Merry Christmas!

Just a quick post to wish you all a very Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

We were so busy with all the activities of Christmas that all we ended up with this year was a family selfie!  That's my husband, Gene and me in the back, and Kate (13) and Elle (15) in front.

I snapped these photos at about 6:00 in the morning yesterday, Christmas Eve.  We had to leave early to visit with family for the day, but for Gene and Kate, the fresh snow was too perfect to pass up:

Thanks for coming over to visit!  May you be blessed this Christmas and throughout the New Year!

Kara Lynne

Many Thanks

Blogland is lit up with beautiful cards of the season, and here I am, a month behind, bringing up the theme of Thanksgiving.  Ah well, thankfulness is always in season, right?  It's rare that I post more than one card at a time.  Frankly, it's rare that I get to post at all these days, but today I have several thank you cards to share, thanking specific fellow paper crafting blogging friends for their generosity:

 

This sweet pup is from a wonderful stamp set sent to me by my dear friend, Therese.  I was so blown away to find this gift in my mail box!  I love the expressions on each of their faces!

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Katzelkraft Les Chiens, SSS You Matter

Dies: SSS You

Paper:  MME Stella and Rose, PTI Aqua Mist, Dark Chocolate

Copics:  W00,1,3, C5,7, R20,32,35, E000,21,23,25,27,29,31,47,49, G00, BG10,11,45

Other:  Doodle Bug Sprinkles - Tangerine, Swimming Pool, SSS Fine Detail White Embossing Powder, fun foam

This floral card is full of SSS products, some of which I purchased with a gift card from Barb after winning it during her blogaversary celebration.

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  SSS Spring Flowers, Paper Smooches Many Thanks

Dies:  SSS Bubble Breeze, SSS Sending, SSS Basic Banners (extended), SSS Stitched Frames

Ink: Distress Ink Worn Lipstick, Dried Marigold, Abandoned Coral, Memento Tuxedo Black

Copics:  YG 17,21,23,25, R12,32,35,37, YR000,00,20,61,65

Simon Says Stamp is celebrating DieCember (very clever), so the Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge #60 theme is "Cut It Out For DieCember".  Therefore, this card will be joining in on the fun over there. 

This card is made from products by Gina K.  They gave me a generous gift certificate to their store during the Fall Coffee Lover's Bloghop.  The Winter Coffee Lover's Bloghop is in full swing right now, so check that out.  Since this is a fall themed card, I'm going to leave it out, but I'm hoping to join with another card before it ends.

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Gina K Coffee

Paper:  Gina K Grateful Heart

Ink:  Memento Bamboo, Distress Ink Ground Espresso

Copics:  E 07,23,51, R89, G20,21, YG91,93,95

Other:  Sakura White Gelly Roll pen, Stampendous Pearlustre Jade embossing powder

Thank you to these generous ladies once again!  Thank YOU, too, for stopping by for a visit.  I hope you are having a wonderful day!

Kara Lynne 

Tag, You're It! #61 With Loll Thompson

Today at Tag, You're It! our featured artist is Loll Thompson!  Have you seen her tag creations?  She even has a special Twelve Tags of Christmas event that is so amazing!  It was a joy to CASE Loll's tag for this TYI challenge:

Take a look at Loll's inspiration:

Oh, so much to love here!  Loll's background reminds me of the Northern Lights, and those white trees and glittered snow are so striking!  I was drawn to creating a scene and followed closely with white glittered trees.  My pop of inky color took the form of mountains.  My purple organza bow follows along with Loll's gorgeous full white one.

Supplies:
Brusho water color powder, PTI Scene It Mountain View die, Basic Backer die, and Everyday die, and O Holy Night stamp set.  Michael's glitter, ribbon from my stash.

Please check out the design team's inspiration and find out more about Loll over at Tag, You're It!  I hope you will join us for this super fun challenge!

Thanks for coming over to visit!  I hope you are having a great day!

Kara Lynne

Virginia's View Challenge #25 Stripes and Plaids

I am excited to be the Guest Designer today over at Virginia's View Challenge! 

The theme this month is stripes and plaids - how fun is that?! 

There are so many ways you can go with this challenge, but I finally decided I wanted to create my own plaid using a stencil.  It was way easier than I thought!

