WWC203 – Karen\’s "All About Occasions" Challenge

January 9, 2019 Karen Brown3 Comments

Let The Bliss Begin! My daughter just got married and this is the card I made for her shower. I thought it was appropriate for my first time hosting a challenge for Watercooler Wednesday.

I bought this stamp set (Colorplay) at a card making expo. I embossed the delicate image in a glossy black and colored with Copic markers. I also embossed the sentiment (SSS Floral Bliss) \”Let The Bliss Begin\”. I mounted this panel on a nice thick gray note card and then added a white insert inside. My daughter loved the card. 🙂

Our Watercooler Artists have some lovely cards showcased this week…pop on over and take a look!

I entered my card in:

Stamping Sensations Fabulously Feminine Challenge What is more feminine than a bridal shower card?

Crafty Creations Anything Goes Challenge This is my first time entering this challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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Fresh

January 6, 2019 Karen Brown1 Comment

Fresh…fresh year, fresh inspiration, fresh supplies. When I saw Casology\’s prompt I was inspired. In December, I saw this darling stamp set (Sweet Dear Friend by Picket Fences) and ordered it immediately. The girls seemed very fresh and pure and I thought they would be fun to use in the new year. Today was my first day to try them out, but I see many future cards as well.

In brainstorming, I came up with the clean and simple idea of a line of four girls plus the sentiment bordered by a scored band. I embossed the girls on Bristol cardstock and then used my TomBow watercolor markers. The images are sketchy and I wanted to use bright, fresh, vivid colors to bring them to life. I kept the hair and face muted so that the focus was on the dresses.

TomBow colors – Dresses: 933, 755, 173, 443. Face: 990. Hair: 990+055

Handmade card with a scored border and illustrated with Tombow markers.

I am entering this card in Casology Week 325 Fresh Challenge.

UPDATE: I was very excited that my card received Honorable Mention from CASology this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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WWC202 – Dawn\’s Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

January 2, 2019 Karen Brown2 Comments

I made my youngest daughter an assortment of cards as a Christmas gift. Megan is a cute blond who owns her own marketing company so I thought this image was perfect.

The stamp set is Clover by Rubbernecker. The sentiment is Visible Image\’s Live in the Moment which was fun to use as I won it as a prize in a challenge this summer. Link to Yappy Birthday card

I colored Clover with Copic markers and then added three pearlescent sequins for a little interest and shine.

My card is among the artist cards for Dawn\’s Watercooler Wednesday Feminine Anything Goes Challenge. Come take a peek and play along.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

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WWC201 – Marsha\’s Special Two-Week Year End Anything Goes

December 19, 2018 Karen Brown9 Comments

I love Christmas and all the opportunities for paper crafting. I\’ve decorated several boxes and gift bags and am especially happy with this particular gift.

I ordered some white and kraft boxes and had fun decorating them. This particular parcel features Avery Elle\’s Festive Wreath stamp set. I colored with Copic markers, added shine with a shimmer pen and then fussy cut the images and attached with foam mounting squares. To finish it off I tied on a bright red bow.

I am a design team member for Watercooler Wednesday and created this package for Marsha\’s Two-Week Year End Anything Goes Challenge I hope you will pop over and see what the other artists have posted and then link one of your creations.

I am entering my gift box in the following:
Stamping Sensations Winter Sparkle Challenge My winter sparkle comes form the Wink of Stella I used on the wreath.
Please grab our logo

cupcake inspirations #460 My color scheme is kraft (gingerbread), red, green and white.

Casology Holly Challenge – Festive Wreath

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

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WWC200 – Helen\’s "All About Occasions" Challenge

December 12, 2018 Karen Brown1 Comment

Watercooler Wednesday is celebrating their 200th Challenge this week! What an accomplishment! Helen is the hostess of this celebratory challenge.

A friend\’s daughter is pregnant with twins and I thought a retro – vintage card would be fun for the shower. I stamped two storks from the Forever In Time Baby set and then stamped the clothes line overhead. I then re-stamped two storks and the clothesline on Copic friendly paper and colored two baby bundles, shirts and socks. Next I fussy cut the colored images.

Instead of adhering the colored pieces with foam, I went with a less dimensional look and glued the pieces to the card front with a tape runner.

