Water colouring technique

I'd seen a lot of this water colouring technique on craft (or crumb cake) coloured card so I thought I'd give it a go. After white heat embossing the flowers I used white ink to water colour the flowers. Then I used regular pink ink to water colour over the white. I think I did two or three layers of the pink to achieve some shading on the flowers. The colours are more intense close up.

Materials:
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Rose Red
Ink: Rose Red, Versamagic in Cloud White, Versamark (I can't remember if the background was stamped with Versamark or Rose Red ink)
Stamps: 5th Avenue Floral, Distressed Dots
Accessories: Basic pearls, chipboard 'happy birthday', waterproof craft mat
Tools: Big shot machine, top note die, heat tool, white embossing powder, embossing buddy, aqua painter pen, Sakura clear glitter gel pen, liquid glue

Tips:
1. I sponged the chipboard with white ink and let it dry before using the glitter gel pen over the top.
2. The stamens of the flowers were also coloured with glitter gel pen but I must have done that after I took the photo.

MIA

Yep, still here! I went through a stage where I totally lacked creativity and was just casing other people's cards but I've found my mojo and I'm back to making up my own designs.

I probably won't post the cards in as much detail as before but these cards are not difficult to work out. Let's start with these two:

Same card, different colours.

Materials:
Cardstock: Not Quite Navy, Basic Grey, Brushed Silver, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Cajun Craze
Ink: Basic Grey, Not Quite Navy marker, Cajun Craze marker.
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Sentiments, Tool kit both from Stampin' Up, Chevron background by Hero Arts.
Accessories: Grey baker's twine from The Twinery, silver washi tape.
Tools: Big shot machine, top note die, dimensionals, Sakura clear glitter pen, Modern Label punch, Diamond plate embossing folder.

A little boy's birthday

It's been a while since I posted a 'Kate Original' card. (Obviously meaning I didn't copy or case it from anyone, it's my own creation, just a product of my crazy thoughts.) Here's one for you today! I made this card for a friend's son who turned 3 today.

Here's how it's made:

Materials:
Cardstock: Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White.
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Versamark, Tuxedo Black (Memento). Markers: Wild Wasabi, Soft Suede, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Bashful Blue, Pink Pirouette, Basic Black.
Stamps: Monster Fun (Hero Arts. I borrowed this from a friend at our card making day - thanks Shauna!), Put on Your Party Hat (Fiskars), Admit One (Lawn Fawn).
Accessories: Maraschino and Cappucino baker's twine (The Twinery), Miss Nelly jewels (Kaisercraft).
Tools: Big shot machine, Top Note die, sponge, dimensionals, 2 way glue pen, glue tape, mini glue dots, sanding block.

Tips and Tricks:
1. The blue layer was stamped randonly with a Lawn Fawn star in Versamark. I sponged around the edges with Tempting Turquoise ink.
2. I trimmed up the white top note die cut to reveal the red one beneath. Then I sanded the edges of the white (I would have used my distressing tool had I brought it with me) and sponged around it with Tempting Turquoise ink.
3. The monsters and balloons were coloured in with Stampin' Up markers. After cutting out all the monsters and balloons, I used a black marker to colour the cut edges.
4. The balloons were adhered to each other one at a time so I got the right positioning on the card. Then I attached the twine to each balloon using glue tape. After that I attached the balloons to the card with dimensionals.
5. I tied up the balloon strings and stuck them in position with a mini glue dot.
6. The mini monster is on dimensionals too to make him stand out and look like he's holding the bunch of balloons.

Stuff Ups:
1. This is just a technicality but I don't like the streakiness of the markers. There's nothing I can do about that apart from buy Copics instead.
2. The cutting out the top note die cut could have been better (as always).

Pleasant Surprises:
1. The way the red and blue contrast. I like it.
2. The stamp set is so cute. I would have been lost without it!
3. Finally, a concept I had in my head was realised in the way I wanted it to be!!

Happy St Patrick's Day

It's not often that I make a card that I don't intend to give away but here's one. I want to keep this one for my own collection. It's not my design - I found the design at Card Scraps. I thought it was so simple yet cute!

Here's my very slightly modified, not nearly as good version:

Happy St Patrick's to you all! Have a great day!

Materials:
Cardstock: Garden Green, Crumb Cake, Whisper White.
Ink: Garden Green.
Stamps: So Happy For You, Teeny Tiny Sentiments.
Accessories: Green organza ribbon (Kaiser Craft).
Tools: Big shot machine, Top Note die, Lattice embossing folder, scissors, bone folder, tape runner, scallop oval punch, oval punch, paper trimmer, dimensionals.

