment strip.  I glued the rectangular panel and back 2 drinks directly to the A2 card with Gina K Connect Glue. The front two beverages are adhered with foam squares for a bit more dimension. 

I am proud to enter this card in the Time Out and Shopping Our Stash Challenges (links in first paragraph).
      Grab Our Badge!
Thank you so much for stopping by!

Karen