World Cardmaking Day

Is October 1st and there are a lot of online events happening. I know Stampin' Up! have virtual classes running but they are working with stamp sets I don't own. 

Scrapbook Cards Today magazine has some great presentations and challenges happening on October 1st so it will be October 2nd in New Zealand. So if you don't have any plans for the weekend it looks like there will be a lot of inspiration online with all sorts of companies.

Now interestingly I signed up in April to do a 3 day Crop and Create Cardmaking Delivered with SCT and it's this weekend too.

But back to today's blog post AAA Birthday Card Challenge have a moodboard for their current challenge and it has a wee hedgehog on the board so I knew what stampset I wanted to KReate with. I have even included a wee pink flower in my colouring too.

I have just purchased from Close to My Heart their stampset and matching coverplate die for National Cardmaking MONTH. They go big and create all month not just for one day.

It's an adorable set with flying animals (bunny, mouse, fox, bird and a hedgehog) plus a fab balloon and some great sayings. All the animals and balloons have dies but I have to be honest they weren't easy to get all lined up and I would die cut out of some thicker carboard the die shape and put on top of my image and stick down before running through my Big Shot.

This was my first practice which I have to be honest i wasn't happy about the black quills and I was almost secretly relived it was horrible as I re-stamped it with a no line ink for my second go.

I also have to be honest I have never ever Copic coloured up a hedgehog before, so I checked out the colouring video from my Kit and Clowder bonus class in January 2021 which was a hedgehog. The video was great and had some awesome advice. I am happy with my quills but I need a bit more practice with my "fur" on his body. This class is still available as a bundle of 6 classes in her class shop.

The advice Alyce gave for the quills was go over the dark lines of the image with your darkest colour. Then fill in gaps with other colours and she finished of with a white gel pen. I have to be honest it was quite hard doing him no-line as he didn't have a lot of quills and the edge was the die-cut which is why I die-cut him out before I finished colouring up his body as I wasn't sure I had gone far enough with creating quills and when I saw my die-cut I was pleased to restart.

I think he is just adorable as my image was in a MISTI I restamped over the no-line colouring ink with Soft Suede ink from SU! once I had finished my Copic colouring. Looking at how fine the lines are on the stamped image I am surprised I didn't get more bleed, maybe it was just as well I couldn't really see the image.

Supply List:
Stamp: Floating By (CTMH)
Ink: Ink on 3 fadeout (no line colouring), Soft Suede (SU!), Unicorn White (HA)

Paper: Xpress-IT blending, Neenah #110, Polished Pink (SU!)
Die: Cloud background thinlits (CTMH)
Other: MISTI, white gel pen, white EP, Nuvo glitter gloss pen, mini Stampin' dimensionals

Challenge: AAA Birthday #41

Copics Used:

Hedgehog: E31/43/44/50/57/59/93/97/99; R00/000

Pink Balloon: RV10/23/25

Yellow Balloon: Y11/15/17; E13

EDITED: My card was chosen in the "top 3" this week.

Summer is coming

Daylight saving has just started in New Zealand so loving the summer vibes of AAA latest card challenge. It's a bright and cheery colour scheme with spots/dots so I knew exactly what I wanted to KReate.

Supply List:
Stamps: Sunny Splash (SU!)
Ink: Bubblegum (PFS), Sunshine (PFS), Aquamarine (PFS), Versafine Clair Nocturne

Paper: Neenah Solar White #110

Other: A2 layering dies, clear EP

Challenges: AAA #224

and my card was chosen in the top 3 by the DT this week.

✿ Karen ✿

For My Beautiful Friend

What a cool saying for a stamp set. Now I have had this stamp set in my stash for a few years - it was Close to my Heart's stamp of the month in July 2020. 

If you ever buy anything from CTMH and spend over $88 you can buy the stamp of the month for $10. Personally I pick when I buy something from CTMH so I buy in the months when I want the stamp of the month (bit like SU! sale-a-bration, I shop with SU! when SAB is on).

So looking at Just Add Ink's current challenge I thought today is the day, the fussy cutting for the mask nearly got me though but I have my mask now and it's attached to the stamp set.

To be honest I have chosen all 3; friend, masking and foliage. I have coloured my image up with various Copics that were sitting on my desk for a colouring class. 