 

I learned a lot along the way:
1)  There are many ways to create a stencil.  I used the straw die from MFT's Cool Cup Die-namics.  Even if you don't have a stripe stencil, you might find something with straight lines in your stash. 

2)  I needed a way to keep my lines straight.  I have used a 12x12 see-through quilt ruler since I started scrapbooking fifteen years ago (grid paper would also work well for this). 

I taped the panel on the diagonal and created the stripes using the vertical and horizontal ruler lines. 

I used a finger dauber and Distress Ink to create the stripes

I also used a ruler and a marker to make thinner lines.

3)  Since I just used regular weight cardstock to create my stencil, I learned that I needed to change out the stencil once it became too saturated with ink.  You can see on one of the red stripes below that it was time to change the stencil!  The line did not stay crisp (not a bad look, though, for another project).

This plaid design worked well as a backdrop for these adorable pups!  They were a Stamptember exclusive for Simon Says Stamp from Art Impressions called Terrier Stackers.  So adorable!!  I used the MISTI to stamp them on kraft cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  I stamped them several times to get a nice, dark impression.  I colored them with Copics and used a white Gelly Roll pen to whiten their eyes.  I gave them a Christmas spin by adding a Santa hat to the top dog, and heat embossing a sentiment to reflect the scene.  The hat is from MFT's Jingle All the Way.  It is one of the Santas' hats with the brim trimmed down to fit the dog.  I drew a slit on the hat and cut and colored an extra ear for the dog so it could "poke" through the hat.  The sentiment is from MFT's Gift Tag Greetings.  The dogs were then partially fussy cut and the panel was popped up with fun foam overlapping the plaid panel.

I really hope this encourages you to try this technique.  There are so many ways to change it up with different widths, patterns, and color combinations!

Supplies Used:

Stamps - SSS/AI Stamptember Exclusive Terrier Stackers,  MFT Jingle All the Way (hat, altered), MFT Gift Tag Greeting (Sentiment)

Dies - MFT Die-namics LLD Cool Cup (straw used to make plaid stripes)

Ink - Distress Ink Fired Brick and Spun Sugar, Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaMark

Markers - Sakura White Gelly Roll, Zig Writer Spring Green, Prisma Brush Tip, Copic Multiliner 0.3,

Copics - E30,31,33,35,37,39, R22,24,27,32,35, Y04, YG 06,09, C00,1, W00,1,3

Paper - Neenah Solar White 110lb. (card base), white panel and kraft cardstock are scraps of unknown origin

Tools and Extras - MISTI, Omnigrid rulers, SSS Fine Detail White embossing powder, brown fun foam

Thanks for coming over to visit!  I hope you will stop over to see me at Virginia's View Challenge blog and play along in the challenge.  I would love to see what you create!  Have a wonderful day!

Addition:  Entering the SSS Flickr Challenge #58 - Thanks, Barb, for the head's up!

Kara Lynne

Tag, You're It! #59 with Rubeena Naz!

Today starts a new challenge over at Tag, You're It!  We are CASEing the very talented and gracious Rubeena Naz!  Here's my take on her gorgeous tag:

Rubeena created this beauty:

I love the way Rubeena stamped the image off the edge, so I chose an image that would have a similar appearance.  I got out my Zig Clean Color Markers and went to work coloring away to achieve a watercolor effect just like Rubeena.  What, you don't see gorgeous watercoloring?  No, you're right, I scrapped that monstrosity (and by scrapping, I mean in the bin, not the family scrapbook).  I then pulled out the Copics.  Ahh, peace in the craft room.  To continue with Rubeena's look, I added a simple, one-line sentiment, shimmery cardstock as a second tag and finished off with something textural for the tie.  

Here's a close-up of that sweet little ellie:

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Wild Rose - Bella Sleeping, Lili of the Valley - Handwritten Phrases

Dies:  Poppystamps - Stitched Main Street Tags

Paper:  Scraps of unknown origin

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black (full for sentiment, second generation for the image)

Markers:  Copics - 0, V000, V01, V12, V15, B60, BV000, BV00, BV11, BV13, Y00, Y11, Y21, C00, C1, C3, C5

Other:  Eyelash yarn of unknown origin

I hope you will join us in CASEing Rubeena's gorgeous tag!  I would love to see your take on it in the gallery.  Need more inspiration?  Head on over to Tag, You're It! to check out the team's interpretations. 

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

Kara Lynne

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