Tips and Tricks:
1. Stamp the four leaf clover on the Whisper White card then cut with the Top Note die.
2. Run the die cut through the Big Shot in the lattice embossing folder.
3. Trim the die cut along the perforation so it fits nicely on another Top Note die cut.
4. Glue it altogether. Easy!

Stuff Ups:
1. The stamped image isn't as solid as I would like. If I had time I might have coloured over them with a marker.
2. I still can't tie bows properly or straight.

Pleasant Surprises:
1. Just that I feel it's strikingly effective!
 

Playing with a new stamp set

I broke out another unused stamp set today - Simply Soft. It features pretty detailed flowers and has 2 step stamps (I didn't 2 step them today though). This design belongs to Lana Harvey from Lana's Stampin' Cottage. I loved her card so much I didn't change anything except to suit my own supplies.

I made two colour variations:

We'll call this card 1.

And this is card 2.

Materials:
Cardstock: Card 1 - Very Vanilla, Lovely Lilac (retired Stampin' Up colour). Card 2 - Whisper White, Island Indigo.
Ink: Lovely Lilac, Island Indigo, Stazon black, Old Olive marker.
Stamps: Simply Soft.
Accessories: Victoria crochet trim, Basic Pearls, Blue organza ribbon (Kaiser Craft).
Tools: Big shot machine, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Top Note die, sponge, aquapainter, Beautiful Wings embosslit, mini glue dots.

Tips and Tricks:
1. I cut the top notes before stamping the images on.
2. I used an aquapainter to colour the flower heads and buds. I used an Old Olive marker for the stems and leaves.
3. The stamped top notes and Vintage Wallpaper layers are sponged with the feature colour (Lovely Lilac or Island Indigo).
4. I'm not good at tying bows so the ribbon is adhered in two parts. A length is cut and stretched across the front of the card. The ends are taped behind the card layer. Another length is used to tie a bow around the first part. Hey, it works for me!
5. Card 1 would look so much better with matching ribbon but I didn't have any.

Stuff Ups:
1. I would have used the 2 step stamps but forgot to use my stamp-a-ma-jig on the outline stamp. It was fun to aquapaint any way.
2. I would use Certainly Celery or another light green marker rather than Old Olive. I feel it is too dark for the look that I want.
3. The sponging is uneven but I can live with it.

Pleasant Surprises:
1. The overall look of the aquapainting is ok.
2. The way the organza ribbon matches the Island Indigo was a lucky surprise! It looks lighter than the cardstock in the photo but that's due to the nature of the ribbon versus the camera. In real life it matches perfectly.

For my new nephew

This card took me hours to make, mainly because I couldn't think of a design that I liked. I kept playing with layouts, different colour schemes and papers. None felt right. Eventually I came up with this card. I've made it for my niece who gave birth to a gorgeous baby boy on Friday! I am posting this card and a present to her tomorrow.

My card also qualifies to be part of a sketch challenge from Lily Pad Cards, yay! Here's the link to the challenge - Sketch Challenge.

Here's the sketch:

This is also the first baby card I've ever made. I broke out some new Lawn Fawn stamps for the occasion.

Materials:
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Brushed Silver, Whisper White, watercolour paper.
Ink: Bashful Blue, Versamark, Basic Black, Stazon Black.
Stamps: 'Plus One' and 'Quinn's ABCs' by Lawn Fawn.
Other: Big shot machine, Top Note die, silver embossing powder, aqua painter, white organza ribbon, sponge, Circle cutter by Martha Stewart, mini glue dots, clear Bitty buttons.

Tips and Tricks:
1. I cut a top note die cut with my big shot machine. I stamped the rattle in Bashful Blue to make my own background. The top note die cut was adhered to the Brushed Silver layer. I trimmed the end offs of the die cut.
2. The pram and Charlie's name are stamped with Versamark on water colour paper and embossed with silver embossing powder. I used an aqua painter to colour them in. The wheels on the pram are water coloured with Basic Black ink which has taken on a purplish hue once it was watered down. Bitty buttons are adhered to the pram wheels with mini glue dots.
3. Charlie's name is layered on a piece of Bashful Blue cardstock which is adhered to the top note die cut. This covers up the top of the die cut and gives Charlie's name some dimension without using foam dots.
4. I sponged around the watercolour paper for Charlie's name and the pram with Bashful Blue ink which hasn't shown up in the photo.
5. I placed a mini glue dot behind the knot of the bow to help keep it flat and secure.
6. Lining up the stamps in Charlie's name and the sentiment took some time and tweaking. I tested the position of the stamps with ink on scrap paper until I was happy with the alignment.
7. I tested Memento's Tuxedo Black and Black Stazon on the silver cardstock and found that Stazon gave a blacker, more opaque black than Memento so I went with Stazon.

