Author: Karen

I am a very blessed wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend. I firmly believe in the quote by Dieter F. Uchtdorf which states "The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human heart." Every day I try to create something that lifts the heart for myself and others.

Three Cupcakes Happy Birthday

Even masculine cards can have a elegant feel to them.  I think adding gold embossing and mirror cardstock with a lot of white space give a clean and simple, yet classic feel.

The image was stamped onto Neena Classic Crest 80# Solar White Cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink.  It was colored using Copic Markers (listed below).  Once the coloring was done it was run through the Big Shot with a My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle.  Gold Mirror Cardstock was added to the back and Darice Sticky Back Foam was used to create dimension.

The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn’s Happy Happy Happy stamp and die and was stamped with VersaMark Ink and heat embossed with Ranger Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder.  The focal image was adhered to the front of a side folding A2 cardbase made from Gina K. Designs 120# White Cardstock.

Products Used:

  • Whimsy Stamps Cupcake Treat Trio
  • Lawn Fawn Happy Happy Happy
  • Winnie & Walter Sentimental Birthday
  • Memento Tuxedo Black
  • VersaMark Ink
  • Ranger Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder
  • Copic Markers: BG18, BG15, BG13, B13; G24, G94, G21; Y19, Y35, Y15; E55, E31, E51
  • Neena Classic Crest 80# Solar White Cardstock
  • Gina K. Designs 120# White Cardstock
  • Paper Accents Gold Mirror Cardstock
  • Gold Stickles
  • My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle

Eat Cake Birthday Card

When I am creating masculine birthday cards I try and find neutral images, cupcakes, cakes, balloons, candles, and manly images.  Who doesn’t like cupcakes for their birthday.  I really like the color palette used for this card and once I was done stamping I rummaged through my patterned paper and found the perfect match.

I stamped the images with Gina K. Designs ink onto Neena Classic Crest 80# Solar White Cardstock.  Once the stamping was done I found the perfect paper in Lawn Fawn’s Perfectly Plaid Chill 6 x 6 paper pack.

Products Used:

  • CZ Designs Birthday Palooza
  • Avery Elle Cupcakes
  • Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid Chill Petite Paper Pack
  • Neena Classic Crest 80# Solar White Cardstock
  • Gina K. Designs 120# White Cardstock
  • Gina K. Designs Inks: Sweet Corn, Blue Lagoon, Turquoise Sea
  • Memento Tuxedo Back
  • Hero Hues India Ink Black
  • 3M ½” Foam Tape
  • My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle

The More Candles the Bigger the Wish Birthday Card

The Online Card Class Introduction to Color Theory has not only changed how I watercolor, but it has changed how I select colors for inks and Copic Markers.  This card uses analogous colors, which are side by side on a color wheel.  Once you understand the theory you can see how it is used in patterned papers, which inspire a color palette for a card.  I must have been in a blue, green, yellow mood because a lot of my cards lately have used this color scheme.

This is a digital image from Power Poppy that was printed and then cut using the Silhouette Cameo.  Copic Markers were used to color the image and 3M 1/2″ Foam Tape was added to the back for dimension.

Products used were:

  • Power Poppy Layer Cake
  • Technique Tuesday Many Candles
  • Impression Obsession Small Candle Block
  • Copic Markers: BG15, BG13, BG11; G24, G21; Y26, Y23, Y21; C4, C2, C1, C0
  • Gina Designs Ink: Sweet Corn, Applemint, Turquoise Sea
  • VersaMark Ink
  • Gina K. Designs Detail White Embossing Powder
  • 3M ½” Foam Tape
  • My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX
  • Neena Classic Crest 80# Solar White Cardstock
  • My Favorite Things Plaid Patterns 6” x 6” Paper Pack
  • Gina K. Designs 120# White Cardstock

 

 

 

Primary Colors Sketched Flowers Amazing Card

I look at colors different since taking the Online Card Class Introduction to Color Theory.  I understand how to create my own colors from just the three primary colors and how to make different color tints and shades.  It has been a complete eye opener in how I watercolor images.  This card uses the three primary colors with different blends and tints.

So many beautiful shade from three tubes of watercolors, Cerulean Blue, Chromium,  and Quinacridone Rose.  Lunar Black was also used to darken the violet shade.

I stamped the image using VersaMark Ink onto Strathmore 140# Cold Press Watercolor Paper and heat set it with Ranger Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder.  To color the flowers I wet each petal with clear water and then dropped the concentrated colors to the base of each petal and then pull the color to the tip by adding more clear water at the tip and letting the colors move on their own.

