Nautical Sparks

Posted on May 20, 2013 by kth

School is almost out – just this week and next….then stamping heaven time! I’m working in stamping as often as I can for now. This card was made for the Paper Smooches Sparks challenge – Cool Shades “Nautical”.

The challenge colors are navy, teal, red, kraft. I thought the adorable Surf & Turf set would work really well for that.

The ocean is done by using ink smooshing. That is, I made little droplets of reinker on my craft sheet and then smooshed the card stock into the ink. I made sure the darker colors were focused more at the bottom.

The card base is embossed with an old swirl design folder from Sizzix. Since the folder image is smaller than a normal card base, so I just trimmed the card down to 5 1/4 x 4.

The critters are paper pieced and the sentiment is heat embossed.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Hey GillFriend

Stamps: Surf & Turf (Paper Smooches);
Ink/Card Stock: Midnight Muse, Bermuda Bay, White (StampinUp);
Other: Crumb Cake pattern paper (SU); Pure Poppy pattern paper (PTI); white embossing powder (Filigree); Swirls embossing folder (Sizzix);
Technique: ink smoosh, paper piecing, heat embossing;

Congrats Grad

Posted on May 18, 2013 by kth

I have a nephew graduating this year. Here’s the card I made:

I’m not sure I can even begin to describe how I got here. This card looks NOTHING like the picture in my head!

The card base is a cream color and I stamped a grid on the front. The grid was stamped with Hero Arts shadow ink – Baby Blue. The cube I have is ancient so I don’t know how true to color it is any more, but it was just what I wanted for this.

I used a die to create a file folder edge. Originally my layout was vertical, but the die-cut letters did not look good stacked on top of each other because the M is so much wider than the S and it looked like an inverted pyramid…not what I was going for.

The apple is the school symbol.

I wish I had a “stamp of approval” type image to use, but I don’t, so I created my own. I used the postal cancellation waves and a circle sentiment (stamped with SU Sahara Sand).

The stripe paper is on the inside of the card – just enough to peek out. There is also a thin strip of red card stock to separate the pattern paper from the writing area.

So does anyone else have this problem? I have a really hard time mixing products from different manufacturers. It isn’t that I can’t, it is more like I feel disloyal. I mean, I know if I’m making a card for a challenge by that manufacturer, I should stay with their stamps if I can….but when it is a card just because, then I really shouldn’t care if I mix and match – but dang it is hard for me! But then I know I’m a little weird!

Thanks for taking a peek!

MHS – Congratulations

All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.

Stamps: Off Beat Backgrounds (Waltzing Mouse); For the Graduate, School Time Additions, Around About Sentiments, Postmarks, Simple Alphabet;
Ink/Card Stock: Vintage Cream, New Leaf, Pure Poppy, Dark Chocolate, Harvest Gold; Sahara Sand (SU); Baby Blue (Hero Arts Shadow); Black (Versafine);
Other: Pure Poppy Patterns paper, Christmas Prints pattern paper, Block Alphabet die, Teacher’s Apple die, Edgers #5 die;

FYI – Aspen Birthday

Posted on May 16, 2013 by kth

It is time for another For Your Inspiration challenge. Check out the latest challenge -> FYI46.

This photo makes me happy – I’m pretty sure it’s the yellow. I definitely wanted my card to feel happy too.

It was hard to get what was in my head onto paper. At first I tried embossing the trees with white powder onto colored cardstock, but that just wasn’t working. I decided to try stamping the trees with a pale grey – while not the normal color for an aspen, it allowed me to get the leaves to pop.

The card base is impressed with the woodgrain plate (hard to see in the photo).

Thanks for stopping by!

Make sure you check out the other design team members:
Debbie
Michelle
Mynnette
Rochelle
Rudlis
Sara
Steph
Vicki

I hope you join us at For Your Inspiration!

A Little About the Challenge: The For Your Inspiration challenge is posted the first and third Thursday of every month; each challenge is open for two weeks. To play, use the photo to inspire you and create a card – very simple! Make sure you tell us in your blog post how you were inspired!

Happy Birthday

All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.

Stamps: Through the Trees, sentiment from Enjoy the Ride, dot from Around About Sentiments;
Ink/Card Stock: White, Harvest Gold, Soft Stone, Smokey Shadow;
Other: Woodgrain impression plate;

For Social Studies/History Teachers

Posted on May 14, 2013 by kth

I have another teacher card done. I made two as both my girls have a social studies or history teacher.

The globe image is watercolored. The banner sentiment is popped up with dimensionals.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Thank You

Stamps: Back to School (GinaK); Itty Bitty Banners (SU);
Ink/Card Stock: Marina Mist, Garden Green, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron (SU); Black (Memento); White (PTI);
Other: Itty Bitty Banner die, Woodgrain embossing folder (SU); Stitched Square Mat die (Lil Inkers);
Technique: watercoloring;

Thanks, Teacher

Posted on May 5, 2013 by kth

I’m squeaking in a card for the Paper Smooches Sparks challenge – Anything Goes!

To do the chevron strip, I masked off my card base and repeatedly stamped the image. The apple is paper pieced and popped up.

The seeds on the apple are the brush tip from a Copic marker.

This is the last month of school and this week is teacher appreciation. Both my girls have multiple teachers so I need lots of cards this year (at least 10). I won’t get them done in time for this week, but I will have them done by the end of the month.

Thanks for taking a peek!

thanks

Stamps: Falling for You, GeoGraphic, Sentiment Sampler (Paper Smooches);
Ink/Card Stock: Kraft, Rustic White, Black (PTI);
Other: assorted pattern paper; marker (Copic-E59);
Technique: Paper Piecing, Masking;

Graphic Birthday

Posted on May 2, 2013 by kth

It is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Check out the latest challenge -> #23 – colors.