I then masked my stamped image with "the mask" then used Vicki Boutin's bubble stencil that I picked up recently (it's a cool stencil and comes in a set of 3, so very happy with that purchase.

I then coloured the flowers with a clear Wink of Stella and I made a tag from TE's stitched banner stacklets.

Supply List:

Stamps: For My Beautiful Friend (CTMH)

Ink: Memento tuxedo black, unicorn white pigment (HA), Dried Marigold distress oxide (RNG)

Paper: Neenah White, Mango Melody (SU!)

Dies: Stitched Banner stacklets (TE), A2 layering dies (WF)

Other: Blending brush (TE), masking paper (CTMH), foam squares, albaster white EP (BM), clear Wink of Stella
Challenges : JAI622

✿ Karen ✿

Birthday Cutie

A very special girl in my life is turning 3 this coming Thursday, it's hard to believe time flies so fast!

I wanted to make a special card for her using my left over cellophane bags which my stamps etc. come in to make a full card shaker. This is my second go at KReating this shaker card, the first go the sentiment was down the bottom and covered over by the shaking bits when I started constructing it. I also upped the colours in my distress oxides the second time I used for blending. I might have liked the first choice of spun sugar and tumbled glass more but at the time I thought they were a tad too light.

I had bought the Birthday Cutie from MFT stamps awhile ago as I thought she looked like my Indie (my granddaughter), the designer is Rachelle Anne Miller (an Aussie) who also sells really cute digital images. 

The skin and hair colours are in my original notebook of combos I have had since I started my Copic journey. The last 4 colour combos are from the Kit and Clowder website. Alyce provides a new colour combo each week for free on her website, this is the group I do my monthly colouring classes with but there is a heap of FREE stuff as well as the basics of colouring on the website which you can check out HERE.

Copics used:

Skin: E00/E93/V12 and R20 for cheeks (this is my fav skin combo and I acquired this from Marker Geek)
Hair: Y21/YR23/YR24/E43

Cat: W0/W1/W3 and a wee bit of R20

Canary Yellow: Y11/Y15/Y17/E13

Tickle Me Pink: RV10/RV23/RV25

Cerulean: B12/B14/B16

Thistle: BV00/BV02/V15

Supply List:
Stamps: Birthday Cutie (MFT) and matching die

Ink: Versafine Clair Nocturne (sentiment), Memento Tuxedo Black (image to colour up with alcohol markers i.e. the Copics), Kitsch Flamingo oxide (RNG), Salty Ocean oxide (RNG)

Paper: XPress-IT blending card stock, Neenah White

Sprinkles/Gems: Rainbow sprinkles (PPP). Iridescent mini hearts (PPP), Sugared Soiree (Trinity Stamps), tutti fruiti (CTMH), various sequins/flowers - in my stash

Other: Copics, clear embossing powder, stamping foam, red tape, Crystal Glaze (Nuvo), Snowflake Pops of Colour (scrapbook.com), Party Confetti stencil (HA), blending brushes (TE), cellophane bag from my rubbish bin that a stamp set had come in.

It was easier to attach the coloured cut out image to another die cut out which was attached to the bag of sprinkles with red tape as I only needed to use glue. I am really happy how my adorable card turned out and I am sure Indie will love it too. She's always trying to say that cute cards are for her, so this time she will be right!

There's also a sneak peek here of some items from my upcoming virtual cardmaking event I am doing the first weekend in October with SCT Crop Create and Delivered cardmaking; HA Party Confetti stencil, and the Snowflakes Pop of Colour (they're on top of the flowers on her dress), like stickles but clearer and seem to take on the colour underneath.

✿ Karen ✿

KRafterific Sunday

Hi everyone just sharing the fun Sunday afternoon I spent just trying things out with my stamping buddy Sarah.

First up was lunch, I re-KReated a fun tomato tart I got in my meal box from My Food Bag this week, which is so easy and so tasty. 

