SOME CARD CREATIONS OF 2015

Happy Tuesday Everyone!
 
         It's been a LONG while since I've spent some time on my blog and thought I needed to sit down and write a Happy Hello to you all and to share some creations I've made.  I was going through my pictures that I had downloaded to my laptop and came across some cards that I have created in the last six months. I thought I would share some of them with you. I don't recall all of the manufactures of the product I used, but some are K&COmpany, a wood element from Michael's, stars from Tim Holtz, Martha Stewart punches and watercolor paper from Strathmore.

             This was a Mother's Day card I created for my Mom. I used K&COmpany 3D stickers and an old chipboard frame that I covered with Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress Paint in Picket Fence. I printed out the word 'Mom' on my computer and adhered it behind the chipboard frame. I also added mini pale yellow flat-backed pearls.

                I like the composition of the Mother's Day card so much that I created a Wedding card for my niece and her hubby. I used a wood grain paper from The Paper House and applied the K&COmpany 3D stickers to the background. I inked the edges of the wood cut-out frame and backed it with the words 'Mr. & Mrs.' that I, again, printed out from the computer. I then popped the frame up with foam squares and adhered it to the card.

                  This card is a Military Themed 'Congrats' card. I used a lot of what was in my stash which included...you guessed it...K&COmpany 3D stickers! I don't know about you all, but K&COmpany (in my opinion) has some of the prettiest stickers!

                         Now this card was super easy to put together thanks to this adorable 'Mustache' sticker that was a 4x6 size! I got it at Michael's in their clearance section and I'm sorry, but don't remember who the manufacture was : (
I attached the sticker to some red cardstock and had these light weight kraft paper numbers I found at JoAnn's for $1.00 a pack. I added 'platinum' stickles to the numbers and attached them to the card front along with some punched-out cardstock stars.

   
                   This is a Valentine card I made for my hubby this past Valentine's Day. Again, I used some papers from my stash and had a paper pack that included some papers with pre-printed sayings in 2x3 and 3x4 sizes. This one says 'life is good with you around' and I thought it was perfect for the background of my shaker. I added iridescent and red heart sequins in the shaker circle.

                     My other niece got married this month and I went for a soft vintage feel with this card. I used a white card base and layer. The doily stamps I used came from a pack of four by Little Yellow Bicycle. I stamped them with Versa Mark ink and embossed with white embossing powder. I sponged Tumbled Glass Distress ink over them and attached a lace border punched edge to the top and bottom of my sentiment (Happy Wedding Day) that I printed out from my computer. The butterflies are adorned with small white flat-back pearl stickers and the butterfly punches are from Martha Stewart.

                         The last card I'm showing you, for this blog entry, is one I made for my sister's birthday. Her favorite time of the year is Fall and it just so happens her birthday is in October. So I decided to do a watercolor panel for her card front. I painted this wheelbarrow full of pumpkins on Strathmore heavy weight paper and then trimmed it down to fit onto my card base. It's pretty amateurish, but I think she will like it.

                        Well, that's all I have to share for now my friends. I hope you all enjoy these beautiful Fall days. With the holidays fast approaching, I may not be on the blog much, so let me take this time to wish you all a wonderful and thankful Thanksgiving and a happy Holiday season! May you be surrounded by loved ones and happy moments and remember..."Enjoy the little things in life because one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things."  ~Kurt Vonnegut

Take care,
~Karen

HAPPY HOLIDAYS ALL!

Let the festivities begin...there's a chill in the air, the leaves have all gone, and Christmas carols are being played on the radio. Starbucks has had their 'red' cups out for a while now, which we all know marks the kick-off of the holidays. Hope your Thanksgiving was a memorable one and I hope all of you here in Colorado took advantage of the beautiful warm weekend, after Thanksgiving, to get your decorations and lights up outside of your homes.

Onto the subject at hand.

I was on YouTube (of course) and came across a video by Laura Bassen. She is with Simon Says Stamp and she was sharing a Christmas card, Rainbow Christmas Trees, she made using a stencil and different Distress Inks by Ranger. The vivid colors and the slight overlapping of the trees was so pretty and cheerful. So I thought I would CAS her card for my Christmas cards this year.

Here is a link to her video on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1wd-1oiUZs


...and here are two pics of my Christmas card created from CASing Laura's card.

with matching envelope

Supplies used:
white and hot pink cardstock
distress inks in mustard seed, spiced marmalade, barn door,
picked raspberry, peacock feathers, stormy sky, crushed olive,
mowed lawn, seedless preserves and salty ocean
gold embossing powder
versa mark ink
pop-dots
ATG glue gun
envelope punch board

Hope you enjoyed Laura's video and my take on her card. Have a wonderful & safe holiday and thanks for stopping by!

~Karen

Watercolor Pencils Journal Page

TGIF!
     