And here is my take:

My first thought for these colors was a sports-themed card, but I don’t need any such card right now. So I did what I do when I have colors but no theme – graphic design.

This time I broke out the new Sketched Shapes by Maile Belles (for Papertrey Ink). This girl knows how to make clean and simple graphic cards! I am always in awe of her projects. I tried to channel a little of Maile’s style when I made this card.

I did change the So Saffron to Crushed Curry because I wanted the yellow to show up on the white background.

The card is a little narrower than a normal A2. The card base is 4 x 5.5. My original intent was to place the white panel against one side and let the blue peek around 3 edges, but this configuration looked much better.

Make sure you check out the other design team members:
Jacqueline
Kylie
Louise
Sandie

I hope you join us at CAS Colours & Sketches!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Little About the Challenge: Posted every Thursday, the challenges alternate between color and sketch (if there is a 5th week you get the double dose of color & sketch).

Happy Birthday

Stamps: Sketched Shapes (PTI);
Ink/Card Stock: Midnight Madness, Tangerine Tango, Crushed Curry (SU); White (PTI);

FYI – Brighten My World

Posted on April 18, 2013 by kth

It is time for another For Your Inspiration challenge. Check out the latest challenge -> FYI44.

I love the striking contrast of the sunset colors sandwiched between the silhouetted land and grey clouds. And here is how I used that:

The yellow panel is sponge-brayered with yellow and orange. I tried to brayer black triangles onto the panel, but it just didn’t look right and seemed too flat. To add depth, I made the triangles with paper and overlapped them – sorta like a curtain.

The lamp is heat embossed with silver and fussy-cut. I attached it with dimensionals – one under the bulb (tucked into the corner where the black triangles meet) and one at the tippy top attaching it to the card base.

Thanks for stopping by!

Make sure you check out the other design team members:
Debbie
Michelle
Mynnette
Rochelle
Rudlis
Sara
Steph
Vicki

I hope you join us at For Your Inspiration!

Brighten My World

Stamps: Bright Ideas (Technique Tuesday);
Ink/Card Stock: Summer Sunrise, Black (PTI); Daffodil Delight, White (SU);
Other: silver embossing (Filigree); sponge brayer;

CASology Word

Posted on April 16, 2013 by kth

I’m so happy – I was asked to be a guest designer for CAS-ology! And this week’s cue was so fun to work with!

I actually made a couple cards for the challenge. But first up is the one I chose to have on the challenge blog:

There are so many directions you can go with the cue “word”, but my first thought was the phrase “word up” (there’s an old 80s song). Of course that phrase also makes me think of Word Girl (I have two girls that love PBS Kids), but I wasn’t sure what kind of card I could create that would incorporate our favorite Lexicon superhero.

Using the original phrase, I wanted an urban feel to the card. I created a conversation and added a bit of brick texture to anchor the die cuts.

The brick background is a full-size image. To get just a partial inking, I broke out my sponges – that way it has a nice fade to the edges.

Another thought that came to mind for the cue “word” was the phrase “what’s the word, bird”. I actually have a sentiment stamp that says that, so I had to use it! I paired it with a cute little bird and added color with pattern paper.

Since the pattern paper was so bold and colorful, I left my stamping black and white – enabling it to pull the focus.

I hope you play along too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Word Up

Stamps: Say What (My Favorite Things); alphabet (Studio G); Brickwall (Cornish Heritage Farms);
Ink/Card Stock: Limeade Ice, White, Black (PTI); Going Grey (SU);
Other: Say What dies (MFT);

What’s the Word, Bird

Stamps: Bird Assortment (Inkadinkadoo); My Peeps (Paper Smooches);
Ink/Card Stock: White, Black (PTI);
Other: Sunshine & Sprinkles DSP, Pool Party SAB ribbon (SU);

Heart Racing

Posted on April 6, 2013 by kth

I created this card for the CASology cue Up. My first reaction was to use balloons – but lots of folks were doing that so I decided to try something different. While thinking about what goes up – I came up with pulse rate!

I don’t have a cool pulse-rate-line-thingy image, so I created this (and the sentiment) on the computer! The race car is stamped, cut-out, and popped-up.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Heart Racing

Stamps: Free Spirit Boy (Waltzing Mouse Stamps – wms); Sentiment & pulse line are computer generated;
Ink/Card Stock: White, Pure Poppy (PTI);
Other: Red & Black markers (SU);

Salted Watercolor

Posted on April 2, 2013 by kth

So last week I created a watercolor + embossing card and ended up with a lot of ink left over on my craft sheet. I sopped up the ink with some watercolor paper and salted it (tutorial). This is how they turned out:

The brown spots are where the salt pushed the ink away and, I guess, also reacted with the ink. I love the resulting veining! These papers remind me of landsat photos of the earth.

I loved the results so much that I wanted to make sure the papers were not covered much. Both cards are the exact same, so I’m just showcasing one.

Design Point: My original plan was to use hemp twine/jute (more masculine in my opinion – and it did match those little salt dots in the background) but it really did not look right and as soon as I switched it out for white – the card popped.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Happy Birthday

All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.

Stamps: Ad Sense (“happy”);
Ink/Card Stock: White, Lemon Tart, True Black, Enchanted Evening, New Leaf;
Other: Tiny Tag die, Wonderful Words: Birthday day; twine (SU);

Carefree Creations

papercrafts by karen h

Tag Archives: gender-neutral

Nautical Sparks

Congrats Grad

FYI – Aspen Birthday

For Social Studies/History Teachers

Thanks, Teacher

Graphic Birthday

FYI – Brighten My World

CASology Word

Heart Racing

Salted Watercolor