Products Used:

  • Simon Says Stamp Sketched Flowers
  • Frantic Stamper Amazing Die
  • Strathmore #140 Cold Press Watercolor Paper
  • Paper Accents Gold Mirror Cardstock
  • Blue/Green Cardstock from Stash
  • Daniel Smith Watercolors: Cerulean Blue, Chromium; Hansa Yellow Light; Quinacridone Rose; and Lunar Black
  • Darice Sticky Back Foam
  • Be Creative Tape
  • Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive
  • VersaMark Ink
  • Ranger Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder
  • My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX

Budding Thanks Celebrate You

Another card for complementary colors theory in the Online Card Classes Introduction to Color Theory.  I’ve had the Altenew Budding Thanks stamp set for a long time and never made a card with it.  I found that it was a little more difficult to line up this layering stamp than some others that I’ve worked with, but I really like the pink and green colors that were used on this card.

I really like using a lot of white space on my cards.  Clean and simple really appeals to me and I find myself creating a lot of cards using this design.  In the color theory class we talked about using complementary colors, which are opposite each other on the color wheel.  The intensity or hue of the color is changed by the amount of water used.  This also works when selecting ink colors, varying the intensity of color can give a completely different feel to a card.

Altenew Inks were used to stamp the images.  Once the stamping/layering was complete the images were die cut with the matching dies and added 3M 1/2″ Foam Tape to the back to add dimension.  For visual interest a rectangle of Neena Classic Crest 80# Solar White Cardstock was die cut using a My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle and then dry embossed using the Cricut Cuttlebug Polka Dot folder. Darice Sticky Back Foam was added to the back of the panel and it was then adhered to a top folding A2 cardbase made from Gina K. Designs 120# White Cardstock.

The flowers were adhered to the polka dot panel by removing the backing paper from the foam tape.  Penny Black’s Celebrations die was cut from Paper Accents Gold Mirror Cardstock and adhered to the bottom right of the card front.  For the secondary sentiment a scrap of cardstock was colored and stamped using the same Altenew inks used to stamp the flowers.

PRODUCTS USED:

  • Altenew Budding Thanks
  • Penny Black Celebrations
  • Winnie & Walter The Big, the Bold, and Party
  • Altenew Inks: Pink Diamond, Pinkalicious, Rubellite, Razzelberry, Mountain Mist, Volcano Lake
  • Neena Classic Crest 80# Solar White Cardstock
  • Gina K. Designs 120# White Cardstock
  • Paper Accents Gold Mirror Cardstock
  • Cricut Cuttlebug Polka Dot Embossing Folder
  • Darice Sticky Back Foam
  • 3M ½” Foam Tape
  • Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive
  • Gina K. Designs Detail White Embossing Powder
  • My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX
  • Nuvo Aqua Glitter Gloss Shimmer Pen

Analogous Colors Beautiful Birthday Bouquet

This is the last card I made using the principle taught in the Online Card Class Introduction to Color Theory.  This card uses the analogous colors discussed in Day 2, which means that you take 3 to 4 colors side-by-side on the wheel to create your color scheme.

I love the beautiful fall feel to this color combination.  I stamped Simon Says Stamp Sketched Flowers onto some Strathmore #140 Cold Press Watercolor Paper with VersaMark Ink and heat set it with Ranger Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder.  I always love the look of gold embossing powder, but I think it particularly enhances the colors of this card.

This card uses orange, yellow/orange, yellow, and yellow/green from the color wheel.  The background was a light wash of yellow and was applied before stamping the image.  I varied the intensity or hues of the color to give variation to the flowers.  Once the watercolor was completed I splattered gold metallic paints from the FineTec M600 watercolor set.

The sentiment is from Ellen Hutson’s Mondo Sakura, with the smaller secondary sentiments from Winnie & Walter’s Sentiment Birthday.  Both were stamped with VersaMark Ink and heat embossed with the gold embossing powder.

The image was die cut using a My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle.  Darice Sticky Back Foam was added to the back of the panel and then adhered to a side folding A2 cardbase made from Gina K. Designs Base Weight Fresh Asparagus Cardstock.