Stuff Ups:
1. I stamped and embossed Charlie's name many times in my quest to find a style I liked. I used different inks and colours, tried cutting out the letters, coloured the letters with markers, it all took a long time.
2. Some of the rattles didn't stamp properly so I filled in any missing parts with a Bashful Blue marker.
3. I have trouble using Martha's circle cutter so it took me a few attempts to get usable circles.
4. Being a teacher, the lack of capitalisation on the 'congrats' stamp and for Charlie's name does irritate me but I didn't make the stamps so I'll have to live with it. If Lawn Fawn made a Quinn's capitals stamp set, I'd buy it in half a heart beat. Maybe I should suggest it, lol!

Pleasant Surprises:
1. The whole card - didn't think it would look this good (if I do say so myself). My cards are usually pretty average and never look as good as all the other blogs out there. The acid test was my husband's reaction. Rather than, "Oh that's nice honey, very good!" (which I love hearing) I got, "Wow! That's awesome!" He sounded so surprised! I'm so proud of this card!

Patchwork Birthday

I've seen this patchwork technique quite a bit on the different blogs that I visit and couldn't resist giving it a try. I learnt a lot for the next time that I attempt it!

This is a similar design to the one in 'Double but Different Part 2'. I made this for another niece's birthday. Normally with my cards I make a single layer insert to write on, particularly if the base cardstock is a dark colour. For this card I made a double layer insert using the same DSP as I have used on the front of the card. Here's a photo:

I'm pleased with the way the insert turned out. It ties it all together nicely.

(This is a very strange coincidence and it's times like these I can't help but know there's got to be a higher power watching over us all - I couldn't remember if the brad I used was called antique or vintage so I went to check in my bag where I keep the brads. I flipped on the light and saw a big spider just about to crawl inside the bag I needed to check. If I had been a moment later I wouldn't have seen the spider - just rustled around in the bag and possibly would have been bitten!! So there you go. Also, old spidey is no longer with us. I made sure of that.)

Materials:
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Very Vanilla (as the base to stick the squares on), Cottage garden DSP (retired I think).
Ink: Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry.
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Sentiments.
Other: Top Note die, Big Shot machine, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Square punch, Chantilly lace, Antique brads, sponge, dimensionals, Modern label punch, paper piercing tool, mat pack, basic pearls.
Non Stampin' Up: Perfect Pearl Mist in Heirloom Gold.

Tips and Tricks:
1. The patchwork -

• I cut a piece of scrap Very Vanilla cardstock the same size as my card. I should have used PLAIN paper!! If you have a go, please try plain paper first.
• I ran my glue tape in close together lines across the scrap of card.
• I used my new square punch to punch out the squares from different sheets of the Cottage Wall DSP and stuck them carefully onto the glue tape.
• When finished I ran it through the big shot using the top note die.
• I ran the patchwork die cut through the big shot again in the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.
• I sponged around the outside of the die cut with Old Olive ink. Yeah it's a bit too dark - I got carried away.

2. The base card is sprayed with the Heirloom Gold mist.
3. I cut a strip of DSP and glued it onto the base card to break up the razzleberry.
4. I punched out two modern labels and cut one in half, spaced it out and glued it behind the other to give that extra bit of border. I sponged around it with Old Olive.

5. The lace -

• I cut a piece and glued the ends behind the top note die cut.
• I cut two shorter pieces, twisted them once and thread them underneath the glued on piece.
• Then I stabbed a hole through them and the cardstock with my paper piercing tool.
• The antique brad was pushed through and secured.

6. I added the smallest basic pearls to the modern label punch out to give it a lift. I added them after I took the photo, so sorry you can't see them.

Stuff Ups:
1.  The Very Vanilla cardstock made my patchwork a little bit too thick for the embossing folder so some of the embossed bits split a little. Plain paper would prevent this problem I'm sure.
2. I used too much ink around the top note die cut.
3. Trying to get the brad through all the lace and cardstock was a challenge. It ended up quite bulky so I popped the die cut up on dimensionals to compensate.
4. If I'm being picky, I would only use one type of striped paper and more of it as the two pieces I used don't totally work. At the very least I would try to punch the stripes at the same angle.

