Thursday, January 31, 2019

Twelve Kits of Occasions - January

I am over the moon to announce that I am now a member of the Twelve Kits of Occasions team!  I have to say I was in a state of shock when the invitation came in.  I have always admired this group from way back when they were called the 12 Kits of Christmas (circa 2012).  Each month it is exciting to see how differently or similarly the members used their kits.  Of course I accepted without hesitation!

What a fabulous kit to start off the new year!  Jeanne Jachna from A Kept Life gave us an amazing array of Asian themed stamp images, die cuts, papers and details.  Each item was a treasure to behold!
The dragon and little girl were colored with Copics, and the pagoda die cut was cut in two and inked with Distress Ink.

Jeanne's package was sealed shut with colorful tape (top of the image).  I loved it so much, I decided to mimic it on a card.  I colored the girls with Copics and a bit of red and teal colored pencil.  Below is the full card.


This little ninja (colored with Copics) is dropping in for a birthday surprise.
All the special little details that Jeanne included in the kit made putting this card together a breeze!
I created a double circle to mimic a parasol behind the kimono on this next card.
I layered the white die cut on white to bring out the "water" below the bridge.
 
I received this gold print acetate from Darnell during our trip together, and I thought it worked perfectly with the gold coins and lantern. I layered it over teal cs and embossed the wooden embellishment with gold ep.
That's all from me, but that's a lot!  This kit was amazing!  Thank you, Jeanne!  Thank you, 12 Kit ladies, for inviting me to share these fabulous kits with you!  Thank you, everyone else for sticking with this long post!

Please head over to the 12 Kits of Occasions blog to see inspiration from each team member, and for details and a full supply list.
 No photo description available.

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


Thursday, January 10, 2019

Twofer Card Challenge #12

We are starting off the new year with a fantastic Twofer Card Challenge: Birds!  I chose a Poppystamp die called Cheery Cardinals as my twofer element. 
The Christmas card was spritzed with a shimmer spray and the outer panel was popped up with fun foam (the photo doesn't show the show the dimension very well).  The snow on the ground was a mixture of white acrylic paint thinned with shimmer spray.  The doe was created by simply cutting the antlers off the buck.
The birthday card is one of those that wouldn't photograph well.  In the photo, the background just looks dirty, but in real life it looks like worn white-washed wood.  The birds and squirrels are white die cuts colored with Copic markers.
 Here's a closer look at the birds colored with Copics:
Supplies:
Dies: Poppy Stamps Cheery Cardinals, Chirping Birds, Frisky Squirrels, Peaceful Deer, Evergreen Trees, Stitched Main Street Tags, Exquisite Branch Frame, Woodland Heart Frame, PTI Christmas Cheer, MFT Blueprints 13 (birthday sentiment panel)
Stamps:  MFT Anything But Basic Birthday Wishes
Paper:  SSS Wood Grain, PTI Pure Poppy, The Paper Studio Pearlized Cardstock
Ink: DI Weathered Wood, VersaMark
Copics: C1,2,3,5,8,100, R12,14,27,56,59, E31,35,37,57,81, Y15,17, B91,93,95,99
Other: Imagine Crafts Sheer Shimmer Spritz - Sparkle, Ranger Princess Gold embossing powder, floss

I hope you will dig through your stamps, dies, or stencils to join us this month.  Please visit the Twofer Card Challenge blog for great inspiration from our team and our guest designers Izzy and Sonja!
 

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

Friday, January 4, 2019

Blaze Orange

Growing up, come the end of November, deer season took our family up to the Northwoods of Wisconsin.  It was Dad's favorite holiday, and he prepared for it all year long.  Even his clothing was prepared.  He customized all of his gear using Mom's old sewing machine - putting in pockets, zippers, or extra insulation.  Then it was placed outside many days to lose any human scent.

Regulations were always changing, but I remember the year when blaze orange clothes were first required.  Boy, did my dad have a tough time with that!  I remember him calling to find out what percentage of the clothing needed to be blaze orange.  Ah, he lived for that stuff.  Soon there was a bolt of blaze orange quilted fabric next to his sewing machine in the basement.

Art Impressions came out with a great stamp set recently called "Ole Buck", and I was fortunate enough to win it as a stamp of my choice for an honorable mention prize from their last challenge.  It's fantastic for a masculine card in my "neck of the woods".  It lends well to camo greens and browns, but for its first stamping, I colored it for deer season in honor of my father.

I kept the background simple with a foggy frosty opening morning of deer season.

Here's Dad in transition to blaze orange circa early 1980s.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Art Impressions Ole Buck
Dies:  Lawn Fawn Tag You're It
Copics:  C00,0,01,3,4, N0,2,4,6, YG91,93, Y38, YR02,04,18,27,68, R02,17,22,24,29, E0000,000,00,01,02,07,21,23,27,30,33,35,37,42,43,44,51,84,87,89
Other:  VersaMark, SSS white fine detail embossing powder.

This card is going to go play in the following challenges:
CASology Week 325: Fresh - For fresh winter Wisconsin air!
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Something New - Thank you, AI, for the new stamp set!
Thanks for coming over to visit!  I hope you have a great day!
Kara