PRODUCTS USED:

  • Simon Says Stamp Sketched Flowers
  • Ellen Hutson Mondo Sakura
  • Winnie & Walter Sentimental Birthday
  • Strathmore #140 Cold Press Watercolor Paper
  • Gina K. Designs Base Weight Fresh Asparagus Cardstock
  • Daniel Smith Watercolors: Cerulean Blue, Chromium; Hansa Yellow Light; Quinacridone Rose
  • Darice Sticky Back Foam
  • Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive
  • VersaMark Ink
  • Ranger Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder
  • My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX
  • FineTec M600 Metallic Gold Watercolors

Split Complementary Colors Happy Birthday

One of the most rewarding aspects of taking the Online Card Classes Introduction to Color Theory was learning to use colors I would never have thought to the put together.  In the class we learned about split complementary colors, which was used in creating this card.  I would never have thought to put the softer hues of red and orange, or in this case deep pink and soft orange together, but it turned beautiful.

My crafting friend shared with me her recent purchase from The Ton Stamps called Riotous Wildflowers.  I thought it would make a create card from using the color theory of split complementary colors.

I stamped the image onto Strathmore 140# Cold Press Watercolor Paper with VersaMark Ink and heat embossed it with Ranger Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder.  I love the rich look of gold embossing powder and thought it would be pretty with fall colors.

I used different hues of Daniel Smith Red, Orange and Blue Green.  The background was a very light hue of the blue green color.  The different leaves are all the same color, but each with a different intensity.  The small flowers were full strength red, while the roses were a lighter hues of the same color.

Once the watercolors was completed and dried I die cut the 6 x 6 background panel using the Winnie & Walter Audrey Essentials scalloped rectangle die.  I wanted the beautiful background to not be covered by a sentiment and so I decided to die cut the Mama Elephant Happy Script Die from both Paper Accents Gold Mirror Cardstock and Darice Sticky Back Foam.  Having this pretty scripty sentiment still allowed the background to peek out behind the word.  For the secondary sentiment a strip of watercolor paper was colored with the blue/green watercolor and when it was dried the word “birthday” was stamped with VersaMark Ink, heat set with the gold embossing powder, cut into a thin strip and adhered just under the die cut sentiment.

Darice Sticky Back Foam was added to the back of the focal image.  A top folding A2 cardbase was made from Gina K. Designs Base Weight Ivory Cardstock.  The focal image was adhered to the front Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive and the card was done.

PRODUCTS USED:

  • The Ton Stamps Riotous Wildflowers
  • Mama Elephant Happy Script Die
  • Winnie & Walter Sentimental Birthday
  • Winnie & Walter Audrey Essentials Die
  • Strathmore #140 Cold Press Watercolor Paper
  • Paper Accents Gold Mirror Cardstock
  • Gina K. Designs Base Weight Ivory Cardstock
  • Daniel Smith Watercolors: Cerulean Blue, Chromium; Hansa Yellow Light; Quinacridone Rose
  • Darice Sticky Back Foam
  • Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive
  • VersaMark Ink
  • Ranger Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder

Monochromatic Happy Birthday

In the Online Card Class Introduction Color Theory Day 2 talked about using monochromatic colors.  It is amazing how beautiful a card can be when using only one color in varying shades and hues.

For this card I stamped all the individual flowers in the Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Flowers 2 set onto Strathmore Bristol Smooth Cardstock with VersaMark ink and heat embossed them with Gina K. Designs Detail White Embossing Powder.  They were then colored using six different blue, blue/green colors from the ZIG Clean Color Real Brush 60 Marker Set.

Once the coloring was dry there were arranged into a bouquet.  I cut some of the leaves from the flower stems and then used them in different placed in the bouquet to fill it out for a more visually pleasing arrangement.  3M 1/2″ Foam Tape was added to the back of the bouquet to add dimension.

A rectangle of Neena Classic Crest 80# Solar White Cardstock was die cut using a My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle. The flower bouquet was adhered to the front of the rectangle by removing the backing paper on the foam tape.

The sentiment from Hero Arts Messages with a Flourish was stamped with VersaMark Ink onto Paper Accents Vellum and cut into a strip and wrapped around the focal image rectangle and adhered in the back with Scotch Tape.

A top folding cardbase was made from Gina K. Designs Base Weight Turquoise See Cardstock.  Darice Sticky Back Foam was added to the back and the focal image panel and it was then adhered to the card front using Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive.

