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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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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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.

Closeup to show the glaze shine and scored border

I should do this more often, but I took a picture of the supplies I used

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

CAS on Friday Challenge 145

For your blog

Seize The Birthday #154 – I went all the way and used the CAS \”Topping\”.

Casual Friday #212 Challenge

UPDATE: I was very excited to learn that my CAS card was selected as the Challenge Winner for Seize the Birthday!

…and as a CAS on Friday Favorite!

Thanks for stopping by,
Karen

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Watercolor Anemones

November 2, 2018 Karen Brown7 Comments

I\’ve been off for a bit because we hosted my daughter\’s wedding in our backyard and then we went on a lovely extended vacation to The Outer Banks. We are back home now and I\’ve been working on several projects. I especially like this card.

I was in a watercolor mood and wanted to play with a three color palette. I love how pink, yellow and orange combine. I started by gold embossing Jane\’s Doodles Anemone on watercolor paper. I wanted each flower to be slightly different and selected Daniel Smith\’s Quinacridone Pink, Cad. Yellow Deep Hue and Cad Red Scarlet Hue. I love how vibrant the colors are!

$Jane\'s Doodles Anemones$

I finished the card with pink, orange and yellow paint spatters. I always love that look on other people\’s cards but don\’t often use it on my own.

I included this second picture because I love the gold shimmery glow the heat embossing creates.

I\’ve entered this card in:
The Watercooler Wednesday \”Anything Goes\” Challenge. I love their prompts and frequently submit a card.

Addicted to Stamps Anything Goes Challenge I love their broad prompts which make it easy to play along.

Happy Little Stampers Watercolor Challenge I go through a lot of Get Well cards so this Challenge is great for me.

Update: I was so pleased to see that I was selected as a Watercolour Challenge Favourite at Happy Little Stampers!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

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Handmade Get Well Card

September 8, 2018 Karen Brown1 Comment

Its time to replenish my stash of homemade get well cards.

I started by making a background with a stencil and Distress Ink and then stamped the Feel Better sentiment. Next, I stamped and colored four images from Lawn Fawn\’s Get Well Soon set. I fussy cut the images, topped the red lids with Nuvo Crystal Glaze for some shine and used foam squares to adhere them to the card base.

My color inspiration came from the current Color Throw Down #509 challenge, which uses vibrant red, orange and blue.

Update: I was pleased to see this card featured on the Color Throwdown site!

I think the result is a cheery little card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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Celebrate

September 1, 2018 Karen Brown5 Comments

Aren\’t celebrations wonderful? I made two similar cards, one for graduation (purple and white are the school colors) and one for a friend who was promoted and being transferred. I loved ending with \”see you later\” at the bottom. I dug through all my sentiments and selected the ones I thought appropriate I decided a rainbow cascade of sentiments would be festive and fun so I started with purple and worked my way down.

To add a little extra interest, I used distress ink to make a purple accent strip along the right edge. I then added some sequins and gems to finish the card. I am happy with the way the cards turned out and think I will try something similar again in the future because it is always surprising how many graduation cards I need every year.

I am entering the cards in the:

Just Us Girls Celebrate Challenge

Watercooler Anything Goes Challenge

Addicted To Stamps Make Your Mark

UPDATE: I was pleased to learn that this card was selected as a Watercooler Rocker!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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"Hang In There" Encouragement Card

August 25, 2018 Karen Brown14 Comments

I ordered the cutest stamp set from Tiddly Inks. Today, I made two encouragement cards for friends with cancer but I can see this as a fun birthday card too. I love the included sentiment \”hang in there\”.

I colored the images with Copic markers and mounted on a card base. The little girl was so fun to color!

Encouragement Card for friend with cancer

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Muse Card Challenge #280. I was inspired by the yellow birds siting on a tree branch.

Addicted to Stamps Anything Goes Challenge

Time Out Bright Challenge

UPDATE: So pleased to report that this card was voted a \”Featured Card\” on the Muse Card Challenge #280!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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Puffer Fish

August 19, 2018 Karen Brown2 Comments

Tri-color Puffer Fish birthday card. This is a versatile card that I think would be perfect for a beach loving girlfriend or child\’s birthday. I love the happy whimsical fish from The Hero Arts I Am Puffer For You Stamp set.

Handmade card featuring brightly colored puffer fish.

I mounted three fish on an acrylic block and hand stamped the pattern. I knew I wanted to use three colors so I next worked out which fish would be which color. I didn\’t want stripes of color so I went with the combination above. I then heat embossed the sentiments on gravel cardstock and loosely fussy-cut the words. I then mounted the base on a \”gravel\” colored card from Paper Source.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Paper Sweeties 6th Birthday Challenge

Pause Dream Enjoy #33

Sunny Day Animal Challenge

Always Happy Birthday \”Water\” Challenge

UPDATE: I am very pleased my card received \”Top Pick\” Honors at Pause Dream and Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

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Masculine Get Well Card

August 17, 2018 Karen Brown3 Comments

I needed some more Get Well cards for men and decided this statement sentiment (Ranger Letter It Greetings) would be fun paired with the birds from SSS\’s Stacking Animals. I thought the baby bird hanging upside added a light element to the card. I mounted my card base on a \”gravel\” colored card to add to the masculine theme.

Sunday Stamps has a Summer Splash Color Challenge and I used their color palette as my inspiration.

Ranger Letter It Get Well Sentiment stamp

I love Watercooler Wednesday\’s prompts and am also entering this card in their Masculine Card Challenge.

Since this card features animals, I am also entering it in the current Sunny Day Challenge.

This is a CAS card and I wanted it bold so I embossed the sentiment and birds in a glossy black and then colored with Copic markers. So fast and easy as I only used three colors: B24, B29 and YR07.

UPDATE: I was pleased to see this card was selected as a \”Watercooler Rocker\”!

Thanks for stopping by,

Karen

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Watercolor Tea Cup Card

August 3, 2018 Karen Brown7 Comments

I went to a Card Convention in June and bought several fun new stamp sets. This one is Catherine Scanlon Stacked. I have a friend who loves tea and I thought this would make the perfect Birthday card for her.

I love fancy little teacups so I decided to emboss the cups in gold on Bristol paper. I did a google search for teacups and used the results as inspiration for my color palette. I painted with watercolor markers and then added an embossed sentiment on contrasting black cardstock.