Anya, Flowers and Butterflies

This card was made for my niece and I wanted it to be a little bit girly without being over the top with pink and purple. I turned again to my beloved top note die but changed from my normal landscape style to a portrait style of card. The camera doesn't do justice to the glitter and rhinestones though:

Materials:
Cardstock: Marina Mist, Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette, Whisper white (just a little bit), watercolour paper.
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette, Marina Mist, Versamark, Rose Red, Sahara Sand marker.
Stamps: Curly Cute, Butterfly Prints.
Other: Top Note die, Big Shot machine, Rhinestone accents, Corner punch, dimensionals.
Non Stampin' Up: Fleur Anya stamp, clear embossing powder, black embossing powder, Sizzix Spring Flowers textured impressions embossing folder, silver glitter letter stickers by Papercraft, aquapainter.

Tips and Tricks:
1. The Fleur Anya is stamped on watercolour paper in Versamark and then heat embossed with black embossing powder.
2. Anya is coloured with water and ink using an aquapainter. The colours are added at different intensities to get the shading. Basically her skin is Pink Pirouette ink with a hint of rose red on her cheeks. Anya's dress and flowers are Marina Mist. The flower centres are Rose Red with a rhinestone in the middle of each. Anya's hair is Chocolate Chip ink.
3. It's difficult to see clearly but the Chocolate Chip layer has butterflies stamped on it in Versamark and they have been heat embossed with clear embossing powder.
4. The 'Happy Birthday' sentiment has been stamped in Versamark then Marina Mist ink and finally heat embossed with clear embossing powder.
5. Rhinestones of various sizes are placed on the Happy Birthday sentiment, Anya's flowers and the pink top note die cut.
6. Tiani's name and the flower next to her name are silver glitter stickers which are really sparkly. The camera doesn't show it in this picture, but if you click on the image to make it larger you can see the sparkles!

Stuff Ups:
1. When aquapainting Anya, some of the ink leaked past the black embossed border so I use a Sahara Sand marker to trace around Anya, making the ink less noticeable.

Mother's Day

I simply adore this Mother's Day card, however, I cannot lay claim to the gorgeous design. This design is by the incredibly talented Angie Brown from Stampin' Dreams. I loved it from the second I saw it and knew it would be perfect for my Mum for Mother's Day. It also has a lot of elements to it and not a lot of stamping.

The main differences between my card and Angie's are that I didn't have the same sentiment stamp as Angie so I lowered the placement of the bird and branches, and popped my sentiment up on the modern label punch out (my fave!). Also my white embossing powder was clumpy so I chucked it out (it was useless) and as a result I don't have that pretty detail on the bird's wing. I used plain old Versamark instead.

Here's the procedure:

Materials:
Cardstock: Shimmery White, Bashful Blue, Night of Navy. You could use Whisper White but the Shimmery White is much thicker cardstock and I feel it makes for a sturdier base card.
Inks: Bashful Blue ink spot, Night of Navy ink spot, Versamark.
Stamps: Vintage Vogue, Teeny Tiny Sentiments.
Other: Big shot machine, Top note die, Whisper White satin ribbon, Modern Label Punch, Bird punch, sponge, stick on pearls, retired triple flower punch, dimensionals, 2 way glue pen.
Non Stampin' Up: Polka dots embossing folder by Cuttlebug, black permanent marker.

Tips and tricks:
1. I sponged around the edges of the top note die cut, bird body and modern label punch out piece using Bashful Blue ink.
2. I punched 7 branches out of Night of Navy cardstock using the bird punch. I trimmed them to fit the way I wanted and glued them down with the 2 way glue pen.
3. I coloured a basic pearl with black permanent marker to create the bird's eye.
4. I've mentioned it before, the satin ribbon frays as soon as you look at it so handle it as little as possible.
5. I used Night of Navy ink to stamp the sentiment. I didn't think Bashful Blue was powerful enough.

Stuff Ups:
1. As I said, I was planning to emboss the stamping on the bird's wing in white and then sponge over it with Bashful Blue but my embossing powder was clumpy and no good. It wouldn't stick properly to the Versamark.
2. The Polka dot embossing folder was a little too small for the layer size that I wanted so one end is a little bit sparse with dots.
3. My SNAIL adhesive is really hard to use. It just doesn't want to turn and it is starting to dent my cardstock. It's very disappointing. I also left my back up double sided tape at work so I had to use my precious mini glue dots on the back of the polka dot embossed layer. Using tape rollers can flatten your embossing so it's always best to use peel-the-backing-off it tape (known as Sticky Strip in the Stampin' Up world).
4. My layers are always skewiff, never proportional.

