Hooray, It's Your Birthday!

I put together this box from Neat and Tangled and some kids from Mama Elephant jumped in.  All of the sudden W+9 stars and confetti sprang out, PTI banners dropped down, and we had a PARTY! 

!!SURPRISE!!

I cut a channel down the back of the box die to create a slider. 

Supplies Used:

Dies:  Neat and Tangled Box die, PTI Text Block: You Did It, PTI Wonderful Words: Birthday

Ink: Distress Ink Barn Door, Peacock Feathers, Mustard Seed, Tumbled Glass, Scattered Straw, Memento Tuxedo Black, Versa Mark

Paper: MME My Girl, PTI Hawaiian Shores, Pure Poppy, Paper Studios card base 

Stamps:  Mama Elephant In My Heart, W+9 A Pocketful, Paper Smooches Party Posse

Other: Zing white embossing powder, Copics, Scotch foam tape

I wanted to join in on some challenges this week.  Virginia's View has a challenge going on this month that is all about creating a focal point.  With a little masking, I heat embossed the stars stamp from W+9 A Pocketful many times in a semicircle around where I knew the box was going to sit.  That helped create a direction towards my focal point - the box.  I then used the resist technique, which is the challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge: Totally Resistible, to emphasize the white embossing.  I used the colors from Marker Pop's current color challenge for the papers, ink, and Copic colors.  I really love the combination! 

Thanks for coming over to visit.  I hope you have a wonderful day filled with happy surprises.

Kara Lynne

Tag, You're It! #57 with Richard Breaks

It's great to be back for another fantastic challenge over at Tag, You're It!  Our featured artist is Mister Cardmaker himself,  Richard Breaks!  Wow, and did he ever give us an amazing tag to CASE!

I wanted to start with a close-up of my tag.  I had a happy accident that may make you smile.  When I heat embossed the gold on the word, "welcome", the ink from the buildings was not fully dry and the powder stuck to them even after I used an anti-static pad.  I couldn't recreate those tiny lights of the city if I tried!  This cup reminds me of Chicago on the lake front.

I took Richard's lead with the coffee theme, layout, and color palette (of course, green and gold are a favorite in my neck of the woods).  I thought his tag had an urban feel, so I mimicked that on the cup.  The texture in the background reflects Richard's tag as well.  I cut the tag to a similar shape by chopping the corners off a rectangle, and used a letter i die for the ribbon opening.

Here's a look at the tag in its entirety:

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Mama Elephant - Cup of Wishes, Believe in Magic, Impression Obsession - Textural Dots

Dies:  Lawn Fawn - Cole's ABCs (letter i)

Ink:  Distress Ink - Ground Espresso, Fossilized Amber, Scattered Straw, Vintage Photo, Pine Needles, Forest Moss

Extras:  Ranger embossing powder - Princess Gold, and Clear.  Ribbon and floss origin unknown.

I hope you will CASE Richard's tag along with us.  If you go on over to the Tag, You're It! challenge blog, you will find out more about Richard and see amazing interpretations from our design team. 

This tag is going to join in on the final day of the Fall Coffee Lover's Bloghop.

Thanks for coming over to visit.  I hope you have a wonderful day!

Kara Lynne

Thank You, My Favorite Things!

Today I just got a huge shock when I found out I was selected as one of the ten Card Design Superstars of 2016!  I have to say, I feel very funny posting solely about an award and not sharing a card, but I really want to thank everyone at My Favorite Things for this honor.  MFT is a huge supporter of our paper crafting community, and they are so generous to host a contest that brings out the best in all of us.  I saw so many amazing cards in that gallery - all winners in my book.  Each card submitted with much skill and enthusiasm.  I draw so much inspiration from a gallery like that, and it makes me excited to see so many talented card makers all coming together.  Thank you, My Favorite Things!

You're Out of This World - MFT

I've been wanting to try a space background for some time and since I bought this great MFT stamp set, Out of This World, this summer, I thought I'd give it a go:

The images were stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, colored with Copics, and fussy cut.  They were super fun to color!  Copics used: G02,05,09, Y13,15,17, B12,14,16,18, YR14,68,18, R17,27,29, RV63, 66, YG21,23,25, C00,1,3,5,7,100

For the background, I used a watercolor technique with Distress Inks on the first card, and then I tried just ink blending on regular cs for the next card.  Very different, but I like both effects.  I started with Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet, and Salty Ocean, layered them twice, and then finished off with Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot.  I felt like I had just made a big mess until I flicked white acrylic paint all over with a stiff paint brush - then it all came together.

The moon is a half cut Die-namics Circle STAX circle of white cs spritzed with water, crumpled, and smooched thru Black Soot DI pressed on a craft mat.  The sentiment, from the same stamp set, was white heat embossed onto a scrap of black cs and cut into a half fishtail banner. 

I wanted the rocket ship to soar through the sky, so I drew a curved line on the panel and cut around it to create a channel for the rocket ship to fly through.  I added a scrap of excess background behind it to make the flight path less noticeable.  The moon and aliens are popped up with foam adhesive, and the rocket also has foam adhesive as its base (looks like I need some MFT Slider elements).