I hope to see your creation on the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge Website

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

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WWC199 – Tristan\’s Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

December 5, 2018 Karen Brown13 Comments

I am very pleased to be a new member of The Watercooler Challenges Team! Today, my card is featured on the challenge website. Watercooler Challenges Website

I love this Catherine Scanlon \”Stacked\” stamp set. I recently purchased it at a Card Convention and made a similar watercolor card on Bristol cardstock – Bristol Card– This time, I wanted to try it on Ranger Distress Cardstock. I used Tombow Dual Tip Watercolor Markers and Princess Gold Embossing powder and I love how it turned out.

I am entering this card in:

The Coffee Loving Cardmakers Fall/Winter Blog Hop (I tried to add the hop graphic to my post but received an error message that did not allow me to publish my post).

UPDATE: This card won a $25 gift certificate to Jaded Blossoms. This was a Super Sponsor Prize from The Coffee Loving Cardmakers Fall/Winter Blog Hop Challenge.

Happy Little Stampers CAS Emboss Challenge How about a cozy cup of tea for December?

Muse Card \”Anything Goes\” Challenge: I am enjoying a break from Christmas themed cards.

I hope to see your creation on the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge site. Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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Warm and Cozy Thank You Note

December 3, 2018 Karen Brown9 Comments

Pink and Main Christmas Mugs was my favorite new (to me) holiday stamp set this year. I stamped the mug, colored with Copic markers, embellished with gel pens (berries, candy and straw) and Wink of Stella on the whipped cream and done! Clean, simple, easy and pleasing to the eye.

The shine doesn\’t show up in the photographs, but the card has a pretty sparkle in person.

I paired this with a bright red envelop, took a couple of quick pictures and am ready to enter some challenges.

Clean and Simple Challenge #147 I love a good CAS card.

Coffee Loving Cardmakers Fall/Winter Blog Hop I cant figure out why, but I was unable to copy their graphic without an error message. Such a fun hop though!

Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #459 Sprinkle and Sparkle – Love this bright festive prompt!

Stamping Sensations Winter Sparkle My winter sparkle comes from the Wink of Stella on the frothy whipped cream.
Please grab our logo

Paper Players Its Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Challenge – Love this bright Christmasy inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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Modern Christmas Thank You Note

November 17, 2018 Karen Brown8 Comments

I am trying to stay ahead so I began creating my holiday thank you notes. The idea for this card came to me over several days. I won a challenge this summer and the prize was a gift certificate to Visible Images. I selected several stamp sets and thought it would be fun to do a modern card using some of the circles and spheres that came in the sets. Aqua and red are perfect for this time of year.

I embossed all the images in silver on watercolor paper and used just two watercolor hues. I changed the shades by adding more water to the areas I wanted less intense, so while I had just two colors on my pallet, I had several pools of aqua and red in varying shades to work from. I added a strip of aqua to the edge to accent the colors. I love the shine and shimmer from the silver embossing powder.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Color Throwdown #519 Challenge I got my color inspirations from this challenge. I had been pondering aqua and apple green, but when I saw this challenge I knew I wanted to use red and aqua.

Simply Less is More #384 Metallics Challenge I love their metallic prompt!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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Elegant Card That Could Be Easily Duplicated

November 15, 2018 Karen Brown5 Comments

I found some beautiful thick deep red A2 cards and thought they would be so pretty embossed.

I chose Pink and Main Christmas Mugs. I loved the mugs last year when I saw them on Instagram and I ordered them for myself this fall.

Pink and Main Christmas Mugs homemade card.

This is a rich elegant looking card that would be easy to mass produce. I put a liner inside to make writing more legible.

I am entering this card in:
Less is More \”Metallic\” Challenge

Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge and I went with the optional CAS twist!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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Happy Birthday "Cheers" Card

November 10, 2018 Karen Brown4 Comments

I have a friend whose birthday is in December and she has a party every year with the subtitle \”Midweek Merrymaking\”. She loves to try new cocktails so I thought she would like this CAS card. I am looking forward to giving it to her next month.

V04, B00 & YG01

I stamped three beverages from \”Raise a Glass\” by Clearly Besotted, then colored with Copic markers. I really like the color combination of V04, B00 and YG01. I fussy cut the images, added a bit of gloss using Nuvo Tonic Clear Glaze and put them away to dry. I then took an A2 card and scored two lines above and below where I wanted to attach the cut-outs. I thought this would frame my focal point. Next, I heat embossed a sentiment and adhered all 4 pieces with 3D foam squares. Last, I stamped Happy Birthday inside the card.