• Slice a red onion finely and fry on a medium heat for approx. 6 mins until lightly brown. Then add 1 Tbsp of brown sugar and 1Tbsp balsamic vinegar. Allow the onions to caramelise (1-2 minutes). Turn off the heat.
• Bake blind some ready made puff pastry, remove the end of the roll to make a square and use the offcuts to add a small edge to all 4 sides. Use the back of a fork to press down lightly.
• Bake for approx. 10 minutes at 220oC.
• Whilst pastry cooking slice tomatoes (enough to cover pastry).
• When the pastry is raised remove from oven and sprinkle over the caramelised red onion followed by the tomato slices, crumble over the top some feta cheese and cook another 10 minutes. Serve with a salad.

After lunch it was play time. I had recently made a cool box at a class with Kristine McNickle which she called an all-angles no-adhesive gift box, you can see Kristine's box HERE.

Now I wanted something bright and cheery for Christmas not dark and grungy, so with my template in hand we tried reKReating it. It has some folds on the outer edge and it took awhile for my poor old brain to remember we made the "W folds" using an old fashioned embossing stylus, a pencil to make a mark and a ruler. Then we had problems with my Copics splurting ink when we were colouring the cute wee beach Santa from Lawn Fawn's Beachy Christmas. But even so it looks really cute and I am very comfortable I can whip this up no problem. If you would like to know how to create the box you could contact Kristine directly (I don't like sharing other people's templates) or you could check out this fab box Sandra Pedersen created which has step by step instructions but she uses glue but it looks the same and great pics of how you fold it which is actually one of the more difficult aspects of "how to do it". You can see Sandra's box HERE. She calls it s trapeze box.

We then made a tag and I finally got to use my jingle bells I bought sometime ago from SU. The tag is a die from CTMH and the stamp set is Christmas sELFies from MFT Stamps. I wanted to have a go at colouring with pencils especially the white on Kraft card stock. I loved it so going to visit Gordon harris and buy some more colours. I have a few Polychromos and Prismacolours I use to enhance my Copic colouring in my classes. I liked the Prismacolours best they were creamier and easier to apply. As I didn't have a very light brown I used a ZIG real colour brush marker (Flesh colour) and applied a very light cover. I could see that it was making the ink bleed a bit so tried not to be too heavy as had used Early Espresso ink from SU! to stamp our selfie image as we assumed we were just using pencils to colour.

✿ Karen ✿

Fun with Altenew Embossing Folders

I was up early today to take part in a live Zoom meeting with April Leithner, an Altenew Certified Educator, learning a few techniques with embossing folders.

April was working with Feathered Lilies (Craft Your Life) stamps, embossing folder and stencils. I didn't have that set so worked with other Altenew folders I had in my stash.

The first project we used watercolour brush markers to colour in the debossed image in the embossing folder then lightly spritzed the folder with a fine spray and also lightly on our watercolour cardstock. We also did flicks with our markers when everything was dry. 

Supply List:
Embossing Folder: Beautiful Bergenia 3D (ALT)

Stamps: You (PhP) and it's matching dies

Ink: Versamark, Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper: Fabriano Extra White watercolour, black glitter (CTMH), Neenah White #110 (card base), Vellum

Other: A2 layering dies (WF), gems (HB), white and clear embossing powders, ZIG real color brush markers, mista bottle (RNG)

The second project involved using a small blending brush and colouring the embossed raised side of the image. We used our lightest colour all over each then blended on a medium and dark colours closer to the base. This was my favourite project I really love how it turned out.

One of the best tips April shared was to run our panel back through our embossing machines inside the folder in case we had flattened it a bit with the blending.

Supply List:
Embossing Folder: Magnolia Ballerina 3D (ALT) and it's matching stencil

Stamps: Seasonal Blooms - thanks sentiment (ALT)

Inks (all ALT): Blush, Rouge, Velvet, Crimson, Warm Sunshine,  Frayed Leaf, Forest Glade, Paper Bag
Paper: Lavinia Multifarious white smooth and supreme, Twinkle Toes holographic (CTMH), Neenah White #110 (card base)

Other: A2 layering dies (WF), gems (HB and SU!), small blending brushes (TE), mista bottle (RNG), splatter from a black ZIG brush marker

We had a third project but it didn't work for me. I still have one more project to try for homework so will share both of them when I get them to work. But it was worth getting out of bed all right to attend.

Altenew have a lot of free classes we can take part in, they certainly give back to their customers which is why I have tried to use as much Altenew stuff as I could. Their embossing folders are amazing and are very cheap for the quality of them. 