Our Anniversary

This is hot off the press! It's the anniversary card I have made for my husband. Tomorrow is our second anniversary! Yay us! I'm super proud of this card. No casing, an all Kate design! I used a lot of different stamp sets too.

As usual, the photo doesn't do justice to the card. I used the Colour Coach to get my colour selection - Pear Pizazz, Cajun Craze and More Mustard. I added Very Vanilla because it needed something else.

My gorgeous husband loved the card. The first thing he said was, "Ooh, I like the colours!" Well done Colour Coach! Jason gave me a stunning jewellery box for our anniversary! I have been wanting one for so long, it's just perfect!

Materials:
Cardstock: Pear Pizazz (in colour), Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Very Vanilla.
Inks: Pear Pizazz, Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Versamark.
Stamps: Itty Bitty Bits (hearts on the tags), So Happy For You (background heart on pear pizazz), Teeny Tiny Sentiments, A Happy Heart (retired - big hearts).
Other: Big shot machine, Top Note die, Lattice embossing folder, Hemp twine, Itty Bitty buttons, mini glue dots, stick on pearls, modern label punch, dimensionals, paper piercing tool and mat pack, sponge.
Non Stampin Up!: Fiskars tag punch.

Tips and Tricks:
1. As in my last card post, I ran the Cajun Craze and More Mustard cardstock through the big shot machine together with the top note die. I trimmed the more mustard along the perforation to get that nice border of Cajun Craze. Next I used snail adhesive to stick them together before putting it through the big shot again in the lattice embossing folder.
2. You can't really tell but I put a round Itty Bitty button on each Cajun Craze heart on the tags and a tiny pearl in the centre of each More Mustard heart on the tags to tie in with the pearls on the sentiment. I want to buy the tiny tag punch from Stampin Up! because I find this Fiskars tag punch to be too big. Also the tiny tag punch punches a hole in the top of the tag and the Fiskars doesn't. I had to use my paper piercer which looked messy. I should have used my eyelet tools but forgot I had them till after I finished.
3. The 'Happy Anniversary' sentiment is stamped in Pear Pizazz ink but you can't tell in the photo. I also sponged around the label in Pear Pizazz ink.
4. The Top note die cut is popped up on dimensionals to compensate for the bulkiness of the twine. The sentiment is also on dimensionals.

Stuff Ups:
1. I pulled the twine too tightly when tying it and it cut into the cardstock a little.
2. On the insert that I wrote on inside the card, I accidentally wrote on it portrait-ways (standing vertically) when the card is made in landscape (stands horizontally). I hope I explained that correctly! I didn't want to rewrite it because it came from the heart and I didn't think hubby would care much less notice!
3. Overall the tags are very clumsy. I also forgot to sponge around them with pear Pizazz ink. I would have liked the tags smaller and more precise in their creation but you gotta work with what you've got.

A new colour scheme

I've made two similar cards this week using a colour scheme I would not normally choose. I had some gorgeous Sunny Garden DSP that was screaming to be used. Also my Stampin' Up order came in so I had new toys to play with. These cards, while probably similar to other cards out there, were again from my own mind. I'm glad these worked out because one I attempted earlier in the week just doesn't do it for me.

The 'Thank You' card I made for my Mum and Dad. The 'Congratulations' card I made for my nephew's housewarming.

Materials:
Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz, Sunny Garden DSP.
Inks: Poppy Parade inkpad.
Stamps: Curly Cute, Punch Potpourri.
Other: Bird punch, Top Note die, Big Shot machine, Daffodil Delight grosgrain ribbon, Modern word label punch, stick on pearls, 2 way glue pen, mini glue dots.
Non Stampin' Up: Polka dot embossing folder by Cuttlebug, Prima Flowers.

Tips and Tricks:
1. I cut out the Poppy Parade and Peach Parfait top notes at the same time, then trimmed the Peach one along the perforation line. I glued them together with SNAIL (glue tape) and then put it in the polka dot embossing folder and ran it through the big shot.
2. I used a 2 way glue pen to glue the leafy branch to the card.
3. On the 'congratulations' card, I cut an extra piece of ribbon and threaded it around the base ribbon. I find that easier than trying to tie it all at once.

Stuff Ups:
The only one (omg, only one!) is that the 'congratulations' sentiment is glued on crooked. I was so annoyed that I didn't spot it until after the glue had set.