Here's the ink blended background on plain white cs:

I'm sending the first card out to play in the following challenges:
MFT 2016 Card Design Superstar                                                Virginia's View Challenge #23



Thanks for coming over to visit!  I hope you are enjoying the day!
Kara Lynne

The Ultimate Challenge Blog Hop with Altenew

Altenew is presenting a wonderful event highlighting challenge blogs, and Tag, You're It! is excited
to participate!  I hope you will join in on the hop.  All projects feature Altenew products and there are prizes to be won!

Here's my tag featuring two Altenew stamp sets with a lot of masking and partial die cutting:

 My tag was inspired by Tag, You're It! challenge #17 featuring Gayatri Murali's beautiful card:

I loved the arrangement of flowers and decided to imitate that with Altenew's Beautiful Day and Painted Flowers stamp sets.  My tag is basically one layer except for the sentiment.  I first stamped the outlines using the MISTI and masking.  I then stamped the layers of the main flowers and leaves and colored the rest with Copics.  It was at this point that I thought the Altenew inks would come in very handy!  I cut around the flowers and leaves and then partial die cut the tag.  The center flowers were cut around with a craft knife so the sentiment could slide on through.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Altenew Beautiful Day, Painted Flowers
Die:  Poppystamps Stitched Mainstreet Tags - 2nd largest
Inks:  Memento Tuxedo Black, HASI Red Royal, Pale Tomato, Soft Leaf, SSS Schoolhouse Red, W+9 Mojito
Copics:  R20, 22, 24, G20, 21, YG0000, 61
Paper: Scraps of unknown origin
Embellishments:  Pretty Pink Posh clear sequins, Paper Studio twine

Click the link to get back to the blog hop through Tag, You're It!  Thanks for coming over to visit!  Enjoy the hop and have a beautiful day! 

Kara Lynne

Tag, You're It! #55 with Melissa Bickford!

I can't believe it's been a month since I blogged last!  I knew this would be a crazy summer, but not this crazy.  Aside from starting my new job and having the kids on summer break, we are also renovating our basement.  It's been a slow process since we're tackling the project ourselves.  The best part for me is that I will have my own craft room!  I cannot wait, but in the meantime, please excuse my absence.  I seem to be using my free time hauling drywall down the stairs, staining wood trim, hanging doors and painting walls.  I hope it won't be too much longer.  I will share some photos when it's finished.

Thankfully, I got the chance to create a tag CASE-ing the very sweet and talented Melissa Bickford!  She is our featured artist for the latest challenge at TYI!  I had so much fun following her amazing design:

Here is Melissa's wonderful tag:

This tag came along in stages.  First, I knew I wanted to create a tag in the same shape as Melissa's, so I used a SSS Basic Banners die and a Spellbinders circle die to create my tags.  Next, I thought it would be fun to use leaves from my new stamp set from WPlus9, All Year Cheer, to replicate Melissa's cascade of flowers.  I used the MISTI so I could use various layers of color on each leaf.  Last, I found a word die cut that conveyed a similar meaning, and some twine that had multiple strands in order to round out the look.

Supplies Used:
Stamps - WPlus9 All Year Cheer
Dies - PTI Big Hugs, SSS Basic Banners, Spellbinders Circles
Paper - PTI Pure Poppy, The Paper Company Gold Shimmer, gold glitter cs scrap, white cs scrap
Ink - DI Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs, Ground Espresso, Tea Dye, Spiced Marmalade, Fossilized Amber, Wild Honey, Shabby Shutters, Mowed Lawn, Crushed Olive, Rusty Hinge, Squeezed Lemonade, Scattered Straw, Fired Brick, and Aged Mahogany
Embellishments - Nuvo Crystal Drops Bright Gold

Thanks for sticking with me during my absence.  I do hope to see you over in the TYI gallery.  Hop on over to the Tag, You're It! challenge blog to see much more inspiration.

This tag is also going over to play in Darnell's wildly popular (did I say Darnell is wildly popular, well, read it that way) NBUS challenge #7.

Thanks for coming over to visit.  I hope you have a wonderful day!
Kara Lynne

Tag, You're It! #53 with Michele Ferguson

Happy Friday!  Today is the start of another amazing Tag, You're It! challenge.  Our featured artist is none other than Michele Ferguson!  Michele has graced us with this inspiration tag:

So SWEET!  I love the Swiss dots and the long, thin shape of her tag.  The dainty bouquet in those darling colors is beautiful!  Here's how I CASEd Michele's tag:

I kept my design elements close to Michele's with the double narrow tag, dry embossing, flowers, and color.  The flowers were cut on the Silhouette, ink blended, and shaped with a stylus.  I used the end of the stylus dipped in Nuvo Crystal Drops to create the centers of the flowers.  I made slits in the embossed background and threaded the ribbon through to make is look like it was tied to the "basket".

Supplies Used:
We R Memory Keepers Woven Next Level Embossing Folder
My Favorite Things Die-namics Leafy Greenery
Silhouette Store - 5 Petal Flowers (larger flowers), and 3 Layered Flowers (small flower)
Distress Ink: Shabby Shutters, Carved Pumpkin, Tumbled Glass
Nuvo Crystal Drops - Ebony Black
McGill stylus and mat
PTI cs - Limeade Ice
Ribbon from stash

I hope you are inspired by Michele too!  Take a closer look at Michele's tag and the rest of the design team's interpretations over at Tag, You're It!  See you in the gallery!

As always, thanks for coming over to visit.  I hope you are having a wonderful day!

Kara Lynne