      Happy Friday all and glad you could stop by. It's warming up, with Summer officially here, and taking some time to create indoors where it's cool...thank goodness for ac! I came across a quote, where else but Pinterest LOL, and wanted to brush the dust off of my watercolor pencils and play. I had drawn out some flowers in my journal a couple of months back and thought the quote I found would be a great addition to the page. So I outlined them using my black LePen Permanent pen and then away I went, coloring in the flowers and their leaves with a couple of shades of watercolor pencils. I then went in with my paint brush and some water to meld the colors together. I really love the watercolor pencils since I am able to control the color so much better...although using watercolor cakes make playing such a surprise with the way they float and move to their own liking. I then added some watercolor through a stencil (DCWCV 5 x 7) and wrote the quote with the black LePen pen, again, and then added a highlighted side to the letters of the quote with my white uni-ball Signo pen.

The quote...'give everyday the chance to become the most beautiful of your life' by Mark Twain is a reminder to me to look at everything and everyone with a positive light. There is way too much negativity in this world and so many positives that sometimes get overlooked...so I wanted to use bright happy colors to paint the flowers.

I had a lot of relaxation doing this journal entry and I'm hoping to play some more with my watercolor pencils and watercolor paints.


Have a beautiful weekend and take some time to do some creative play!

~Karen

Art Journal Page

Happy Monday All!

Well, we've received some Spring snowfall. It started yesterday afternoon and stopped snowing sometime in the wee hours of this morning. I know that the moisture is greatly needed here for the upcoming spring/summer time, but I'm truly over winter. Thank goodness the sun is shining today and I can see the snow melting. The sound of the birds' songs, along with the sunshine, brings me back that it really is Spring! 

Anywhoo...I wanted to share another art journal page. I had started this drawing back in 2013 and have come back to finish it. I do enjoy my coffee in the mornings and so this drawing reflects the warmth and comfort that first cup of java gives me. The swirls of coffee names around the drawing's head rises up from the steam of the hot coffee. Again, I colored this with Prisma color pencils and blended with gamsol. The 'steam' was created with chalk pencils and smeared with a tiny cotton ball.

I hope Spring is in full bloom where you are and I encourage you to do a little 'creative play' today.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Karen

Art Journal Entry

Hello All!

I'm sharing another entry in my art journal. This is a drawing I did sometime in 2013 and I finally got around to coloring it and added a poem from an unknown author. The drawing was done on  mixed media paper and was colored with Prisma color pencils and blended with gamsol. I used my chalks and colored the background. 

Here it is.....

Love is like a Butterfly: it goes where it pleases and it pleases where it goes.

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for stopping by! Have a beautiful day and create something today!

~Karen

Art Journal Page

Hello All!

I sure hope your are getting some Spring weather! Winter has really been trying to keep a hold on our weather here. We've had crazy roller coaster- like days...warm and sunny one day and then cold winds, gray skies and snowfall. I have to say that Winter sure is giving Spring a fight, LOL.

So I've had some time to finally work in my art journal. The problem with me is that I love to work with all kinds of mediums, hence, sometimes not getting too far in the creative process. The one thing I have done since I was a little girl is draw. I use to draw paper dolls and 'mermaid' paper dolls for my sister and our friends, just drawing on any kind of paper. We would color them, cut them out and just PLAY! So I am finally getting back to my drawing and I'm enjoying it.

.I've started out by drawing the lady's face and then watercoloring her. I then watercolored my background and added drops of alcohol to represent spots of 'sparkle'.  I cut the lady's head out and adhered her to the background. I added stickles, glossy accents and sequins to the background and added the title 'find your SPARKLE'. 

This entry has really sparked the itch to do some more drawings...I definitely will be squeezing in some time to do just that!

Thanks for stopping by and create something today!

~Karen

Card Share

Good Morning All!

Three more days until the first day of Spring...I am so looking forward to it! We have been up and down, where I live, with snow and then warm sunshine. My tulips are poking through the ground and I've noticed some tiny green leaves emerging from the mums. Blue skies, warm days and a slight coolness to the breeze will be so welcomed! : )

Onto my latest card I made. It's a birthday card for my brother. I have such a hard time thinking of 'masculine' card recipes, since I love all of the beautiful flowers, gems and laces out there to adorn our cards and scrap pages. I do think it came out ok, and he let me know he liked it . 

Here is the card...

I did have fun making this card and it came together pretty quickly. The only thing I had forgotten was my brother was turning 40!!! Oh well...I guess I should have had a V8...LOL...when I phoned him on his birthday I explained my forgetfulness and he reassured me it was alright (his next birthday I'm really going to have to make his card really special).

So there you have it folks! I hope Spring has sprung where you all are and go ahead and create something today!

Enjoy the day~

~Karen