Sunshine in my pocket

How Rare and Beautiful You Are

By KariV on September 10, 2019 in Paper Crafting

Hello! Today I’m sharing a quick FALL card on my blog and YouTube channel. It feels like fall could be just around the corner for us here in Arizona…the days are cooler (less than 100 degrees!), and clouds are covering the sky today! I love fall.

We don’t get the changing leaves and fall colors here where I live, so I have to re-create that magical look on a card. Fall cards might be some of my favorites!

I have a quick video (less than 5 minutes….what?!) to show you the process for this card with fall colors! Watch it below or on YouTube:

How does the time fly by so fast? It’s September and already we are looking to the holidays coming up. But for now, let’s focus on FALL. I first inked up the background with stencil brushes and these new-to-me FALL ink pads from Scrapbook.com. I love these ink pads….they are hybrid inks so they are great for stamping, inking, watercoloring! Today they worked a charm for blending those fall leaves very quickly.

I die cut the inked panel using the Leaves cover die, then added that to three more die cut layers to create a sturdy piece. Then I layered those leaves on top of gold glitter paper. Fall always makes me think of gold, glitter, magic. 🙂 I added the sentiment strip and a few extra leaves to finish the card.

I’ve compiled a list of the products I’ve used, using affiliate links when possible. I’m often asked about the products, so this will make it easy. When you purchase using these links, I may receive a small commission. These help me to keep up with blog costs and continue to bring you fun projects. I’m so grateful!

I hope you enjoyed this fall project. I’ll be back to share lots more card inspiration soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

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The Fastest Floral Card! [VIDEO]

By KariV on September 6, 2019 in Paper Crafting

Hello! Today I have a card that is so fast, you might not believe me! I’m using a technique that I’ve used for years with great results.

Let’s be honest: as cardmakers sometimes we need a FAST card and we don’t want to create any masks. Well, if that sounds like you, you are going to love this technique!

I took one flower stamp and filled the card front without any masking. It’s easy and I made a quick video to show you just how it’s done. Watch it below or on YouTube:

This card took me under 20 minutes to make (and for me that is FAST!) I love that you can change this floral card up with colors and sentiments.

Keep this technique in your arsenal for when you need a quick card. To color up these florals I used inks and a finger dauber, making them darker in the center. I used only 1 colored pencil for the background. So easy.

I’m often asked what supplies I use on my projects, so I have a list below using affiliate links when possible. When you purchase with one of these links I may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). This helps me keep up with blog costs and continue bringing you fun projects. Thank you!

I hope you enjoyed this fast technique today. I’ll be back with more inspiration later!

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First Holiday card of the Season!

By KariV on September 4, 2019 in Christmas, Paper Crafting

Hello! Today I am sharing my first Christmas card of the season. Also, I have a confession to make. I don’t usually make Christmas cards to mail out. I know, I know…I’m a card maker that doesn’t make my own Christmas cards! Shocking. But I found that it stresses me out too much to make multiples during the busy time of year, so I just don’t.

But today I made a festive poinsettia card that turned out so fun! I was inspired by the Irresistible Inking Techniques class at Altenew Academy and I just had to try it!

Polka dots in the background make me happy!

This is an inking technique I HAVE tried before, but this time I got so much better results. The trick is to ink up your acrylic block, spritz it with water using a light mist spray bottle, then stamp it onto your background.

I tried this a number of times using a variety of paper to see what different results I would get. I tested out the number of times to spray the ink before stamping. I tried different colors and time to leave the acrylic block on the paper. And this is my FAVORITE one of the bunch.

To get this cool spotted look, I used 3 different colors of Altenew ink on my block: Rose Quartz, Puffy Heart, and Purple Wine at the bottom. (This gave me a sort of Ombre look when I stamped it.) I spritzed it with TWO spritzes of water from a light mist spray bottle. (one was not enough, three was too much for my paper). Then I stamped it down onto Neenah Solar White 80# cover cardstock. This surprised me that I preferred the Neenah for this technique over a watercolor cardstock!

I stamped the poinsettia stamp using Versafine Onyx black ink, then I added just a touch of colored pencil. Just enough to give some color, but still see the spots. It reminds me of a speckled poinsettia….I love those!

To finish off the card, I cut it down a bit to add a strip of gold glitter cardstock on the edge. Then I added the JOY die cut out of the glitter card.

I have a list of the supplies I used below, with affiliate links when possible. When you click using these links I may receive a small commission. This helps me keep up with blog costs and continue bringing you fun projects. Thank you so much!

Oh, I forgot to mention that I also added some Mercury Glass Stickles to the center of the poinsettia to give more glittery shine to the card. When it catches the light just right, it looks so pretty.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Fall Floral card with Glazing

By KariV on August 29, 2019 in Paper Crafting

Hello there! Today I have a fall card using beautiful florals from the August 2019 Hedgehog Hollow kit. These florals designed by Alex Syberia are among my favorite florals ever and I keep reaching for them over and over!

I always find myself in need of Thank You cards, so I took the Thank you sentiment from the set and stamped it two times on patterned paper, then I backed it with gold glitter paper. I feel like Fall screams for gold glitter paper! Lol.

To get these deep, rich, fall colors I used alcohol markers in Pinks (yes! Pink) and yellows first. Then I used a technique called “Glazing”: I went over each floral petal with a light orange. All those colors together created this fall look! Try this glazing technique to see what colors you can get from your markers.

For the background, I used some patterned paper and it made this card come together so quickly!! I popped the top flower up with TWO layers of foam tape, and the smaller orange flower with one layer of foam tape. I love to get that dimensional look with different layers on my cards.

I’m often asked about the supplies I used, so here is the list using affiliate links when possible. When you purchase using these links, I may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

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Cards for Guys

By KariV on August 26, 2019 in Paper Crafting

Hello! Today I have a surprise for you. I am making masculine cards! Yes, I know it’s a rarity around here, but I took an inspiring class by Jennifer Rzasa with Altenew and I just had some fun ideas!

I used to have only two rules in making cards for guys: NO PINK, NO GLITTER. Lol. Although, I do admit that I’ve made cards with pink on it for guys and they seemed to like it ok! 🙂

Today I used a combination of geometric elements and galaxy elements, as inspired by Jennifer!

For both cards I used the Altenew Cube builder stencil and Altenew ink cubes as the geometric element. And then for the galaxy element I used a galaxy panel created with Altenew inks, distress inks, Perfect Pearls in mint, and Gansai Tambi watercolors in white for the splatters. I also colored the balloon to look like a galaxy for the fox card.

I show you the complete process in the video below, or watch it on YouTube:

Don’t you love a fox sitting atop a stack of cubes!? He has his very own galaxy balloon to match.

I created this galaxy balloon with colored pencils, smoothed out with gamsol, and added some white gel pen stars and highlights. This fox is a favorite of mine.

Did I mention that yesterday was my Dad’s birthday? That is who this card was for! It is probably the first card I made without a bear on it for him (bears are his favorite)!

For this second card, I created the galaxy background using a variety of inks and watercolors. I was looking for a little more teal in the galaxy to match the cubes, but next time I know to add more teal!

I popped up these letters with fun foam to give it more dimension. I also offset the letters just a touch to get that shadow look.

I love how these cards turned out for my AECP projects. I hope you enjoyed them, too. I’m often asked what supplies I’ve used so I have a list below, using affiliate links when possible. When you purchase using these links I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. This helps me keep up with blog costs and continue to bring you fun projects. Thank you very much!