Thanks April that was fun and she enabled me to buy a cool die and stamp set she used; called Tiny Sentiments: Hello (it is very cool). In essence it is a hello die cut sitting on a wee strip of card stock waiting for your tiny sentiment to be stamped or heat embossed on. What a cool idea and again really cheap. You can see it HERE at Krafters Cart in New Zealand where I bought it from but sorry I got the last set! So you'll have to join the waiting list.

✿ Karen ✿

I'm the Guest Designer at AAA cards

So excited to announce I am the guest designer for AAA Card's latest challenge. It is a no layer Sympathy Card and obviously CAS.

I knew the stamp set I wanted to use when I was asked and it's an oldie but a goodie from Stampin' Up! called Love & Sympathy. Personally I think the simple flower and the beautiful font on the sentiment is all you need to say I am sorry for your loss and I am thinking of you at this time.

The set also comes with a lovely sentiment for inside the card.

Those whom we have

LOVED

never really leave us.

They live on forever in our 

HEARTS

and cast their

RADIANT LIGHT

on our every shadow.

- Sylvana Rossetti.

I have lightly spritzed the stamp with water and then used my Old Olive and Rich Razzleberry watercolour pencils to colour in image, then lightly spritzed again and stamped on my card base (I used Tim Holtz's watercolour paper on the smooth side). I had also lightly spritzed the watercolour paper.

I stamped the sentiment when everything was dry with Rich Razzleberry ink and then coated with clear embossing powder and heat set it.

It would be great if you could join in with me too for the current challenge to make it not so scary.

✿ Karen ✿

Dear Santa

I bought this set ages ago as I thought the cat from the Dear Santa stamp set from Avery Elle is just adorable. But I never got around to making a card with the cat, I have used a few of the sentiments from the set before so it was great to finally have a play with it. 

I'm playing along with 52 Christmas Card Throwdown latest challenge wanting CAS and one layer. I may have broken a few rules but I love my card and probably need a few more so will learn from my mistakes here when I make some more.

I stamped the cat image on an A2 card using Bristol Strathmore Smooth as I wanted to colour the cat up with my Copics. I had read that you can use the Bristol paper for Copic blending and wanted to try and it's a heavy weight card stock so I can make a base out of it unlike my usual blending cardstock paper (Xpress IT) which is too flimsy to be a card base.

I masked the cat and then ran a string of lights from Trees For Sale (Stampin' Up!) over the top of the cat. When I removed my mask I thought damn I should have done the Santa hat first, masked it, then the cat, then masked the cat, then the lights. Sshhh I had to glue the Santa hat on top so it didn't look out of kilter. So first mistake.

Second thing I did wrong was I forgot the Copic bleed would show in a one layer card. Luckily I only had coloured in 2 lights, so added wee Honey Bee gems on top for my coloured lights apart from the one behind the cat that is just to say peeking out. They look so pretty in real life my photo doesn't do them justice.

I decided I would go back to my Zig real colour brush markers which was my original plan (thank heavens the Memento ink didn't run with the water based markers or we could have had mistake no. 3!). Zigs love Stathmore Bristol Smooth paper so no worries there. I just used my light gray and mid-gray markers and an aquapainter. A bit of light pink for cheeks and ears.

The hat was stamped with Versafine Clair Nocturne ink and clear embossed. The hat and the bow were coloured up with a combo of the 3 reds I own; Light Carmine, Carmine Red and Wine Red. I then used a Versamarker marker to add some Versamark ink to the hat's fur and then embossed with White Puff Twinkle embossing powder from WOW. I then die cut the hat out with it's matching die and glued down to the top of the cat.

Then using my MISTI I added the sentiment from Trees For Sale set with the Versafine black ink and viola one cute Christmas cat! 

Supply List:
Stamps: Dear Santa (Avery Elle), Trees For Sale (SU!)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Clair Nocturne

Paper: Strathmore Bristol Smooth white

Other: Birthday Bash gems (Honey Bee), ZIG real color brush markers, clear EP, white puff twinkle EP (WOW)

Challenge: 52 Christmas Card Throwdown #22-32

I am loving all the Christmas challenges, it's great to finally use those sets you bought but have never used and now I have inked this one up I think it's going to get a few more cards made for all the other cat lovers in my life.

✿ Karen ✿