PRODUCTS USED:

  • Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Flowers 2
  • Hero Arts Messages with a Flourish
  • Strathmore Bristol Smooth Cardstock
  • Neena Classic Crest 80# Solar White Cardstock
  • Gina K. Designs Base Weight Turquoise Sea Cardstock
  • ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Markers: 033 Persian Green, 032 Persian Blue, 040 Green, 031 Cobalt Blue, 036 Light Blue, 038 Peacock Blue
  • Darice Sticky Back Foam
  • Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive
  • My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX
  • VersaMark Ink
  • Gina K. Designs Detail White Embossing Powder
  • Ranger Fine Detail Silver Embossing Powder

Beautiful Flowers 2 Bouquet Watercolor Hello

In the Online Card Classes Color Theory course you learned about hues of color and how adding water to hues changes the intensity of the colors.  This card has a much softer feel because of the lighter hues of the primary colors used.

Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Flowers 2 has both a large bouquet of flowers along with individual flowers that can be used in creating a card.  For this card I stamped the large bouquet onto Acquarello Artistico Extra White 140# Watercolor Paper with VersaMark Ink and heat embossed it with Ranger Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder.  All of the primary colors were used, along with the secondary color of green, but the hues used were very light because a lot of water was added to each color.

Once the watercolor was dry the bouquet was die cut using the matching die.  To add dimension to the card the bouquet was traced onto Darice Sticky Back Foam, fussy cut, and then adhered to the back.  A rectangle of Neena Classic Crest 80# Solar White Cardstock was die cut using a My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle and ink blended with Distress Oxide Tumbled Glass.

A side folding A2 cardbase was made from Gina K. Designs 120# White Cardstock.  Darice Sticky Back Foam was added to the back of the blue panel and it was then adhered to the card front.  The flower bouquet was placed on the card front to determine where to stamp the sentiment from Gina K. Designs Rose Bouquet, which was stamped with VersaMark and heat embossed with the same gold embossing powder.  The flower bouquet was then adhered to the front of the cardbase with Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive.  As a final embellishment Pretty Pink Posh Metallic Gold Sequins were scattered around the flower bouquet.

PRODUCTS USED:

Introduction to Color Theory Primary Colors – Day 1

  • Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Flowers 2
  • Gina K. Designs Rose Bouquet
  • Daniel Smith Watercolors: Cerulean Blue, Chromium; Hansa Yellow Light; Quinacridone Rose
  • Distress Oxide Tumbled Glass
  • Pretty Pink Posh Metallic Gold Sequins
  • Ranger Multi Medium Matte
  • Darice Sticky Back Foam
  • My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX
  • Ranger Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder
  • VersaMark Ink
  • Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive
  • Acquarello Artistico Extra White 140# Watercolor Paper
  • Neena Classic Crest 80# Solar White Cardstock
  • Gina K. Designs 120# White Cardstock

Beautiful Flowers 2 Birthday Wishes

This is the first card I made for the Online Card Class Color Theory.  For the first day we learned about Primary Colors and how to use them.  I had recently purchased Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Flowers 2 and used this stamp set to create my first card for the class.  I love the way that red and yellow compliment each other.

I stamped the images on Neena Classic Crest 80# Solar White Cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored them with Copic Markers (colors are listed below).  The matching dies for these images cut really close to the edge and leave a small white border, which I really like.  I arranged the flowers into a bunch and glued them together with Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive.  To add dimension 3M 1/2″ Foam Tape was added to the back of the flowers.

I like the visual interest that is added to a card using an embossing folder.  I die cut a rectangle of Neena Classic Crest 80# Solar White using a My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle and then ran it through the Big Shot with the Cricut Cuttlebug Mosaic folder.  The panel was adhered directly to a top folding A2 cardbase made from Gina K. Designs Base Weight Onyx Black Cardstock.  The backing was removed from the foam tape of the bouquet of flowers and they were adhered to the directly to the card front.

The sentiment is from Studio Katia’s Blooming Bunch stamp set.  It was stamped with VersaMark Ink onto a scrap of black cardstock and heat embossed with Gina K. Designs Detail White Embossing Powder.  The sentiment was cut into an angled banner and foam tape was added to the back and adhered to the card front and the card was done.

PRODUCTS USED:

  • Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Flowers 2
  • Studio Katia Blooming Bunch
  • Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
  • VersaMark Ink
  • Gina K. Designs Detail White Embossing Powder
  • Copic Markers: R39, R29, R27, R24; Y19, Y17, Y13; G19, G17, G05, G03; YR23, Y26, Y21
  • Gina K. Designs Base Weight Onyx Black Cardstock
  • Neena Classic Crest 80# Solar White
  • 3M ½” Foam Tape
  • Cricut Cuttlebug Mosaic Embossing Folder
  • My Favorite Things A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX
  • Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive